Hamengkubuwono IX

Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX (Hanacaraka: ꦯꦿꦶꦯꦸꦭ꧀ꦡꦟ꧀ꦲꦩꦼꦁꦑꦸꦨꦸꦮꦟ꧇꧙꧇, often abbreviated as HB IX (12 April 1912 – 2 October 1988) was an Indonesian politician and Javanese royal who was the second vice president of Indonesia, the ninth sultan of Yogyakarta, and the first governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Hamengkubuwono IX was also the chairman of the first National Scout Movement Quarter and was known as the Father of the Indonesian Scouts.

Born as Gusti Raden Mas Dorodjatun, in Sompilan, Ngasem, Yogyakarta, Hamengkubuwono IX was the ninth son of Prince Gusti Pangeran Puruboyo —later titled Hamengkubuwono VIII— with his consort, Raden Ajeng Kustilah.

When he was three years old he was named Crown Prince to the Yogyakarta Sultanate after his father ascended to the throne.

When he was four, he was sent away to live with the Mulder family, a Dutch family which lived in the Gondokusuman area.

While living with the Mulder family, Hamengkubuwono IX was called by the name Henkie which was taken from the name of Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands.

He spent his school years in Yogyakarta, starting from Frobel School (kindergarten), and continuing to the Eerste Europe Lagere School which then moved to Neutrale Europeesche Lagere School. After completing his basic education, he continued his education at Hogere Burgerschool Semarang for a year before moving to Hogere Burgerschool Bandung.

In 1930, he and his older brother, BRM – later known as Prabuningrat, after Hamengkubuwono IX's coronation – moved to the Netherlands.

He started school at the Lyceum Haarlem, Netherlands.

He was often called Sultan Henk when studying at the school.

After graduating in 1934, Hamengkubuwono IX and his older brother moved to Leiden, entering the college Rijksuniversiteit Leiden – Leiden University today – and took up the study of Indology, study of the colonial administration in the Indies.

However, he didn't finish his education and had to return to his native land in 1939, following the start of World War II.

After arriving in Batavia from the Netherlands in October 1939, Hamengkubuwono IX was picked up by his father directly at the Hotel des Indes.

When an autonomous ruler was in Batavia, generally there were many agendas of activities that had to be fulfilled.

One of the events attended by the royal family with Hamengkubuwono IX in Batavia was an invitation to dinner at the Palace of the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies.

While preparing to attend the invitation, Hamengkubuwono IX was pinned with Kyai Jaka Piturun's keris by his father.

This keris is generally passed on to the son of the ruler who is desired to become the crown prince.

Therefore, this indicated that Hamengkubuwono IX would become the heir to the throne of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta.

After attending the three-day agenda in Batavia, the royal family, and Hamengkubuwono IX returned to Yogyakarta using the Eendaagsche Express train.

On the way, his father fell ill and became unconscious.

Arriving in Yogyakarta, the Sultan was immediately rushed to the Onder de Bogen Hospital and treated until the end of his life on 22 October 1939.

Hamengkubuwono IX as crown prince then gathered his brothers and uncles to discuss who would become the next Sultan.

All of his relatives agreed to appoint Hamengkubuwono IX as the next Sultan.

The 28-year-old Sultan negotiated terms and conditions with the 60-year-old governor, Dr Lucien Adam, for four months from November 1939 to February 1940.

The main points of contention were:

Hamengkubuwono IX was crowned as Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX on 18 March 1940, the effective date of the political contract with the Dutch East Indies Government.

Governor Lucien Adam crowned him for two titles at once.

The first title is the title of Prince Adipati Anom Hamengku Negara Sudibya Raja Putra Narendra Mataram, his title as Crown Prince.

After that, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwana IX was crowned with the title Sampéyan Dalem Ingkang Sinuwun Kangjeng Sultan Hamengkubuwana Sénapati ing Ngalaga Abdurrahman Sayidin Panatagama Kalifatullah Ingkang Jumeneng Kaping Sanga.

During his coronation speech, Hamengkubuwono recognized his Javanese origins and said "Even though I have tasted Western Education, I am still and will always be a Javanese."

Eventually, the Sultan agreed to the proposal by the government of the Netherlands, and in February 1942, the Netherlands surrendered Indonesia to the invading Japanese army.

In 1942, the Dutch Colonial Government in Indonesia was defeated by the Japanese Imperial Army.

Japan subsequently occupied the Dutch East Indies. Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX was given autonomy to run the government in his area under the Japanese Colonial Government.

The position of Pepatih Dalem which previously had to be responsible to the Sultan and the Dutch Colonial Government now became only responsible to the Sultan.

Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX was re-elected as Ruler of Yogyakarta on 1 August 1942 by the Commander in Chief of the Japanese Occupation Army in Jakarta and Yogyakarta became a Kochi (Special Region).

Amid the large population taking into Rōmusha, the Sultan was able to prevent it by manipulating agricultural and livestock statistics.

The Sultan proposed the construction of an irrigation canal that connects the Progo River and Opak River so that rice fields could be irrigated throughout the year, which previously had a rain-fed system.

This proposal was accepted and even assisted by funding for its construction.

This irrigation channel was later called the Mataram Sewer and in Japanese, it was called Gunsei Yosuiro (Yosuiro Canal).

After the construction of the Mataram Sewers was completed, agricultural productivity increased so that the population used as Rōmusha was drastically reduced, although some were still brought in by the Colonial Government.

Directly after the declaration of Indonesian independence on 17 August 1945, Hamengkubuwono IX together with Paku Alam VIII, the Prince of Pakualaman decided to support the newly formed Republic.