ABSTRACT
The Babad Dipanagara is an account of the so-called Java War, the last substantial indigenous challenge to Dutch colonial authority on the central island of what had become known as the Dutch East Indies. The Java War, launched by Pagneran Dipanagara was the last substantive challenge in the core of the Dutch territorial holdings. The Java War illustrates one of the basic realities of the nature of Dutch colonial rule, namely that its power was often less than absolute. There were numerous gaps in their control, and while none could shake the overall colonial project, they persisted in forcing the Dutch to reconfigure and rearrange their authority and the balancing act that was their East Indies colony. The first part of the excerpt below illuminates the ways in which religion influenced the course of religious events. In it, Dipanagara describes his path toward spiritual growth, a path that combined elements of Islamic meditation with local folk practices.
