Battle of Gegodog

Last updated
Battle of Gegodog
Part of the Trunajaya rebellion
Date13 October 1676
Location
Gegodog (east of Tuban, present day East Java, Indonesia)
Result Rebel victory
Belligerents
Forces of Trunajaya Flag of the Sultanate of Mataram.svg Mataram Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Trunajaya
Karaeng Galesong
Flag of the Sultanate of Mataram.svg Pangeran Adipati Anom (Amangkurat II)
Flag of the Sultanate of Mataram.svg Pangeran Purbaya  
Flag of the Sultanate of Mataram.svg Pangeran Singasari
Strength
9,000 [1] Unknown, much larger. [1]

The Battle of Gegodog (also spelled Battle of Gogodog) took place on 13 October 1676 during the Trunajaya rebellion, and resulted in the victory of the rebel forces over the Mataram army led by the Crown Prince Pangeran Adipati Anom. Gegodog is located on the northeastern coast of Java, east of Tuban.

Contents

Prior to the battle, Trunajaya invaded eastern Java and occupied Surabaya and other towns. King Amangkurat I sent an army to face him, led by the crown prince. The crown prince expected a sham battle from Trunajaya, his former protégé. However, Trunajaya offered a real fight which resulted in a decisive victory over the much larger royal army. The royal army was routed, and the king's elderly uncle Pangeran Purbaya was killed after leading a futile charge. The rebel victory was followed by further successes - including more conquests and the defections of Mataram subjects to Trunajaya's side.

Background

Prior to the rebellion, the Madurese nobleman Trunajaya lived in exile in Mataram and had a close relation with the crown prince of Mataram (then known as Pangeran Adipati Anom, future Amangkurat II). Trunajaya's father-in-law and a prominent nobleman Raden Kajoran had introduced him to the crown prince in 1670. [2] Both had a grudge against King Amangkurat I, the crown prince over the execution of Pangeran Pekik, the prince's maternal grandfather, [3] and Trunajaya over his exile and the execution of his father. [2] [4] The two forged a friendship, partly due to this mutual dislike. [2] In 1670 or 1671, Trunajaya left Mataram for his homeland Madura and became its ruler. [2] He used the crown prince's patronage (as well as his own family's name) to gain followers which allowed him to wrest control of the island. [2]

The Trunajaya rebellion began in 1674 as Trunajaya's forces conducted raids against the cities under Mataram control. [5] In 1676, a rebel army of 9,000 invaded East Java from their base in Madura, and took Surabaya – the principal city of East Java – shortly after. [1] The army consisted of East Javanese, Madurese and Makassarese and was led by Trunajaya and his Makassarese ally Karaeng Galesong. [1]

Battle

Java location map plain.svg
Red pog.svg
Gegodog
Location of the battle in Java

In 1676, the King decided to send a large army to suppress the rebellion. [6] The army was much larger than Trunajaya's, but was predominantly made up of conscripted peasants. [7] [8] [9] It also included West Javanese auxiliaries. [10] The king put the crown prince in charge of this army; he was either unaware of the crown prince's role in the rebellion or planned to have him murdered during the campaign. [6] Other princes also joined the army, including the King's uncle Pangeran Purbaya, Sultan Agung's only remaining brother who was almost 80 years old, as well as another son of the king Pangeran Singasari who was the crown prince's archenemy. [11] [12]

The Mataram army marched to Jepara, and then eastwards towards territories controlled by the rebels. [10] It met the rebel army in Gegodog, east of Tuban on the north coast of eastern Java. [10] The Crown Prince initially expected that he and his protégé Trunajaya would only fight a sham battle and then both forces would join against the King. [6] [8] However, Trunajaya betrayed his former friend and patron, and the presence of other princes might have prevented the crown prince from faking the battle. [6] [8] [12] After a long wavering, the prince ordered an attack on 13 October. [10] Trunajaya offered a real battle, which went badly for the royal army. [6] In a desperate effort, the aged Pangeran Purbaya rallied the troops and led a final charge. [11] According to Thomas Stamford Raffles, he "performed extraordinary feats of valour", had his horse shot from under him and continued to fight on foot, before he was overpowered and slain. [11] [10] The charge failed, and the battle ended in a decisive victory for the rebels. Mataram troops disintegrated and retreated, along with the Crown Prince and other princes, towards the capital. [11] [10]

Aftermath

After the rebel victory, Javanese defection to Trunajaya's side accelerated, and Trunajaya followed up his victory by further conquests of Mataram's territories. His forces advanced westward along the northern coast, and by January 1677 nearly all of Mataram's northern coast, with the notable exception of Jepara, had fallen into his hands. [10] [8] Towns as far west as Cirebon submitted to Trunajaya. [10] Jepara did not fall due to the united efforts of the king's military governor there and VOC forces who arrived there from Batavia. [10] The inland advance was slower, but rebel forces under Raden Kajoran would ultimately overrun and sack the capital in June 1677.

