The Island of Java appears at different times to have been divided into states of greater or smaller extent. History informs us, that it was at one period under the sway of one principal chief, and at others subject to two or more. In the former case, the provinces into which it was divided were administered, as they are still, by subordinate and delegated governors; and in the latter, many of them composed independent sovereignties. In all these cases, the form of government and the privileges of the people were the same; the only difference between a state co-extensive with the Island, and one limited to a few districts, consisting in the different extent of territory or number of subjects at command. In looking at the map, the divisions of the Island now under European dominion, and those under the native princes, can easily be traced. Bantam (the sultan of which surrendered his rights to the British government for a pension of a few thousand dollars), and Chéribon, an extensive province to the eastward of Batavia, enjoyed till lately a nominal independence; but the only great native power on Java, till the establishment of Yúg'ya-kerta about sixty years ago, was that of the Susuhúnan, or as he is termed, the Emperor of Java; and a slight sketch of his government, of the maxims by which it is regulated, and the officers it employs, will be sufficient for my present purpose.
The sovereign is termed either Susuhúnan or Sultan, both denominations adopted since the establishment of Mahomedanism: the titles previously employed were Kiaí Gedé, Prábu, Browijáya, &c. as will be perceived on reference to the list of Hindu princes in the historical details. The line of succession to the throne is from father to son, but the rights of primogeniture are not always allowed or observed. If there is no direct descent, the claims of collateral branches of the reigning dynasty are settled by no law or uniform custom. Females have sometimes held offices of power, but have never occupied the throne since the establishment of Mahomedanism. The chiefs of districts and the heads of villages are sometimes women; in that case widows continued in the office of their deceased husbands.
The government is in principle a pure unmixed despotism; but there are customs of the country of which the people are very tenacious, and which the sovereign seldom invades. His subjects have no rights of liberty of person or property: his breath can raise the humblest individual from the dust to the highest distinction, or wither the honours of the most exalted. There is no hereditary rank, nothing to oppose his will. Not only honours, posts, and distinctions, depend upon his pleasure, but all the landed property of his dominions remains at his disposal, and may, together with its cultivators, be parcelled out by his order among the officers of his household, the members of his family, the ministers of his pleasures, or the useful servants of the state. Every officer is paid by grants of land, or by a power to receive from the peasantry a certain proportion of the produce of certain villages or districts.
When a sovereign enjoys unlimited power, he generally in eastern countries surrenders it for ease and pleasure, and his servant, under the name of Vizier or some other title, becomes the despot. The highest executive officer or prime minister in the Javan government is called Ráden Adipáti: he usually rules the country while his master is satisfied with flattery, with pomp, and the seraglio. He is intrusted with power so great, as even, in particular cases, to extend to the royal family. All communications to and from the sovereign are made through him: he receives all reports from different parts of the country, and issues all orders. The power and importance of this office has, however, naturally lessened of late years, since the European government has assumed the right of nominating the person who shall fill it: the sovereign naturally reposes less confidence in a prime minister so nominated than in one of his own choice; and if he does not take an active part himself in the politics of his court, he is generally under the influence of an ambitious member of his own family, by which means the Ráden Adípati, or prime minister, though left to conduct the details of government, is often ignorant of many of the intrigues carried on in the place.
The gradations of power and rank are as follow.
After the royal family, which includes the prince or sovereign, called Susuhúnan or Sultan, and the sons and daughters of the sovereign, called Pangérans, the heir apparent being called Pángéran Adipáti, come the nobility, and at their head the Ráden Adipáti.
The nobility or privileged orders may be classed under the two general divisions of Bopátis, and their immediate assistants or Pátehs, and Mántris or public officers. Bopáti is the general term given to the governors of provinces, being the plural of Adipáti. This, however, is rather a title of office than of mere rank, as these governors are sometimes Tumúng'gungs, An'gebáis, and of still inferior rank. Adipáti appears to be the highest title below royalty. The dignity of this title, as well as that of others, is again raised, by prefixing the epithet Kiai (venerable) or Mas (golden), as Kiai-adipáti, Kiaí-tumúng'gung, Mas-adipáti, Mas-tumúng'gung. Ráden-tumúng'gung is also occasionally used, to express a rank above an ordinary Tumúng'gung, in the same manner as Ráden Adipáti.
These officers, when appointed to the administration of provinces, are called Regents by the Dutch. Since the innovations of Europeans, the distinctions above referred to have been a good deal confounded. In the Súnda districts, where the absolute sway of the native sovereign has long ceased to be felt, and in the eastern provinces, which are subject to Europeans, the Regent assumes the state of a petty sovereign, and is the fountain of honour. The power and rank attached to particular titles, especially those of inferior importance, differs in some degree in almost every province.
The sons of the Regents, or of those who may be properly termed the nobles of the country, are usually called Rádens, and in the Súnda districts invariably so; but there is properly no hereditary nobility, no hereditary titles, although few people have a greater respect for family descent than the Javans; custom and consideration, in this as in other cases, generally supplying the place of law.
Nearly the same form of government is followed in the administration of each particular province as is observed in the general administration of the country, every Adipáti, or governor of a province, having a Páteh, or assistant, who acts as his minister. In general there is a Páteh-luar, and a Páteh-dalam; one for conducting affairs abroad or public business, the other for the superintendence of the household.