Dipanagara’s early inspirational experience

Abstract

Pangeran Arja Dipanagara (ca. 1785-1855), the leader of the rebel armies in the Java War (1825-1830), was both a prince of the Jogja karta royal house (the eldest son of Sultan Ham?ngkubuwana III) and a mystic. His mystical practices and the insights which they brought him were important in Dipanagara's view of himself, almost surely in the view which many of his supporters took towards him, and certainly in the estimations of him by later scholars. Several later writers have considered Dipanagara's religious views but their discussions have per haps tended to obscure the issue. A reconsideration of Dipanagara's own description of the beginning of his career may shed some light in this obscurity. Serat Babad Dipanagaran was composed by Dipanagara after he was exiled to Menado in 1830. It was published in part by Albert Rusche & Co., Surakarta, in two volumes and at least three editions (1908-09, 1914, 1917). The text given at the end of this article is from the third edition of 1917.1 From this babad was produced a Dutch translation which was largely the work of Palmer van den Broek although some parts were translated also by others. It has never been published.2 This Dutch version, which seems to contain some inaccuracies, was employed by two commentators neither of whom knew Javanese, the great military