Mangos, kratons and gamelans
September 25th 2006 A legacy of the Dutch administration, a train carries us from Yogyakarta to the neibouring town of Solo, a little further east. Together with Yogya, Solo (officially known as Surakarta although nobody uses that name) is one of Java's "royal cities". Indeed, for centuries this part of the world has been ruled by small kingdoms that have come and gone. Mataram, Sriwijaya, Majapahit, Mataram Islam...
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