5 Myths about Yogyakarta Sultanate: DEBUNKED!

13 Mar 2021

A year ago, an article titled ‘5 Myths about the Royal Family: DEBUNKED!’ was released. Royal Family as written in that article is about the royal family of the United Kingdom. But let’s go back a little bit to Indonesia. Indonesia also has a royal kingdom and family. Technically, there are a lot of royal families in Indonesia, coming from the sultanate era back before Dutch East Indies. Of course, that their sovereignty does not exist within the Republic of Indonesia. But within the local community, they exist and alive.

One of the famous royal families in Indonesia is the Yogyakarta Sultanate royal family that lives in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. It is an autonomous provincial-level that is ruled by Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. Below are five myths about the sultanate that you probably don’t know!

  1. Special Region of Yogyakarta is a full monarch.

This is false. The House of Representatives of Special Region of Yogyakarta exists in the sultanate. Even though the governor and vice governor are using the hereditary monarch system, that doesn’t mean the region is a fully controlled monarch. The power of the Sultan is on the same level as every province’s governor. This means that the President of the Republic of Indonesia still holds the highest power in this country.

  1. Women have no position in the sultanate.

Another false! While it’s true that from the beginning until 2021, the sultanate is ruled by men only, but the daughter of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, Princess Mangkubumi is the next in line to become the first woman successor in the sultanate. Based on a short documentary by BBC, the royal family, especially the brothers of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X seems to disagree with the next successor as a woman. They think that woman can’t be a sultan.

  1. The Sultanate doesn’t have royal guards.

Well, you may see it in The United Kingdom, the brave royal guards that officially called the Queen’s Guard that protect the palace. Yogyakarta Sultanate has it too! Although the level of the Sultanate is below the Republic of Indonesia, that doesn’t mean there is no royal army inside the sultanate. Their official name is the Yogyakarta Kraton Guards, and they are divided into 10 companies, each with their own uniform and flag.

  1. The Republic annexed the Sultanate.

This one is definitely false. Yogyakarta Sultanate with Pakualaman or Kadipaten Pakualaman joined the Republic of Indonesia willingly on September 5, 1945. No annexation happened. The relationship between the Republic and the Sultanate is great, even during the revolution fight against the Dutch, the City of Yogyakarta was made into the capital of the Republic Government.

  1. The royal families only wear traditional clothes and can’t wear jeans.

This one should be easy enough for Indonesians! This one is obviously false. Royal families, no matter women, or men, can wear whatever clothes that they want. We often see the Sultan wears batik during the informal occasion and even the Princess wears jeans and casual clothes too!

Those are five myths about the Yogyakarta Sultanate. Many royal families in Indonesia deserve to be written in an article like this. Yogyakarta Sultanate is just the beginning—a baby step—to know more about the history of the sultanates era in our nation. Now that you gain new knowledge about Yogyakarta Sultanate, what do you want to know more?

Editor: Clara Nathania & Pieter Bagaskara Astadiningrat

References:

Handiko Wijaya