Conflicts within the Prijaji World of the Parahyangan in West java 1914 - 1927 9789814376396

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The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

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CONFLICTS WITHIN THE PRIJAJI WORLD OF THE PARAHYANGAN IN WEST JAVA 1914 - 1927

by

Yong Mun Cheong

FIELD REPORT SERIES NO. 1 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Price: S$3.00

Preface The importance of sub-national level studies is now generally recognized. The aspirations and dynamics of life at the grass-root level or intermediate levels can be substantially different from the broader national mainstream. A proper grasp and understanding of such d i fferences are vital to any meaningful appreciation of actual reality at various levels of government or life in general. Viewed in this light, Mr. Yong Mun Cheong's venture into Indonesian local history is particularly welcome. Let's hope his analysis of conflicts within the Prijaji world of western Java will stimulate other local studies in not only Indonesia but the other countries of the region as well. Mr. Yong Mun Cheong's study forms the first report in the Institute's new series of publications, Field Reports, embodying the research findings of the Institute's staff and fellows. While wishing the series and Mr. ' Yong all the best, it is clearly understood that responsibility for facts and opinions expressed in the report that follows rests exclusively with the author, and his interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or policy of the Institute itself or its supporters. 5 January 1973

Kernial Singh Sandhu Director

Acknowledgements Man y people have helped me in making this report possib le . I am grateful to Professors Silverstein and S a n dhu for reading earlier versions of the report. Mr s . Patricia Lim and Dr . Ernest Chew also helped in ren deri ng - the manuscr i pt more r eadable . It would be difficult to name all those in Indonesia who cont ributed their information and their time so gen e ro us ly, but I am especially grateful to Mr. Sujono Trimo and hi s staff for helping me to locate various library materials. Professor Achmad Sanusi also helped me in my i nterviews. The s t aff of the Teachers' Training College at Bandung and the c ommittee members of the P a gujuban Pasundan, a political organization in Bandung, g e nerous ly s h ared their ideas and impressions with me. Gr ateful t h anks are also due to Mr. Patrick Chew who made a vail able to me his comfortable home where I could re - think th rough s o me of my ideas . It is also fitting that I th a nk the As i a Foundation for a generous grant that made t h e field trip to Indonesia possible . Finally, I am i nde b ted to t he clerical staff of the Institute of Southeast As i an Studies for t y ping and re-typing various drafts o f t hi s report. The materi als used i n this study are largely derived from writ ten s o urces found scattered in libraries in Djakarta and Bandung. I have myself translated Indonesian materials in t o Englis h and must bear sole responsibility for th e i r accuracy.

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The inset shows the locatior. o f the Parahyangan Res i dency in Java. The map shO\olS the Parahyangan Res i dency with p rinci p al towns.

I NTRODUCTION*

This is an attempt to study the local historical developments of a particular region in Indonesia and to show where these developments turned away from the mainstream of national developments in Indonesia in the early twentiety century . To achieve this, I have stationed myself in the Parahyangan (or the Priangan as it was then called), in the region of West Java and not in Djakarta (or Batavia of old) . Looking outward from there, the flow of historical development appears to be different . Viewed from Djakarta, the predominant theme of early twentieth century Indonesian history would be the birth pangs of the nationalist movement as it tried to come to terms with the Dutch colonial masters, or as it tried to accombdate different and opposing segments within the nationalist elite . Viewed from the Parahyangan, the domestic aspects of the growing strength of the nationalist movement in a time of rapid and far-reaching changes are emphasized . The theme that emerges is that the prijajis (the indigenous administrative officials who formed one important leadership group for the people) ~ere caught in the throes of rapid change initiated both from within and from without . On the one hand, the positions of the higher-ranking prijajis were challenged by their subordinates, while the newly emerging nationalist parties sought to exploit any dissatisfactions harboured by the people against those higher-ranking prijajis. All this happened against a background of rapid sccial and political change in the Parahyangan, to which the Dutch also contributed . Thus it can be said that both a knowledge of broad national themes and themes of purely local significance is important in arriving at what can be called a fuller understanding of Indonesian history . The locality of the Parahyangan has been chosen not because it is particularly important to make a study of this area. A study of any other

*

For the purposes of this paper, only abbreviated footnotes have been given . The system of footnote citation used is that of the name of the author followed by the year of publication and page number. Where the name of the author is not available, the title of the publication has been given instead . The full citations are found in the bibliography at the end.

