Priyayi was the Dutch-era class of the nobles of the robe, as opposed to royal nobility or ningrat (Javanese), in Java, Indonesia. Priyayi is a Javanese word originally denoting the descendants of the adipati or governors, the first of whom were appointed in the 17th century by the Sultan Agung of Mataram to administer the principalities he had conquered. Initially court officials in pre-colonial kingdoms, the priyayi moved into the colonial civil service and then on to administrators of the modern Indonesian republic.
Sarekat Islam or Syarikat Islam was an Indonesian socio-political organization founded at the beginning of the 20th Century during the Dutch colonial era. Initially, SI served as a cooperative of Muslim Javanese batik traders to compete with the Chinese-Indonesian big traders. From there, SI rapidly evolved into a nationalist political organization that demanded self-governance against the Dutch colonial regime and gained wide popular support. SI was especially active during the 1910s and the early 1920s. By 1916, it claimed 80 branches with a total membership of around 350,000.
Ruhana Kuddus, or Rohana Kudus was the first female Indonesian journalist, founder of the newspaper Soenting Melajoe, and an activist for women's emancipation.
Marco Kartodikromo, also known by his pen name Mas Marco, was an Indonesian journalist and writer.
The East Sumatra revolution, also known as the East Sumatra social revolution, began on 3 March 1946. Across 25 "native states", many sultanates were overthrown and mass killing of members of the aristocratic families were performed by armed pergerakan groups. To the opportunistic pergerakan militants, the revolutionary movement was seen as one of the means for East Sumatra to be freed from colonial overlordship and to join the larger Indonesian National Revolution. Participants of the revolution were believed to be provoked by leaders to kill aristocrats and create violence. These belligerents had three prime objectives: to eliminate the sultans and aristocrats, to seize their wealth and to eliminate the region's feudal social structure. The revolution brought about the formation of the State of East Sumatra, which was dissolved when the region became part of the Indonesian republic.
Pembrita Betawi was a daily newspaper from Batavia, Dutch East Indies, which was published from 1884 until 1916. Established as a joint venture between the Indo journalists J. Kieffer and W. Meulenhoff, the newspaper saw several changes of ownership until rights were acquired by Albrecht in 1887. Notable contributors include Lie Kim Hok and Tirto Adhi Soerjo.
Tirto Adhi Soerjo was an Indonesian journalist known for his sharp criticism of the Dutch colonial government. Born to a noble Javanese family in Blora, Central Java, Tirto first studied to become a doctor but later focused on journalism. A freelancer since 1894, in 1902 he was made an editor of the Batavia based Pembrita Betawi. Tirto established his first newspaper in 1903 and, four years later, created Medan Prijaji as a medium for educated native Indonesians. This proved his longest-lived publication, lasting over five years before Tirto was exiled in 1912 to Bacan for his staunch anti-colonial criticism.
Soerjopranoto was an Indonesian politician and labor leader. He founded and lead the Personeel Fabriek Bond (PFB), a labor union associated with the Sarekat Islam movement, of which he was a member of from 1915 to 1933. He was dubbed "The Strike King" by the Dutch press for his involvement in the labor movement. He was also the elder brother of Ki Hajar Dewantara, a pro-independence activist and nationalist. Following his death, Soerjopranoto was proclaimed a national hero by President Sukarno.
Wahidin Soedirohoesodo (1852-1917) was a doctor and education reformer in the Dutch East Indies who co-founded the Javanese self-improvement society Budi Utomo. Therefore, he is sometimes considered an early figure in the Indonesian National Awakening. In 1973 he was declared a National Hero of Indonesia.
Mohammad Misbach, commonly known as Haji Misbach, was a communist and Islamic activist from Surakarta, Dutch East Indies. He was a leading member of the left wing of the Sarekat Islam organization in the 1910s and famously advocated for the compatibility of Islam and communism.
Footsteps is the third novel in the Buru Quartet tetralogy by the Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer. The tetralogy fictionalizes the life of Tirto Adhi Soerjo, an Indonesian nobleman and pioneering journalist. This installment covers the life of Minke – the first-person narrator and protagonist, based on Tirto Adhi Soerjo – after his move from Surabaya to Batavia, the capital of Dutch East Indies. The original Indonesian edition was published in 1985 and an English translation by Max Lane was published in 1990.
Tjahaja Timoer was a Malay-language Peranakan newspaper printed in Malang, Dutch East Indies, from 1907 to 1942.
Djawi-Hisworo was a newspaper printed in Surakarta, Dutch East Indies from 1909 to 1919 in Malay and Javanese. It was considered the mouthpiece of the early Javanese self-improvement organization Boedi Oetomo.
Selompret Melajoe was one of the first Malay language newspapers to publish in the Dutch East Indies. It was printed in Semarang, Central Java from 1860 to 1920.
Soenting Melajoe was a Malay language newspaper published in Padang, Sumatra's Westkust Regency, Dutch East Indies from 1912 to 1921. Its full title was Soenting Melajoe: soerat chabar perempoean di Alam Minang Kabau. It was edited by Ruhana Kuddus, an early women's education activist, and was the first newspaper for women published in West Sumatra.
Aliarcham (c.1901-1933) was a Sarekat Islam and Indonesian Communist Party party leader, activist and theoretician in the Dutch East Indies. He was a major figure behind the PKI's turn to more radical policies in the mid-1920s. He was arrested by Dutch authorities in 1925 and exiled to the Boven-Digoel concentration camp, where he died in 1933. He became a well-known Martyr, especially among Communists and Indonesian nationalists.
Pewarta Deli was a Malay language newspaper published in Medan, Dutch East Indies from 1910 until 1941, and again from 1945–6. During its run the paper became a strident anti-colonial voice, sympathetic to the Sarekat Islam and Indonesian nationalism and critical of the cruelty of big business in Medan's tobacco and plantation industries. It also gave space in its pages to Communism and Islamic modernism. The paper had a wide readership in its time, with an influence not only in the Indies, but also among Malays in British Malaya.
Censorship in the Dutch East Indies was significantly stricter than in the Netherlands, as the freedom of the press guaranteed in the Constitution of the Netherlands did not apply in the country's overseas colonies. Before the twentieth century, official censorship focused mainly on Dutch-language materials, aiming at protecting the trade and business interests of the colony and the reputation of colonial officials. In the early twentieth century, with the rise of Indonesian nationalism, censorship also encompassed materials printed in local languages such as Malay and Javanese, and enacted a repressive system of arrests, surveillance and deportations to combat anti-colonial sentiment.
Abdoe'lxarim M. S., who was born Abdoel Karim bin Moehamad Soetan, was a journalist and Communist Party of Indonesia leader. He was interned in Boven-Digoel concentration camp from 1927 to 1932. During World War II, he collaborated with the Japanese and became an important figure in recruiting support for them in Sumatra; after their defeat he then became a key figure in the anti-Dutch republican forces during the Indonesian National Revolution.
Sinar Sumatra was a Malay-language newspaper published in Padang, Dutch East Indies from 1905 to around 1941 or 1942. It is generally considered a Peranakan Chinese publication, although it had European publishers and Minangkabau editors as well. During the pre-World War II period it was one of the most widely-read Malay language newspapers in Sumatra.
