Dozens of elementary school students flocked to a room at the Jakarta History Museum in Kota Tua, West Jakarta, on a recent Tuesday.

The students were observing an exhibit while they attentively listened to a narration about the chamber where Prince Diponegoro was held by Dutch colonialists nearly two centuries ago.

Diponegoro is said to have spent about a month in Jakarta before he was exiled to Makassar, South Sulawesi, where he died in 1855.

The prince, son of Yogyakarta's King Hamengkubuwono III, was proclaimed a national hero for his leading role in the Java War between 1825 and 1830. His heroism inspired the spirit for independence from the Dutch.

The Diponegoro chamber is the latest exhibit at the museum, popularly known as Fatahillah Museum, to be officiated by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan.

Not many are aware that the prince had been briefly detained in Jakarta.

Putri, one of the visiting students, said that she had just learned about that bit of history during her visit to the museum.

“I just found out and it's interesting to know that he chewed betel nuts,” she said.

On display in the chamber are replicas of a bed, table, chair, bird cage and pilgrimage sticks.

A copy of Diponegoro’s portrait drawn by Adrianus Johannes Bik, the administrator responsible for his detention, is also on display.

The 120-square-meter room is on the second floor of the museum’s building, formerly a town hall during the Dutch colonial era.

British historian Peter Carey, the curator of the Diponegoro chamber, has been studying the hero for a long time.

He is convinced that the room had been occupied by Diponegoro for 26 days while awaiting the decision of the Dutch East Indies rulers on his fate as a political prisoner.

“Here [Diponegoro] was housed in the private apartment of the head of the Batavia prison service, who was required to vacate his room if a high-value European or Indonesian prisoner was in residence,” Carey said in a statement.

Carey — the author of Dipanagara and the making of the Java War: Yogyakarta history, 1785-1825 — said Diponegoro was in Jakarta from April 8 through May 3, 1830 after being captured by the colonists in Magelang, Central Java, on March 28, 1830.

Diponegoro was treacherously captured while negotiating with lieutenant governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, Hendrik Merkus de Kock, in Magelang. The prince was then taken to Jakarta via Semarang by ship. He arrived on April 8, 1830.

The five year rebellion led by Diponegoro against the Dutch East Indies government was the biggest, longest and most expensive war during the colonial period. More than 200,000 people were killed out of Java’s population of 2 million and the Dutch lost 8,000 soldiers and 7,000 mercenaries.

The chamber, along with detailed history on Diponegoro, was expected to boost visitor numbers, said museum head
Sri Kusumawati.

The museum is among the best and well-known museums in the country. It welcomes 800,000 visitors annually, making it the most-visited history museum in Indonesia.

In addition to Diponegoro, Sri said, there were other anti-Dutch colonial leaders who were detained in the town hall, such as Aceh’s Cut Nyak Dien and Diponegoro’s spiritual adviser, Kiai Mojo. However, showrooms are yet to be dedicated to them.

Anies expressed hope that more people would visit the museum and gain inspiration from the Diponegoro chamber.

“We hope that thousands more people will come and use this place for reflection,” the governor said in a recent Facebook post. (das)

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