THE HISTORICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE KERATON YOGYAKARTA ON THE CONCEPTION OF PLACE IN THE JERON BETENG AREA, YOGYAKARTA

The Sultanate of Yogyakarta has been a distinct part of the characters associated with Yogyakarta City. The Jeron Beteng area, which is administratively located in the District of Kraton, was in the past the center of this Sultanate. It becomes part of historical journeys that construct the identity of Yogyakarta city as a place. Since its confirmed status as a heritage zone, the Jeron Beteng continuously attracts increasing tourists. It becomes subject to continuous land use, traffic, migration, and land ownership changes. As a result, the identity of the place has been transformed unclearly. This study views that, understanding the conception of a Jeron Beteng area as a place is essential to preserve its identity. It explores the dynamics of this conception based on cultural significances derived from historical events between 1755 and the present time. The research question is "How does the existence of the Keraton Yogyakarta affect the concept of place of the Jeron Beteng Area?" This study uses a historical-comparative method supported by secondary data. Data analysis is based on political, economic, social, and cultural influences on each phase of the Sultan's reign. Study results reveal that political, economic, social, and cultural conditions in each era of the Sultan's reign affect the dynamics of place conception of the Jeron Beteng area.


Introduction
Jeron Beteng Area is a historical district that signifies the establishment of the City of Yogyakarta.A fortified wall called Baluwarti surrounds this area.The significance of Jeron Beteng Area in Yogyakarta supports the legitimation of the philosophical axis of Yogyakarta as a World Heritage on September 18, 2023.The evolution of the Jeron Beteng Area from the center of the Sultanate into the cultural center of heritage has gone through a long history of time and space.As a center of the Sultanate, the Jeron Beteng area was a restricted place that surrounded the Palace where the Sultan's courtiers resided.Changes occurred during Sultan HB VIII, who began to open the gates of the Baluwarti wall.Nowadays, as a historical inner-city neighborhood, the Jeron Beteng area has a dense and diverse building mass and population.Places in the Jeron Beteng area have shifted their meaning from the courtiers' residential function to a tourism destination area.
The impact of modernization and globalization causes the Jeron Beteng area to be subject to continuous pressure to change due to tourism, traffic, commercialization, and inhabitants' migration.There are changes in building functions from residential to commercial, land ownership from courtiers' families to newcomers, more varied building styles, and also varieties of the social background of inhabitants.Although there is still the rule from the Keraton to regulate the physical condition of the Jeron Beteng area, it has generally been very open to modernization and contemporary lifestyle.Rapid changes made this area lose its identity.This looseness is due to a high population density and demand for the use of space.
Researchers in the Jeron Beteng area focused on the history and the architectural elements of Keraton Yogyakarta, such as the research on the architecture of Dalem Pangeran (Widayatsari, 2002), research on the physical aspects of the Yogyakarta Palace (Wardani et al., 2013), and research on the architectural reconstruction of Kadipaten District (Retnaningtyas, 2018).Although not explicitly discussing the Jeron Beteng area, Ikaputra (1995) revealed the preservation of Yogyakarta's historical environment by emphasizing the role of Dalem Pangeran as a cultural heritage of the city of Java, both from physical and nonphysical aspects in Dalem Pangeran.
Regarding non-physical aspects, Handoyotomo (1996) revealed the meaning of the physical changes in the noble residences for the nobility.Kato (2012) discussed the position of the Sultan in Java in a political context, and Sudaryanto (2018) discussed the rights and obligations of courtiers.Meanwhile, Purwani (2016) relates the physical aspects of the palace arrangement from a cosmological perspective to the issue of power.However, neither is related to the characteristics of place.Herliana (2020) focused on the sense of place in the Jeron Beteng area.However, previous research has yet to relate this area to the concept of place.One of the significant characteristics of places in the Jeron Beteng area is that they are not static; they are continuously changing.Analyzing aspects that caused changes throughout history can define the identity of a place.They are political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.Therefore, research on the Jeron Beteng area, which emphasizes the influence of the history of the Keraton Yogyakarta on the conception of place in the Jeron Beteng Area, needs to be done.

