Introduction

Abstract

The rebellion of 1888 dealt with in this study occurred in the district of Anjer in the extreme north-west of Java. Although it flared up during a relatively short period — from the ninth until the thirtieth of July — the social ferment which preceded the outbreak of the revolt must be traced back to the early’ seventies. This revolt was only one of a series of risings which took place in Ban ten during the 19th century and it was also an instance of the social convulsions which were sweeping across Java. The records of the Colonial Office for the last century tell of many risings and attempts at insurrections by the peasantry.¹ Millenarian movements, a concomitant of social unrest and turmoil, appeared in various parts of Java, while religious revivalism manifested itself in the mushrooming growth of religious schools and mystico-religious brotherhoods throughout Java. In fact, the nineteenth century was a period of social unrest accompanying social change, brought about by the growing impact of the West. An increasing modernization of the economy and the polity could be observed. The whole transition from traditionality to modernity was marked by recurrent social upheavals, akin to the insurrection of 1888 in Ban ten. The risings, which occurred in almost all the residencies of Java and in the Principalities,² exhibited common characteristics.