Title: Para Priyayi (A novel)

“Para Priyayi” is a term in Indonesian that refers to the Javanese aristocracy or nobility. It encompasses the social elite of Javanese society, including those who hold traditional positions of authority, such as nobles, government officials, and other influential figures. The term “Priyayi” itself denotes a class of nobles or aristocrats in Javanese culture.

This excerpt is from Umar Kayam’s “Gentry: Social Change in Java: the Tale of a Family“

Putri Nirmala

Title: Para Priyayi (A novel)

Author: Umar Kayam

Publisher: PT Pustaka Utama Grafiti (IKAPI member)

Synopsis:

Wanagalih is a district capital that has existed since the mid-19th century. A small town that is barren and very hot. In the middle of Wanagalih there is a road, Jalan Setenan. That is where the story of the nobles in this novel originates.

Lantip, whose initial name is Wage, because he was born on Saturday, Wage is one of those who live in the house on Jalan Setenan. Lantip comes from Wanalawas village which is located only a few kilometers from Wanagalih. It all started with Embok’s profession, which was working as a tempeh basketman who sold his tempeh every day in the city of Wanagalih. The house on Jalan Setenan belongs to the Sastrodarsono family, one of Embok Lantip’s regulars who is always visited by Embok Lantip. Lantip didn’t join his Embah in selling because he looked after his Embah Wedok at home and played with his friends in Wanalawas village. When Embah Wedok Lantip died, he joined his Embok in selling tempe to Wanagalih. And as usual, Embok Lantip stopped by the Sastrodarsono family’s house and not only sold tempeh, but there he and his Embok drank tea and rested. Until one day the Sastrodarsono family decided to send Lantip to school, and Lantip called the Sastrodarsono family Ndoro Guru Kakung and Ndoro Guru Putri. When Ndoro Guru Kakung lost at the gambling table, he often cursed at Lantip that he was a thief and the like. This made Lantip confused, because Embok said that his father was away looking for money. And one day, Lantip heard the news that his Embok had died due to mushroom poisoning. Lantip was so devastated, he was piggybacked by his Ndoro Guru Kakung to Wanalawas on a bicycle and he cried uncontrollably. When he got there he was comforted by everyone there. He accidentally overheard Ndoro, his Kakung teacher, having a conversation with Pak Dukuh and discovered that it turned out that Ndoro, his Kakung teacher, had once founded a school in Wanalawas. And that made Lantip confused.

Soedarsono was a Kedungsimo farmer’s son who succeeded in becoming an assistant teacher in Ploso thanks to the help and encouragement for the school from Assistant Wedana Ndoro Seten . He was the first person in his family to succeed as a priyayi candidate, because if he was diligent and loyal to the government, he would be appointed as a full teacher at the village school. This made his parents very happy. And his parents immediately chose the right mate for their child, who had become a young man. Siti Aisah or usually called Dik Ngaisah is the name of the woman whose parents matched her. As he got older, Soedarsono’s name was changed to Sastrodarsono. They have three children, the first named Noegroho, the second Hadjojo and the youngest Soemini. Their children were sent to school at HIS Wanagalih and the boys continued at Kweekschool, a teacher’s school in Yogya. Meanwhile, after graduating from HIS, Soemini will be married to a plainsi orderly in Kawedanan Karangelo who will be promoted to the rank of assistant to a young wedana named Raden Harjono, a distant relative of Dik Ngaisah’s side. However, before getting married, Soemini had the desire to go back to school at Van Devente, in Solo. When he graduated from Van Deventer school, Soemini married Harjono. The Sastrodarsono family was a very good family, they wanted to send their nephews and nieces to HIS, like Ngadiman who eventually became a priyayi even though he was only a small priyayi , namely working as a clerk in the district . And there are also Sri and Darmin who did not finish school because they had to help their parents to take care of the family’s waqf mosque, while Soenandar was the most naughty nephew among the others, he was pulled out by Sastrodarsono because of his naughty attitude and never stood up even when he was beaten. by Sastrodarsono. When Sastrodarsono founded a small class in Wanalawas village, Soenandar was trusted to be the teacher in the village. However, something unexpected happened. Soenandar, who had lived in Wanalawas in the house of Embok Soemo, who had a daughter named Ngadiyem, was causing trouble. Soenandar and Ngadiyem became close until finally Ngadiyem became pregnant with Soenandar’s child and it turned out that Soenandar had just left with the family’s savings. Sastrodarsono tried to find Soenandar to take responsibility for it all. However, it turned out that Soenandar had joined the Samin Genjik gang, which disturbed the community with all his actions, which ultimately resulted in Soenandar dying from a fire in his hiding place with his friends from the Samin Genjik gang. And Sastrodarsono also promised to pay for Ngadiyem’s birth.

