Social change in Madiun (East Java) during the nineteenth century: Taxes and its influence on landholding

Abstract

The residency of Madiun had more or less natural boundaries. on the West on the borders with the central Javanese principa- lities was the Lawu volcano.. In the north the Kendeng mountains divided it from the coastal (pasisiran) residency of Rembang. In the east on the borders with Kediri were the Willis moun- tains. Up till 1830 Madiun and Kediri had been part of the outer provinces (mancanegara). Both were part of the so-called Javanese inner-land (kejawen) which was less cosmopolitan than the coastal areas such as empang. However, at the end of the Diponegoro war, also called the Java war (1825-1830) the outer provinces were ceded by the princes to the Dutch in compensa- tion for their efforts in suppressing the rebellion. Javanese traditional polity which had been going from crisis situation after crisis situation since the late 17th century and was ob- viously deteriorating in the beginning of the 19th century, fi- nally succumbed after the Diponegoro rebellion. Not only were the outer provinces surrendered to the Dutch, but within the princely territories themselves the rulers came under Dutch supervision.