Role of Sultan Abdulhamid II in struggle of Javanese Muslims againts Dutch colonialism
In the background, a court official of the Sultan of Java with old insignia during the Grebeg Maulud ceremony (Commemoration of the Birth of the Prophet Muhammad), with a portrait of Sultan Abdulhamid II in the foreground. (Collage by Satrio Anugrah)
The Ottoman Empire, which ruled the world for six centuries, undoubtedly contributed to civilization throughout the Islamic world. Started with the absolute victory achieved by Sultan Bayezid I in the Battle of Nicopolis on Sept. 25, 1396, against the European alliance, it brought celebration throughout the Islamic world.
The Abbasid Caliph in Cairo, Mutawakkil I, who died in 1406, then awarded the sultan with the title “Sultan-i Iklim-i Rum” (Ruler of Anatolia and Rumelia), enhancing the image of the Ottoman Dynasty in the Islamic world. With the transfer of legitimacy of the Islamic Caliphate to Sultan Selim I in the 16th century from the Abbasid Dynasty, Ottoman ties with the Muslims World strengthened further.
Traces of Ottoman Empire in Far East
The Ottoman Caliphate’s footsteps in Indonesia were officially recorded in the 16th century when the Aceh Sultanate, under Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah, asked Sultan Sulaiman II for support to wage war against the Batak tribe in the Sumatra Island, who had not embraced Islam in the 1530s. It continued with a request for help to expel Portuguese colonials from the Strait of Malacca in the 1560s.
The Ottoman Empire’s relationship with the Islam Sultanates in Indonesia strengthened after the 19th century, following the massive Imperialist politics of European countries seeking the wealth of the Eastern world.
Suffering of Javanese Muslims in Ottoman newspaper
Indonesia has played a strategic role in international trade relations and is supported by very advantageous geographical conditions. The strategic value of Indonesia was not only due to its geographical position but also because of its rich natural resources such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom and nutmeg which were worth as much as gold in Europe from the 15th to the 19th century.
Coastal areas such as Batavia (Jakarta), Samudera Pasai (Aceh) and Surabaya, then became metropolitan cities visited by international travelers. Indonesia’s rich natural resources made European imperialist countries ambitious to control the region. Indonesia, which was officially colonized for 142 years by European powers—France (1800-1811), Britain (1811-1816) and the Netherlands (1816-1942)—fell into the misery of colonialism. The 11th edition of the Ottoman newspaper Sebilur-resad, printed in the period 1913-1914, described the conditions suffered by Javanese Muslims.
The Sultan of Java (Sunan Pakubuwana X) resided in the Solo City (Surakarta). But he could not take any action because he was under Dutch pressure. And he could not meet with anyone other than Dutch government officers. On Fridays, he goes out to pray with a very large procession, it is dangerous for the people to see this procession, because it always causes trouble to the Dutch government.
Sultan Abdulhamid II: ‘As long as Islamic unity continues, England, France, Russia and Holland are in my hands’
During the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876-1909), the Ottoman Empire was marked by an increasingly heated European political conjuncture. While Russia, with its Pan-Slavic principles, aimed to establish a Slavic nation-state in the Balkans, which at that time was still part of Ottoman territory.
Faced with political demands that threatened Ottoman territory and the unity of the Muslim world, Sultan Abdulhamid II with his concept of Pan-Islamism tried to gather all Muslim powers under the roof of the Ottoman caliphate and strengthen Muslim solidarity to face the challenges of European imperialism. Sultan Abdulhamid II said:
As long as Islamic unity continues, England, France, Russia and Holland are in my hands. For just one word from the Caliph is enough to mobilise jihad in the Muslim countries under their control and this means disaster for the Christian world.
On the other hand, the 1876 promulgation of the Ottoman law which stated: “Zat-i hazret-i padisahi hasbe’l – hilafe din-i Islam’in hamisi ve bi’l-cumle tebaa-i Osmaniyye’nin hükümdarı ve padisahidir” (His Highness the Sultan, the protector of the religion of Islam and the ruler and sultan of all the subjects of Ottoman) officially declared the obligation and responsibility of the Ottoman state and its Sultans-Caliphs to always serve, protect and help all Muslims in the world.
To realize this noble goal, the sultan, with all his power and authority, endeavored to improve all aspects of the state that had become obsolete. In 1892, Sultan Abdulhamid II established the Asiret Mektebi Humayun (Imperial Tribal School) which aimed to train and educate the children of tribal chiefs in the Ottoman territories in Istanbul, so that when they returned to their countries they would be loyal to the Ottomans and serve the Muslims without being deceived by European propaganda. A total of six Javanese Muslim children of Arab ethnicity were sent to Istanbul in 1895, all from the family of Abdullah bin Alwi Alatas, a Yemen merchant in Java.
In response to the Javanese Muslim students sent to Istanbul, a Dutchman, W.E. Asbeck Brusse in his article said as follows “The attempt to launch Islamic Propaganda (Pan-Islamism) is no less dangerous than the Palace Press attack, inviting Indonesians, Arabs and Malays to get an education and instill awareness of the superiority of Muslims over the Kafirs. When they have completed their studies in Türkiye, they will return to their homelands and there will inevitably and immediately become a security disturbance and cause the greatest difficulties to the government.”
Ottoman Embassy in Batavia (Jakarta)
Sultan Abdulhamid II actively gathered data on the population of the Islamic world. In Batavia (Jakarta) in 1897, the sultan sent Kamil Bey as the Ottoman ambassador to Java. Kamil Bey, who served from 1897 to 1899, sought to promote Islamic unity (Pan-Islamism) by encouraging the privileged Arab merchant communities under Dutch rule to voice their concerns.
To this end, Middle Eastern newspapers such as Ma’lumat (Ottoman), Thamarat (Beirut) and Mua’yyad (Egypt) actively published the miseries of Javanese Muslims from both the native and Arab communities.
End of great struggle
The activities of Sultan Abdulhamid II’s Pan-Islamist movement have proven to be a cause for concern for the Dutch government. In the article “Pan-Islamitische Kuiperijen in Onje Oost” by W.E. Asbeck Brusse he said, “The aim of the Pan-Islamists in Batavia (Jakarta) was to fight for equal status (Gelijkstelling) between Europeans, the Arab Muslim community and the native Muslim population.”
Unfortunately, the overthrow of Sultan Abdulhamid II by the Ittihad and Terakki (Committee of Union and Progress) in 1909, indirectly decreased the spirit of unity among the Muslims. On the other hand, the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate by the decree of The Grand National Assembly of Türkiye on March 3, 1924, further distanced unity in the Islamic world.
About the author: Satrio Anugrah is an Indonesian History undergraduate student at Konya KTO Karatay University, an Ottoman history content creator, and has an interest in the late modern period of the Ottoman and its role in the Islamic world.
