Puputan Bayu

CHAPTER FOUR
PUPUTAN BAYU: THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
IN BLAMBANGAN, 1771-1773


Introduction
With the capture of Pangeran Wilis in 1768, the rebellion against the
VOC in Blambangan ended and peace could finally be restored. The
Company banished all of the rebel leaders to the island of Banda,
including the first two Regents installed by the VOC, Mas Uno and
Mas Anom. However, the intractable problem of deep-seated ethnic
and religious sentiments simmered on as potentially disruptive
elements which might spark new political disturbances in Blambangan.
The attention paid by the Company to the rebellion of Pangeran Wilis
extended only to its origins from the political point of view. The
disturbing factor was the intervention of the Balinese in Blambangan
politics. Weighing up the significant role played by the Balinese in the
rebellion, the Dutch administration surmised that the former would
always be potential supporters of the Blambangan people in their
resistance to further attempts by the Company to establish itself in this
region. The religious factor and the primordial linkage between the
Balinese and the Blambangan people were believed to be the key
factors which guaranteed Balinese support. A large number of the
Blambangan royal family were of Balinese origin, and in the eyes of
the Balinese, Blambangan represented the last buffer against the
expansion of Islam into the island of Bali. Anxious to prevent any
pretext for intervention by the Balinese and any recrudescence of an
anti-Dutch movement in Blambangan, the Company authorities in
Java’s Oosthoek devised the idea of encouraging the Islamizing of the
Blambangan people. This policy was engineered to stifle ideological
sentiment and attempt to eliminate primordial relationships between
the two realms.
As might have been expected, this policy raised considerable
obstacles to the introduction of law and order to the newly conquered
region. The Islamization of Blambangan proved to be contraproductive
for the maintenance of the peace. For more than two


CHAPTER FOUR
120
centuries, the people of Blambangan had strongly opposed the twin
spectres of Islamization and Javanese colonialism, the two bugbears
aroused by recurrent endeavours made by Javanese-Muslim rulers of
Mataram and their vassals to exert control over the region.
Colonization campaigns by the Javanese kings had alienated the
Blambangan people, draining them of any ethnic sentiment of being
Javanese; professing to be Javanese by this time meant being both
Muslim and colonized.
In 1768 Sutanagara was installed as the new Regent of Blambangan
by the Company. Although Sutanagara accepted the appointment, he
must have experienced profound difficulty in renouncing his faith,
Hinduism, to which he was devoted, and no less pain in disavowing his
genealogical relationships with the Balinese. If he were to comply with
Gezaghebber Luzac’s scheme, he had to convert himself and his people
to Islam. This pressure deeply affected Sutanagara’s good relationship
with the Company which had been running smoothly since the
outbreak of the rebellion of Pangeran Wilis. This impossible situation
forced Sutanagara to take desperate action: he launched a rebellion
against the Company. The Balinese once again were suspected of
being the main supporters of this newly staged rebellion.
The colonial administration faced no significant problem in dealing
with its former ally. Sutanagara’s plan to mount an uprising was quickly
discovered, and measures put in place to deal with it. Once again no
real lesson was learned and grave error was committed when a few
Javanese Muslims from Surabaya were posted to the administration in
Blambangan. The appointment of these non-Blambangan people
encouraged yet another vehement upsurge in anti-Javanese ethnic
sentiment. The clash between this time-honoured sentiment and the
economic extortion practised by the Dutch and the new Regent
inevitably provoked another massive rebellion, inspired by the twin
ideologies of nativism (localism) and revivalism. The rebellion was
centred on Bayu, a mountainous area in the north-west of
Blambangan. A man who called himself ‘Pangeran Wilis’ or ‘Susuhunan
Jagapati’ emerged as its leader. This was the biggest rebellion ever to
occur under VOC rule at Blambangan. It took more than two years,
1771-1773 to quash the rebellion. This chapter examines the origins of
the rebellion of Susuhunan Jagapati who is called the Gewaande Wilis
(the supposed-Wilis).


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
121
Setting: Blambangan as Religious Frontier
To acquire a better understanding of the ethnic and religious sentiment
prevalent among the Blambangan people, it is essential to look back at
the history of Blambangan in the sixteenth century when the people in
this region were introduced to Islam and Christianity for the first time.
This was an epoch which witnessed dramatic changes in Javanese
political and cultural life. The Kingdom Majapahit finally collapsed in
the 1530s. On the north coast of Java, Demak, the first Islamic
kingdom in the island, was established in 1513. Ten years later of the
former Majapahit territory was already Islamized at least nominally.
Tuban and Kediri accepted Islam in 1527 and Surabaya three years
later. With the fall of Majapahit, Blambangan was left as the only
Hindu kingdom in Java. As the realm crumbled, most of the very
devout Hindu community in former Majapahit territory moved to the
east, to such areas as Pasuruhan, Panarukan, Blambangan, and Bali. In
1545, Demak failed in its efforts to Islamize Panarukan by exercising
its military power, but its endeavours to Islamize Blambangan
continued unabated. The Babad Blambangan describes how, during the
reign of Santa Guna (around 1575), a young Arab Muslim, Sayid Iskhak
or Seh Walilanang, arrived in Blambangan via Ampeldenta (Surabaya).
His main goal was to convert the King of Blambangan. It so happened
that the king’s daughter, who was gravely ill, was healed by this Seh
Walilanang. As a reward, the King granted the Muslim cleric his
daughter as his wife. This was as far as he was prepared to go and he
steadfastly refused to convert to Islam. Deeply disappointed Seh
Walilanang left Blambangan and abandoned his wife who was
pregnant. After his departure an epidemic raged throughout the
kingdom. Just at that time, Seh Walilanang’s wife gave birth to the
baby, but the King set the baby adrift on the sea to save him from the
scourge of the disease. Fortunately, the baby was rescued and fostered
by Nyai Gede Pinatih, the rich widow of Ki Samboja, a Blambangan
priest who had been expelled from this kingdom. Later, the baby was
known as Raden Paku or Sunan Giri,1 a holy man and one of the nine
prominent wali or saints who are believed to have proselytized Islam in
Java.
Two Central Javanese chronicles, the Serat Kanda and the Babad
Tanah Djawi which describe the Islamization of Blambangan, infer that
the arrival of Seh Walilanang took place much earlier, namely during
1 Winarsih Arifin, Babad Blambangan,(Yogyakarta: Bentang Budaya, 1995).


CHAPTER FOUR
122
the administration of Menak Dadaliputih who was said to be the son of
Bhre Wirabumi.2 This latter version also recounts that Seh Walilanang
failed to induce the King to accept Islam, and that the King actually
wanted to execute him. To save his life, Seh Walilanang fled from
Blambangan leaving behind his wife who was pregnant. Once born,
the baby was cast adrift because the King refused to foster a child
whose father was a Muslim.
Presumably both accounts were written by Muslim writers
(pujangga). It seems the word ‘epidemic’ or ‘disease’ was used
symbolically. It is an analogy for the old faith of Blambangan,
Hinduism. The disappearance of the epidemic after the arrival of Seh
Walilanang was a sign that he had succeeded in Islamizing the people
of Blambangan. In these versions the cleric persuades the King’s
daughter to convert but he fails to make any impression at all on the
King himself. The epidemic broke out again after his departure which
can be interpreted to mean that the Blambangan people reverted to
their old religion. The casting out of the baby is a symbol of the
opposition to the Islamic element. Once again, symbolism is used by
the writer of the Babad Blambangan to describe the recalcitrant reaction
to Islamization.
Around the 1570s, after a few decades under Balinese control,
Blambangan was reoccupied by the dynasty of Lembu Miruda. The
name of the new ruler was Santa Guna or Menak Cablang. He was the
son of Menak Cucu of Candi Bang, the brother of Menak Pentor. In
1575, Panarukan was conquered by Muslim people (probably from
Surabaya), but was later recaptured by King Santaguna. In 1584, when
Portuguese merchants arrived at Panarukan, they were allowed by
Santaguna to buy slaves to be taken to Malaka. A Portuguese
settlement was established in Panarukan and the Capucin order even
established a church and monastery there, and four Portuguese
missionaries arrived there five year later to run this religious
establishment. The Crown Prince of Blambangan was converted to
Christianity, but he caught campak (measles) and died. These
Portuguese missionaries also succeeded in converting one Blambangan
Hindu cleric, which aroused such antagonistic Hindu religious
sentiment that one of the Portuguese priests was murdered.
In 1587 Pasuruan, the most peripheral territory of western
Blambangan, was conquered by Senapati of Mataram. In 1588 the son
2 C. Lekkerkerker, ‘Blambangan’, De Indische Gids, vol. ii, (Amsterdam: De Bussy,
1923).


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
123
of Santaguna came to power after the abdication of his father. In 1596-
1597, war broke out between Blambangan and Pasuruan. In his
journals (2 April-1595 – 13 June 1597), a member of the first Dutch
fleet to visit the archipelago, Frank der Does, writes he was informed
by the Blambangan noblemen that the Regent of Pasuruan had
requested the hand of the daughter of the King of Blambangan (at that
time Thomas Cavendish was there). The latter complied with the
request, but after the wedding night the Blambanganese princess was
murdered by her own husband. This was the immediate cause of the
outbreak of a war between the two parties between. In his journal, Van
der Does emphasizes that the murder of the Blambangan princess had
to do with her refusal to convert to Islam. This war was also recorded
in the log of the voyage of the first Dutch fleet to the East Indies
(1595-97).3 The log reports that the Dutch arrived at Blambangan on
17 January 1597, but that they could not obtain any provisions,
because that place had been besieged by 8,000 men from Pasuruan for
three months. When Blambangan called upon assistance of the Kings
of Gelgel (Klungkung) Bali, Lombok, and Sumbawa, the request for
military assistance elicited no response, so that the King had to repeat
his appeal, this time promising to pay an annual tribute and to
surrender autonomous power. The Dutch ship encountered the
Balinese armies massed at Gilimanuk Bay, and Blambangan was
blockaded from the sea. In Bali (Loloan, Jembrana, and Kuta, Badung)
the Dutch also failed to find any provisions and fresh water, because
all attention was directed towards the expedition of 20,000 troops to
rescue Blambangan from the Muslim siege. During the war, the
Portuguese establishment in Panarukan was destroyed and in 1599 all
the Portuguese missionaries had to leave Blambangan.4 The war ended
with the defeat of Blambangan by the Balinese, followed by the
collapse of the kingdom in 1597.5 All the court families were put to the
sword, and the Balinese, Mas Kriyan, assumed power in Blambangan.
3 Jarig Cornelis Mollema, De eerste schipvaart der Hollanders naar Oost-Indië, 1595-1597,
('s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff, 1935).
4 About 2 kilometres from the town of Panarukan, a fortress was built in the village
of Kuta Bedah (Ravaged Town) to commemorate this event.
5 Olivier van Noort, who visited Jaratan Gresik on 3 February 1601, also mentions
the conquest of Blambangan. He writes that Blambangan had been conquered and
the Hindus king and his whole family were assassinated. See J. K. J. De Jonge, De
Opkomst van het Nederlandsch gezag in Nederlandsch-Indië, vol ii, (‘s-Gravenhage, 1862-
1909), 201. Other European travellers who visited Blambangan were Francis Drake
in 1580 and Thomas Cavendish in 1588. Drake calls the king Radja Denan, whereas


