education, but the article lent itself to the reinforcement of prejudice and hostility within the public arena. Although there were no physical clashes, this sharp division on the basis of religion shaped tensions in society. However, when the bill was legalized in 2003, the protesters apparently accepted the outcome, as demonstrations and other forms of protest stopped.
Economic changes
As was common in Javanese kingdoms, the royal court of Yogyakarta depended on taxes and labour from the population, levied through an apanage system (lungguh). Apanage is an entitlement to returns from the land or other resources in areas assigned by the sultan and paku alam to relatives (sentana dalem) and high officials (abdi dalem) (Moertono, 1981: 117). The apanage holders demanded taxes in kind and labour from the peasant population, both for themselves and for the sultan or paku alam. They commonly extracted 2/5 of the rice harvest twice a year, of which 1/5 was left to the village head as the collector. Of their own share, the apanage holders had to pay 2/5 to the sultan (Margana, 2007:97). The size of apanage varied according to the administrative rank of the court officials and their closeness to the sultan. The number of households living in the apanage area depended on the status of the holders. Panewu (thousand) was the term for apanage holders who had the right to demand taxes from a thousand households, panatus (hundred) for those with a hundred households and paneket (fifty) for those who had fifty (Moertono, 1981:88-89).
In the course of the 19th century, the apanage system underwent several changes due to colonial economic policies. For example, when private plantation systems started to lease land from apanage holders, 2/5 of the land was rotated annually (geblagan) for plantation crops, 2/5 for rice and other food crops for the peasant themselves, while 1/5 of the land was reserved for the village head as remuneration for his services. The peasants were forced to provide labour for the cultivation and harvesting of the plantation crops; if unable to do so, they had to pay compensation in cash (Shiraishi, 1990:13-16). The detoriating situation of the peasants under the apanage and the plantation system became of growing concern for the government. In 1918, the system was completely replaced by a ‘modern’ system of land-tenure, village organization and taxation (White, 2004: 4).
After this reform, the peasants in Yogyakarta received exclusive rights to exploit the land, i.e. they were given individual and hereditary rights to use the land, but not to own it. All peasants’ rights were registered in the village (Soemardjan, 1962: 34). This policy not only brought about more economic security for peasant families, but also affected the economic development of the principality. Besides subsistence crops, peasants started to cultivate commercial crops that were bought up by Chinese
traders who travelled the countryside during the harvest season. Some commercial crops was sold by the Chinese to European firms in the city before being exporting abroad. When peasants were in need of cash they would ask for an advance from the Chinese traders (which of course had a negative effect on the prices paid), go to money lenders who were mostly Chinese, or take their valuables as collateral to a Chinese pawnshop (Kwartanada, 1997: 88-99).
On the outskirts of the city, the home craft industries – such as handloom cloth weaving, or working in silver, batik or leather – also grew as the result of the increased buying power of the wider population. In 1930, there were 163,397 artisans, or about 10.6% of the population, in the region of Yogyakarta (Haryono, 2009a: 7). Most of the craft industry was the preserve of the Javanese. Only in the batik industry did Javanese entrepreneurs compete with the Chinese, who produced the commodity on a large scale;18 but they were highly dependent on Chinese wholesalers, who controlled and supplied them with the materials for batik such as cotton cloth, wax and dye. This dependency on Chinese traders led to serious tensions between the groups on a regular basis. In 1934, the Javanese batik entrepreneurs of Yogyakarta founded the Association of Native Batik Entrepreneurs (Persatuan Pengusaha Batik Bumi Putera, PPBBP) to fight the monopoly of the Chinese traders (Subagya, 2001: 40).19
The expansion of private plantations and commercial activities in the early 20th century attracted a great number of migrants to the region. The number of Dutch and other Europeans increased from 2,097 in 1890 to 7,317 in 1930. They dominated the high ranks in government and on plantations. A new wave of migrants from China also arrived in Yogyakarta at the end of 19th century, adding to the Chinese community that had existed since the founding of the city. In 1890, there were fewer than 3,000 Chinese in the city but in 1930, this number had increased to 12,640. During the colonial period, the Chinese generated their income as traders, entrepreneurs, tax collectors, money lenders, and owners of opium houses until the economic crisis of the 1930s. Japanese, Indians and Arabs also settled in Yogyakarta city as traders and shopkeepers (Purwanto, 2003: 29).
18 After the invention of the stamp (cap) technique in the 1850s, batik production grew in importance, as this made it possible to produce batik for the commercial market on a large scale. In 1920, 17 of 225 batik workshops in Yogyakarta were owned by the Chinese (Subagya, 2001: 4-9 & 39).
19 In Surakarta, an association of Javanese batik entrepreneurs, Rekso Rumekso, had been already been founded in 1909. It was established not only to fight against the monopoly on materials, but also to protect its members against criminals stealing and robbing their batik factories. Members of this association were often involved in street fighting with members of the Chinese association Kong Sing. To attract more members, the name of the association was changed to Sarekat Islam (the Islamic Association) in 1912 (Shiraishi, 1990: 41-48).