Yahoo – AFP, Olivia Rondonuwu, June 29, 2016
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Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, governor and sultan of the tiny kingdom of Yogyakarta,
with his wife, Queen consort Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hemas, at his 70th birthday
celebrations (AFP Photo/Goh Chai Hin) |
Yogyakarta
(Indonesia) (AFP) - Courtiers in elaborate outfits danced to the gentle
tinkling of Javanese music as the Sultan of Yogyakarta looked on, a scene that
has played out in much the same way for centuries in the tiny Indonesian
kingdom.
But the
recent ceremony to mark the 70th birthday of Hamengku Buwono X, Indonesia's
last sultan with real political power, had one key difference from previous
celebrations -- many of his relatives refused to attend.
A bitter
feud has erupted at the heart of the kingdom on Java island, after the Muslim
ruler signalled he wants his eldest daughter to become the sultanate's first
female monarch after he leaves the throne.
Indonesia
is home to numerous small kingdoms. But while other provinces now elect
political rulers and their sultans are largely ceremonial figures, Yogyakarta's
sultan serves as both royal leader and governor of the city and its surrounding
areas.
Jakarta
allowed the Yogyakarta royal family to keep power as the central government was
grateful for the sultanate's support for independence in 1945 after a long
period of Dutch colonial rule.
The sultan
still maintains many of the trappings of Javanese royal rule in the kingdom,
which has a history stretching back to the 16th century.
His main
residence is a traditional Javanese palace complex, known as a Kraton, and
important events are celebrated with much pomp and circumstance.
But the
sultan's push to make the eldest of his five daughters -- he has no sons -- the
first female monarch of Yogyakarta has transformed him into an unlikely
champion for gender equality, and threatens to overturn hundreds of years of
tradition in the Muslim, conservative sultanate.
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Sultan
Hamengku Buwono X watches a dance performance to celebrate his
70th birthday
and 27th year in power in Yogyakarta (AFP Photo/Goh Chai Hin)
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Rooster
or hen?
It has
sparked a furious row with his family, who say he is breaking rules laid down
to govern the sultanate, amid speculation that his brothers were jockeying to
fill his position.
"A
female sultan is an impossibility," the sultan's cousin, Kanjeng Raden
Tumenggung Jatiningrat, told AFP.
"One
symbol in this palace is a rooster -- so if we have a queen should we change it
to a hen?"
The rooster
is a symbol of bravery.
He added
that a female ruler could not oversee rituals in the mosque or other ceremonies
that have traditionally been led by men.
Hamengku
Buwono, who has been on the throne 27 years, last year set in motion the
process for his daughter to become monarch by giving her the title "Gusti
Kanjeng Ratu Mangkubumi".
While he
has not confirmed publicly that she is the crown princess, in Javanese culture
-- where much is conveyed through symbolism rather than anything said out loud
-- the signs are clear.
The title
Mangkubumi, which translates from Indonesian as "the one who holds the
Earth", was the same one given to the sultan when he was made crown prince
several decades ago.
She was
also entrusted with the task of "attempting to bring safety, happiness and
prosperity to the world", another indication she would succeed her father.
And the
sultan made small changes to his own lengthy royal title -- removing a word
normally only used by men and tweaking another -- to make it gender-neutral,
opening the door for a woman to take over.
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A
traditional royal orchestra performs for Sultan Hamengku Buwono X during a
ceremony to mark his 70th birthday and 27th year in power in Yogyakarta (AFP
Photo/Goh Chai Hin)
|
'An
Islamic kingdom'
The sultan
has defended the move, saying there is nothing stopping him from making changes
in his kingdom and he has to adapt as Indonesia modernises.
"The
Yogyakarta palace doesn't have a hereditary tradition that can't be changed,
and all ruling sultans can introduce changes," he told local media.
Still, many
disagree with him, from his relatives to local Muslim groups.
"The
king should maintain the tradition as it was originally, because this is an
Islamic kingdom," said Abdurrahman, from local hardline group Islamic
Jihad Front, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
But it is
not the first time there has been a female monarch in diverse Indonesia --
nowadays Muslim-majority, but which has had Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms over
the centuries and is home to about 300 different ethnic groups.
Queens at
times ruled over the ancient Majapahit empire, which covered large parts of
what is now Indonesia from the late 13th to the early 16th centuries, as they
did in Aceh, on western Sumatra island, when it was an independent sultanate.
And the
sultan's approximately four million subjects in Yogyakarta and the surrounding
area, who view him as a demi-God, have had only a muted a reaction, with most
preferring to keep out of royal affairs.
Nevertheless
the row looks unlikely to be resolved any time soon, and it cast a long shadow
over the recent celebration, which marked the anniversary of the sultan's
coronation as well as his birthday.
The solemn
melodies from the "gamelans" -- a traditional Indonesian instrumental
ensemble, made up of bronze percussion instruments -- were a million miles from
the seething tensions swirling around the royal succession.
"About
90 percent of the family don't respect him anymore," raged Gusti Bendoro
Pangeran Haryo Prabukusumo, a step-brother of the ruler who snubbed the event.