Understanding the Perspectives of Place
The importance of place as the unique focus is distinguishing it from space.A place is a meaningful location.Discourses about meaning are diverse and mostly come from phenomenological or postmodern and constructivist frameworks.Both have different opinions.They are respectively known as conservative (essentialist) and progressive (antiessentialist) meaning (Lewicka et al., 2019).
The phenomenological approach revealed by human geographers and architects (Norberg-Schulz, 1980;Tuan, 1990;Relph, 2016) was an essentialist.Its representative concept was a genius loci.Genis loci is a spirit that defines unique character as a place's essence (Norberg-Schulz, 1980).Recognizing a place is by understanding the behavior associated with or anticipated in a given locus, the physical parameters of that setting, and the description or conceptions derived from the setting.Relph (2016) described the interrelation of physical settings, activities, and meaning, which are the components of place, as the essential elements that determine the identity of place.
On the other hand, the progressive meaning of place derived from the constructivist framework was a product of paradigm change in social science (Massey, 1993), which is anti-essentialist.Anti-essentialist meaning emphasizes mobility rather than static.Places, they argue, are not 'taken for granted' but are 'becoming' (Dovey, 2010).Places consist of entities that are not stable, historically given identities, but are dynamic products that have multiple interacting forces.Contemporary places are not isolated but interrelated between the elements, which the diversity of lifestyles and cultures meet and, furthermore, create the identity of place (Massey, 1993;Lewicka et al., 2019).
The conservative (essentialist) concept of place emphasizes stability, whereas the progressive (anti-essentialist) concept stresses mobility, variety, and stimulation.From the perspective of progressive concepts, place meaning is not merely obtained from the place's physical properties but is also socially constructed.Therefore, the meaning depends on the participating agents.Thus, analyzing the two concepts of meaning from the perspective of psychological considerations rather than philosophical assumptions seems complementary rather than contradictory.This study emphasizes the progressive concept of place in the Jeron Beteng area since it is subject to continuous changes.
In general, the place's physical attributes in the Jeron Beteng area consists of 1) the complex of the Keraton Yogyakarta and supporting facilities, that are Alun-alun Lor, Alun-alun Kidul, the Great Mosque and Tamansari (the Water Castle) as core elements (Sunaryo, Soewarno, Ikaputra, and Setiawan, 2013); 2) the nobles' residences (Dalem Pangeran) as landmarks; 3) residential areas; 4) fortified walls and gates as enclosures and boundaries elements.In the past, the Keraton became the center of the Sultanate, who had the power to control the people, although his power politically was restricted by the colonial government.Nowadays, in line with historical developments, the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat has become part of the Republic of Indonesia, and the Sultan has no political power.However, the Sultan remains Governor of the Yogyakarta Special Region Province.The role of the Keraton Yogyakarta is a symbol of Javanese culture.The Sultan has the highest social status and is the leader of Javanese culture.The change in the role of the Sultan also resulted in changes to the concept of place in the Jeron Beteng area.This cultural heritage area in the city's center attracts people to visit.Moreover, the Keraton Yogyakarta become a tourist attraction.Consequently, the area surrounding the Keraton has provided tourism facilities.Residents attempt to use the opportunity in culinary, souvenirs, homestay, handicraft, and batik fashion business.Most residential functions turn to commercial ones.It is common for inhabitants to sell their land to immigrants who intend to do business.Increasing tourism activities also have impacted traffic congestion.All of these phenomena have an impact on changing the sense of place.Sense of place is the specific psychological attitude of an individual or group of people to a particular place (Cristine et al., 2023).Whereas changing the sense of place will impact the identity of place.
Arguing that the notion of physical and concrete place is still essential to attachment and meaning, Sebastien (2020) stated that places have retained their significance.Place indicates a space that has acquired significance through processes where individual, collective, or cultural, whether multi-sensorial memories, symbols, or experiences lived and felt on site.A place is a set of spaces that became meaningful locations through peoples' experiences and ideas.The meaning, which is the conception of place, is embedded with history and the culture of a place.A place is a location that relates to relevant context and reflects a symbolic meaning (Jordaan et al., 2008).Therefore, meaningful places often relate to history (Garcia et al., 2018).Tuan (1990) and Stedman (2016) mentioned the importance of meaning in understanding places.The meaning of place is a symbolic and evaluative sensitivity to a place that reflects the value and significance of that place (Wynveen et al., 2011;Azmi et al., 2014).The interactions between humans, places, and all aspects of human life influence the meaning.The meaning of place reflects the values contained by the place and cultural background.The place has continuously evolved, not in a static way.The configuration of contextual changes occurred and affected the conception of place.However, the changes must always fit into existing cultural sites that encourage resilience and adaptation of the components of places.The interaction capacity between the community and the institution within a particular district will strengthen resiliency that supports the sustainability of that district (Damanik et al., 2020).