For Mataram, the defeat was disastrous. [10] After the battle, Mataram could only wage a defensive campaign. [8] Its territories, expanded by Sultan Agung decades before, would fall into rebel hands, laid in ruin and their fortifications dismantled, [10] culminating in the fall of the capital. [13] The rebellion would continue for several more years, and Mataram would be forced to request assistance from the Dutch East India Company (VOC) - in exchange for geopolitical and financial compensations - to turn the tide of the war.

The crown prince was blamed for the defeat and was accused of colluding with the enemy. [10] After Gedogog, he was replaced by his brothers, Pangeran Martasana and Pangeran Puger, in leading the Mataram forces. [8] After the fall of the capital he fled with his father, and upon his father's death during the retreat, he took the throne as Amangkurat II.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mataram Sultanate</span> Kingdom on the island of Java (1586–1755)

The Sultanate of Mataram was the last major independent Javanese kingdom on the island of Java before it was colonised by the Dutch. It was the dominant political force radiating from the interior of Central Java from the late 16th century until the beginning of the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amangkurat I of Mataram</span> Susuhunan of Mataram (1646–1677)

Amangkurat I was the susuhunan of the Mataram Sultanate from 1646 to 1677.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amangkurat II of Mataram</span> Susuhunan of Mataram (1677–1703)

Amangkurat II was the susuhunan of the Sultanate of Mataram from 1677 to 1703. Before taking the throne, he was the crown prince and had the title Pangeran Adipati Anom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plered</span> Location of former Javanese palace in Bantul, Indonesia

Plered was the location of the palace of Amangkurat I of Mataram (1645–1677). Amangkurat moved the capital there from the nearby Karta in 1647. During the Trunajaya rebellion, the capital was occupied and sacked by the rebels, and Amangkurat died during the retreat from the capital. His son and successor Amangkurat II later moved the capital to Kartasura. It was twice occupied by Diponegoro, during the Java War (1825–1830) between his forces and the Dutch. The Dutch assaulted the walled complex in June 1826, which was Diponegoro's first major defeat in the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Java War (1741–1743)</span> Armed struggle against Dutch colonialism

The Java War of 1741 to 1743 was an armed struggle by a joint Chinese and Javanese army against the Dutch East India Company and pro-Dutch Javanese that took place in central and eastern Java. Ending in victory for the Dutch, the war led to the fall of the Sultanate of Mataram and, indirectly, the founding of both the Sunanate of Surakarta and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Untung Surapati</span> Indonesian war fighter

Untung Suropati also Untung Surapati was a warfighter in the East Indies who led a few rebellions against the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Some of his exploits were written in Babad Tanah Jawi.

The First Javanese War of Succession was a struggle between Sultan Amangkurat III of Mataram and the Dutch East India Company who supported the claim of the Sultan's uncle, Pangeran Puger to the throne.

The Second Javanese War of Succession was a struggle between Sultan Amangkurat IV of Mataram supported by the Dutch East India Company against the rebellion of rival Princes who contested his right for the throne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trunajaya</span> 17th-century Javanese prince and warlord

Trunajaya (Madurese) or Tronajâyâ, also known as Panembahan Maduretno, was a prince and warlord from Arosbaya, Bangkalan, Madura, known for leading the Trunajaya rebellion (1674–1681) against the rulers of the Mataram Sultanate on the island of Java.