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area in Indo nesia would assume its own importance and relevance . The essential factor here is that the perspective has been changed. For example ; much has been written about the Sarekat Islam (Islamic Association) on the national level.l As a theme on this level, it is commonly known that the Sarekat Islam was the result of the attempts by Arab, Sumatran and Javanese merchants to organize a cooperative society in self-defence against Chinese commercial competition in Java, especially in the batik industry . Muslims were also alarmed over the extent of Dutch Christian missionary activity and they felt that Islam was in danger . The need for an association based on Islam which would care for the economic and religious well-being of Indonesians thus arose. Subsequently, Sarekat Islam caught the attention of the Indonesians and by 1919 there were two million members which included may communis t -inclined elements . In view of the great tensions cr r~ ated by the communists and non-communists with1n the Sarekat Islam 1 the result was a parting ot the ways in 192L The communists and their supporters drew away from the Sarekat Islam , leaving that body greatly weakened and on the road to decline . The broad outlines of the development of this association are clear . However, a considera t ion of the Sarekat Islam from the local context of the Parahyangan itself highlights certain features that do not get sufficient emphasis or attention in a wider overview. On the loca l level , the Sarekat Islam, as seen from the Parahyangan, was not really an organization to protect indigenous traders against the Chinese. It acted as a vehicle to channel local grievances (economic or otherwise) , as the following pages will show. I t is essen ti a l ly t h i s different perspective that is being illustrated here . This perspective is no less important because it reveals the dynamics of politics below the national level .

THE PRIJAJIS IN THE PARAHYANGAN The Parahyangan Regencies are located in the southeastern corner of West Java . In 1900, the regencies were administratively grouped together under the Residency

1

Noer, 1963, passim .

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(Keresidenan) of Parahyangan, one of the five Residencies that made up West Java, the others being the Residencies of Bantam, Djakarta, Tjirebon and Krawang , Below the administrativ e level of the Residency, there were five Regencies and the capital city of Bandung itself. The five Regencies were and are Bandung Regency, Sumedang Regency, Garut Regency, Tasikmalaja Regency and Tjiamis The seat of Bandung Regency was also in the Regency. of Bandung, but the former should not be city capital confused with the latter o In the early twentieth century, each of the Regencies were headed by a Bupati but Bandung In the case of Bandung Regency, city was headed by a Mayor. the Regency office was in the alun alun (town square) south of the railway line while the mayoral office lay north of the railway . At the beginning of the twenti e th century, the Parahyangan was a focal point of change , To a large extent, this change was very much centred on the city of Bandung, but since Bandung city was never an isolated entity but had interaction with the surrounding Regencies, this change · affected the surrounding areas . The change was in the form of an increased pace of westernizatio n . The Europeans, mainly Dutch, were increasingly attracted to Bandung, partly because it had a very agreeable and cool climate suitable for westerners . Built along the slope of the Tangkubanprah u volcano, Bandung was also more hygenic and healthier than Djakarta , The gradient of the site of Bandung city itself is favourable for drainage, water supply and sewage disposal. The northern part of the town is particularly blessed with these advantages and the European settlers were mainly found there .

.

Largely because of such favourable natural factors, the Dutch transferred many of their administrativ e offices In 1894, the State Railway Company mo v ed its t~ · Bandung . In 1917, the Department of War headquarters to Bandung. by the Department of followed there, was transferred also became the headquarters Bandung . 1923 in s Communication of the Office of Post and Telecommunic ations, of the DepartThe ment of Energy and Mining and of the Colonial Army. city carne to be connected by rail to Djakarta and Tjilatjap, and these connections made Bandung accessible from all directions . With the establishmen t of offices and ease of communications, the number of Europeans increased . Bandung became the most European town in Indonesia in terms of residential In the 1930 census, it was reported that while preferences.