CHAPTER FOUR
124
Until the first half of the eighteenth century, Blambangan was
neither Christianized nor Islamized although it was briefly conquered
by Mataram between 1625 and 1636. Dutch envoys who visited
Blambangan in 1691 and again in 1736, witnessed that the two
mightiest Kings of Blambangan, Tawangalun and Danureja, were still
Hindu. Pigeaud, who refers to their reports writes:
From the reports of contemporary Dutch visitors it can be said with some
certainty that the bodies of Tawangalun, who had been the Susuhunan and
of Pangeran Danureja were cremated after their deaths in 1679 and 1736.
Therefore it may be concluded that that these kings of the line of
Tawangalun had not converted to Islam.6
The influence of Islam on the Blambangan royal family only began
to emit faint signals during the reign of Pangeran Adipati Danuningrat
or Pangeran Pati (1736-1764). Local and Dutch sources, both mention
that Danuningrat, was still a Hindu. Gezaghebber Breton observed that
when he met him in Pasuruan in 1763, the Blambangan King ate no
beef as this was normally a dietary prohibition in Hinduism, but he did
have a Muslim spiritual advisor.7 Perhaps, after he had lived a few
weeks in Pasuruan and few months in Lumajang, he had been
introduced more closely to Islamic doctrine because the rulers of both
regencies were Muslim. There is one single shred of evidence which
explicitly states that Danuningrat converted to Islam before his
banishment to Bali. The historical artefacts found in Seseh (Bali) do
suggest either that Danuningrat indeed converted to Islam or that the
local Hindu people had regarded him as a Muslim. It is widely
accepted that his tomb in Seseh is a Muslim grave because his body
was buried and not cremated.
Cavendish reports the conquest of Blambangan and the condition of the
Portuguese settlement. He also mentions that the king was 100 year old and had
100 wives.
6 Door berichten van Hollandsche tijdgenooten staat voldoende vast, dat de
lichamen van den Tawangaloen, die Soenan was, en van Pangeran Danoeredjo, na
hun dood onderscheidenlijk in 1679-1736, verbrand zijn. Men mag dus wel
aannemen, dat deze Vorsten van het geslacht van Tawangaloen nog geen Moslims
waren. Th. Pigeuad, ‘Aantekeningen betreffende den Javaanschen Oosthoek’,
Tijdschrijft voor Indische Taal- Land en Volkunkende, vol LXXII, (1932), 249.
7 Engelhard Coll. 19b, Consideration over Blambangan by Hendrik Breton,
Surabaya 30 October 1763; See also Brandes, ‘Verslag over een Babad Blambangan’
TBG (1894), 325.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
125
Clues to the influence of Islam among the Blambangan court elite
can also be found in the local sources, as in the case of Pangeran Wilis,
the half-brother of Danuningrat, it is clearly stated in the Babad
Blambangan that, during his retreat in Pasisir Manis, Wilis was actively
reading the Islamic-Javanese text, the Suluk Sudarsih. Pigeaud who
scrutinized this chronicle offers a similar interpretation, saying that it
was quite likely that Danuningrat and his brother, Wilis, had converted
to Islam, or were seen to have done so by others. Pigeaud also believes
that the banishment of Danuningrat was retribution for his efforts to
make overtures to the Company, which was well known as the ally and
protector of the Central Javanese Kings and as kindly disposed
towards Islam.8
Sutanagara and the Islamization of Blambangan
After the banishment of Wilis, Mas Uno, and Mas Anom to Banda,
there were no longer any prominent figures from the Blambangan
royal families left who could exert a strong influence on the politics of
the kingdom. The only person who could maintain a prominent
political role was Mas Wasengsari, the son of Mas Ayu Tawi the older
sister of the last King of Blambangan, Danuningrat. Wasengsari
shared a genealogical relationship with the Islamic ruler of
Probolinggo, which makes it plausible to assume that he may have
displayed a more moderate attitude to Islam. His draw back was his
weak character and his political behaviour was strongly influenced by
Sutanagara. This situation was also the reason why the Company chose
Sutanagara instead of Wasengsari as the new Regent of Blambangan.
Although he did not share any genealogical relationship with the
Blambangan ruling dynasty, Sutanagara was the only senior politician
in Blambangan who had real power: shored up by a large number of
followers, he had displayed a good knowledge of the political
administration.
8 Het is dus wel waarschijnlijk, dat Pangeran Danoeningrat (Pangeran Pati), de laatste
Adipati, en zijn broeder Pangeran Wilis, reeds Moslim waren, of daarvoor
doorgingen. Misschien is hiermede in verband te brengen de verwijdering die er
ontstaan is tusschen dezen Adipati en zijn Balineesche beschermheeren, en de
aansluiting die hij zocht bij de Compagnie. Het is bekend dat de Compagnie in den
Oosthoek, als de bondgenoote en beschermster der Midden-Javaansche Vorsten,
beschouwd werd als den Islam zeer goed gezind. Piegaud, ‘Aantekeningen’, 252.


CHAPTER FOUR
126
Only a few pieces of evidence from the Dutch sources reveal
anything about the figure of Sutanagara. It said that he was the son of
a senior member of the Blambangan bureaucratic elite who had served
Pangeran Danureja who passed away in 1736. He was married to a
Balinese princess, perhaps from the family of the Gusti Agong of
Mengwi. There were at least four members of Balinese royal families
who shared genealogical ties with Sutanagara, namely: Gusti Bagus
Mariya; Gusti Bagus Lering; Tirtakusuma and Gusti Bagus Wayan. The
first three noblemen were his uncles, and the last his half-brother.9
Sutanagara also served Danuningrat as Patih. During the rebellion of
Pangeran Wilis, he played an important role in fighting against the rebels
on the Dutch side. When an internal dispute triggered by the anti-
Balinese party erupted at the court of Blambangan, he adopted an
opportunistic position, establishing a strategic political alignment with
Wasengsari. Sutanagara chose this political strategy to reach his goal of
succeeding Mas Anom and Mas Uno as Regent of Blambangan. When
he was finally appointed Regent, this did not make him completely
happy because he had to sacrifice his religion. As a Balinese by origin,
Sutanagara devoted his life to Hinduism. As the newly appointed
Regent he was forced to convert to Islam. 10
As mentioned above in passing, the idea of Islamizing Blambangan
had been the brainchild of Gezaghebber Pieter Luzac, perhaps with
support from the Madurese, Pasuruan, and Probolinggo rulers, but it
was apparently without the agreement of the High Government in
Batavia. Governor-General Van der Parra responded to this idea with
some anxiety, wondering whether this daring policy might not set off
serious trouble in the Oosthoek.
As Regent of the whole country of Blambangan, and introduced to the
people as such, but without him, by the strange whim of the said
Gezaghebber, having been persuaded to embrace the Mohammedan faith
much less to force either him or his associates to do so, he had to occupy
himself with the expulsion of priests who we had charged to be left
undisturbed in the observance of their religion.11
9 ANRI, Residency Archive of Banyuwangi 6, Name list of Pangeran, Gusti, Mas, and
the lower-ranking Blambangan court family who were descended from Gusti
Agong Mengwi, Ulupampang 22 May 1771
10 ‘Het heydendom verlatende, tot het Mahometanendom waren overgegaan’. De
Jonge, De Opkomst, vol. xi: p. xvii
11 Tot Regent van het geheele Balemboangse land aan en den volken als zoodanig
voorgesteld worden, maar ook zonder hem, naar het wonderlijk sentiment van den
Gezaghebber voormeld (Luzac) tot het Mahometaans geloof te persuaderen, veel


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
127
Another disappointment to Sutanagara was the refusal of the
Company to release his family from custody. During the rebellion of
Wilis, many of his family members of Balinese origin who fought on
the side of Pangeran Wilis were taken hostage. These factors
contributed to his jaundiced attitude towards the Company. In a secret
meeting held in the house of his Patih Suratruna, he gave his reasons
and expressed his eagerness to drive the Company out of Blambangan
by force:
I am skilled enough to do so, and I cannot rest, neither enjoy food nor
drink, before I have eradicated the Company because it has forcibly taken
away so many of my family here, my resolve shall not fail even if I must
suffer the same fate.12
A year after his appointment as Regent of Blambangan, he began
to hatch a plan for the rebellion. First, he sabotaged the Company
policy which aimed to introduce a new currency to Java’s Oosthoek. He
prevented the inhabitants from exchanging their kepeng for the new
coins introduced by the Dutch by sending his men into the villages to
collect all the kepeng owned by the inhabitants on the pretext these
would be exchanged for the Dutch doits 13 He also regularly started to
collect money and goods from the inhabitants on behalf of Resident
Biesheuvel and relieved his Patih, Wasengsasi of his job of collecting
cacah or pachtpenningen, transferring this task to his Second Patih,
Suratruna. Sutanagara also kept all the tribute and pachtpenningen
collected from the inhabitants for himself. According to the contract,
these should have been divided equally with the Second Regent
min hem of zijn aanstaande onderhorigen daartoe te dwingen, nog zig met het
verdrijven van priesters te bemoeyen, welke menschen wij gelast hebben
ongestoord in het oeffenen hunner godsdienst te laten. See Governor - General
Petrus Albertus van der Parra and the Council of the Indies to the Gentlemen
XVII, 31 December 1773. De Jonge, De Opkomst, vol. xi, 242
12 Ik ben daar in wijs genoeg te doen, en ik kan niet rusten, nog met smaak eeten of
drinken, voordat ik de Compagnie uitgeroeit heb, wijl ze zoo veele van mijne
familie van hier in gevangenis heeft weggevoert, zal ik in mijn voorneemen niet
aflaaten, al wist ik voor af ‘t zelfde lot te moeten ondergaan. See ANRI,
Banyuwangi 6, The Confession of the district chief of Kota, Jagakrasa, as reported
by the Committee of Investigation, 2 May 1771
13 ANRI, Banyuwangi 6, The confession of Suratruna, the former Patih of
Blambangan, as reported by the Committee of Investigation, 2 May 1771


CHAPTER FOUR
128
Wasengsari.14 He began to terrorize the Blambanganese converts to
Islam by forcing them to re-establish Hindu-Balinese ceremonies,
threatening them with capital punishment if they disobeyed.
Clandestine communications with the Balinese were set up as well.15 In
March 1771, Sutanagara received four Balinese envoys (among them
Lemuspita and Rangga Mandala) sent by the Balinese King of
Karangasem, Gusti Rapsari, the vassal of Gusti Agong of Mengwi.
The envoys brought a message from their King stating that he would
send 500 Balinese soldiers in forty vessels under the command of
Gusti Carik Padang to assist the people of Blambangan to evict the
Company from their territory. These warriors would depart from
Patemon in the month of Mulud (Islamic-Javanese calendar), and were
expected to land at Binkap, on the south coast of Blambangan.16 It
seems the Balinese envoy also asked Sutanagara to release two Balinese
prisoners who had been arrested in Blambangan few years earlier.17
After assurance by some Balinese rulers, who are called Sunagara’s
bloedvriends vorstjes in the Dutch archives, Sutanagara began to observe
the strength of the Company forces in Blambangan. Mantri Singayuda,
who was in charge of keeping a watch on the Dutch redoubt, reported
that at that time (1771) it was occupied by twenty-five personnel only.
Weighing up the situation, Sutangara was convinced that, with the
military assistance pledged by the Balinese, he could easily force the
Company out of Blambangan. To organize this manoeuvre Sutanagara
arranged a meeting with his two Patih, Wasengsari and Suratruna, and
with a number of Mantri (ministers) and few village chiefs from
Blambangan. This gathering was held in the house of Patih Suratruna
14 ANRI, Banyuwangi 6, The Confession of the Second Regent of Blambangan,
Wasengsari, as reported by the Committee of Investigation, 2 May 1771.
15 ANRI, Banyuwangi 6, The confession of Suratruna, the former Patih of
Blambangan, as reported by the Committee of Investigation, 2 May 1771.
16 Suratruna was in charge of guarding four Balinese envoys on their way back to
Bali. They spent one night on the coast in Banyualit and then moved farther on to
Pakem, where a small vessel had been provided. In his confession, Wasengsari, the
second Regent of Blambangan said that he witnessed the meeting between the
Balinese envoys and Sutanagara, but he did not dare to report it the Company.
Sutanagara had vowed to kill anybody who had the temerity to inform the
Company. ANRI, Banyuwangi 6, The Confession of the Second Regent of
Blambangan, Wasengsari, as reported by the Committee of Investigation, 2 May
1771.
17 ANRI, Banyuwangi 6, Singayuda confessed that on 3 January, he was instructed
by Sutanagara to release two Balinese prisoners. The Confession of Singayuda, 30
April 1771.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
129
in March 1771, precisely during the Grebeg festival, at which he
delivered a strong clear message that the people of Blambangan
should owe their loyalty to the Balinese ruler of Mengwi and him only,
instead of the Company and the Javanese Kings. He instructed to be
prepared with weapons and ammunition with which to drive the
Company out of Blambangan.18 Mantri Singandaka was put in charge
of bringing over all the inhabitants of the village of Wira to assist the
Balinese in a joint fight against the Company. Jagakrasa was given the
task of ridding Blambangan of all Europeans.19 The Balinese King of
Mengwi, Gusti Agong endorsed this plan. 20
It seems that not all of the Mantri invited to the meeting held in the
house of Patih Suratruna by Sutanagara agreed with him. Among the
dissidents were Mantri Bawalaksana and Jurukunci. The conspiracy was
eventually leaked, and the Dutch Resident took immediate action and
seized the Regent and his adherents, including the Second Regent of
Blambangan, Wasengsari. At the end of April 1771, a committee of
investigation which consisted of Vaandrig Willem van Schaar, Cornelis
Commers, and Jacob Wittevrangel, delivered the verdict that the two
Regents of Blambangan, Sutanagara and Wasengsari, were guilty as
charged, although both Regents had denied all the accusations against
them. 21 The Governor suggested Batavia banish Sutanagara and
Wasengsari and their families to the most terrifying place which could
be thought of as the Company slaves for the term of their natural
18 ANRI, Banyuwangi 6, Among the other member of the elite were Mantri
Singapraya, Singalengkara, Singandaka, Singdrana, Titakusuma, Jayakusuma,
Suramanggala, Singadana, Bawalaksana, Manongkusuma, Singamarto, Sanangtaka,
Onggacipta, Combong, Naladiwongsa, Puspatruna, Lurah Seningada, Laembu
Wriakasa, Ace Jayasinengkraya, Ramenadaya, Nala, Pasangsang, Bapak Lakar,
Jaksawarna, Surawarna, Wiradita, Prawiralanda, Jurukunci Muda, ANRI, Banyuwangi
6 Report of the committee of the investigation Willem Van Schaar and Jacob
Wittevrangel, 30 April 1771.
19 The confession of Mantri Singadaka, 23 April 1771.
20 In his interrogation, Wasengsari said that the King of Mengwi had always trusted
Sutanagara to seize control of Blambangan from the VOC. ANRI, Banyuwangi 6,
the Confession of the second Regent of Blambangan, Wasengsari, as reported by
the committee of investigation, 2 May 1771.
21 ANRI, Banyuwangi 6, Report of the Committee of the Investigation Willem van
Schaar and Jacob Wittevrangel, 30 April 1771VOC 3337, Minutes of the
interrogation of the former Regent of Blambangan, Sutanagara, 11 June 1771, 51-
52.