After Ndoro Guru Kakung came home, Lantip asked Pakde Soeto everything that was on his mind about Ndoro Guru Kakung. Until finally he asked who his father was, and finally Pakde Soeto told him all about his father, Soenandar. Who left Ngadiyem’s Embok when she was pregnant with him. Lantip was disappointed to hear all this because it turned out he was an illegitimate child, but he finally accepted it all with a big heart, so he didn’t blame anyone for what happened. After three days, Embok died, Kang Trimo picked up Lantip to return to Wanagalih. Lantip thinks that the Sastrodarsono family really cares about his and Emboknya Ngadiyem’s lives , because Soenandar is one of Sastrodarsono’s family. Lantip was very devoted to Ndoro Guru Kakung and Ndoro Guru his daughter and there were many events that he experienced while living on Jalan Setenan. When Indonesia was colonized by Japan, (see note 1) everything changed, especially the education system. When he found out that the education system was changing, Ndoro, his Kakung teacher, asked to retire, because he felt he was old and it was time to retire. However, suddenly Menir Soetardjo and Mr. Sato, one of Nippon’s envoys, came and accused him of choosing to retire because he did not want to bow north to pay respects to Tenno Heika, (see note 2)the Japanese emperor who was said to be a descendant of the gods. Mr. Sato was so angry with Ndoro Guru Kakung that he hit Ndoro Kakung on the head. After this incident, Ndoro Guru’s children came to comfort their parents. All of Ndoro Guru’s children came with their respective partners, but Ndoro Hardjojo brought along his son, Gus Hari. And when everyone was going to return to their respective towns, Ndoro Guru Kangkung told Ndoro Hardjojo to take Lantip with him, so that he could continue his studies. Yogyakarta also accompanied Gus Hari who was the only child of Ndoro Hardjojo. Before leaving, Lantip invited Gus Hari to clean the graves of Embah Wedok and his Embok.

Hardjojo is the second child of Sastrodarsono and Siti Aisah. He is the smartest child and is very liked by many people. However, when he was established and it was time to settle down, he failed. This failure was caused by the woman he loved having a different religion than him. The woman’s name was Maria Magdalena Sri Moerniati , a special elementary school teacher for girls in Beskalan village . Sis Nunuk, that’s what Hardjojo called him. Dik Nunuk is a woman who comes from a Catholic family. His parents were kind-hearted nobles, namely Catholic HIS teachers in Solo. Because it was differences in religion and belief that made the Sastrodarsono family not approve of the relationship. However, Hardjojo didn’t get too caught up in his sadness, until he finally found the right woman in his heart. Soemarti, a student who is in seventh grade. Because of the incident, Soemarti fell while playing rounders and Hardjojo took Soemarti home. Since then, Hardjojo visited the house more often and finally he fell in love with Soemarti. Hardjojo proposed to Soemarti and finally they married and had one child, Harimurti. Because they only had one child, they adopted Lantip as their adopted son and became Harimurti’s older brother.

Noegroho is the eldest child of the couple Sastrodarsono and Siti Aisah who live in Jakarta. Noegroho became a member of PETA (Defenders of the Fatherland) which was formed by the Japanese until he received the rank of Colonel. At one time the PKI controlled Wanagalih and arrested people who were against the PKI revolution and arrested the Islamic boarding school students, civil servants, priyayi teachers and others. Mr. Martokebo, Sastrodarsono’s neighbor, came to him by twirling his kelewang and perched the tip of his kelewang on Sastrodarsono’s chest. Lantip also said that in Wanagalih square he often saw many innocent people on death row, such as being beheaded and being punished with gunshots. Then, in the end the PKI was successfully crushed and peace returned to Wanagalih. In terms of his career, Noegroho could be said to be successful, but in terms of educating his children, Noegroho was not successful. Noegroho’s family was full of problems and disasters. When their eldest child Toni died by being shot by Japanese soldiers, it was an ordeal that the family had to face. The second was when Marie had a relationship with a man who was younger than her until she became pregnant. The man was named Maridjan who agreed to marry Marie. It turned out that one week before the wedding started, Maridjan didn’t show up, until finally Lantip and Hari looked for and took care of Maridjan. It turned out that Maridjan was at his parents’ house. And there is something even more surprising, namely the fact that Maridjan has just divorced his wife. However, that is not an obstacle to carrying out the marriage. And the wedding of Marie, Noegroho’s second child, was carried out luxuriously.

