Eastern salient of Java
The eastern salient of Java (Indonesian: ujung timur,[1] "eastern end" or Tapal Kuda,[2] "The Horseshoe" - referring to the region's shape in the map; Javanese: bang wetan,[3] "far east", Dutch: Oosthoek,[3] "east hook") is a region that makes up the easternmost part of the island of Java, Indonesia. It is not a formal or administrative subdivision, but rather a designation often used to refer to its distinct history, culture and geographical feature. It is generally considered to begin in the Tengger mountain range and extend eastwards to the east coast of Java.[1] It is entirely inside the Indonesian province of East Java.
Geography
The eastern salient consist of the narrow peninsula in the eastern extremity of the island. Anthropologist Robert W. Hefner considered the western boundary of the region to be just east of the modern-day Malang-Surabaya highway.[4] The region extends 180 kilometers east-to-west, out of Java's total length of about 1,000 kilometers, to the east coast of Java, just across the strait from Bali.[1] Unlike Java's central heartland and northern coast, the region is drier, more rugged, and lack major rivers.[4] These factors make wet-rice agriculture less extensive here than in central regions of Java. The region covers the regencies of Probolinggo, Lumajang, Jember, Situbondo, Bondowoso, and Banyuwangi, the eastern part of the Pasuruan Regency, as well as the city of Probolinggo.[2]
The western section of the region, among Java's most rugged, isolated the it from Java's central heartland to its west.[1] The Tengger massif (including Mount Bromo), and Mount Semeru, Java's highest peak, lie in this section.[4] Together they form the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The Iyang-Argapura massif lies in the central section, and the Ijen composite volcano lies in the eastern section.[2]
Between the tight mountain formations, there are river basins which supports rice-based communities.[4] However, the basin area is much narrower than other parts of Java.[4] Blambangan Peninsula lies in the southeasternmost area.
History
For most of the modern era, the eastern salient lay outside the control of Javanese political powers, which were typically based in Central Java.[1] Sultan Agung of Mataram conquest of eastern Java in 1614-1625, while managed to conquer Surabaya, Malang, Pasuruan and Madura, did not establish control over the eastern salient.[7] Agung's renewed campaign in 1640 brought the region under Mataram's control, but after his death, Mataram lost control again. His successor, Amangkurat I unsuccessfully tried in 1647 failed to subdue the region.[8] From this point Mataram or any other central Javanese polity would no longer have effective control over this region.[9] This means that most of the region was outside Mataram's influence between the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, when many features known today as essentially Javanese, were forming.[9] In contrast to the social hierarchy of Central Java, the eastern salient maintained its frontier character, populist mannerism and less hierarchical ways, which remains in the present day.[1]
In 1686, Surapati, a leader of resistance against the Dutch East Indies Company (known by the Dutch acronym, "VOC") fled to the eastern salient and set up an independent polity at Pasuruan,[5] which ultimately controlled most of the region.[5][10] Surapati's domain also extended to territories formerly controlled by Mataram.[5] Mataram attacked Surapati in 1690, but was defeated, partly because of Surapati's previous experience in European military techniques.[5] However, in 1706 a combined Dutch-Mataram-Madurese forces killed Surapati and in 1707 they captured Pasuruan.[6] However, at this point neither the Dutch or Mataram managed to establish control over the region.
In the aftermath of Java War (1741–1743) in which the Dutch defeated Mataram, Mataram gave up its claim to the region and "ceded" it to the Dutch (although it didn't control the region in the first place) along with other severe concessions.[11] However, the Dutch attempt to establish control was met by resistance, including from people calling themselves "descendants of Surapati". In 1764, the Dutch, supported by local allies defeated the resistance in the Tengger section of the region, and only in 1771 they pacified Blambangan, the easternmost section of the region.[10]
Under the Dutch control, the region was called De Oosthoek ("The east hook") and was supervised by a gezaghebber.[12] The Dutch encouraged the population's conversion to Islam, in order to erode the Hindu-Balinese influence from the east.[13][14] After Indonesia's independence, the region becomes part of the East Java province, and is often called Tapal Kuda ("The Horseshoe"), in reference to how the region looks in the map.[2]
Inhabitants and culture
As with most of Central and East Java, the inhabitant of the region is mostly ethnic Javanese. This include the Tenggerese sub-ethnic group who live in the Tengger mountains[15] and the Osing subgroup in the easternmost Banyuwangi regency.[16] Because the region was outside Mataram influence during the "formative period" of the Javanese tradition, the inhabitants of the eastern salient often differ from other Javanese in etiquette, language, art, and social hierarchy.[9] In contrast to the social hierarchy of Central Java, the eastern salient maintained its frontier character, populist mannerism and less hierarchical ways, which remains in the present day.[1]
Because of the steady migration from the island of Madura off the eastern salient's north coast, the Madurese also inhabit the area.[17] Since the nineteenth century, Madurese have become the dominant ethnic group in some areas, such as Pasuruan.[18][17]
The region is predominantly Muslim, but Islam was not well-established until the late eighteenth century.[19] Major conversions to Islam happened when the region was under the VOC's control, with the Company supporting the conversions (sometimes by force).[20][13] The Tengger mountains are notable exception, where the Tenggerese are predominantly Hindu, and a Shivaite priesthood remained.[18] In addition, parts of the highlands have few orthodox Muslim influences, and have strong Kejawen tradition.[18]
References
Footnotes
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hefner 1990b, p. 6.
- 1 2 3 4 Sholeh 2014.
- 1 2 Margana 2007, p. 1.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Hefner 1990a, p. 23.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Ricklefs 2008, p. 102.
- 1 2 Ricklefs 2008, p. 104.
- ↑ Hefner 1990a, p. 27.
- ↑ Ricklefs 2008, p. 87.
- 1 2 3 Hefner 1990a, p. 29.
- 1 2 Hefner 1990a, p. 30.
- ↑ Ricklefs 2008, p. 116.
- ↑ Margana 2007, p. 248.
- 1 2 Margana 2007, p. 240.
- ↑ Ricklefs 2008, p. 132.
- ↑ https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tengger
- ↑ https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/10666/ID
- 1 2 Hefner 1990a, p. 32.
- 1 2 3 Hefner 1990b, p. 9.
- ↑ Ricklefs 2008, p. 12.
- ↑ Ricklefs 2008, p. 123.
Bibliography
- Hefner, Robert W. (January 1990a). Hindu Javanese: Tengger Tradition and Islam. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02856-7.
- Hefner, Robert W. (18 December 1990b). The Political Economy of Mountain Java: An Interpretive History. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-91376-9.
- Ricklefs, M.C. (2008-09-11). A History of Modern Indonesia Since C.1200. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 46–48. ISBN 978-1-137-05201-8.
- Sholeh, Anwar (1 September 2014). "Sejarah Tapal Kuda di Kawasan Jawa Timur" (in Indonesian). Pesantren Zainul Hasan Genggong.
- Margana, Sri (13 December 2007). Java's last frontier : the struggle for hegemony of Blambangan, c. 1763-1813 (Doctoral thesis). Faculty of Arts, Leiden University.