CHAPTER FOUR
130
lives. 22 They were finally banished to Edam Island in the Bay of
Batavia. Besides the Blambangan ring-leaders, fifty-three Balinese
warriors were captured in Blambangan (See Appendix 1) and later sent
to Surabaya.23.
After only two years of occupation, the Dutch authorities in Java’s
Oosthoek had installed four Regents in Blambangan, Mas Anom, Mas
Uno, Sutanagara and Wasengsari, and all four of them had turned coat
and supported the rebel prince, Wilis, after only few months in office.
Understandably, this experience made the Dutch rather reluctant to reinstall
chiefs drawn from the local people. Consequently, as successor
to Sutanagara and Wasengsari, the Dutch authorities in Surabaya
promoted new people who were not of Blambangan origin. They were
members of the Javanese elite from the family of the Regent of
Surabaya. Among those promoted to administer Blambangan were
Kartanagara, who was appointed as First Regent of Blambangan, and
Raden Jayalaksana who was appointed as Chief of Kota, the capital city
of the area. Both were brothers of Jayanagara, the Regent of Surabaya.
A few other members of the Surabaya elite were also promoted to be
Mantri in Blambangan. 24 Initially, there had been no plan to appoint a
Second Regent, but suddenly the Resident of Blambangan, Biesheuvel,
pushed forward Bapak Anti or Jaksanagara, the former Patih of Patih
Suratruna. It seems that Biesheuvel who really lived on close terms
with the Blambangan people had a better understanding of them and
realized that the Javanization of the Blambangan administration would
have serious consequences for keeping law and order there. If only
because the leader of Blambangan should know how to deal with the
local inhabitants, a locally born man would be far and away best
qualified to assume this task. The Blambangan people had always been
notoriously reluctant to accept a leader from outside their own
community.
Biesheuvel’s proposal was not without risk, because Jaksanagara’s
political position during the period of trouble in Blambangan had
never been clear and there were not sufficient rounds for his choice as
22 VOC 3337, The original missive under separate cover from Governor Johannes
Vos to Batavia, 14 June 1771, 44.
23 VOC 3337, Copy of a letter from the First and Second Residents of Blambangan
Biesheuvel and Schophoff to the Gezaghebber of Surabaya Pieter Luzac, 23 May
1771, 47-50.
24 VOC 3337, Original letter under separate cover from Governor J. R. van der
Burgh to Batavia, 24 August 1771, 63-72.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
131
candidate. The appointment of two Regents of two different origins,
again had unexpected consequences for the Company. Not long after
their inauguration by the Gezaghebber Luzac in July 1771, the Dutch
authorities in Java’s Oosthoek had to face the consequences of their
decision. Only a month after the arrival of the new Regents, the
people of Blambangan showed palpable signs of their disgruntlement,
intimating they should have more appropriate figures to administer
them. Soon the opposition of the local people to the appointment of
the new Regents was manifested in the idea of revivalism.
The Return of the King
At the beginning of August 1771, the Dutch authorities in
Blambangan were surprised by the return of Wilis, the Pangeran of
Blambangan who had been banished to Banda three years earlier.
Rumour said that the returned Pangeran had established a new kraton
(palace) in Bayu and was calling himself ‘Susuhunan Jagapati’. He
appealed the people of Blambangan to come to Bayu, promising them
a better life, free of the Javanese and white people.25 The people of
Blambangan welcomed the returned King enthusiastically. Solong, a
petty trader from Panarukan, witnessed how the entire population of
his village deserted their houses and moved to Bayu, followed by
inhabitants from other villages.
The First and Second Regents of Blambangan, Kartanagara (or
Kartawijaya) and Jaksanagara, with a company of hundreds of
warriors, marched to Bayu to bring the rebel to justice, but they met
with strong resistance and were driven back to Blambangan.
Kartanagara was seriously wounded and retreated to Kota.26 A few
days later, Resident Schophof sent soldiers to Bayu under the
command Lieutenant Biesheuvel, but they failed to locate the rebel’s
25 Babad Bayu, in Winarsih Arifin, Babad Blambangan, (Yogyakarta: Bentang Budaya,
1995).
26 Residents Biesheuvel and Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 2 August 1771, De
Jonge, De Opkomst: 174. In the company of Mantri Mindaka, Bawalaksana,
Singadirana, and the Chief of Kota, Jayalaksana, both Regents went to the house of
the Chinese Bandar, the Chinese Captain in Blambangan, to borrow two rantak.
VOC 3337, Report by the Second Regent Jaksanagara, 16 October 1771, 257.
Kartanagara was shot in the leg and left shoulder. See, De Jonge, De Opkomst,
Residents Biesheuvel and Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 2 August 1771, 175.


CHAPTER FOUR
132
hiding place, and returned empty handed.27 All they could do for that
moment was to strive to prevent more inhabitants from moving to
Bayu. One group of people was persuaded to come back to their
village, but they were attacked by the rebels when they returned home.
Many were killed and the rest ran away seeking refuge in the
wilderness.28
The following week, the Dutch, now reinforced with more soldiers
and armed with more powerful weapons, tried to penetrate the rebel
headquarters in Bayu, but they were also defeated. A number of
firearms, rantak, and a considerable amount of ammunition were
captured by the rebels. Many Company soldiers were killed or
wounded, including the commander of the expedition, Lieutenant
Imhoff. At his wit’s end to deal the situation, Resident Schophoff
requested the Dutch authorities in Surabaya to send at least one
thousand Madurese and several hundred European soldiers from
Surabaya.29 A few months later, the requested military assistance from
Madura and Surabaya. On 14 December, there was wide spread
fighting in Susukan and Songgon which cost the life of Lieutenant
Reigers and wounded the commander of the expedition, Lieutenant
Heinrich.30 After Lieutenant Reijgers’ death, Vaandrig Van Schaar took
over the military command and on 18 December marched to Songgon
with 150 soldiers. Here, the Company troops were ambushed by
Jagapati’s warriors who were fewer in number and armed only with
bamboos stakes and pikes. Once again, the Company troops suffered a
severe defeat. Vaandrig Van Schaar and Cornet Tinne were killed and
Vaandrig Ostrousky was seriously wounded. Only a few European
soldiers were reportedly still alive. Hundreds of Madurese warriors
were killed and the rest deserted. A large number of firearms and
entire barrels of gun powders were captured by the enemy. 31
Wikkerman (the later Resident of Banyuwangi) reported that at the
moment, Vaandrig Van Schaar was trying to keep his gun dry by
27 De Jonge, De Opkomst, Residents of Blambangan, Biesheuvel and Schophoff to
Gezaghebber Luzac 4 August 1771, 176.
28 De Jonge, De Opkomst, Resident Biesheuvel and Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac,
7 August 1771, 176.
29 The battle left two Malays and thirteen Javanese soldiers killed, and 94 indigenous
warriors wounded. De Jonge, De Opkomst, Resident Biesheuvel and Schophoff to
Gezaghebber Luzac, 23 August 1771, 177-8.
30 Heinrich died in Ulupampang three days after the battle during a major surgery.
31 VOC 3664, Resident Schophoff to the Chief of expedition Lieutenant Heinrich,
15 April 1772, 267-8.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
133
covering it with a sail cloth and setting it aside, the rebels suddenly fell
upon him and his men so that he could not seize his gun. Unable to
defend himself, he ran away to save his life, but Bapak Udun, the
boldest of the fighters, hunted him down with a pike in his hand. Van
Schaar stumbled into a wide ditch and was finished off by Udun. 32
Meanwhile, Cornet Tinne was killed by the batur of Bapak Udun. The
body of Vaandrig Van Schaar was dragged to the rebel’s camp. Led by
the Buginese, Kraeng Dono, a magic ritual, a duivelsch maal (diabolical
meal) was prepared. He disembowelled Van Schaar’s body and
devoured his intestines. At the end of the ceremony, the corpse of the
unfortunate Vaandrig was beheaded and his head was carried around
triumphantly.33
After the Songgon incident, the Dutch had no option but to resort
to self-defence. All the roads to Bayu were blocked to cut off the
supply of foodstuffs to the rebels. The rice-fields and any harvests in
vicinity of Bayu were destroyed. Jember was vigilantly guarded, and a
special watch was kept on the southern coast of Java, at such place as
Grajagan and Puger, in order to prevent the rebels crossing the Bali
Strait. In Ulupampang, most of the wounded soldiers eventually
perished, and many survivors fell ill. While waiting for the
commencement of the dry season, the Dutch recruited more
Madurese warriors.
The Death of the King
From Bayu the rebellion spread throughout Blambangan. In the
western region, another movement gathered strength under the
leadership of Bekel Gagabaneng, the village chief of Sentong, who
claimed he was the commander of the Empress Susuhunan Ratu of
Mount Raung.34 Puger and Jember came under rebel control. Trying to
32 Collectie Van Alphen end Engelhard 19b, J. C. van Wikkerman, ‘Beschrijving
van Bali en Banjoewangi’, 149.
33 VOC 3664, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 23 October 1772: 78-79,
ditto 30 October 1772, 82. See also C. Lekkerkerker, ‘Blambangan’, De Indische Gids,
vol. ii, (1923), 1056.
34 The empress was Sayuwiwit, the daughter of Pangeran Wilis of Blambangan who
is described in the Javanese sources as a female soldier. She was captured on Mount
Raung by a Company patrol in January 1773, and Vaandrig Fischer awarded 100
ronde matten to the soldiers who had captured her. Babad Tawangalun, in Winarsih
Arifin, Babad Blambangan: 114. See also Pigeaud, ‘Aanteekeningen betreffende den


