Discover

Sri Sultan 'Hamengkubuwono I', born Raden Mas Sujana (d. 1792), was the first sultan of Yogyakarta.
He was the brother of Mataram ruler, Pakubuwono II of Surakarta. He was famous as Prince Mangkubumi before becoming a sultan of Yogyakarta Sultanate. He was son of Sunan Prabu of Mataram. Because of a dispute about the throne, he challenged Pakubuwono II who was helped by the Dutch East India Company. This war was known as the 'third succession war in Mataram'.
During the war, Prince Mangkubumi with his army commander in chief Raden Mas Said, acted as a genius strategic expert. He won the battles in Grobogan, Demak, and Bogowonto River. In Bogowonto River, the Dutch Army under De Clerck was destroyed in 1751. Before that, in 1749, Pakubuwono II died and the Crown Prince became king. In the later days, Raden Mas Said disputed with Prince Mangkubumi and he was granted land and title Mangkunegara.
The succession war ended when the Giyanti Treaty was signed in 1755 in Giyanti, east of Surakarta, the Mataram capital. According to the treaty Mataram was divided into two kingdoms, Surakarta with Pakubuwono III as ruler, and Yogyakarta Sultanate with Prince Mangkubumi as sultan with the title Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I Senopati Ing Ngalaga Sayidin Panatagama Kalifatulah. Yogyakarta became capital and the new palace was built. The sultan also built Taman Sari, the water castle in the west of his palace.
He died in 1792 and was buried in Astana Kasuwargan in Imogiri. He was succeeded by Hamengkubuwono II, his son.

Contents

Further reading

Further reading

★ Ricklefs, M.C. (1974) ''Jogjakarta under Sultan Mangkubumi, 1749–1792: A history of the division of Java'' . London Oriental Series, vol. 30. London : Oxford University Press, (Revised Indonesian edition 2002)