The Priangan , Parahyangan or Preanger is a mountainous region of Sunda country in the Indonesian province of West Java .

Toponymy

The name Parahyangan comes from hyang which means ” god “; it therefore means “the abode of the gods”. The Priangan is a mountainous region and the ancient Indonesians believed that the gods were staying in the peaks.

This Hyang etymology is found in other names of Java , such as the Dieng Plateau in the center, or the Yang Plateau in the East.

Geography

The total area of ​​this region is 21,524 km 2 (slightly less than 1/6 of Java). The Priangan is bordered on the west by the kabupaten of Bogor and Sukabumi , on the north by those of Karawang , Purwakarta , Subang and Indramayu , on the north by those of Majalengka and Kuningan , on the east by the Citanduy River which marks the border with the province of East Java , and south by the Indian Ocean .

It covers the kabupaten of:

  • Bandung ;
  • Cianjur ;
  • Ciamis ;
  • Cimahi ;
  • Garut ;
  • Sumedang ;
  • Tasikmalaya .

History

Bupati of Priangan with their wives

In 1705 , the kingdom of Mataram ceded the Priangan and Cirebon to the VOC (the Dutch East India Company ) in return for services rendered during the first war of the Javanese Succession which put the throne as the Sunan Pakubuwana I. In the end the xviii th century, the VOC called “Preanger” the area covering the current regency following:

  • Bandung,
  • Bogor,
  • Cianjur,
  • Galuh (today Ciamis),
  • Karawang ,
  • Limbangan (Garut),
  • Sukabumi,
  • Sukapura (Tasikmalaya),
  • Sumedang,
  • Tangerang .

Between 1808 and 1810, Governor General Daendels grouped the ensemble into a single prefecture or residentie .

Subsequently, the Priangan only consists of five regentschap : Cianjur, Bandung, Sumedang, Limbangan, Sukapura, and four divisions ( afdeelingen ), directed not by a regent , that is, a bupati , but a patih , so the functions are actually the same but less prestigious: Sukabumi, Cicalengka, Tasikmalaya and Sukapura Kolot.

In 1901, the whole is reduced to 6 territorial units. In 1915, Ciamis, until then part of the residentie of Cirebon, is integrated in the Priangan. Karawang and Bogor are not, because of their activities strongly related to Batavia from the xix th century. In addition, creation of Sultan Agung of the Javanese kingdom of Mataram , Karawang is rather of Javanese tradition.

Annexes

Bibliography

  • A. Sabana Harjasaputra, 2004, “Bupati di Priangan: kedudukan dan peranannya pada abad ke-17 – abad ke-19” in Bupati di Priangan dan kajian lainnya mengenai budaya Sunda , Bandung
  • Ajip Rosidi et al., 2000, Ensiklopedi Sunda , Jakarta
  • Sutherland, Heather, “Notes on Java’s Regent Families: Part II” in Indonesia , Volume 17 (April 1974), 1-42.