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7 ol5 per cent of the combin ed popul ation of Djaka rta was Europe an, that of Bandun g was lL 8 per cent . 2 The Chines e also came in to open shops to cater for the specia l needs of the Europe ans . Many Indon esians , espec ially those from the surrou nding rural areas, also came to Bandun g, partly to take advant age of the need for lower level emplo yees, both traine d and untrai ned " But as time went on and as bhe proces ses of admin istrati on became more and more involv ed, the Dutch realiz ed that some form of traini ng was needed for the Indon esians to enable them to perfor m their admin istrati ve chores effect ively. Before 1908, most of the Indone sian admin istrato rs were recrui ted from the Hoofd enscho olen (Chief s' Schoo ls), one of which was establ ished in Bandun g in 1879. The Hoofd enscho ol was meant for the sons of the local chiefs and other notabl es . 3 But at the Hoofd enscho ol in Bandun g, admin istrati ve traini ng was lackin g and instead ~ such subjec ts as geodes y, cartog raphy, archit ectura l dra';tin g, agricu lture, cattle raisin g and ethics were taught , Never theles s, the gradua te of the Hoofd enscho ol was absorb ed into the admin istrati ve servic es as a Schrij ver or Hulps chrijv er, meanin g "clerk ", "copy ist" or "assis tant clerk" or "assis tant copyi st a " Becaus e of the pressi ng need for traine d admin istrati ve person nel espec ially in the Bandun g area, the Hoofd enscho ol was reorga nized . In 1908, the name was change d to OSVIA (Oplei dingss cholen van Inland sche Ambte naren or Traini ng Schoo l for Native Admin istrato rs) o The schoo l provid ed a seven- year course , the compl etion of which theor etical ly made it feasib le for a gradua te to rise to the highe st rank possib le for Indone sians in the admin istrati ve servic e . Initia lly, the fresh OSVIA gradua te was given the title o f Candi daat Inland se Bestuu r Ambte naar which was never theles s higher than the rank of the gradu ate of the former Hoofd enscho ol in Bandun g e Upon compl etion of the course , the OSVIA gradu ate would work in an office for a year to gain some experi ence in

2

Vo1ks tel1ing , 1930, p. 164 .

3

Brugm ans, 1938, pp . 182-83 .

4

Ibid . , p. 182 .

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administration . Then for the second year, he would work with a Wedana (District Chief) . Thenhe would be appointed Mantri-Politie (Junior Police Officer) for a further two years. After four years of service, he would be appointed Assis~t Wedana, at which position he would work for twelve class I years. ~ There were two classes of Assistent Wedana: be could Wedana and class II . Before a class II Assistent next the to on then from and promoted to class I position, rank of Bupati (the highest rank an Indonesian could reach in the hierarchy) , he had to get the support of the Dutch colonial authorities.5 But if the term "administrative officials" is broadened to include not only civil service officials but also teachers and others, then two other sources of recruitment for the administrative service need to be mentioned.6

5

Sewaka, 1955, p. 16 . Sewaka's memoirs give a good account of the world of the lower-ranking Indonesian officials · in the inter-war period. His experiences were entirely in West Java during that time and thus is particularly relevant to this study .

6

One contemporary source defined the members of the prijaji as follows: 1.

Djurutulis (Secretaries) of offices of European and Javanese officials in the Binnenlandsch Bestuur (Internal Administration).

2.

Secretaries of district courts.

3.

Secretaries of public prosecutors.

4.

Secretaries of general tax collectors.

5.

Secretaries of controleurs (posts usually held by Dutchmen) .

6.

Secretaries of the Sjahbandar's office (recipient of the import and export duties) .

7.

Secretaries of foresters.

8.

Secretaries of sub-districts.

9.

Supervisor of the native people at the Sjahbandar's office.

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One of these was the Kweekschoolen or Teachers' Training Colleges. Such a college was also established in Bandung. It offered a six-year training course by means of which the graduate would qualify for teaching posts in government schools. Another source of administrative officials was the STOVIA (School tot Opleiding van Inlandse Ambtcnaren or Training Schools for Native Doctors) . No STOVIA was located in Bandung but its graduates were found in the region . Formerly called the Dokter Djawa school, the STOVIA, as it came to be known from 1900, aimed at producing "vaccinators" or "Indies doctors . " The school provided a nine-year training course and generally was attended by people of lower social standing than those attending the OSVIA. 7 Generally speaking, the graduates of the above-mentioned institutions can be grouped together under the term prijaji . Specifically the term applied to anyone who joined the official administrative hierarchy, but it also referred to

10 .

