Diponegoro
Javanese prince who opposed Dutch colonialism during the Java War (1825-1830)

Prince Diponegoro (Javanese: ꦢꦶꦥꦤꦼꦒꦫ, romanized: Dipånegårå; born Bendara Raden Mas Mustahar, ꦧꦼꦤ꧀ꦢꦫꦫꦢꦺꦤ꧀ꦩꦱ꧀ꦩꦸꦱ꧀ꦠꦲꦂ; later Bendara Raden Mas Antawirya, ꦧꦼꦤ꧀ꦢꦫꦫꦢꦺꦤ꧀ꦩꦱ꧀ꦲꦤ꧀ꦠꦮꦶꦂꦪ; 11 November 1785 – 8 January 1855), also known as Dipanegara and Dipa Negara, was a Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch colonial rule. The eldest son of the Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono III, he played an important role in the Java War between 1825 and 1830. After his defeat and capture, he was exiled to Makassar, where he died at 69 years old.
His five-year struggle against the Dutch control of Java has become celebrated by Indonesians throughout the years, acting as a source of inspiration for the fighters in the Indonesian National Revolution and nationalism in modern-day Indonesia among others. He is a national hero in Indonesia.
Early life
Diponegoro was born on 11 November 1785 in Yogyakarta, and was the eldest son of Sultan Hamengkubuwono III of Yogyakarta. During his youth at the Yogyakarta court, major occurrences such as the dissolution of the VOC, the British invasion of Java, and the subsequent return to Dutch rule took place. During the invasion, Sultan Hamengkubuwono III pushed aside his power in 1810 in favor of Diponegoro's father and used the general disruption to regain control. In 1812 however, he was once more removed from the throne and exiled off-Java by the British forces. In this process, Diponegoro acted as an adviser to his father and provided aid to the British forces to the point where Stamford Raffles offered him the Sultan title which he declined, perhaps because his father was still reigning.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Diponegoro” as javanese prince who opposed Dutch colonialism during the Java War (1825-1830). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28899. VIAF identifies the subject as 23255933. The Library of Congress control number is n81006927. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1785, 1855, 1825 and 1830.
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This entry incorporates text from “Diponegoro” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.