MANGIR
Judul : Mangir , By : Pramoedya Ananta Toer, 2002. Using historical background, Pramoedya wrote a drama. The setting is Mataram, the present day Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in the 16th century. This is a folk tale that still alive up to know, but Pramoedya’s version is a little different. Mangir was a village republic and its ruler was not a king. He was a chief. In Pramoedya’s opinion a chief works for his people while a king is a burden for his people. So Pramoedya used the story to express his anti-feudalism political ideas.
Mangir was a small territory west of the present day Yogyakarta. The troop of Mangir was so strong that it was very difficult to beat them. Senopati, the king of Mataram, then planned a strategy to conquer them. He ordered Pembayun, his own daughter, to become a member of an intelligence unit under Ki Juru Mertani, one of his generals. Pembayun pretended to be a troubadour. Together with her group she set out to Mangir. Wanabaya, the chief of Mangir fell in love and soon married her. At first the other members of Mangir leadership disagreed with his decision to marry Pembayun but Wanabaya insisted so they refrain. Even so their suspicion remained.
One day Pembayun could not deny anymore that she was the daughter of Senapati. Despite his surprise Wanabaya agreed to come to Mataram to show respect to his father in law. Meanwhile in Mataram Senapati had prepared troops to kill him. Although he fought bravely he was killed and his territory was ocupied by Mataram. Pemanahan, the father and founder of Mataram was also killed in the fighting.
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