Policemen in districts or sub-districts.

11.

Teachers of private schools for the local people.

12 .

Policemen in contro l of opium.

13.

Forest-keepers .

14.

Tailors .

15 .

Messengers of the contro l eurs' offices .

16.

Whoever passed the final examination of section A or B of the Chiefs' schools.

17.

Whoever passed the examination for lower officials.

18.

Whoever studied at Dutch government schools U9 to the second grade . Quoted from Naga z umi , 1967, pp. 35-36.

7

This aspect wi 11 be treated below, p. 7 .

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a particular way of life symbolized by the Bupatis and their retainers. The Bupatis while being members of the administrativ e hierarchy, were in a sense also above it, for, at the turn of the century, they occupied their positions by virtue of birth rather than by abilities proven through In fact, many of them did not undergo the training training. the other prijajis did though they had to be promoted to But promotions were Bupatiship from the lower ranks. usually fast and smooth for those of "royal" blood . Thus when the term prijaji is used, it refers to both the graduates of the various schools and the Bupatis (including their A distinction can then be drawn between the followers). two components of the prijaji world, the former being called the lower prijajis and the latter the higher prijajis. In the early twentieth century in the Parahyangan, a constant theme that arose was the friction between the higher prijajis and the lower prijajis, although the latter Then there was also the group was by no means united. and non-prijajis whole a as friction between prijajis e service). administrativ the in not were who (i.e . , those the higher against mainly directed though friction, This prijajis also extended to the upper echelons of t he lower prijajis. Among the lower pr1JaJ1S themselves, there was conflict between the graduates of the Hoofdenschool of Bandung and those of the Bandung OSVIA. Those of the former institution were dissatisfied that although they had been in the administrativ e service longer (the OSVIA was started only in 1908), they received less pay than the starting salary of the graduates from the OSVIA. Graduates from the OSVIA also appeared to be more privileged than the graduates of the STOVIA who received a monthly salary half that of the OSVIA graduates . When they travelled by rail at public expense, they travelled third class together with labourers and convicts while the OSVIA graduates travelled second class. Moreover, the length of the course at the STOVIA was two years longer than that at the OSVIA . 8 The conflicts over differences between the higher and lower prijajis were largely centred on whether birth or ability was the more important for promotion. While in theory the lower prijajis could rise to the post of Bupati, in practice, that position and also the posi tior.s of Wedana and Patih (Vice-Bupati) were monopolized by the nigher

8

Dahm, 1971, pp . 24 - 25 .

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prijaji s . Moreov er, the higher prijaji s and their followe rs and descend ants were not require d to receive trainin g at the OSVIA to be promote d . This caused great resentm ent among the lower-r anking aspirin g prijaji s of the OSVIA. They had comple ted what was from 1908 onward s an arduous and long course of study, and to put aside their hard-wo n qualifi cation s and subjec t themse lves to a system whereby positio n was determi ned by · birth and influen ce was . highly unsatis fa c tory . One example of this was Wirana takusum ah, later the Bupati of Tjiand jur and of Bandung . He was removed from his class in the OSVIA by Snouck Hurgro nje (Advise r to the Dutch Governm ent ) who had taken an individ ual interes t in the educati on of the sons of some of the leading 1 familie s of Java o Wiranat akusum ah wa~a scion of a leading West Javanes e family and he was sponsor ed by Snouck Hurgro nje through the Dutch sec ondary school in Djakar ta which provide d a better educati on . Nevert heless, Wiranat akusum ah did not gradua te because his interes t in the occult and hypotis m consume d too much of his study time . 9 All the same, he was appoint ed Bupati , The young prijaJi S wh o d i d n o t ha ve blood ties or influen ce to help them , ch affed at these "injust ices , " Indone sian society i n the P a r a h y a n gan in the early twentie th century was charac t erized by this cleav age between aspirin g lower prijaji s and the highe r better- entrenc hed officia ls (togeth er with thei r familie s ). It was as if the latter present ed a ceiling t o the career prospe cts of the former . This is better illustr ated by compar ing the salary structu res of the highes t paid native officia ls around the turn of the century . At that time ; the Bupati drew a salary of fl . 12000, the Wedana fl < 2500 ; the Assiste nt Wedana ( class I) fl . 1200, and the Assiste nt Wedana (class II) fl . 78o . l0 It is not surpris ing that the lower prijaji s were anxious to join the higher ranks and enj oy the benefi ts thereof . The lower p ri j ajis r e acted to this situati on in a variety of ways. A c a mpaign was launche d in the Parahya ngan whereby they attacke d the use of titles like Raden, Raden Mas, Tubagus and Apun by the higher prijaji s . Knowing that they could never aspire to such t itles themse lves because of the lack of "nobili ty" in their blood and because the :lower prijaji s felt that their trainin g was often better then the higher prijaji s and their familie s , the lower prijaji s ~