CHAPTER FOUR
134
strangle this movement, Governor Burgh instructed the Dutch
commanders of Jember and Panarukan, Steenberger and Reigers, to
seize control of these places. From the south coast of Java, Vaandrig
Fischer and his men were deployed to assist them. 35 Lieutenant
Heinrich with 600 soldiers was also dispatched to the south coast of
Java. In Purwa, he found fifty horses and a number of pikes, and
burned down a village used by the rebels as a place to store food. The
rebels put up a token resistance leaving one European soldier drowned
and another wounded.36 On 14 February, Heinrich pulled his soldiers
back to Grajagan where another battle was fought. More than fifty
buffalo carts and 200 houses in Purwa, Grajagan, and Jalimanik were
burned. The rebels retreated across the river. A large quantity of
foodstuffs, opium, cloths, and carpenter’s tools was secured by the
Company troops. This expedition put the rebels at serious
disadvantage.
On 20 March, Jagapati attacked the Dutch camp at Kota with 1,500
fighters. Six hundred Balinese warriors sent by Gusti Ngurah Jembrana
and a hundred soldiers from Sentong and Bayu were involved in this
attack.37 Despite his superior manpower, Jagapati failed to take Kota,
and he lost five of his bravest fighters who were killed and five others
were wounded. After the attack on Kota, Resident Schophoff
launched a sea patrol in the Strait of Bali to prevent more Balinese
warriors from reaching Blambangan.38
After the battle in Grajagan, Heinrich marched the military
expedition to the rebel headquarters in Bayu, but realized that the
numbers of soldiers available was insufficient to attack Bayu, which
reportedly had been reinforced with several hundred Balinese. He
therefore requested more soldiers from the Gezaghebber. On 20 April,
some 2,000 Madurese warriors under Captain Alap Alap arrived in
Blambangan, followed by seventy other Madurese from Pamekasan
Java Oosthoek’, TNI, vol LXXII, (1932), 258, VOC 3389, Fischer to Gesaghebber
Luzac, 9 January 1773, 77
35 VOC 3337, Governor Van der Burgh to Gezaghebber Luzac, 30 October 1771,
235
36 VOC 3364, Lieutenant Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 19 February 1772, 93-4
37 VOC 3364, Vaandrigs Guttenberger, Jenigen, and Chatteauvieux to Resident
Schophoff, 20 March 1772, 144; See also VOC 3364, Governor Van der Burgh to
Governor-General Van der Parra 1 April 1772, 100-103
38 It was reported that twenty-nine people, mostly women and children, were
arrested. VOC 3364, Report by Matroos Mattheijs Elbers, 1 April 1772, 145


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
135
and 112 Javanese from Besuki under Captain Wayan Buyung.39 On 11
May, Lieutenant Heinrich set up a military camp in Songgon, near
Bayu and prepared the troops.40. The attack on Bayu was finally made
five days later, but the Company troops were defeated. Heinrich, who
was wounded in the battle, blamed the defeat on the Madurese who
had cowardly deserted. He wrote: ‘They (the Madurese) came to
Blambangan with great tumult and shouting, but in the battle they
were terrified.’ Heinrich suggested sending the Madurese captain,
Alap-Alap, home and substituting a braver leader.41 He estimated that
the enemy had been reinforced by 7,000 troops, and called for more
military assistance, at least 8,000 soldiers from Makassar and Malacca.
His plea to Governor Van der Burgh fell on deaf ears. The governor
argued that Heinrich’s estimation of the strength of the rebels was
exaggerated. Van der Burgh could only promise 150 Europeans, 5,000
indigenous warriors, and 100 batur that would be recruited from
Madura, Sumenep, Pamekasan and a number of other regencies in
Java’s Oosthoek.42
As the problem of military assistance could not be solved, the
Dutch decided to try a persuasive approach to end the rebellion.
Resident Schophoff sent the lurah (village chief) of Lateng, Wayan, to
admonish the local inhabitants to abandon their resistance and return
to their villages. On 11 May, just before the last attack on Bayu, eight
inhabitants from Blangkunang, mostly women and children, returned
to their village. From these sick and hungry people the Dutch collected
information about the current situation of the rebels in Bayu. Korok,
one of the deserters, confessed that Jagapati had requested 1,000
fighting men from Gusti Ngurah Jembrana Bali. These people had
arrived in Pakem but were later forced back by the Dutch patrol before
they could land in Blambangan. He also reported that around 3,000
people had deserted from Bayu because no more food was to be found
39 VOC 3364, 95
40 The attack force consisted of 700 pikemen, 300 musketeers, 500 picked troops 59
Lurah, 25 Mantri, 400 punakawan, and 200 batur. They were added to 92 European
soldiers, 244 Malay, and 436 indigenous soldiers. VOC 3364, Governor Van der
Burgh to Governor-General Van der Parra, 20 April 1772, 193-194
41From the outset there had been a conflict between the Chief of the Expedition,
Lt. Heinrich, and the Madurese Captain Alap Alap. The conflict was triggered by
the behaviour of Alap Alap who regarded himself as equal to the European soldier.
VOC 3364, Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 19 May 1772, 329-31
42 VOC 3364, Lieutenant Heinrich to Governor Van der Burgh, 23 May 1772; VOC
3364, Governor J. R. van der Burgh to Gezaghebber Luzac, 9 June 1772


CHAPTER FOUR
136
there. Most of these were the villagers from Sentong and a few
Balinese, of whom at least 400 were seriously ill.43 Others confessed
that they had retreated because they were afraid of the Dutch soldiers.
Whereas all the inhabitants of Gambiran, Kradenan, Benculuk,
Grajagan, and Purwa also returned to their former villages, the
remaining people in Bayu lost their fighting spirit. Despite all these
difficulties, ten people from the village of Banjar and fifteen Balinese
traders had arrived in Bayu bringing rice and salt for the rebels.44
Heinrich also obtained the significant information that, during the
last attack on Bayu, the leader of the rebels, Jagapati, had been
wounded and subsequently had died on 11 June.45 This news was
confirmed at the beginning of July by a Balinese who was captured
during the attack on Kota. He testified that Jagapati’s body had been
secured by his adherents and buried in the vicinity of Bayu.46 The
Balinese explained that during the raid on Kota, Jagapati had requested
all the Balinese to remain in the camp because he was determined to
capture Kota with his own bravest fighters. This apparent slight gave
the Balinese second thoughts about supporting Jagapati and after his
death the Balinese decided to retreat.47
Si Lakar, a Javanese cleric and the envoy of Jagapati who was
arrested by Blambangan soldiers at the house of Mantri Singadirana,
provided more information about the other chief rebels, Endo, Larat,
Malem, and Kyai Rupa. At the third interrogation, in which he was
tortured and threatened that his nose, ears, tongue, fingers, hands and
his legs would be amputated, Si Lakar confessed that Endo and Larat
had estimated that around 2,000 people were left in Bayu, two-thirds
of them women and children. Trapped in Bayu, they were dying of
exhaustion and starvation because all the food was finished. When
Bayu was attacked by the Dutch, many people scattered in some small
groups. The remainder of their weapons had been taken away by
Endo48
43 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Lieutenant Heinrich 15 April 1772, 267.
44 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Lieutenant Heinrich 11 May 1772, 331-3.
45 VOC 3364, Lieutenant Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 12 June 1772, 375-376.
46 VOC 3364, Lieutenant Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 1 July 1772, 523, Governor
J. R. van der Burgh to Governor-General Van der Parra, 5 Julij 1772: 359-60; VOC
3364, Lieutenant Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 7 July 1772, 510-1.
47 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Lieutenant Heinrich, 15 April 1772, 267-70.
48 In his previous interrogation, Si Lakar reported that Pseudo-Wilis was supported
by thousands of men, and had five barrels of gunpowder and ammunition, five
cannons, four mortars, and a large quantity of canon balls and firearms. Besides this


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
137
Even though the situation was so desperate, most of the chief
rebels decided to remain and fight to the death. Spies reported that
only 1,300 rebels now were left in Bayu, split up into four groups
under Larat (300 people), Endo (400), Kyai Rupo (200), and Malem
(300). It was reported that 100 inhabitants of Sentong and Jember had
left Bayu as well.49 It was predicted that if the three exit points to Bayu
were blockaded, all the rebels would perish of starvation in a few days
50
Epidemic and Famine
This inside knowledge about the desperate situation inside Bayu
inspired the Dutch to plan to destroy the rebels without wasting
ammunition. An operation to search for and destroy the rebels’ foodstores
around Bayu was launched. Vaandrig Jenigen led Madurese
soldiers in burning down all the lumbung (paddy barns) and laying waste
the rice-fields surrounding Bayu. Four women and children were
detained in this operation. In the villages Kabat, Sejang, Pudian, and
Tagenan, Vaandrig Kregel and his troops set a large storage of young
maize alight and ruined the maize-fields there. Ten women and
children were arrested during this operation. Vaandrig Guttenberger
who had been sent to Gambiran faced a little resistance from the
inhabitants. There was a skirmish in which two Madurese soldiers were
wounded and three inhabitants were killed. He burned down all the
houses used by the rebels as hiding places and arrested eighteen
people.51 Lieutenant Heinrich with some Madurese troops destroyed
the saltpan in Kapudian and set fire to many villages, among them
Pomponan, Kabasposar, Pabakan, Cungking, and Panolangan and also
destroyed the storages of paddy and maize. Twenty-two women and
the rebels had more guns, sixty small arms, carbines and ten pistols which they had
captured during the battle at Songgon. They had also stocked up an abundance of
rice and other foodstuff in the vicinity of Bayu. Three thousand of the bravest
soldiers from Bali were expected to come to Bayu to support Pseudo-Wilis in the
attack on Kota. Pseudo-Wilis had driven the Madurese soldiers out of their camp in
Songgon which was now used as the military base from which to attack the capital
city of Blambangan. He planned to build a new palace to the south of Blambangan.
VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 28 January 1772, 39-41
49 Ibid., 43.
50 Ibid., 42
51 VOC 3364, Lieutenant Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 12 June 1772, 378-379.


