The regent of Surabaya, Raden Tumenggung Musono going in gala dress for his installation, accompanied by lower ranking officials, patih and wedana (Dutch colonial period)

Priyayi (former spelling: Prijaji) is the Dutch era class of the nobles of the Robe, as opposed to royal nobility or bangsawan (Indonesian) or ningrat/di ningrat (Javanese) in Java, Indonesia's most populous island. Priyayi was a Javanese word coined for the descendants of the adipati or governors, the first of whom were appointed in the 17th century by Sultan Agung of Mataram to administer the principalities he had conquered.

Colonial period[link]

During Dutch colonization, bureaucratic posts (for example regents) were generally attributed to members of these families, who formed the upper classes of traditional Javanese society, in contrast to the other classes, especially the peasantry or wong cilik ('little people' in Javanese). Their culture is marked by affected elaborate customs and etiquettes.

Priyayi had better access to education than most natives of Java. For example, Raden Saleh, a prominent 19th century painter has European educations. While Raden Mas Tjokroaminoto, a leading nationalist, went to a Dutch-style school for civil servant.

Titles[link]

Raden Tumenggung Danoediningrat, Regent of Kediri, with his wife. ca. 1920.

Priyayi class used elaborate title system. Some of the commonly used titles among Javanese nobility were^[1]:

• Raden : used by male nobility
• Raden Ayu : used by female unmarried nobility
• Raden Ajeng : used by female married nobility
• Tumenggung : additional title, used by nobility who held a Regency office
• Mas : simple title for petty nobility

The rank for male nobility title is: a simple Mas being the lowest, followed by simple Raden, and then the higher titles are compound titles of Raden Mas, Raden Panji, Raden Tumenggung, Raden Ngabehi and Raden Aria. These title were hereditary in some extents, a son will inherit title one level lower than his parent, unless it is already on the lowest rank.^[2]

The honorific Raden, is related with Malagasy nobility of Randriana or Andriana, and derived from the same word Rahadyan (Ra-hadi-an), meaning Lord or Master in Old Javanese.^[3]

Geertz's theory[link]

The American cultural anthropologist, Clifford Geertz, identified three main cultural streams (aliran in Indonesian) in Javanese society. Namely, the santri, abangan, and priyayi.^[4] The priyayi stream are the traditional bureaucratic elite and were strongly driven by hierarchical Hindu-Javanese tradition. Initially court officials in pre-colonial kingdoms, the stream moved into the colonial civil service, and then on to administrators of the modern Indonesian republic.^[4]

Members of the santri stream are more likely to be urban dwellers, and tend to be oriented to the mosque, the Qur'an, and perhaps to Islamic canon law (Sharia). In contrast, the abangan tend to be from village backgrounds and absorb both Hindu and Muslim elements, forming a culture of animist and folk traditions.^[4] The santri are sometimes referred to as Puthihan (the white ones) as distinct from the 'red' abangan.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Bertrand, Romain, Etat colonial, noblesse et nationalisme à Java. La Tradition parfaite, Karthala, Paris, 2005, ISBN 2-84586-637-2
• Geertz, Clifford. The Religion of Java. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1960
• Sutherland, Heather, "Notes on Java's Regent Families : Part I", Indonesia, Volume 16 (October 1973), pp. 113–147