9

Van Niel, 19 70 , p . 48 .

10

Day, 1966 , p . 48 .

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decided to break the social respect and aura that surround They were a higher prijaji from an illustriou s family. against the children of the higher prijajis succeeding to their fathers' titles without necessaril y meriting them, especially as they, the lower prijajis, remained without recognitio n despite their abilities .ll The Dutch appeared to have been conscious of the seething discontent among the lower prijajis . In 1931, the governmen t issued the famous hormat(hon our, distinctio n) circular . The purpose of this was to remove the last remaining vestiges of traditiona l prestige from the Bupatis and the highest ranking Indonesian officials . The lower In 1915, prijajis received this with much satisfacti on. Dutch the when increased this satisfacti on was further greater had who Bupatis the of sons the declared that only their succeed to allowed be would others abilities than fathers in the event of the latters' death or retirement . The circular also declared that the Bupatiship was not hereditary but that training and passing examinatio ns were However, in practice, this new clarificat ion prerequis~tes .. was not necessaril y followed . For instance a lower prijaji, Sewaka, reported that this applied only to one or two individua ls, while the principle of hereditary succession was maintained " l2 In that way, sons of Bupatis who had never undergone training in the OSVIA would still be promoted . Thus in prijaji circles, two groups emerged, the Ningrat bloc (or privileged group) and the bukan-Nin grat bloc (or nonprivileged group) . In retaliatio n, a series of articles appeared in local newspapers decrying the de-traditi onalizing influences of the new schools . For example, it was reported that at a teachers' meeting in DecernLer 1913 in the Kweekscho ol (Teachers ' Training College) in Bandung, a meeting which was attended by teachers from Tjiandjur, Sukaburni and Sumedang, as well as those resident in Bandung, a number of teachers donned foreign attire, i . e . , trousers and not traditiona l Sudanese attire . This also occurred in classrooms during teaching sessions with the result that many students also followed suit . The higher prijajis feared that this represente d a growing Dutch Christian influence among the younger people . l3 ·

11

Kaoem Moeda, 15 January 1914, editorial .

12

Sewaka, 1955, p , 16 ,

13

Kaoem Moeda, 30 January 1914, editorial .

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This seemingly trivial matter should not be played down. A similar inc~dent was described by a lower prijaji (Sewaka) when he met the Bupati. Sewaka had just been newly appointed as Candidaat Inlandse Bestuur Ambtenaar, the lowest rank in the prijaji hierarchy. (This incident took place near Tjirebon in West Java, but outside of the Parahyangan. Nevertheless, the incident is symptomatic of the times). Sewaka described it 'as follows: "In accordance with the changing times where everywhere people were wearing trousers, I also put on trousers. The ones that I wore were sentjes, i.e. trousers worth Rp. 7.5 and were much different from the ones normally worn by students of the OSVIA. The latter students wore trousers worth only Rp. 4 or Rp. 5. What happened when I met the Bupati? After introducing myself, he looked at me from top to toe and then back again for several times and asked in a horrible manner: 'Who is your father?' "Then he grew angry and pointed to the door, signifying that I had to leave. Very harshly, he said, 'Show your ability 1 (in your work) while at the same time I replied that I had no father. "I left the Bupati's office and on returning home I found that I could not sleep that night because I kept thinking of the incident. I had hoped to receive from him some advice about my work, but far from expectations, I was given a scolding. I reflected on what could have been the mistake I made - was it my wearing trousers? "If it were so, there was no need for him to get angry since many young people wore them. Or could it possibly be that my reply angered him? This also need not necessarily have angered him because if he had not been angry, then I surely would have explained to him that my father had died. "Aft~r that I was able to sleep. I concluded my meditations with the thought that that incident was no other than one of orientation (to the conflict between young and old) which would surely be experienced by each student in school." 14