CHAPTER FOUR
138
children were captured in this operation. On the way to Ulupampang
they met a party of starving people who had just left Bayu, where the
rebels had forced them to fell trees and fortify the benting.52
This burn and raze strategy undoubtedly weakened the rebels.53
Starvation, disease, and death followed the trail of the Dutch troops as
witnessed by Resident Schophoff:
A few days ago, one group of people, all of them undernourished, came out of
Bayu and surrendered to the Company. They disclosed that among the deaths
in the bolt-hole of Bayu were people who driven by hunger had taken their
own lives, and their bodies remained unburied, causing an unbearable stench
and disease. They killed each other for a little food. One of the hunger-sufferers
confessed to me he had killed three people to obtain a few portions of maize to
relieve his hunger. Scarcely a food crop is to be found throughout the entire
land. Vaandrig Rood searched for sustenance around the villages and forests for
four days, but no such foodstuff, as sago or banana trees could be found with
exception of one big-rice field in the vicinity of Gomoro, and a small one in
Waluh, which was later ravaged. People were to be found everywhere in the
villages and in the wilderness. Those still on their feet had sought refuge in the
forest; some of them were half-dead, others had died emaciated by hunger.
Therefore many dead bodies were lying around.54
Schophoff gave the people who were still in Bayu a guarantee that
they would not be executed, if they left Bayu and surrendered to the
Company. When he questioned all the deserters and prisoners about
the number of the dead and survivors, the interrogation revealed that
two-thirds of the inhabitants had managed to crawl away from Bayu,
but most of them had died when they reached their own villages. The
rebels had now deteriorated into a rabble, an unruly mob which would
be forced to abandon their hiding place, or if they did not do so, they
would no longer be in any state to fight. The most valiant chief, Encik
Lok, had crawled away; Malem had been killed in a dispute by his own
comrade, Endo, but there were still some fighters who willing to die on
the battlefield.
An epidemic also claimed the lives of Dutch soldiers The Dutch
settlements in Ulupampang and Kota were afflicted by this wide-
52 VOC 3364, Lieutenant Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 7 July 1772: 510-1.
53 VOC 3364, Governor J. R. Van der Burgh to Governor-General Van der Parra, 5
July 1772: 359-60.
54 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 21 July 1772, 545-8. In his
previous report Schophoff said that most of these people had only grass and leaves
to eat. See VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 15 July 1772, 537-
538.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
139
spread contagion, but by January 1772 the critical situation had
abated.55 Governor Van der Burgh reported that nineteen of the fortyeight
soldiers from Semarang were sick, while twenty-five soldiers in
the Dutch settlement in Ulupampang were not fit for duty. The
Governor also reported that he could send no more soldiers from
Semarang because of the seventy-one infantry-men who were still left
only fifty were in good health.56
The Fall of Bayu
By 23 June, the 3,665 warriors and 1,283 batur from Madura and other
places in East Java promised by the Governor Van der Burgh and
Gezaghebber Luzac had all arrived in Blambangan, but the attack on
Bayu was postponed until September.57 This delay was prompted by
the dire condition of Bayu which was still seriously affected by the
spread of diseases. The Dutch were waiting until the conditions
improved, so as to avoid more casualties among their soldiers.
At the beginning of October, Lieutenant Heinrich left Kota with
his men to go to Songgon where a military camp was built. It was the
most strategic place from which to approach and attack Bayu. It was in
sight of the benteng of the enemy. Heinrich writes:
The benteng of Bayu was heavily fortified, with a strong palisade. […] There
was a deep trench full of traps behind the wall. The country side was
entirely admirable: we could feed 1,000 people from their crops of paddy,
maize, sweet potato and the like, and we can feed all troops here for a few
days. 58
All the roads to Bayu were cut off and two military detachments
were deployed on the left and right flanks of Mount Bayu: on the right
flank 900 soldiers with two half-pounder cannons and four mortars,
under the command of Vaandrigs Mierop and Dijkman, and on the left
flank 500 men under Vaandrigs Gutenberger and Kregel occupied
Sentong. Lieutenant Heinrich and Vaandrig Jenigen were to move out
55 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 28 January 1772, 44.
56 VOC 3364, Governor Van der Burgh to Governor-General Van der Parra, First
April 1772, 100-103.
57 VOC 3364, Report by Gezaghebber Luzac, 23 June 1772, 435.
58 De Jonge, De Opkmost, vol. xi, Lieutenant Heinrich to Gezaghebber Luzac, 12
October 1772, 228-30.


CHAPTER FOUR
140
of Songgon with 1,500 soldiers. 59 By 5 October the Dutch were
approaching Bayu from three directions in a three-pronged movement,
but the attack was not carried out until 11 October. The assault was
very successful, as reported by Lieutenant Heinrich:
Only four of our people were wounded as we advanced on the benteng. […]
on the enemy side, forty were killed. The enemy fled to the mountain but we
hunted them until late at night and have captured the benteng of Bayu. This
morning, I again sent out a strong patrol to hunt down the enemy. They
marched on from here and ranged over the mountains the whole day. I had
allowed them to kill the captives and their heads were hung on the high trees
as a dreadful warning.60
The Origin of the Uprising
Examining the origins of the rebellion, it is important to review the
opinion of De Jonge who wrote:
It is obvious now that the uprising was of Balinese origin and it was a sequel to
the treacherous correspondence between the former Regent [Sutanagara] and
the Balinese ruler. He [Jagapati] was guided by the Balinese and a cleric who
had committed his body to the protection of the spirit of Pangeran Wilis. The
uprising was an anti-Javanese movement. […] The conduct of the new Javanese
Regent unfortunately coincided with the appearance of the Company army,
which had held the sword of Damocles above the head of the people.61
In his history of Blambangan, Lekkerkerker affirms that the
rebellion was an upsurge of Blambangan nationality and hence anti-
Javanese. The mainspring of the revolt was resentment against
Kartanagara.62 However, whether the Balinese were the instigators is
open to question. Undeniably, the Balinese played an important role in
this war - the Dutch sources strongly confirm this, but as supporters
rather than as instigators. As explicitly reported by Resident
Schophoff, after the death of Jagapati the Balinese remained silent and
made no further moves. Moreover, they returned to Bali and left their
allies to be hunted down by the Dutch. The re-appearance of the
59 Ibid., 228-30.
60 Ibid., 228-30.
61 Ibid., pp. xxviii-xxix.
62 Lekkerkerker, ‘Bambangan’, 1057.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
141
Balinese in the second rebellion was also at Jagapati’s behest. He
appealed to them to come to Blambangan since he could no longer
stand firm against the series of attacks carried out by the Dutch and
their allies.
A few months after the outbreak of the rebellion, Governor Van
der Burgh in Semarang urged Gezaghebber Luzac to carry out an
investigation to pinpoint the origins of the uprising. Luzac himself
harboured suspicions about the Second Regent Jaksanagara, who was
believed to be secretly collaborating with the rebels – in a conspiracy
similar to the previous one plotted by the former Regent Sutanagara
with the Balinese. The Governor ordered his dismissal and said he had
to come to Semarang, but Biesheuvel denied this accusation. He
claimed that the said Regent had remained faithful to the Company,
and had done all in his power to bring the ordinary people back urging
them to leave the forest and return to their villages. Biesheuvel was
convinced that the idea of removing Jaksanagara from his position was
quite wrong.63 It seems his confidence was misplaced. Two months
later, Biesheuvel was forced to reconsider the Gezaghebber’s suspicions
after the capture of Manikwadi. This detainee had seen that 400 of
Jaksanagara’s adherents had joined the rebels in Bayu. They included
Lembugiri, his own chief, and his family.64 Jaksanagara also assisted
the rebels by sending them weapons and ammunition through his
Mantri. Some Blambangan Mantri, among them Wiramanggala,
Suramanggala, Kraheng Dono, Lembugiri, Singalengkara, Singamerta,
Manikdono, and Donda Manggala, had also joined Agong Willis in
Bayu.65
The confession of Manikwadi added weight to the allegations
against Jaksanagara. The Governor appointed Lieutenant Gondelag to
carry out further investigations. His chief task was to discover to
whom the responsibility for the buffalo business should be attributed
and who had supplied guns and ammunition to the rebels.66 If the
63 VOC 3337, Governor Van der Burg to Batavia, 24 Augustus 1771, 63-72
64 VOC 3337, Report by Manikwadi the village chief of Kalitan, 17 October 1771,
247-9.
65 VOC 3337, Further report given by Manikwadi and Si Laru, 18 October 1771,
253-4
66 VOC 3337, Governor J. R. van der Burgh to Gezaghebber Luzac, 11 October 1771,
227-8


CHAPTER FOUR
142
allegation were proved true, the Regent should be removed from his
position and sent to Surabaya.67
The Oppression
Two months after the outbreak of the rebellion, the Dutch discovered
some important clues to the origins of the current uprising when they
captured Manikwadi and Si Laru. Both men were responsible for
collecting foodstuffs for the rebels in Bayu.68 Manikwadi was seized by
Mantri Karangandul as he was transporting foodstuffs to Bayu on
horseback. Si Laru, Patih Jayalaksana’s servant, was captured by the
Company soldiers in Lateng.69 In the interrogation, both detainees
claimed that the uprising was a reaction by the people of Blambangan
to the severe maltreatments to which they had been subjected by
Bapak Anti, later known as Jaksanagara, the Second Regent of
Blambangan. Later, Manikwadi explained that when Major Colmond
was still in charge in Blambangan, the Regent of Blambangan,
67 VOC 3337, Governor J. R. van der Burgh to Gezaghebber Luzac, 19 October 1771,
231
68 Explaining the capture of Manikwadi, Mantri Carangandul said that at that time
he had been deployed by Lieutenant Imhoff to patrol around the village of
Tomogoro, where the Dutch camp was established. He left Tomogoro with a few
Mantri, Jayasinara of Bangil, Manonyuda of Surabaya, Lalangpasir, Jurukunci
Sinindaka, Singadirana, and Onggagipta of Bambangan. In the village of Trukan
they discovered a group of people who were on their way to Bayu. These people
had hung a sign on their necks and carried pikes ornamented with coconut fronds
(a symbol of resistance). They were transporting rice, kapas, and catoene garen (cotton
yarn), chickens, eggs, coconut oil and the like on back of their horses as well as
hording buffaloes. Among them was the Lurah of Kalitan, Manikwadi. Karangandul
and his people launched a surprise attack and captured Manikwadi but the others
escaped. In Manikwadi’s pocket, Karangandul discovered some Javanese ola’s
(letters written on palm leaf), signed by Pangeran Wilis, the King of Bayu. These
disclosed the King of Bayu had appointed him to collect foodstuffs. VOC 3337,
Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 16 October 1771, 263-6.
69 Actually, the Dutch were mistaken. Si Laru was the servant of Jayalaksana, the
patih of the Second Regent of Blambangan, Jaksanagara. Jayalaksana had been sent
to Bayu to fetch Jaksanagara’s gundik but he was killed by the rebels in Bayu. After
the death of Jayalaksana, Si Laru returned to his village, Lateng. He tried to bring
his mother, who had taken refuge to the village of Banjar back to the village, but he
was captured and sent to the Dutch Resident in Ulupampang, with two other
villagers from the village of Paiton, Kartawongsa and Bapak Gubeng. VOC 3337,
Report by Silaru, Kartawongsa and Bapak Gubeng, 251-2.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
143
Sutanagara was obliged to provide four koyang of rice which had to be
distributed to labourers employed by the Company for the
construction of fortresses, roads, and bridges. Each sack of rice was
sold to a worker for 500 kepeng. Sutanagara delegated Jaksanagara to
distribute this rice for the price fixed by Colmond. The workers felt
exploited as this was very expensive. Colmond also obliged the Regent
of Blambangan to collect one hundred buffaloes for the Company.
The buffalos were sent to the pachthuismeester in Surabaya. 70 The
animals were to be purchased from the inhabitants for 2 Spanish Real
or 1,000 kepeng each and Jaksanagara was in charge of forwarding the
money to the buffalo’s owners, but they never received anything.71
When Gezaghebber Luzac visited Blambangan in May 1771, some Mantri
and Lurah requested Jaksanagara to help them find some opium,
because the supply of this drug in Blambangan had run out.
Jaksanagara went to the Resident Biesheuvel and bought eight kati
from the latter for 250 kepeng. Jaksanagara thereupon distributed the
opium to the Mantri and Lurah for 7/8 Spanish Real or 350 kepeng for
each ¾ kati, netting himself a nice little profit. When in July 1771,
Luzac left for Surabaya, Jaksanagara was also requested by some Mantri
to lend them 16 Spanish Real. Subsequently, the Mantri lent the money
to families in their territory, 250 duiten each. These people should repay
later with silver coins to the value of 1 or 1 ½ Spanish Real for 125
duiten, they saw as a burden. Manikwadi was also convinced that the
people of Blambangan had fled away to the mountains and solicited
help from the ‘revenant Prince’ (Wilis) because Jaksanagara had
exploited them.
Personal Dispute
Who was this Pseudo-Wilis or Jagapati? The identity of the chief rebel
was finally discovered with the capture of Manikwadi. His real name
was Mas Rempeg, a young man of seventeen from the village of Pakis.
In local sources he is called Pangeran Pakis, or the Prince of Pakis. The
Javanese sources reveal that Mas Rempeg was a descendant of
Tawangalun, the greatest king of Blambangan. More precisely, he was
the son of Mas Bagus Dalem Wiraguna II, who was the grandson of
70 VOC 3337, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 16 October 1771, 262-6.
71 VOC 3337, Report by Manikwadi, the village chief of Kalitan, 17 October 1771,
241-6.