Method
The place is the characteristic site where events and daily activities occur.The dynamic of historical events in the Keraton Yogyakarta, which include political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions, affected the conception of place in the Jeron Beteng area.The research question is "How does the existence of the Keraton Yogyakarta affect the conception of place in the Jeron Beteng Area?".The research aims to find the historical implication of the Keraton Yogyakarta on the conception of place in Jeron Beteng, Yogyakarta.This research uses the historical-comparative method (Neuman, 2014, pp. 466-504).Firstly, a literature study explores the context and events that occurred in a specific time chronologically.Secondly, the conception of the place was interpreted while analyzing secondary data from the literature and putting the data in the four categories of political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions.
The first phase is a literature study to comprehend 1) the perspectives of place and 2) the historical events that occurred in each era of the Sultan's reign chronologically, consists of: 1. Conceptualizing the object of inquiry that is the conception of place in the Jeron Beteng area across history; 2. Locating evidence: the physical evidence (artifacts) and non-physical evidence of the Jeron Beteng area; 3. Evaluating quality of evidence: cross literature and interview; 4. Organizing evidence based on the reign era of the Sultan; Whereas the second phase is interpreting data, consists of: 1. Synthesizing; and 2. Writing: the interpretative concept of Jeron Beteng area.

The Conception of Place in the Jeron Beteng Area
The Jeron Beteng area is administratively in the Kraton District of Yogyakarta (Figure 1).Significant historical events in each era of the Sultan's reign influence the dynamics of the concept of place in the Jeron Beteng area.

a. The Conception of Place based on a Cosmological System
The cosmological system determines the location of the center of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta and puts the Keraton as the center of the philosophical axis.The philosophical axis and the hierarchy of spatial zones implement that cosmological system.The axis was an instrument used to control a territory.Places surrounding the axis support the Keraton Yogyakarta as the center of power.The story of journey was implemented by the philosophy of sangkan paraning dumadi and manunggaling kawula Gusti (as explained by KPH Yudohadiningrat, 2018).The journey from Panggung Krapyak to the Keraton applied the philosophy of sangkan paraning dumadi, namely the origin of humans, the process of human birth, and the purpose of humans being born, while the journey from Tugu to the Palace was the embodiment of the philosophy of manunggaling kawula Gusti, namely the unification of the people with their king.Figure 2 shows the concept of spatial planning of the Javanese Mataram kingdom, which forms a circle system with four different radii arranged hierarchically (Santoso, 2008;Soemardjan, 2009).Sri Sultan was at the center of this system, considered the center of cosmic power.The Palace represented the Sultan's position, a microcosm within the macrocosm, and was the universe's center (Rianingrum et al., 2015).The Sultan was a leading figure who united spiritual power and world power (Wiryomartono, 1995).Therefore, the center is the most sacred (Purwani, 2016;Sumalyo, 2021, p. 158).
Zone 1, which was attached to the Sultan, was the Keraton, the kingdom's inner circle that included the Palace where the Sultan and his family resided.Within this circle were the offices of princes and nobility.Zone 2 was the center of the kingdom called Nagara, the royal capital, which was the residence of the nobility and high-ranking officials called priyayi.In Zone 2, there were offices of high-level officials (priyayi).All matters concerning the kingdom were discussed and decided in the capital.Other areas are the outside areas serving the Nagara and the Sultan.The high-ranking priyayi were subject to the patih, who was in charge of the entire royal government regarding matters outside the Palace were concerned.Baluwarti fort wall surrounding the Jeron Beteng area represented the boundary of Zone 2. Zone 3 was Nagaragung or Nagara Agung, almost entirely the land of princes and nobles.This area consisted of several lungguh, plots of land, and its inhabitants.Zone 4 was Mancanagara and Pasisiran, where the Sultan ruled and appointed regents.The Sultan did not allow his princes to own land in Mancanagara.Jeron Beteng is the center of the Sultanate government (Santoso, 2008;Soemardjan, 2009).