14

Sewaka, 1955, pp. 11-12.

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The fact that the Bupatis were not very popular was also reflected in an article that appeared in the newspaper, Kaoem Moeda (Young Generation) in 1917, entitled Kalau Saja Djadi Regent (If I were a Regent) .15 The title of this article was clearly patterned on the article written by Suardi Surjaningrat, an early Indonesian nationalist . In 1913, he wrote Als Ik eens Nederlander was (If I were a Dutchman) in which he drew a sarcastic parallel between the situation in Holland in 1813 and Indonesia in 1913. He was horrified that Indonesia should celebrate in 1913 the liberation pf Holland from the French in 1813. The article Kalau Saja Djadi Regent was a criticism of the Bupatis' attitudes to the lower prijajis. One example of a lower prijaji graduate of the OSVIA was Gunawan . He was prominent in West Javanese politics and his activities and career reflected to a great extent the injustices faced by the lower prijajis described above . Gunawan was born in Ngawi in East Java in 1880 and his father was clerk to a Wedana . (Later on, his father became Assistent Wedana ). He received some religious training and also attended elemen t ary school and the OSVIA in Probolinggo in East Java . F rom 1899 to 1907, he served in various places in Java in one of the lowe r civil se r vice posts . During this time, he became increasingly aware of the bad treatment meted out to lower-ranking civil servants and to the people at large . When still young , he saw his father a rrested fo r ten days because he le ft his work to attend to his wife ' s bur i al . Because of a dispute with an Eurasian whose attitude t o Indonesians he felt was very insulting, he was dismissed from the office where he was then working = He disliked very much the practice of having to sit on the fl o or when he went to meet an official . In contrast, Ar abs and Chinese we re a llowed to sit on chairs while doing so .l 6 Acco r ding to Sewaka , t he p ractic e was also prevalent in West Java where even the Kuwu (village head) had to sit on ma t s on the floor when in audience with the Assistent Wedana . l7 Because of his grouses against his superiors, Gunawan was denied promotion to the position of Mantri- Politie. Later, when he became disenchanted with official service, Gunawan tried his hand at journalism . In this pursuit, he came

15

Kaoem Moeda, 11 January 1917 . equivalent for Bupati .

16

Noer , 1963, pp . 165-70.

17

Sewaka, 1955 , p . 41 .

Regen~

is the Dutch

- 12 into contact with the Djakarta branch of the Sarekat Dagang Isl.am (Associati on of Muslim Traders), an organizati on which had just been formed , But this relationsh ip was terminated when Gunawan geft journalism to become manager of a hotel in Djakarta . 1 Another example of a lower prijaji is the prominent political leader in West Java - Abdul Muis. He was born at Bukittingg i in Western Sumatra . He completed Dutch elementary school in his hometown ' and then furthered his studies at the STOVIA in Djakarta . Because of the vigorous training at the STOVIA, many students did not complete their studies. These students were neverthele ss absorbed into the administra tive service. Abdul Muis was one of them . After not succeeding in the STOVIA, he tried governmen t service as confident ial clerk to the Director of Education, J.H . Abendanon . He soon left the position because he disliked the working environme nt which was dominated by Eurasians who generally looked down upon the natives. He then joined the Volkscred ietwezen (Peoples ' Bank) . Subsequen tly he resigned, due perhaps to his annoyance at malpractic es carried on by officials of the bank . He then took to journalism , first as an editor of Bintang Hindia (Star of the Indies) . and then as a proofreader on a Dutch daily newspaper , Algemeene Indisch Dagblad Preanger Bode . He resigned from the latter appointme nt when he was refused permission to see his wife off at Tandjung Prick harbour for her pilgrimage to Mecca . After that, he founded the Kaoem Maeda and joined the Sarekat Islam at the request of Tjokroamin oto who thought him a man muc~ conc~rned with the sufferings of the local population . 9 However, much of the discon tent felt by the lower prijajis was unorganize d and diffused , It was not until the formation of the Sarekat Islam that this dis con tent was given a vehi c l e of e x pre ss ion . This developme nt is discussed below .

