Raden Saleh, Dipanagara and the painting of the capture of Dipanagara at Magelang (28 March 1830
Peter B.R. Carey’s 1982 article in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society examines Raden Saleh’s 1857 oil painting of Prince Dipanagara’s capture at Magelang on 28 March 1830, cross-referencing the artwork against three primary eyewitness accounts to assess its historical accuracy. Carey argues that while the painting displays remarkable attention to detail in its depiction of Dutch officers and the Magelang Residency House, it fundamentally misrepresents Dipanagara’s emotional state at the moment of his arrest, portraying him as defiantly heroic rather than resignedly accepting of his fate.
Summary
Carey situates the painting within the broader context of Raden Saleh’s relationship to the Java War and to Dipanagara himself. Although Saleh (1814–1880) never met the prince and had no direct experience of the conflict, he harboured deep feelings of admiration for Dipanagara, which were reinforced by his knowledge of the prince’s exile conditions in the Moluccas and Makasar. In 1852 and again in 1857, Saleh applied for official permission to visit the Javanese princely states to prepare sketches of key battle scenes for presentation to the Dutch king, but was denied both times due to the hostile reactions of local Dutch authorities and Javanese rulers (pp. 1–2). The painting was therefore largely a studio work, yet Carey notes its striking accuracy in rendering the faces of Dutch officers and the architectural surroundings of the Magelang Residency House (p. 2). Saleh also included himself twice in the composition: first standing bowed in a respectful attitude before the prince, and second as one of Dipanagara’s followers with his face turned anxiously towards the front (p. 2).
The core of the article is a detailed reconstruction of the events of 28 March 1830, drawn from three sources: Lieutenant-General H.M. de Kock’s Magelang diary, Dipanagara’s own autobiographical chronicle (Babad Dipanagara), and the reminiscences of Ali Basah Ngabdulmahmud Gandakusuma (later Raden Adipati Danureja V of Yogyakarta). Carey demonstrates that De Kock’s ostensibly friendly and respectful conduct towards Dipanagara during the preceding weeks was a calculated strategy designed to lull the prince into a false sense of security while ensuring the full submission of his principal army commanders before moving against him (pp. 7–9). On the morning of 28 March, De Kock abruptly demanded that all outstanding political matters be settled immediately, and when Dipanagara reiterated his demand to be recognised as Head of the Islamic Religion in Java, De Kock ordered his troops to surround the Residency House and the prince was taken into custody (pp. 13–19).
Carey’s most significant argument concerns Dipanagara’s state of mind. Drawing on Gandakusuma’s testimony that the prince “already knew beforehand that it would turn out thus,” and on the language of the Babad Dipanagara itself—particularly the key phrase comparing Dipanagara to “gold being carried along by water”—Carey contends that the prince had long since given himself up (pasrah) to his destiny and was subconsciously prepared for arrest (pp. 10–11). This is further supported by Dipanagara’s reported rebuke of Gandakusuma when the latter suggested that armed followers should accompany him to the Residency House, and by the “unchanging indifference, resignedness or submission” noted by his Dutch escorts during the journey to Semarang (pp. 23–24). It is precisely this quality of calm acceptance, Carey concludes, that Raden Saleh failed to capture in his painting, which instead shows Dipanagara in a “determined and defiant posture” that “accords ill with the prince’s real emotions at the time” (p. 2).
Key Findings
- Raden Saleh’s painting (1857) was produced 27 years after the event and was largely a studio work, as his applications to visit the princely states for preparatory sketches were denied in both 1852 and 1857 (pp. 1–2).
- De Kock’s secret orders of 25 March 1830 instructed that troops remain fully clothed and equipped in their barracks, cavalry mounts be saddled, and a hussar detachment be dispatched to Bedono as an escort for Dipanagara’s final stage of the journey, all to be executed “with the greatest possible composure” (p. 9).
- Dipanagara arrived at the Residency House at approximately 8:00 a.m. dressed informally “as though for a pleasure trip,” with none of his followers carrying insignia of office, and was accompanied by three sons, four army commanders, two religious advisers, and two intimate retainers (pp. 11–12).
- The disarming of Dipanagara’s followers at his encampment at Metesih was carried out peacefully by Major Michiels, and the weapons seized included 832 pikes, 87 rifles, and a large number of krises (p. 9, n. 40).
- Gandakusuma’s testimony, recorded by Resident Wattendorff in the 1870s, states that Dipanagara’s pride prevented him from dropping his demands, but that he “saw no ignominy in submitting to superior force” and that his prestige in the eyes of the people would remain undiminished (p. 10).
- Saleh married the daughter of one of Dipanagara’s army commanders (Raden Tumenggung Klapa-aking of Panjer) during a visit to Yogyakarta in 1867–8, bringing the personal links between the two men “infinitely closer” (p. 2).
Conclusion
Carey’s definitive historical takeaway is that Raden Saleh’s painting, while admirable in its attention to material detail and its emotional drama, ultimately romanticises the moment of Dipanagara’s capture by depicting the prince as defiantly heroic rather than as the stoic, resigned figure he actually was. The painting reflects Saleh’s personal homage to the great Java War leader rather than a faithful reconstruction of the historical moment, and it is this gap between artistic idealisation and documented reality that constitutes the article’s central contribution to the historiography of the Java War.
Context
- The article draws heavily on the Babad Dipanagara manuscript held in the Leiden University Library (LOr 6547 d, vol. IV), the De Kock private collection in the Algemeen Rijksarchief (The Hague), and the published edition by Albert Rusche (1909), making it a key English-language treatment of the Magelang capture that had previously been described only in Dutch sources.
- The painting itself is held in a collection referenced through the Koninklijk Instituut for the History of the Dutch East Indies (KITLV), Leiden, and the article includes a daguerrotype of Raden Saleh from the early 1860s, also courtesy of that institution.