Game of Thrones

The dhampar kencana (golden throne) is an ornately carved throne stool, also known as a singgasana in Javanese, used at the enthronement of every Javanese ruler. It is considered a sacred and mystical object in the Javanese courts. But, in the troubled transition from the Dutch East India Company (VOC, 1602–1799) to the high colonial period of the Netherlands East Indies (1816–1942), the throne stool became a highly contested object, demarcating as it did political status viz-a-viz the Dutch colonial power. Nowhere was this more salient than in Yogyakarta during the first two regnal periods of Sultan Hamengku Buwono II (1792–1810/1811–1812/1826–1828). Here the placement of a low wooden bench (dhingklik) under the dhampar kencana enabled the second sultan to sit higher in royal receptions than visiting Dutch dignitaries including (until May 1808) the governor of Java’s Northeast Coast (Semarang). During the Franco-Dutch (1808–1811) and British (1811–1816) administrations of Marshal Herman Willem Daendels (in office, 1808–1811) and Thomas Stamford Raffles (1811–1816), the throne stool with its elevating wooden stool became the lightning rod for political tensions, nearly occasioning a bloody affray between Raffles and the second sultan in the Residency “throne room” in December 1811. Even after the overthrow and exile of the latter and the dawn of the high colonial era when the European government ruled supreme, issues around the dhampar kencana continued. They became particularly acute in the years immediately leading up to the outbreak of the Java War (1825–1830) when the Dutch Resident, Smissaert (in office, 1823–1825), insisted on occupying the throne at key ceremonies like the Garebeg Mulud (Prophet’s birthday) and Garebeg Puasa (celebration at the end of the fasting month). The present article traces these historical developments at the same time as engaging with the semiotic and design elements used in the creation of the dhampar kencana whose details were modified from reign to reign

Colonialism · Government (linguistics) · Governor · Mysticism · Politics · Spanish Civil War · Throne · World War II · Architectural and Urban Studies · Asian Studies and History · Cultural and Religious Practices in Indonesia