Madura,[a] is anIndonesian island off the northeastern coast ofJava. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,471.05 square kilometres (1,726.28 sq mi) (administratively 5,408.45 square kilometres (2,088.21 sq mi) including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administratively part of Madura's easternmostSumenep Regency). Administratively, Madura is part of the province ofEast Java. It is separated from Java by the narrowMadura Strait. The administered area had a density of 773 people per km2 (2,003 per sq. mile) in mid-2024, while the main island had a somewhat higher figure of 862.3 per km2 (2,233 per sq. mile).[1]
In 1624,Sultan Agung ofMataram conquered Madura, and the island's government was brought under theCakraningrats, a single princely line.[3] The Cakraningrat family opposed Central Javanese rule and often conquered large parts of Mataram.[4]
Following theFirst Javanese War of Succession betweenAmangkurat III and his uncle,Pangeran Puger, the Dutch gained control of the eastern half of Madura in 1705. Dutch recognition of Puger was influenced by the lord of West Madura, Cakraningrat II who is thought to have supported Puger's claims in the hope that a new war in central Java would provide the Madurese with a chance to interfere. However, while Amangkurat was arrested and exiled to Ceylon, Puger took the title ofPakubuwono I and signed a treaty with the Dutch that granted them, East Madura.
The Cakraningrats agreed to help the Dutch quash the 1740 rebellion in Central Java after the Chinese massacre in 1740. In a 1743 treaty with the Dutch, Pakubuwono I ceded the full sovereignty of Madura to the Dutch, which was contested byCakraningrat IV. Cakraningrat fled toBanjarmasin, took refuge with the British, was robbed and betrayed by the sultan, and captured by the Dutch and exiled to theCape of Good Hope.
The Dutch continued Madura's administrative divisions of four states each with their own regent. The island was initially important as a source of colonial troops and in the second half of the nineteenth century it became the main source of salt for Dutch-controlled territories in the archipelago. The Dutch gradually sidelined the Sultan and took over direct control of the entire island in the 1880s, governing it as theMadoera Residency. From 1948 to 1950, under theUnited States of Indonesia, Madura was administered as a federative state known as theState of Madura.
Madura Island is a relatively flat topography and there is no significant difference in elevation, which makes Madura abadland. Geologically, Madura is part of the northernlimestone mountains ofJava. The limestone hills in Madura are lower, rougher, and rounder than the hills in northern Java.
Madura (including its offshore islands) has a population of about four million, most of whom areethnicallyMadurese. The main language of Madura isMadurese, one of a family ofAustronesian languages, which is also spoken in part of eastern Java and on many of the 66 outlying islands.
The Madurese are a large ethnic population in Indonesia, numbering around 7 million inhabitants. They come from the island of Madura as well as surrounding islands, such asGili Raja,Sapudi,Raas, and theKangean Islands. In addition, many Madurese live in the eastern part ofEast Java, commonly called the "Horseshoe", fromPasuruan to the north ofBanyuwangi. Madurese are found in Situbondo and Bondowoso, and east of Probolinggo,Jember, and a few at most who speak Javanese, including NorthSurabaya, as well as some ofMalang.
Madura has aSunniMuslim majority and a largeShia minority. However, since 2012, interfaith discord has escalated violent, resulting in attacks on many Shia villages around the city ofSampang being attacked and the residents' escape for government refugee centers. TheUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has provided details of such attacks in 2013.
Note: Sumenep Regency, besides including the eastern quarter of Madura Island, also includes many offshore islands - notably theKangean Islands to the east of Madura, the smallerSapudi Islands lying between Madura and the Kangean Islands, andTalango Island closer to Madura; it also includes the smallMasalembu Islands to the north (between Madura andKalimantan) and the Giligenteng Islands to the southeast of Madura. The mainland (i.e. the area on Madura Island itself) covers 1,156.07 km2 (with 812,117 inhabitants in mid 2024) consisting of 18 districts, while the various islands are 937.40 km2 in area (with 330,885 people in mid 2024), comprising 9 districts, with 128 islands, 46 inhabited.[6][7][8]
On the whole, Madura is one of the poorest regions of the East Java province.[9] UnlikeJava, the soil is not fertile enough to make it a major agricultural producer. Limited economic opportunities have led to chronic unemployment and poverty. These factors have led to long-term emigration from the island, such that most ethnically Madurese people do not now live on Madura. People from Madura were some of the most numerous participants in governmenttransmigration programs, moving to other parts of Indonesia.
Subsistenceagriculture is a mainstay of the economy.Maize is a key subsistence crop, on the island's many small landholdings.Cattle-raising is also a critical part of the agricultural economy, providing extra income to peasant farmer families, in addition to being the basis for Madura's famous bull-racing competitions. Small-scale fishing is also important to the subsistence economy.
Among export industries,tobacco farming is a major contributor to the island's economy. Madura's soil, while unable to support many food crops, helps make the island an important producer of tobacco andcloves for the domestickretek (clove cigarette) industry. Since theDutch era, the island has also been a major producer and exporter ofsalt.
Bangkalan, on the western end of the island, hasindustrialized substantially since the 1980s. This region is within a short ferry ride ofSurabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and hence has gained a role as a suburb for commuters to Surabaya, and as a location for industry and services that need to be near the city.
TheSurabaya-Madura (Suramadu) Bridge, opened in 2009, is expected to further increase the Bangkalan area's interaction with the regional economy.
Madura is famous for its bull-racing competition (calledkarapan sapi), where ajockey, usually a young boy, rides a simple wooden sled pulled by a pair ofbulls over a course of about 100 meters in ten to fifteen seconds.
Several forms of music and theatre are popular on Madura, particularly among lower-class people for whom they provide an inexpensive form of entertainment and community-building. Thetopeng theatre, which involvesmasked performances of classic stories such as theRamayana andMahabharata, is the Madurese performance artist best known outside the island, due to its role as a representative Madurese art form at exhibitions of regional cultures from all over Indonesia. However, performances of it are rare on Madura and are generally restricted to entertainment at large official functions. The less formalloddrok theatre, where performers do not wear masks and perform a wider range of themes, is more popular on the island.
Thegamelan orchestra, best known as a classical Javanese instrument, is also played on Madura, where several of the former royal courts, such as at Bangkalan and Sumenep, possess elaborate gamelans.Tongtong music, more exclusive to Madura, is played on several wooden or bamboo drums, and often accompanies bull-racing competitions.
The Madurese are considered to be excellent sailors. Madurese vessels loaded with cargoes of wood from other islands, likeBorneo, used to ply their trade between Indonesia andSingapore. Traditional vessels of Madura include thegolekan,leti leti (or leteh-leteh),lis-alis, andjanggolan.[14]
Bouvier, Hélène (1994)La matière des émotions. Les arts du temps et du spectacle dans la société madouraise (Indonésie). Publications de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient, vol. 172. Paris : EFEO.ISBN2-85539-772-3.
Farjon, I.(1980)Madura and surrounding islands : an annotated bibliography, 1860-1942 The Hague: M. Nijhoff. Bibliographical series (Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Netherlands)) ; 9.
Kees van Dijk, Huub de Jonge, and Elly Touwen-Bouswsma, eds. (1995).Across Madura Strait: the dynamics of an insular society. Leiden: KITLV Press.ISBN90-6718-091-2.
Smith, Glenn (1995)Time Allocation Among the Madurese of Gedang-Gedang. Cross-Cultural Studies in Time Allocation, Volume XIII. New Haven, Connecticut: Human Relations Area Files Press.
Smith, Glenn (2002)Bibliography of Madura (including Bawean, Sapudi and Kangean).[1]
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