b. The Exclusivity of Place that is the Jeron Beteng Area as the Center of the Sultanate's power
During the colonial government occupation period, after the reign of Sultan Hamengku Bowono II, there was an interruption from the colonial government.However, the noble and high-level officials of the Keraton occupied the Jeron Beteng area exclusively.The fortress strengthened this concept of place.

c. Towards the Inclusive Place of the Jeron Beteng Area
During Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII's reign, due to Ethical Politics, the public had access to education (Sumarno et al., 2019).The Sultan established schools within the Keraton and provided subsidies to establish schools outside the Keraton (Suwarno, 1994, pp. 65-66).

b. Non-physical Evidences
In preserving the Javanese culture, the Sultanate conducts rituals and traditional ceremonies to maintain those traditions.Sekaten, garebeg mulud, garebeg besar, and garebeg syawal are traditional ceremonies that the community can visit.Those traditional ceremonies connect the Keraton, Alun-alun Lor, and the Great Mosque to become whole entities with a particular cultural meaning.Apart from official ceremonies held by the Palace, there are also community rituals, such as mubeng beteng and kirab apem.The routes of the official ceremonies held by the Keraton and community rituals differ.The former goes through an imaginary axis line (Figure 4), while the latter goes through the periphery area (Figure 5).Historically, the kinship system and the type of work of the courtiers defined places in the Jeron Beteng Area.The reigning Sultan provided residential areas for his children, which surrounded the Palace.The noble residences and the villages that derived from the noble residences (Figure 6) represent the kinship system.Villages that had the title from the type of their professions in the Keraton (Figure 7) represent the types of work of the courtiers (Gupta et al., 2007).Source: The Author's Analysis

Conclusion
The cosmological system initiated by Sultan Hamengku Buwono I regulated the place in the Jeron Beteng area.As the center of the Sultanate's power, the Palace has the highest hierarchy of places as a meeting point that connects the universe (macrocosm) and the human world (microcosm).A hierarchy of spatial zones revealed the highest position of the Keraton.The Palace became the residence of the Sultan and his family, while the area around the Palace became the residence of the nobility and courtiers.Areas located at the periphery were the outside areas where ordinary people lived.The construction of the Baluwarti fort wall by Sultan Hamengku Buwono II emphasized this concept.Initially, the fort wall served as a defense against the Dutch colonial government, but after the British came, it became a defense against the British army.
The conception of the Palace as the absolute center of Sultan power shifted after the Geger Sapehi incident.Although the Dutch intervened in the Sultanate, the people still considered the Sultan's power absolute.However, after the invasion of the British army into the Keraton in 1812, the conception of an 'independent' place from the Keraton experienced intervention from the colonial government with the deployment of British troops and Sepoys in the Keraton.
The conception of the Keraton as the center of the Javanese sultanate experienced 'undermining' with the dominance of the colonial government during the reigns of Sultan Hamengku Buwono III to Sultan Hamengku Buwono VI.After the Java War (1825-1830), during the reign of Sultan Hamengku Buwono V, the Palace was getting weaker because the colonial government controlled most of its territory.The Sultanate lost the entire Mancanagara area.Due to unfavorable political conditions, Sultan Hamengku Buwono V devoted more attention to the field of arts and culture.Literature, dance, music, and wayang wong proliferated in his time.Sultan Hamengku Buwono V developed the arts and culture of the Palace significantly.
Since the renewal during the reign of Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII, slowly, the Keraton and Jeron Beteng, which were initially exclusive, that is, only for the Sultan and his family and courtiers, then began to open up to the general public.The concept of a place for buildings belonging to the Palace, which was previously exclusive, has changed with the opening of access for the general public.The exclusive nature of the Jeron Beteng area gradually faded away.The opening of the palace gates during Sultan Hamengku Buwono VIII's reign marked the palace environment's openness.
After the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX declared support for Indonesian independence, and the Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat Sultanate became part of the Republic of Indonesia.As part of the Republic of Indonesia, the Sultan concurrently serves as the Governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta.However, the government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta is separate from the government of the Sultanate.The conception of the place of the Jeron Beteng area became part of the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Location of Jeron Beteng Area in the District of Kraton Source: Map of RBI digital scale 1:25.000,Badan Informasi Geospasial (BIG)

Figure 4 .Figure 5 .
Figure 4.The Route of the Garebeg Ceremony Source: The Author's Analysis