Pakubuwono I, uncle of Amangkurat III of Mataram was a combatant for the succession of the Mataram dynasty, both as a co-belligerent during the Trunajaya rebellion, and the First Javanese War of Succession (1704–1707).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trunajaya rebellion</span> 1674–80 failed revolt in Java

The Trunajaya Rebellion or Trunajaya War was the ultimately unsuccessful rebellion waged during the 1670s by the Madurese prince Trunajaya and fighters from Makassar against the Mataram Sultanate and its Dutch East India Company (VOC) supporters in Java.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Surabaya (1677)</span> Battle during the Trunajaya rebellion

The Battle of Surabaya was fought in May 1677 during the Trunajaya rebellion, in which the Dutch East India Company defeated the forces of Trunajaya and took Surabaya on behalf of its ally, the Mataram Sultanate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fall of Plered</span>

The Fall of Plered was the capture of the capital of the Mataram Sultanate by the rebel forces loyal to Trunajaya in late June 1677. The attack on Plered followed a series of rebel victories, notably in the Battle of Gegodog and the fall of most of Mataram's northern coast. The aged and sick King Amangkurat I and his sons offered an ineffective defense, and the rebels overran the capital on or around 28 June. The capital was plundered and its wealth taken to the rebel capital in Kediri. The loss of the capital led to the collapse of the Mataram government and the flight of the royal family. The king fled with his son the crown prince and a small retinue to Tegal and died there, passing the kingship to the crown prince, now titled Amangkurat II, without any army or treasury.

After his victory at the Battle of Gegodog in northeast Java, the Madurese rebel leader Trunajaya proceeded westwards to conquer Mataram Sultanate's remaining towns on the north coast of Java. By January 1677, nearly all coastal towns from Surabaya to Cirebon were taken.

Pangeran Pekik was a Javanese prince, and son of the last Duke of Surabaya, Jayalengkara. After the Mataram conquest of Surabaya, he was forced to live in Mataram court. He was executed in 1659 on the orders of Mataram's King Amangkurat I, who suspected him of conspiracy.

Raden Kajoran, also Panembahan Rama was a Javanese Muslim nobleman and a major leader of the Trunajaya rebellion against the Mataram Sultanate. He led the rebel forces which overran and sacked Plered, Mataram's capital in June 1677. In September 1679, his forces were defeated by the combined Dutch, Javanese, and Bugis forces under Sindu Reja and Jan Albert Sloot in a battle in Mlambang, near Pajang. Kajoran surrendered but was executed under Sloot's orders.

I Maninrori Kare Tojeng, also known as Karaeng Galesong, was a Makassarese nobleman and warrior, and a major leader of the Trunajaya rebellion in Java against the Mataram Sultanate. He participated in the successful invasion of East Java and the subsequent rebel victory at Battle of Gegodog (1676). He later fell out with Trunajaya, and built a stronghold in Kakaper, East Java. Dutch East India Company (VOC) and Bugis forces took Kakaper in October 1679, but Galesong escaped and rejoined Trunajaya. He died on 21 November 1679, either by illness or murdered by Trunajaya, before the rebellion ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1678 Kediri campaign</span> Dutch-Mataram campaign in Java

In a campaign that took place from August to December 1678 in Kediri during the Trunajaya rebellion, the forces of the Mataram Sultanate, led by Amangkurat II, and of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), led by Anthonio Hurdt, marched inland into eastern Java against Trunajaya's forces. After a series of marches beset by logistical difficulties and harassment by Trunajaya's forces, the Mataram–VOC army crossed the Brantas River on the night of 16–17 November. They then marched on Trunajaya's capital and stronghold at Kediri and took it by direct assault on 25 November. Kediri was plundered by the Dutch and Javanese victors, and the Mataram treasury—captured by Trunajaya after his victory at Plered—was completely lost in the looting. Trunajaya himself fled Kediri and continued his greatly weakened rebellion until his capture at the end of 1679.

Hermanus Johannes de Graaf was a Dutch historian specialising in the history of Java, Indonesia, the world's most populous island. Trained as historian at Leiden University, he moved to Batavia to take a government job, and later became a teacher for various schools in Indonesia. At the same time, he pursued his interest in the history of Indonesia and published books and articles on the topic. After a brief assignment at the University of Indonesia, he returned to the Netherlands. He taught at various institutions, including Leiden, until 1967 and continued to publish scholarly works, even after his retirement. He suffered a serious stroke in 1982 and died two years later.

Anthonio Hurdt was a Dutch East India Company (VOC) officer active in what is now Indonesia in the seventeenth century. He was initially assigned in civilian positions in Eastern Indonesia, the latest of which was the VOC Governor of Ambon. He was then posted to Java—in Western Indonesia—to lead the Kediri campaign against Trunajaya. After a protracted march slowed by logistical challenges, VOC and its ally Mataram overran Trunajaya and took his stronghold and court at Kediri, 25 November 1678. After the campaign he served in Batavia, becoming Director-General of the VOC in the Indies from 1684 to 1687, when he was expelled due to a dispute with Governor-General Joannes Camphuys.

References

Citations

Bibliography