CHAPTER FOUR
144
Tawangalun. The Dutch archive gives different names, but it is clearly
mentioned that Rempeg was the son of Mas Ayu Dawia who married
Mas Bagus Wali, one of the Mantri of Pangeran Pati. The latter was the
son of Mas Sutra the chief Mantri and nephew of Pangeran Pati’s father,
Danureja. Perhaps, Mas Bagus Wali and Mas Bagus Sutra were the youth
names of Mas Bagus Dalem Wiraguna II and Mas Dalem Wiraguna I as
given by the Javanese sources (See Appendix, the family tree of
Tawangalun). Before leaving for Bayu, Rempeg worked as a punakawan
(bodyguard) to Bapak Samila. The latter was the full-brother of Bapak
Anti who was later known as Jaksanagara, the Second Regent of
Blambangan. Rempeg was accused of having an affair with
Jaksanagara’s gundik (concubines). Persecuted by Jaksanagara who was
consumed by jealousy, Rempeg was in despair and fled to Bayu, where
he was fostered by a tapa (a religious teacher) named Manikrupa, who
was later to become his spiritual advisor. Under the direction of this
priest, Rempeg presented himself as a new leader who would liberate
the people of Blambangan from both the Company and such Javanese
tyrants as Kartanagara and Jaksanagara. With the help of the people,
he would take revenge on Jaksanagara who had been hounding him.
A similar story was told by two mantri of Blambangan, Singadirana
and Bawalaksana, who were sent to Bayu to retrieve Jaksanagara’s
gundik. Both mantri explained that in the middle of September 1771,
five concubines of Regent Jaksanagara and ten of the former Regent
Sutanagara, were missing. Mantri Jayalaksana who was sent to find the
missing gundik was killed, but his mission was not completely in vain.
He discovered that these gundik were in Bayu with the chief of rebels,
Rempeg. Immediately, Mantri Bawalaksana and Singadirana were sent
to Bayu to retrieve them and take the opportunity to investigate the
condition of the rebels in Bayu. There, they encountered a young man
named Rempeg who had left the house of his master, Bapak Samila, a
year before. On that occasion Rempeg said, ‘If you have come here to
find those women, they are with me now, and no one can take them
away from me because they have now become my wives.’ 72 A
description of the personality of Rempeg was given also by Si Lakar, a
Javanese cleric who was captured in the house of Mantri Singadirana in
January 1772. Si Lakar was the man who had been ordered by Rempeg
to bring all the wives of Mantri Singadirana to Bayu.73
72 VOC 3337, As reported by Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 16 October
1771, 264-6.
73 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 28 January 1772, 38.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
145
Such Javanese sources, as the Babad Bayu and the Babad Tawangalun
give a more compelling picture claiming that Rempeg wished to have
forty gundik,74 and that the death of Jagapati or the Pseudo-Wilis was
actually a kind of curse incurred by his sin of having had sexual
intercourse with Sayuwiwit (in the Dutch sources called Susuhunan Ratu
or Empress), the holy woman who was believed to be possessed by the
spirit of the daughter of Pangeran Wilis. This incest was unwitting as
Rempeg was not aware that the spirit Pangeran Wilis was inhibiting his
body and that the spirit of the daughter of Pangeran Wilis possessed
that of his sexual partner.75 This last narrative also explains why
Rempeg was killed in the battle so quickly. He had had a supernatural
sanction imposed on him. The spirits of Sayuwiwit and Wilis left their
bodies, withdrawing their protection in battle. The crisis in the
personal relationship between Rempeg and Jaksanagara was probably a
strong contributory factor to the rebellion, if indeed it was not the
main one.
The Ideology of Rebellion
In Bayu, Rempeg claimed he was Pangeran Wilis, saying in a
conversation with the two envoys of Jaksanagara, Bawalaksana and
Singadirana; ‘You don’t know exactly who I am. Actually, I am Agong
Wilis, and what are you going to do with those two chickens in your
hands?’ Singadirana answered, ‘We bring you these chickens as a gift’.
‘Yes good,’ said Rempeg, ‘but if you ask me to buy them I don’t have
any picis.’ Rempeg then insisted that both Mantri should believe that the
spirit of Pangeran Wilis possessed his body, and that they should return
to Bayu again, bringing all the people of Blambangan.76
A similar story was told also by Si Lakar in his first interrogation.
He said that in Bayu he had met Pangeran Wilis and Pangeran Pati, who
had been murdered in Bali in 1764. He also claimed that the two
former Regents of Blambangan, Tumenggung Sutanegara and Wasingsari
- who had been banished to the Edam Island - were in Bayu as well.
They had flown there through the air, and Agong Wilis had given
himself the title Susuhunan Jagapati. He no longer ate or drank, but
74 Babad Bayu, in Winarsih, Babad Blambangan, 154.
75 Babad Tawangalun, in Winarsih, Babad Blambangan, 95.
76 VOC 3337, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 16 October 1771, 264-6.


CHAPTER FOUR
146
survived on a spiritual diet. Rempeg and all other the chiefs and the
common people were now merely the slaves of Pangeran Wilis.77
The idea of revivalism, the return of Wilis and other Blambangan
rebel leaders, was implemented by a shamanistic ritual, in which the
spirit of a dead person possessed the body of someone else as a
medium through which to act. This practice was well known in
Blambangan as it was indeed in Java, Bali, Lombok, and Sulawesi, and
it still continues today. Pigeaud argues that Rempeg was not really
kasurupan (possessed) by the spirit of Wilis, but merely asserted that he
was Pangeran Wilis.78 Pigeaud’s interpretation is not without foundation,
as can be seen again in the confession of Singadirana and Lakar. On
23 January, when Si Lakar was interrogated for the third time and still
gave the same answer as before, the Resident lost patience. Si Lakar
was tied to a tree which was swarming with big red ants, and he
immediately poured out another confession. He said that his King,
Wilis or Rempeg, Bapak Larat, Endo, and Rupa had forced him to tell
the story he had recounted anytime he should happen to meet
Blambangan people. He had been promised two pieces of gold by
Rempeg to spy on them all. He also confessed that he was the
punakawan (servant) of Rempeg who was still in Bayu and had been
given the title of Susuhunan. Later, he repudiated his previous
statement that Pangeran Wilis, Pangeran Pati, Tumenggung Sutanagara, and
Wasengsari were in Bayu. 79
The death of Rempeg or the Pseudo-Wilis did not exterminate the
spirit of resistance among a few of the chief rebels. At the fall of
Bayu, dyed-in-the wool dissidents including Larat, Endo, Wilanda,
Simprong, Lamus and other fanatical followers of Wilis succeeded in
escaping. Scattered into a few groups, they moved constantly from one
place to another. Occasionally quarrels broke out among them, but
they still managed to keep their spirit of opposition alive. Five years
after the rebellion of the Pseudo-Wilis, a group of escapees who tried
to re-organize their resistance was discovered in Blambangan. This
happened just a few months after the appointment of the new
Resident of Blambangan, Pieter Mierop, the successor to Lieutenant
George Otto Dijkman who died in December 1779.80 Again the idea
77 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 28 January 1772, 38.
78 Pigeaud, ‘Aantekeningen’, 260-261.
79 VOC 3364, Resident Schophoff to Gezaghebber Luzac, 28 January 1772, 38.
80 VOC 3556, Missive from the Governor of Java’s Northeast Coast, J.R. Van der
Burgh to Governor-General Reijnier de Klerk, 3 December 1779, 782-783.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
147
of revivalism was essential. A man calling himself Pangeran Sukma
Manguntapa (Pangeran = Prince, Sukma = Spirit, Manguntapa = living as
an ascetic) tried to revive the glorious kingdom of Blambangan, and in
doing so protested against Dutch hegemony in Blambangan. A village
named Pasepan, located on Mount Dumpo, in the Gambiran district,
was chosen as the place in which to organize the movement. The
Pangeran had isolated himself for five years, living as an ascetic in order
to acquire the requisite magical powers. He was surrounded by twentyfive
families, who cleared the forest and grew food crops for their
subsistence. Four lumbung (paddy barns) were built around their pondok
(house). They vowed not to submit to the Company or to any other
outsider power. To protect his existence from the Government and the
Company, the Pangeran prevented his followers from seeking contact
with others, especially neighbouring inhabitants. He tamed many tigers
which were placed around their dwelling to thwart any of his followers
who might have had ideas about leaving his territory. Their existence
was finally discovered by two men who were sent by the Regent of
Blambangan to seek for Kayu Pelet (a special wood usually used to make
dagger sheats). The Commander-in-Chief of Blambangan, Mierop,
took immediate action, and sent some troops to Mount Dupa, after he
had received confirmation from the Regent of Blambangan, Wiraguna,
that the Prince was not a member of the Blambangan royal family.81
Mierop suspected that Endo and Wilanda, close allies of the Pseudo-
Wilis, were among the rebels. Governor Siberg pointed out the alleged
Balinese support behind this new movement.82
Forty Javanese and twenty Malays soldiers under Vaandrig Moming
and two Mantri of Blambangan, Singadirana and Lalang Pasir, were
sent to Mounts Dupa and Lembu. In the village of Glaga they found
the pondok with four lumbung, but no inhabitants. Moving on to Dupa,
they arrested four men, three women and children but the chief rebel,
Pangeran Sukma Manguntapa managed to escape with eleven followers.
From the captives the Company obtained information about the
identity of the self-proclaimed prince whose real name was Singa. He
turned out to be a batur from Bayu, and also to have been the former
81 VOC 3602, Copy of a copy missive written by the Commander-in-Chief of
Banyuwangi, Mierop, to the Gezaghebber of Surabaya, Van der Nieport, 1 December
1780, VOC 3602: 17-18; See also Missive from Governor of the Java’s North East
Coast, Siberg to Governor-General Willem Arnold Alting, 15 March 1781, 4-8.
82 VOC 3602, Missive from Governor of the Java’s North East Coast, Siberg, to
Governor General Willem Arnold Alting, 15 March 1781, 4-8.


CHAPTER FOUR
148
Punakawan of Gusti Rosani who was a tapa or hermit. When Bayu was
taken by the Company, he had fled with Simprong and twenty-five
other families. Later Simprong had quarrelled with Singa.83
Two separate patrols were sent to Rajakusna and Dupa. From Raja
Kusna it was reported that thirty rebels under the leadership of Ebok
had concealed themselves in Pasepan, while Endo and Langus with
fifty other followers were hiding in Selo Blas, near by Batu Ulu, in the
western part of Blambangan. Acting upon this report, Gezaghebber Van
der Nieport suggested Governor Siberg ask the Commander-in-Chief
of Pasuruan, Adriaan van Rijke, to investigate the rumour about the
escaped rebels lurking in Puger.84
The patrol sent to Pasepan met with significant resistance from the
rebels. They were attacked by fifteen men who wielded bloodied pikes.
Mantri Ronggapati was felled first and the Jaegers Company replied by
firing their muskets. One of the rebels was killed and the rest escaped.
The patrol continued to Pasepan, where they found sixteen houses
complete with lumbung and in the surroundings was found paddy gogo,
which was estimated to be enough for around fifty households, and
scattered about in the fields they came across twenty-two pondok. The
patrol penetrated even farther but it found not a single inhabitant
there. All the houses were burned as were the paddy-fields and
lumbung. The Patih of Blambangan pinned a letter announcing a general
pardon on a tree.85 The movement of Pangeran Sukma Manguntapa
ended prematurely. In February 1781, the chief rebel himself was
83 VOC 3602, Copy of a copy missive written by the chief commander of
Banyuwangi, Van Mierop, to the Gezaghebber of Surabaya, Van der Nieport, 12
December 1780, 21-23. See VOC 3602, also Extract of the missive written by
Gezaghebber of Surabaya, Van der Nieport, to the Governor and the Director of the
Java’s North East Coast, Surabaya 28 December 1780, 20.
84 VOC 3602, Copy of separate missive written by Gezaghebber Van der Nieport to
the Gezaghebber Siberg, Surabaya 17 January 1781, 26; VOC 3602, Extract of a
missive written by Johannes Siberg to Gezaghebber Van der Nieport, Semarang, 26
January 1781, 27.
85 VOC 3602, Copy of a copy of separate missive written by the Commander-in-
Chief of Banyuwangi Mierop to the Gezaghebber of Surabaya, Van der Nieport, 3
January 1781, 26-27. See also VOC 3602, Copy of a copy of a missive written by the
chief commander of the expedition to Passepan Corporal Casper Negele to the
Commander-in-Chief of Banyuwangi, Pieter Mierop, 24 January 1781, 31-32; VOC
3602, Extract from the letter written by Lieutenant Mierop to the Gezaghebber Van
der Nieport, Banyuwangi 1 February 1781, 34-35; VOC 3602, Extract from the
letter written by Lieutanant Mierop to the Gezaghebber Van der Nieport,
Banyuwangi, 1 February 1781, 35-37.


