一九世紀後半-二〇世紀初頭ジャワ・マヅラのデサ首長の社會的地位をめぐって

Abstract

This essay examines the kind of regulations pertaining to the social status of the chieftain of Desa during the final organization of colonial rule of Desa, Java since the beginning of the 19th century, and those regulations of his social status during the reorganization of that rule. This essay also examines the way in which the chieftain of Desa was viewed by the inhabitants of Desa. The reorganization was intended to standardize the ruler's position within the social and political environment of Desa. Yet the chieftain's social position was strongly connected to the presence or absence of intervention by indigenous authorities. Generally, when the chieftain cooperated with local authorities, his social position was heightened. As long as he was not despotic, the local inhabitants, in one respect, recognized the necessity of the chieftain of Desa's social status. The essay shows then that the authority of the chieftain of Desa was still considered an object of worship. Yet it also reveals, in other respects, that there were tendencies which gradually brought about the destruction of the relationship between the chieftain of Desa and the local inhabitants.