Sultan Agung of Mataram

Rangsang ascended to the throne when he was 20 years old, succeeding his half-brother, Duke Martapura, who became Sultan of Mataram for only one day. Rangsang was technically the fourth Sultan of Mataram, but he was commonly considered as the third sultan, because the coronation of his intellectually disabled half-brother was just to fulfill his father's promise to his wife, Queen Tulungayu, Duke Martapura's mother.

During Sultan Agung's second year of his reign, Patih Mandaraka died of old age, and his position as patih (viceregent) was occupied by Tumenggung Singaranu.

The capital of Mataram during his coronation was still located in Kotagede. In 1614, the new Karta Palace was built in Karta, approximately 5 km in the southwest of Kotagede, which began to be occupied four years later.

The maximum extent of Mataram Sultanate during the reign of Sultan Agung Anyakrakusuma (1613-1645)

Sultan Agung became the ruler of Mataram in 1613, in the following year he attacked Surabaya, as well as Malang which lies south of Surabaya, and the eastern end of Java island, but failed to conquer them both. He was however able to extract a significant indemnity and used this in 1615, to conquer Wirasaba (present day Mojoagung, near Mojokerto), an operation which he personally lead.

In 1616, Surabaya attempted to attack Mataram in retaliation, but lacking allies the Surabaya army was crushed by Sultan Agung's forces in Siwalan, Pajang (near Surakarta). The coastal city of Lasem, near Rembang, was conquered later in 1616, and Pasuruan, south-east of Surabaya, was taken in 1617. Tuban, one of the oldest and biggest cities on the coast of Java, was taken in 1619.

Surabaya had been Mataram's most formidable adversary thus far. Agung's grandfather, Senopati (Senapati), had not felt strong enough to attack this powerful city, and his father, Panembahan Seda Krapyak, attacked it to no avail. Sultan Agung weakened Surabaya by capturing Sukadana, Surabaya's ally in southwest Kalimantan, in 1622, and also captured the island of Madura, another ally of Surabaya, in 1624 after a fierce battle. After five years of war, Agung finally conquered Surabaya in a siege in 1625. With Surabaya brought into the empire, the Mataram kingdom encompassed all of central and eastern Java (plus Madura), except for the west end of Java and its mountainous south. In the west, Banten and the Dutch settlement in Batavia remained outside Agung's control.

The economy of Mataram was centered on agriculture, thus Sultan Agung who was openly contemptuous of trade, saw no need to maintain significant naval forces. This was later to prove costly when in 1629 he attacked and attempted to drive the Dutch out of their base at the coastal city of Jakarta. Though he possessed larger and superior land-based forces, the Dutch had decisive advantages in naval power and were able to withstand the Siege of Batavia.

After the failure of the siege, Agung turned against the Balinese, then controlling Balambangan in East Java, in a "holy war" against infidels. His campaign was successful in Java, but he was unable to extend his power to the island of Bali itself. Bali thus retained its identity as a Hindu state in the midst of the predominantly Muslim states of the archipelago.

By 1625, Mataram was the undisputed ruler of most of Java.[1]^: 31 However, its military strength did not deter Mataram's vassals from rebellion, due to his inability to conquer Batavia. Pajang rebelled in 1617, and Pati rebelled in 1627. Following the capture of Surabaya in 1625, expansion halted as the empire was beset by rebellions.

In 1630, Mataram crushed a rebellion in Tembayat (southeast of Klaten). However, in 1631–1636, Mataram had to suppress the rebellion of Sumedang and Ukur in West Java. Agung's attempt to capture Batavia in 1628–1629, and his attempts to drive the Dutch from Java ended in failure.[2][3]

Rebellions continued, the next one was the Giri Kedaton rebellion, whose people were unwilling to submit to Mataram. As Mataram's troops still respected Giri Kedaton's soldiers which was considered as the descendant of Sunan Giri, a member of the Walisanga, Sultan Agung assigned Pangeran Pekik, a descendant of Sunan Ampel (Sunan Giri's father-in-law), to suppress the rebellion. Pangeran Pekik himself had been married to Queen Pandansari, Sultan Agung's sister, in 1633. The Giri Kedaton rebellion would be completely suppressed by them three years later.

Burial place of Sultan Agung of Mataram in Imogiri, Yogyakarta (circa 1915)

In 1632 Sultan Agung began building Imogiri, his burial place, about 15 kilometers south of Yogyakarta. Imogiri remains the resting place of most of the royalty of Yogyakarta and Surakarta to this day. In Agung's complex, Sultan Agung, Queen Batang, and their sons are also buried there. Agung died in the spring of 1645, leaving behind an empire that covered most of Java that stretched to its neighboring islands.

In accordance to his will, Sultan Agung was succeeded by his son, RM. Sayidin, styled Amangkurat I.

When the Dutch East India Company (VOC) took control of Mataram territories, it kept the kadipaten structure. Under the colonial administration of the VOC, adipati, now called bupati, were called regenten and kadipaten, now kabupaten, regentschappen. The title of a bupati consisted generally in a formal name, for instance "Sastradiningrat" in the case of Karawang, preceded by "Raden Aria Adipati", hence "Raden Aria Adipati Sastradiningrat" (shortened into R. A. A. Sastradiningrat). The word adipati survived in the colonial system.

The Dutch had grouped kabupaten into regions under a resident, called residenties. The Indonesian government kept the kabupaten but disbanded the residenties in the 1950s, resulting in kabupaten being administrative subdivisions directly under a province. The laws on regional autonomy promulgated in 1999 give a high degree of autonomy to the kabupaten, not to the provinces.