THE REBELLION OF THE PSEUDO-WILIS
149
captured in the company of his brother, Rabin, and two other
followers.86 It transpired that the movement was still restricted to a
limited territory and there was no indication that also contact had been
made with the Balinese or any other party allied with other rebel
leaders. There is no further information about the fate of Ebok and
his thirty followers. Meanwhile, the Company troops in western
Blambangan were still hunting down such other chief rebels, as Endo
and Wilanda, who were supposedly concealed in Sela Blas, the south
coast of Java. The rebellion of Sukma Manguntapa was not the last
pocket of resistance to espouse the idea of revivalism, or to use magicreligious
ideas covered by Lekkerkerker’s term as ‘politic-shaman’. In
his article on the short history of Blambangan, Lekkerkerker
mentioned that in 1782, a year after the capture of Pangeran Sukma
Manguntapa, a second Pseudo-Wilis appeared in West Blambangan.
This movement was orchestrated by an intellectual-actor of a higher
rank, using female-shamans as his instruments.87
Conclusion
Ethnic and religious sentiments were two of the significant issues
which ignited the conflict and precipitated the rebellion of Pangeran
Wilis in 1768. These forces were even more apparent in the last two
rebellions led by Sutanagara and Rempeg. The movement inspired by
anti-Javanese and anti-Islamic elements directed by both leaders was a
direct response to the Dutch policy of assisting the Islamizing and
Javanizing of Blambangan. The most prominent supporters of this
resistance were members of the middle class which in Blambangan
social stratification was occupied by such religious leaders as Hindus
priests and teachers. This group possessed political and cultural
privileges and occupied a significant role inside and outside the court,
which opened up access to economic resources and wealth. When the
kingdom was Islamized and downgraded to a mere Regency, a vassal
of the company, the ground was cut from beneath the feet of these
86 VOC 3602, Extract from the apart missive written by the Commander-in-chief of
Banyuwangi, Mierop to the Gezaghebber Van der Nieport, 16 February 1781, 7-8. See
also VOC 3602, Missive from the Governor of Java’s North-East Coast to
Governor-General Willem Arnold Alting, 28 April 1781, 5-6.
87 Lekkerkerker, ‘Blambangan’, 1056-7. No references to this movement were found
in the VOC Archive.


CHAPTER FOUR
150
people.88 In other words the changing status of the realm and the
concurrent Islamization blocked their access to power and economic
resources. It is no accident that several religious leaders, among them
Kyai Rupa, Endo, Larat, Malem, and Rosani were the main actors
behind the rebellion of the Pseudo-Wilis or Susuhunan Jagapati.
Rempeg himself was actually only a symbolic figure or puppet used by
these religious teachers to mobilize people. Rempeg’s personality and
his personal feud with the Regent of Blambangan, Jaksanagara,
motivated him to join this political movement. Oppression and
extortion perpetrated by the Dutch and by indigenous rulers were facts
of life, and this explains the wide support given by the local
inhabitants. The involvement of the Balinese was indeed
unquestionable, but in the case of the rebellion of Rempeg, it was
minor. Perhaps the failure of Sutanagara to stir up the rebellion had
taught the Balinese a compelling lesson about being more careful in
dealing with any future similar movement in Blambangan.
88 An anthropological research based on the VOC Archive is sorely needed to
uncover a more detailed picture of the political and cultural roles played by this
class in Javanese Hindu society, especially in Blambangan in the seventeenth and
the eighteenth centuries.

(From https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/)

Rujak Soto

Rujak Cingur is very popular in Surabaya, East Java. So, Soto Lamongan is very delicious too. Then, what if Rujak and Soto mixed to one food? Become the Rujak Soto, Original food of Banyuwangi, east java.

In Banyuwangi, You can find Rujak Soto Warung or Restaurant which serve original Banyuwangi food.

Rujak Soto, representing Rujak Petis and Soto Babat. Petis for Rujak Soto is special petis. Make from good fish with original Banyuwangi's sauce. and Soto with Babat.

For serving, Rujak sprinkled by Soto, add with kerupuk of shrip & melinjo, so crispy..

Very sensational taste, collaboration of spicy, tasty, sour and crispy.

Rujak Soto can found at:
Warung Mbok Ida, Jl. Jaksa Agung Suprapto (depan Stadion Diponegoro) Banyuwangi
Depot Prima Putra, Jl. KH Agus Salim Banyuwangi
Warung Mbok Mus, Jl. Musi Banyuwangi
Warung Mbok Yayah, Jl. Musi Banyuwangi
Depot Prima Rasa, Jl. KH Asyari Banyuwangi

(From http://www.banyuwangi-catalogue.com/)

Illegal jamu seized by Banyuwangi police

news/CRIMINAL
Posted 11 June 2008 @ 02:26

BANYUWANGI, 11 June 2008 - The narcotics brigade of the regional police of Banyuwangi have seized thousands of bottles of illegal jamu - traditional medicine which are suspected to contain medication that is not allowed. Yesterday the police succeeded in seizing some 100 boxes with bottles and packages of illegal jamu with an estimated value of several million Rupiah.

The products were seized in two different places that are owned by the Tangkur Ginseng jamu company. The company is run by Masrur (40) and is located in the village of Maron, in the area of Genteng. Outside the illegal jamu, the police also seized several processing machines; one plastic sealer; one bottle sealer and one liquid distributor for the jamu itself. Thousands of stickers and many boxes were also seized.

Every box had 72 small bottles, 12 big bottles or 150 plastic packages of jamu in powdered form. Following the labels on the product, the jamu should heal muscle pains, heavy flu and other body pains. Some of the ingredients of this jamu are listed in the G-list, which are illegal medicines. The owner first sold jamu under the name Akar Liwa, and later added Mahkota Dewa and Asam Urat, but used the same registration number from the government. (From http://news.indahnesia.com/)

Osing Language - Greetings

• Kelendi kabyare? = How are you?

• Apik – apik byaen = Fine, thanks

• Riko teko ndi ? = Where do you come from ?

• Mageh megawe nang bandara saiki? = Do you still working in Airport now?

• Isun ndeleng riko mambengi = I saw you last night

• Riko moco buku nang Toko Timur = You were reading book in Timur bookstore

• Ati ati nang ndalan ! = Be careful !

• Mugi-mugi riko tambah sukses byaen wes.. = I hope you can get more sucsses ..

History of Banyuwangi

The ruler of Blambangan Kingdom, Raden Banterang, used to occupy his neighboring countries in order to expand his territory, including to conquer Klungkung Kingdom of Bali. The outbreak of the Klungkung war had destroyed such a small country. The king of Klungkung was killed in the battlefield, yet his daughter and son were able to escape and hide in the jungle.

One day, Raden Banterang and his commanders were inspecting his district while going hunting. He met with a beautiful lady named Ida Ayu Surati in the jungle. He proposed Ida Ayu Surati to be his wife and then she was taken to Blambangan. Raden Banterang and Ida Ayu Surati lived happily in the palace.

When Raden Banterang was going hunting, the princess was surprised by the arrival of dirty beggar asking for her pity. What a surprise the princess was to find that the beggar was her older brother, Agung Bagus Mantra. She promptly squatted and embraced her brother’s legs. However, her great respect on her brother was not well accepted. Instead, she was tortured for she supposed to have betrayed her noble family.

Agung Bagus Mantra asked his sister to kill Raden Banterang, but such a request was rejected. At last, he was very much angry with her, and so that he had a sly idea to slander Raden Banterang

At first, Raden Banterang did not believe that his wife had made a scandal with other man. Yet because of Agung’s convincing words, he was finally very much influenced and therefore, his wife was dragged down to a small lake. Asking for compassion, Ida Ayu Surati tried to tell the truth and denied her husbands accusation. Hearing his wife’s explanation, the king even became angrier. As a proof of her sacred love, she asked her husband to kill her. In her last request, she asked her husband to throw her dead body into river. She said that if the water in the river smelled no good, it means that she had ever been sinful, but if it smelled fragrant it means that she was innocent.

Raden Banterang who was no more able to control his emotion, soon stabbed his keris into his wife’s chess. She died instantly

The dead body of Ida Ayu Surati was quickly thrown down into the dirty river.
How shocked Raden Banterang was to find him self that the dirty water of the river suddenly changed to become clean, as plain as a glass, and smelled fragrant.
Raden Banterang screamed crazily and regretted his deed. He walked unsteadily
and fell down in one side of the river. Unconsciously he said, “Banyuwangi…Banyuwangi , Banyuwangi !

* keris/kris = a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the southern Philippines. In 2005, UNESCO gave the title Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity to Kris of Indonesia (see here)

(Javanese Folktale, this folktale is only one of several versions of the derivation of Banyuwangi used for the name of Banyuwangi City, East Java.)

This story was taken and edited from EastJava.com. For those who might be indisposed for the story presentation in this web, please kindly contact the webmaster.

(From http://www.takihouse.com/)

The Banyuwangi murders

Jason Brown

Why did over a hundred black magic practitioners die in East Java late in 1998?

On September 1, 1998, Pak Tafsir and his wife Bu Miswa had just finished their evening meal and were preparing for bed when they heard a shout from outside their small bamboo home. 'Grandfather, can I borrow a match?'

The elderly couple were confused. It was pitch-black outside; there was no electricity for their simple home isolated in the middle of a rice paddy. As Bu Miswa groped around in the darkness searching for a match, Pak Tafsir set out to investigate.

But he was scared. He sensed menace lurking in the darkness outside, so armed himself with a large club. When Pak Tafsir opened the front door he faced a mob of angry attackers - shadowy figures, some in ninja-style masks, who moved in quickly to grab the 70-year-old farmer.

Although he managed to ward off one of the attackers with a heavy blow from his club, Pak Tafsir was no match for the hysterical mob who tied a rope around the old man's neck then dragged him more than 50m to the roadside of this small East Javanese village. The attackers disappeared into the night. Bu Miswa had fled terrified into the jungle behind her home, and Pak Tafsir's lifeless form lay dumped by the roadside to be discovered by villagers early the next morning.

Pak Tafsir's gruesome murder was just one of an estimated 150 bizarre executions of suspected black magic practitioners, or dukun santet, in the Banyuwangi region of East Java during 1998. What began as a few sporadic murders from early February of that year soon erupted into a mysterious killing spree which was to drive fear and terror into the Banyuwangi community. At the same time the organised nature of the murders along with an apparent terror campaign against local Islamic clerics, or kyai, gave rise to a multitude of political conspiracy theories.

Who was masterminding the dukun santet slayings? Were elite politicians working behind the scenes, as some high-profile political leaders claimed, including Abdurrahman Wahid, then head of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama? Was it a military exercise designed to create chaos throughout East Java in the wake of Suharto's resignation? Were forces at play to disrupt a major congress of Megawati Sukarnoputri's Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) planned for Bali, just half an hour by ferry from Banyuwangi? Were the dukun santet simply scapegoats in a carefully manipulated campaign designed to disrupt and discredit the emerging post-New Order political forces in the staunchly Islamic province of East Java?

Now, more than one year since the terror of Banyuwangi reached its peak, most of these political conspiracy theories remain largely unanswered. The often horrific murders, once described by Indonesia's press as 'Banyuwangi's killing fields', have simply become a haunting memory of human rights abuse joining Indonesia's lengthy list of socio-political ills which include problems in Ambon, Aceh, Irian Jaya and the former East Timor.

Sifting through the facts, half-truths and lies that lurk behind the Banyuwangi affair is a difficult task. I spent three months in the small village of Gintangan, about 20km south of Banyuwangi city, gleaning information from village heads, black magicians, white magicians, muslim clerics, lecturers and local culture experts, prisoners and family members of murder victims. What emerged were not the political conspiracy theories bandied about daily in the headlines of Indonesian and international press, but rather two distinct events. What began as a cultural phenomenon quickly became a vehicle for political manipulation both actively at the local level and passively at the national level.