18

Van Niel, 1970, p . 107.

19

Dahm, 1971, pp . 24-25; van Niel, 1970, pp. 52-53; Noer, 1963, pp . 162-173 ,

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ORGANIZED EXPRESSION OF DISCONTENT It is useful to know why the lower prijajis in the Parahyangan used the Sarekat Islam as a channel for their discontent rather than other organizations that were formed at about the same time. For example, in 1908, the Budi Utomo (or High Endeavour) which was the first Indonesian organization on western lines, was formed by the lower prijajis from the STOVIA in Djakarta o The temporary secretary of the organization when it was first founded, Soewarno, emphasized the need for education and the abolition of hormat customs, by which was meant the vestiges of the traditional prestige of the princes, the Bupatis or other higher prijajis.20 This coincided with the aspirations of the new prijajis in the Parahyangan, but because of the need to get the support of the Bupatis and higher prijajis, the Budi Utomo never really went as far in its demands as Soewarno would have wished. Soewarno's other utterances about the Budi Utomo were not attractive to the Parahyangan prijajis who were ethnically Sundanese and not Javanese . For example, Soewarno emphasized that the Budi Utomo should be a precursor of the Algemeen Javaansche Bond (General Union of Javanese) . 21 In fact, very few The Sundanese therefore felt left out. of the prijajis from the Parahyangan participated in the activities of the Budi Utomo.22 When the organization was established at Bandung in the heart of Sundanese country, there had to be two branches, one for the many Javanese who resided there and one to attract only the Sundanese and to give the impression that the Budi Utomo also stood for them. Nor did the prijajis in the Parahyangan choose to organize themselves around their own Sundanese-bas ed organizations . The foremost of these was the Pagujuban Pasundan (Sundanese Association), founded in 1914 by a young Sundanese called Djundjunan Setiakusumah. At the time when he organized the Pagujuban Pasundan, Djundjunan Ever since he was was not a violently pro-Sundanese youth.

20

Nagazumi, 1967, p. 70.

21

Ibid., pp. 71-72 .

22

Ibid., pp . 66-67 .

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a student at the STOVIA in Djakarta, he was a member of the Budi Utomo branch there and this branch was not separated into a Sundanese and a Javanese wing. He was also an active member of the Indische Partij (Indies Party) at Djakarta and he also undertook propaganda work for the spread of the Sarekat Islam movement in south Djakarta. From his experience in these otganizations, he noticed that few Sundanese ever wanted to be members of these organizations. He finally concluded that the Sundanese needed an organization that suited their own aspirations and customs . Together with D. K. Ardiwinata, a prominent Sundanese working in the Balai Pustaka (Bureau for Popular Literature), he formed the Pagujuban Pasundan in Djakarta. Right .from the beginning, the association was thrown open to all, whether Sundanese or not , but because of the nature of the aims of the association, the members were largely Sundanese. The P a gujuban Pasundan aimed at maintaining and developing the Sundanese language, arousing interest in the history of the Sundanese, holding useful lectures, furthering the knowledge of Dutch and generally, promoting the welfare of the Sundanese , 23 To achieve these, the Paguja};j)an Pasundan devoted much effort to founding and running about fifty schools, a scout movement, a women's association and economic and social projects , Ardiwinata became chairman of the association with Djundjunan as one of the commissioners , It soon had branches wherever there were Sundanese, for example, in Surabaja. Membership, however, was composed largely of prijajis, including teachers , But because of the nature of its aims, the organization largely remained a cultural orqanization, and never became a forum to attack the "misdeeds" of the higher prijajis . Little data on Djundjunan are available -but Ardiwinata's presence in the organization as a founder member ensured that the organization had largely cultural goals for the latter was prominent in the Balai Pustaka which, as mentioned earlier, was largely devoted to literature " A more politically o riented role was taken by the Sarekat Islam in the Parahyangan " In the Parahyangan, the regional leaders of the Sarekat Islam were largely non-

