Surakarta Sunanate

The Surakarta Sunanate, also known as Solo, was a Javanese princely state in central Java. It was founded in 1745 when Pakubuwono II moved his court from the ruined capital of Kartasura to a new palace at Surakarta. In 1755 the state was divided by the Treaty of Giyanti: the eastern half became Surakarta under a susuhunan, while the western half became the Yogyakarta Sultanate under a sultan. From then on Surakarta was a client of the Dutch East India Company and later of the colonial government, which steadily reduced its powers and its territory. The court nevertheless remained a major centre of Javanese culture, music and batik. Its rulers continued to patronise gamelan, shadow-puppet theatre and the batik workshops that gave Solo its reputation, even as their political room for manoeuvre shrank. In 1946, during the Indonesian revolution, the sunanate was incorporated into the new republic, and its ruler lost political authority. The kraton and the traditions of Surakarta survive today as symbols of Javanese heritage.