Magic

In order to understand how such violent murder could emerge from the social fabric of Banyuwangi we must first consider the depth of belief in the paranormal that pervades this ethnically diverse community.

Banyuwangi has long been known as one of the most powerful centres of black magic in Indonesia, along with Banten in West Java and the island of Lombok. According to anthropologist Kusnadi, from the University of Jember, Banyuwangi's fertile land has bred a farming culture with close links to the spiritual world. As a buffer zone between the islands of Java and Bali, Banyuwangi also has a long history of violent struggle which in the past often met with failure. This combination of fertility and failure led to an obsession with sorcery among the peoples of Banyuwangi.

According to one history, black magic practised today in Banyuwangi is a blend of animistic belief and Islamic mysticism which arose out of inter-religious conflict during the Mataram court from the 16th century onwards. Another account tracks the origins of Banyuwangi's black magic to Tulung Agung - a region in the west of East Java.

Whatever its origins, today black magic, together with white magic such as fortune telling, love magic, healing massage and countless other forms, continues to play a dominant role within Banyuwangi cosmology. Nearly everyone I spoke to, from lecturers and journalists to farmers and housewives, believe in it wholeheartedly. All disasters - be they personal or communal - are attributed to black magic. Unusual or sudden death, crop failure, death of livestock, and marriage problems are all caused by a local dukun santet.

Black magic in Banyuwangi takes on two major forms. The first is sihir - black magic used to kill another person. This generally comes in the form of busung, where the victim's stomach will grow grotesquely in size. It is believed various items such as knives, nails, broken glass, even small frying pans or animals can be found inside the stomach. Busung victims rarely escape death.

The second is rapuh - sorcery designed to make the victim suffer throughout their lifetime. Symptoms include sudden blindness or deafness, paralysis or uncontrollable shaking and trembling.

Dukun santet are feared, and feelings of revenge permeate the social psyche. However, prior to 1998 revenge killings of dukun santet were rare. Banyuwangi villagers have long kept black magic in check at the local village level. A code of ethics among Banyuwangi dukun santet forbids them from using their magic against people in the same village. If this occurs the accused dukun must undertake an oath of innocence in the local mosque. Before 1998, a dukun found guilty by fellow villagers was usually exiled from the village and perhaps his home and possessions torched.

Good and bad

But in 1998, with the nation reeling under tremendous social change following the downfall of Suharto, the people of Banyuwangi abandoned cultural restraints and took the law violently into their own hands.

Between February and July 1998, cases of dukun santet murders in Banyuwangi were still relatively few - about five. However in August this figure leapt to 47 cases and in September 80 cases. In fact, during September and October 1998 the situation was akin to a bloodbath. According to figures compiled by a Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) investigation team, 143 suspected dukun santet were murdered in Banyuwangi along with another 105 murders in neighbouring regions of East Java such as Jember, Sumenep and Pasuruan after the phenomenon spread throughout the province.

I believe all of the murders were essentially a social phenomena grounded in the reformation process, along with various other social factors, which allowed deep-set feelings of revenge to emerge and be enacted upon indiscriminately.

Throughout Indonesia the reformation process quickly produced a dichotomy between 'good' and 'bad' in the political sphere. 'Good' was viewed as the new emerging reformation political forces. 'Bad' were those politicians with links to Suharto's New Order. The purging of the political 'bad' was particularly strong in East Java.

This 'good-bad' dichotomy also entered the collective consciousness at the village level. Dukun santet - those members of the community seen as responsible for all unexplainable hardship - became the 'bad' which needed to be purged from the social landscape.

A number of social factors allowed this simple 'good-bad' dichotomy to enter the social sphere. The monetary crisis threw many below the poverty line and created despair. The tremendous events of May 1998 in Jakarta, in which a social uprising, complete with looting and rioting, went largely unprosecuted, created a misconception among the villagers of Banyuwangi regarding the power of the state, particularly the military and police. As the killings reached their peak in September and October 1998 the villagers, bonded in solidarity, felt themselves to be above the law.

In the aftermath of May 1998, police were reticent to act with overt force and were anyway often outnumbered by hysterical mobs baying for dukun blood. On a number of occasions villagers protested outside police stations for the release of friends arrested in connection with the dukun santet slayings.

These factors allowed the killing spree to continue virtually unhindered until late October and early November, when the military finally sent in crack forces to quell the violent murders.

Not all of the dukun santet murders were spontaneous mass mob lynchings. Evidence I gathered from the field indicates that some assassins were paid - usually by villagers wishing to enact revenge upon a certain dukun santet but who were not brave enough to do it themselves. I also found evidence of local provocateurs who gave small amounts of money to teenagers and local hoodlums in order to buy alcohol. Once drunk, these people were more easily persuaded to join in a lynching mob.

Ninjas

The issue which captured the imagination of the Indonesian and foreign press and led to widening political conspiracy theories was the emergence of 'ninjas', who were often described as highly trained assassins with links to the military.

I don't believe such ninjas existed in Banyuwangi. Instead we have mainly villagers or local provocateurs who wanted to disguise their identity from fellow villagers by tying a t-shirt around their face.

However, a 'ninja issue' certainly did exist. It was accompanied by what seems to have been a terror campaign against local muslim clerics, Islamic ulama and Nahdlatul Ulama activists. This is where we see the crossover from social phenomena to politically motivated campaign. The 'ninja issue', as I call it, emerged at the height of the dukun santet killings. Aided by a sensationalising mass media, the 'ninja issue' spread like wildfire throughout East Java and beyond. Now not only dukun santet were considered targets, but the entire Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) community.

Throughout East Java, Islamic communities established private security forces to protect their local muslim clerics. In Banyuwangi for example, as night fell the city was as though under siege, with bands of armed residents manning private security posts. All strangers were considered potential ninja assassins and rumours of ninja sightings intensified in a community gripped by panic and hysteria.

The 'ninja issue' reached its gruesome peak near the East Javanese city of Malang when on October 24, 1998, five suspected ninjas were murdered by villagers. One victim was burnt to death while another was beheaded and his head paraded around the small city of Godanglegi.

These murders had no direct relationship to the dukun santet slayings, which were of a cultural nature. But the 'ninja issue' does indicate a politically motivated anti-Nahdlatul Ulama campaign. The very fact that NU clerics were being terrorised throughout East Java led to claims of a national anti-NU conspiracy. The dukun santet murders were merely a lever designed to create chaotic conditions in East Java, unsettling the staunch NU region and disrupting the formation of Abdurrahman Wahid's National Awakening Party (PKB).

Fortunately the national conspiracy theories have remained just that - theories. But there is more evidence of an anti-muslim cleric campaign at the local level. The fall of Suharto and the arrival of the reformation process heralded a new phase in the political empowerment of local religious leaders. Muslim clerics, or kyai, have long played an important social role as informal village leaders. In Banyuwangi villagers will often approach their kyai for assistance on all kinds of matters be they spiritual or personal, while the village head ( kepala desa) is usually only approached when official business is required, i.e. a government stamp.

With the arrival of political reformation, these respected informal village leaders had the opportunity to move from the social to the political sphere. These muslim clerics posed a major threat to local politicians, including village heads, district heads and even the Banyuwangi Bupati, or regent, who was forced to resign in the wake of the dukun santet slayings and NU terror campaign.

Local political figures, fearful of the threat posed by muslim clerics and the new strong political arm of NU, may have used the dukun santet slayings for their own political interests by latching onto the 'ninja issue' in order to launch a terror campaign against the NU community.

In Banyuwangi of the 143 suspected dukun santet who were murdered only one was a Koranic teacher. This man had recently moved from the north of the region following accusations he practised black magic. While it is true that a NU investigation team found that 83 of the 143 killed were actually NU members, this is not particularly unusual given that Banyuwangi has always been a staunch NU stronghold.

I believe there are two main reasons why the terror campaign, or 'ninja issue', spread out of Banyuwangi to the rest of East Java. Firstly, local politicians in the various regions of East Java were similarly threatened by the political empowerment of muslim clerics, while in some regions there existed tensions between the Islamic community and the local political and security apparatus. Secondly, NU spokesmen often overreacted to the situation by calling on the community to protect their local muslim cleric, creating a scene of hysteria throughout the entire province.

Whether local or national conspiracy, the anti-NU terror campaign ultimately failed. In East Java the National Awakening Party won convincingly in last year's election, while the party's leader, Abdurrahman Wahid, is now Indonesia's third president.

Meanwhile in the villages of Banyuwangi belief in black magic remains as strong as ever. Villagers continue to fall ill and die as a result of black magic practices. Feelings of revenge continue to mount and the possibility of another uprising against the 'bad' of society always lurks dangerously on the horizon.

Jason Brown (pakjason44@hotmail.com) was a field project student in Malang, East Java, with Acicis (the Australian Consortium of In Country Indonesian Studies) in late 1999.

(From www.insideindonesia.org)

Patrol

ONE OF TRADITIONAL BAMBOO MUSIC FROM BANYUWANGI

Angklung represent typical artistry of Banyuwangi city. Its Instrument made from the bamboo than made in such a manner so that yield tone - compatible minor tone accompany "kendang kempul" songs that is typical song socialize of banyuwangi. This artistry played by 12 until 14 people. At show of artistry angklung enhanced by Instrument of Saron, Kendang (traditional percussion of java) and Gong. Angklung own some kinds of, that is: Angklung Caruk, Angklung Tetak, Angklung Paglak, Angklung Dwilaras, and Angklung Blambangan

Angklung Caruk

As according to its name " Caruk" meaning is meet, duel, staging Angklung caruk bring into contact 2 group of angklung which each other show deftness in creating dynamic and lively rhythm so that yield delicious rhythm heard. Early their staging play angklung one by one and generally accompanied by dancer interspersed with kendang kempul songs. Then play in solo every instrument showedly deftness in playing the instrument, what is generally interspersed with joke and each other jeer " acake saiki biso ta riko" ( try now you can do it?).

After both group show its ability staging covered with to play together and play music each other. In this duel is not defined who win and who fail, audience satisfaction have enough to all this angklung player.

Angklung Paglak

Every traditional ceremony of tribe osing have never released by angklung paglak, gamelan angklung played high onstage. Angklung Paglak gladness symbol socialize using. Angklung Paglak consisted of two castanets type, small angklung and kendang. This Gamelan played by four people, two angklung player and two kendang player. Music which belting out of lively and each other. Some type kendang kempul song brought among other things gerang kalong, tetel-tetel, padang ulan. This kendang kempul song is bliss story live rural society.

Angklung Paglak generally played by a great crop moment. This Angklung onstage played boosting high in the middle of rice field. High more and more the podium will more and more piercing voice oscillation its angklung. Made podium from four bamboo pillar with coconut leaf matting roof. Around the podium placed by two banana leaf as farmer prosperity symbol. Moment harvest, voice sound of angklung paglak heard. Angklung Paglak only played by a adult man. This Angklung will be played during great crop and the moment performed by a traditional ceremony. ceremony ider bumi, angklung paglak played one day full before ceremony started. in rotation Citizen playing of it hotly full of liking the goal.

Its song is lively invite citizen to merge into ceremony. So angklung paglak playing of it, in a crack the citizen come in large numbers. They hotly beat time and hymn by using Ianguage of osing.Angklung paglak own value of high sacret. Its rhythm is lively able to hearten struggle of clan osing. Generally, angklung paglak will be played between one other group and group. Oscillation which heard also able to dissipate all eveil ghost threat.

Unhappily, angklung paglak have started left by a young clan of osing. Nowadays only omit the old which will hold out by gamelan that. look for youngster which will learn angklung paglak. They are more amount learning the modern music, criticize Adi Purwadi, player of angklung paglak. This Gamelan is ‘ economical’ because do not use energi electrics. substance of cheap Gemelannya also and can be made by xself. To remain to preserve angklung paglak, community of tribe of osing make group learn music of this type of. Even a little the enthusiast, this group is non-stoped to cope to invite all young fellow to will join. Except that we, who'll preserve it, say Adi. In Banyuwangi angklung paglak is inclusive of sacret as dance gandrung.

(From : http://sakmelbune.blogspot.com/)