As a reward for a skillful exploit in securing the feeble position of Sultan Pajang from feuding rival-heirs, Senopati and his father received a forest area in Mentaok as a appanage. Kotagede, now sub-district occupying the South East corner of the Yogyakarta Municipality, was founded by Senopati in 1575 as a simple settlement in that forest area before it grew into a flourising trading post and became finally the capital of his kingdom of Mataram.
As a trading centre it attracted many merchants and gilds of artisans and craftsmen who came to settle and who apparently passed down their skill to the present day woodcarvers, jewellers, gold and silversmiths who brought Kotagede to its fame. Senopati, whose descendants become the Sultans of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, lies buried behind the Masjid Agung of Kotagede where an age old white turtle is kept in a pound and said to be his pet. Not much of his castle is left except the foundation stones and some banyan trees. There is a collection of round yellow stones called “Selo Ganthang” most possible a model to calibrate the founding of canonballs and the “Selo Gilang” a square stone seat of Senopati with inscription in French, Dutch, Latin and Portuguese reading “Ainsi vaa le monde – Zoo geat de wereld - Cosiva il mondo – its movetur Mundus. Ad aeternam memoriam sorti infelici. Contemmite vos contemuntuveredigni infortuna ...” etc. Meaning shortly “so is life”. It was evidently a philosophic contemplation of a long endured life of a Portuguese captive kept in Kotagede at the time of Senopati.
As told by the people he was found shipwrecked on the shore and with his long beard and hair growing over his pale body, he was thought an apparition of the sea ghost or an animal coming out from the sea and fed by the people raw meat and fruits the way the feed animals. Under Senopati’s grandson, Sultan Agung (1613 - 1645), Mataram reached its culminating point. He managed to make it one of the mighties kingdoms in Indonesia, second only the 13th century empire of Majapahit. Outside the Masjid Agung and what remained of the castle which is Hindu – Javanese in style, the buildings along the streets of this 16th century Javanese town are clearly influenced by Moslem trends. Luxurious mozaic tiled houses within tall brick-wall enclosures accessible only from the front wrought-iron gates utterly revealed its Moorish touch. In these houses lived the wealthy merchants of Kotagede whose names and addresses are registered in the customers file of Antwerp diamond traders as steady patrons. The royal cemetery of the Mataram kings is open on Monday after 10 am and Friday after 1.30pm. Visitors must wear the batik cloth which can be hired from the ward. The Selo Ganthang and Selo Gilang collection is open anytime upon request. The silversmiths welcome any visitor from 8.30 am to 4 pm.
Pictures :
Kotagede Heritage, Yogyakarta
Kotagede Heritage, Yogyakarta
Kotagede Heritage, Yogyakarta
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