23

Javasche Courant , 8 January 1915, p . 34 "

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Sundanese, but t he organization nevertheless gained widesp r ead support because it was a vocal champion of the interests of the lower prijajis and a strong critic of the higher prijajis . As will be seen below the special structural characteristics of the Sarekat Islam in the local context of the Parahyangan also drew many .followers. The precursor of the Sarekat Islam was the Sarekat Dagang Islam founded by Samanhudi. He wanted his brother, Hadj ·i Amin, to establish a branch of the Sarekat Dagang Islam in Bandung under the name of Darmo Lutnakso (Million Duties?) . 24 . Little information is available on the results of this early attempt, but it is known that the Darmo Lumakso was later bypassed when the Sarekat Islam proper was formed . Instead of its being an extension based on the Darmo Lumakso, the Sarekat Islam in the Parahyangan was established by a triumvirate made up of Suardi Surjaningrat, Abdul Muis and A. Widiadisastra (or Wignjadisastra) all of whom had more popular appeal than the Darmo Lumakso . 25 In 1912u two delegates from the Sarekat Islam in Surabaja had approached the three men to establish the Sarekat Islam in Bandung. These three subsequently became the chairman, vice-chairman and secretary respectively of the Sarekat Islam in Bandung. The Sarekat Islam in the Parahyangan, as it was originally established, operated on two levels. First there was the national level led by Tjokroaminoto and his representatives in the Parahyangan, namely Abdul Muis and also Gunawan . As is commonly known, the Dutch authorities denied legal recognition to the Sarekat Islam as a corporate body on the national level in order to weaken the movement . Official recognition was not accorded till 18 Ma r ch 1916 . The whole Sarekat Islam movement was divided into three main regional chapters in 1913. The chapter in West Java was headed by Gunawan who thus, like Abdul Muis, became also a leader of the Sarekat Islam on the national stage. Both Abdul Muis and Gunawan stationed themselves in Bandung . The second was the local level or locally operated associations of similar character as the central Sarekat Islam .: . These were granted corporate recognition by the Dutch Government . There was one local Sarekat Islam in

24

Van Niel, 1970, p. 91 ,

25

Ibid . , p . 107 .

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each of the Regency seats in the Parahyanga n and there were others in minor trading centres as well. In the co u rse of time, there arose a third level in the stru cture bf the organizati on . This was the villagebased Sarekat Islam circles, centred mainly around a kiai (a religious leader in Java) and his closest associates made up of students and friends . These groups were actually the most unstructur ed of · all in the whole hierarchy, because there were no provisions for them in the central Sarekat Islam by-laws , 26 It was this third level that really accounted for the mass membership of the Sarekat Islam in the Parahyanga n . The Sundanese people in the villages joined because their own Sundanese kiais werf! ·· themselves members, for reasons to be discussed later. Th~, the Sarekat Islam in the Parahyanga n experience d a pn~nomenal growth, as it also did in other parts of Java. In 1914, in the same year as it was establishe d, the Sarekat Islam in Garut had 10,000 members . Ac cording to the thinking of the leaders of the central Sarekat Islam , the local Sarekat Islam branches (the second l evel in the structure ) were to put the aspiration s of the national leaders into the local concrete f orms , Thus , if one of the main aims of the central Sareka t Islam was the improveme nt of the economic welfa r e of t he Indonesian s, the locals saw to it that there was no lack of food , especially during the period of World War I when food shortages occurred in some parts of Java. In Garut , it so happened that rice disappeare d from the shops and markets and was not available for purchase . The local Sarekat Islam leadership then took upon itself to lead hundreds of people