Siti Aisah is a strong and steadfast woman who endures all trials and is loyal to her husband until the end of her life. One day, he was surprised by the arrival of Soemini carrying a suitcase alone and crying uncontrollably. She and her husband tried to calm their only daughter. With his persuasion, Soemini told him that Harjono was having an affair with one of the traditional keroncong singers. Soemini chose to leave for a while and didn’t know when she would return home without telling her husband anything. Thanks to advice from her mother, she sent a letter to her husband until finally Harjono came with his children and grandchildren to take Soemini home. Not long after Soemini’s problem was resolved, Sus, Noegroho’s wife, arrived. Sus told her in-laws what happened to Marie. Sus was confused about how to resolve this because her husband Noegroho had not yet returned from Europe for work assignments. Finally, Aisah and Sastrodarsono told Lantip to help their uncle.

When Lantip went with Sus to settle Marie’s affairs, news came that Embah Putri had died. All the children and grandchildren came to Wnagalih to take part in burying the Embah Putri whom they loved so much. Lantip also regretted that he had not achieved his wish to care for Embah Putri. Then, Embah Kakung Sastrodarsono reminded him that Lantip had to immediately return to Jakarta to prepare for Marie’s wedding. Finally, Lantip and Harimurti also left to prepare it all.

Harimurti, the son of Hardjojo, grew up to be a young man who was sensitive, intelligent and easy to show compassion for others. Apart from being intelligent, he also really pays attention to the arts. He joined the Lekra wayang arts association with his friend, Sunaryo. The Lekra association adhered to Marxist ideology and was very happy when the Cultural Manifesto (Manikebu) fell. And it was in that organization that Harimurti got to know Retno Dumilah or often used the pseudonym, namely Girl Pari. Harimuti is close to Girl, you could say they are dating, as is Lantip who is engaged to a girl named Halimah. Girl is a poet. The two of them were so close that they had a relationship outside the boundaries prohibited by religion, until the girl ended up pregnant. When they took part in a parade shouting support for the Revolutionary Council , they were trapped because at that time the army was taking over carrying out a purge of all members of the PKI and its mass organizations. Hari hid in his house. However, then Lantip suggested that Hari be handed over, with the intention of protecting Harimurti from the mob. After four months in prison, Harimurti was released under house arrest. Then Lantip looked for information about Naryo and Girl. Naryo is dead and Girl is in Gerwani prison and is seven months pregnant. At that time, Harimurti revealed to his parents that he had gotten the girl pregnant, but he promised to marry her. When Hari’s parents were going to take the girl home because her status had changed to house arrest, Hari was shocked when she heard that the girl and her two twin children had died because the girl gave birth early.

Lantip and Harimurti accompany Grandma Kangkung in Wanagalih. It turned out that the large jackfruit tree that had been in front of the Jalan Setenan house for decades was cut down. And Embah Kakung Sastrodarsono advised that the results of the logging be distributed among the people. When the distribution was taking place, Embah Kakung decided to walk to the veranda of the house to witness the distribution. He smiled and was happy to see the incident. When he was about to return to his room he fainted and his condition became increasingly fragile. So Lantip and Harimurti immediately informed the other families. When all the family had gathered, Embah Kakung Sastrodarsono died. Lantip was trusted by Sastrodarsono’s family to give a speech at the funeral. And he remembered the graves of Embah Wedok and his Embok in Wanalawas. After the funeral was finished, Lantip invited Halimah to make a pilgrimage to the graves of Embah Wedok and Embok and Harimurti also came along.

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Notes

Note 1: Indonesia, which was known as the Dutch East Indies at the time, was not colonized by Japan before World War II. However, during World War II, Japan invaded and occupied the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1945. This period of Japanese occupation had significant consequences for Indonesia, including the establishment of Japanese military administration, the formation of organizations like PETA (Pembela Tanah Air or “Defenders of the Homeland”), and various social and economic changes imposed by the Japanese authorities.

Note 2: Perhaps a problem with the translation. Actually Tenno Heika is a salute to the emperor