Prince Diponegoro fought the Dutch in the uprising known as the Java War (1825-30).

Indonesian people still feel the loss of this "great struggler," according to Yogyes. And you can understand the attraction: an aristocrat, yet an iconoclast, living well away from the intrigues of the court; a mystic, yet a rebel, imbued with a clear sense of kingly mission and identity (Ricklefs, 2008, 140-1).

At least 200,000 Javanese died in the uprising, and Yogya's population was halved. But the attempt was not successful. The Dutch, after all, were not devoid of local support. And the fundamentally conservative rebel movement might not have realized, or been able to respond to, the extent of the social changes the Dutch presence had already brought about. Diponegoro was exiled to Makassar in 1830, and died there in 1855 (Ricklefs, 2008, 142).

We visited his monument at Sasana Wiratama yesterday. Not a wholly successful visit, it has to be said, as the museum itself was locked up, and we failed to spot the bit of the old castle wall which he famously broke down to allow the escape of his family and militia.

But the grounds are peaceful and pleasant, and the frieze that portrays the highlights of his life is sheltered by a big and lovely pendopo. The artwork on the left (above) is apparently a self-portrait.

And across the road is Phuket, where we nostalged about January in Thailand over iced Thai tea, a nice little crispy naan, green mango salad, fish, and rice.

Source: Ricklefs, M. C. (2008). A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1200 (4th ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.