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Culture minister to repatriate more daggers, ancient inscription

The return of the Pucangan Inscription is expected to be discussed during President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to India scheduled later this month.

News Desk (The Jakarta Post)
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Wed, January 15, 2025

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Culture minister to repatriate more daggers, ancient inscription Prince Diponegoro's kris (traditional dagger) is on display on March 10, 2020, flanked by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) and First Lady Iriana (second left) as well as Dutch Queen Maxima (second right) and King Willem-Alexander (right) at the Bogor Palace in West Java. The kris was repatriated about a week before the royal visit to Indonesia. (Courtesy of Presidential Secretariat/-)

C

ulture Minister Fadli Zon plans to repatriate historical artifacts, including kris (traditional daggers) belonging to prominent figures who fought against Dutch colonizers, as well as inscriptions from the Javanese kingdom currently housed in India.

Fadli said recently that his office would ask the Netherlands to return items, including the kris belonging to national heroes Prince Diponegoro and Teuku Umar.

"[We will request the return of historical artifacts], such as Teuku Umar’s kris, Diponegoro’s kris, a kris from the Madura Sultanate and kris originating from Yogyakarta and various parts of Indonesia," Fadli said recently.

Both figures were leaders in the country’s struggle against Dutch colonization.

Teuku Umar and his wife, national heroine Cut Nyak Dien, led a guerrilla war in Aceh against the Dutch starting in 1873. Last year, Teuku Umar’s Quran and hundreds of other historical artifacts were repatriated and later displayed at the National Museum in December.

Meanwhile, Prince Diponogoro, the eldest son of Yogyakartan Sultan Hamengkubuwono III, played a key role in early struggles for Indonesian independence. He led a five-year campaign against Dutch colonial rule that ended with his arrest on March 28, 1830, and his subsequent exile.

The last Diponegoro kris repatriation was carried out in 2020. The Netherlands returned the legendary kris known as Naga Siluman, although there was debate over the validity of the artifact.

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