War, Culture and Economy in Java, 1677-1726: Asian and European Imperialism in the Early Kartasura Period

by M.C. Ricklefs

When the Dutch East India Company (VOC) intervened in a civil war in Java in 1677, no one knew that 50 years of inconclusive conflict would follow. The VOC brought to Java the technological advances of 17th century European warfare, which the Javanese eagerly adopted. Yet this ready transfer of technology was not accompanied by any significant cultural cringe on the European or Javanese side. Meanwhile, the VOC endeavoured to redirect the Javanese economy to its advantage. Its intervention in Java remained a financial disaster for the VOC and led to unprecendented burdens on Javanese society. A spiral of intervention, resistance and rebellion was thus entrenched. Professor Ricklefs shows that the juxtaposing of war, culture and economy in the history of VOC Javanese relations in the later 17th and early 18th centuries sheds important light on events in Java and also on cross-cultural relations more generally. By drawing comparisons with Japan and India in the same period, and with later Western interventions in non-Western societies, he asks whether there is not a more general causal connection among the transfer of military technology, economic and social structures, and cultural integrity. "War, culture and economy in Java 1677-1726" attempts to make a major contribution to the histiography of Indonesia and, more broadly, of Asia in the pre-colonial period, while raising important questions concerning the history of Asian-Western relations in general.

Genres: History

425 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Merle Calvin Ricklefs

Reviews

[Anang Ma'Ruf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ingin baca buku ini tapi dimana?

[Nanto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ingin mereview buku ini namun belum sempat. Tinggal beberapa bab terakhir nafas ini keburu sengal. Ceritanya cukup bagus karena didasarkan pada dua sumber tradisional dan Barat. Beberapa detil kisah bahkan bertentangan dengan tutur tinular yang berkembang.

Tapi bukan itu yang menarik. Tidak menarik kalau kita hanya kembali mengulang kisah VOC masuk ke dalam kancah politik Istana Mataram yang berbuntut pada pecahnya Mataram. Yang lebih manarik adalah jika dikurun pergantian abad ini dunia dikejutkan dengan Neoliberalisme, bangkitnya semangat koporatokrasi, dunia Jawa telah diacak-acak oleh korporatokrasi lain sehingga tidak lagi berdaulat kecuali sebagai kerajaaan seremonial. Bah...! Jasmerah! (jangan sekali-kali melupakan sejarah!).