Pakubuwono II
Up until 1744, Solo was little more than a quiet backwater village, 10 km east of Kartasura, the contemporary capital of the Mataram kingdom. But in that year the Mataram susuhunan (king), Pakubuwono II, backed the Chinese against the Dutch, and the court at Kartasura was sacked as a result. Pakubuwono II searched for a more auspicious spot to rebuild his capital, and in 1745 the entire court was dismantled and transported in a great procession to Surakarta, on the banks of the Kali (River) Solo. February 18, 1745 is well regarded as the official birthday of the city. It was said that the place he chose to be the new palace was situated on a small lake. The "babad" or official record of court historians still mentions that the lake was drained by the favor of the mythical queen of the southern sea, Nyi Roro Kidul.
However, the decline continued, and in 1757, after the kingdom of Mataram was divided into the Surakarta Sunanate (northern court) and the Jogjakarta Sultanate (southern court), another rival royal house of Mangkunegoro was established by Raden Mas Said aka. Pangeran Samber Nyowo (The Slayer Prince) right in the centre of Solo. It marked the success of Dutch policies in East Indies, which were known as "divide et impera" (divide and conquer). Mataram held so much influence in Java, yet it remained nothing more than falling under the Dutch's hands. Thereafter, Solo's royal houses wisely avoided fighting and instead threw their energies into the arts, developing a highly sophisticated and graceful court culture. The gamelan pavilions became the new theatres of war, with each city competing to produce the more refined court culture. Wayang Kulit and Wayang Wong are some theatrical arts still performed today.
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