Vorstenlanden

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Vorstenlanden ꧋ꦥꦿꦗꦏꦗꦮꦺꦤ꧀
Principality territory
The areas of the Vorstenlanden that still survived in 1939.
States	Surakarta Sunanate, Yogyakarta Sultanate in the colonial Dutch East Indies
Founded	1755
Disbanded	1945

The Vorstenlanden^[1] (Dutch for 'princely lands' or 'princely states', Japanese: 公地, Hepburn: kōchi, Nihon-shiki/Kunrei-shiki: kooti, Indonesian: wilayah kepangeranan, Javanese: ꧋ꦥꦿꦗꦏꦗꦮꦺꦤ꧀, praja kajawèn) were four native, princely states on the island of Java in the colonial Dutch East Indies. They were nominally self-governing vassals under suzerainty of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Their political autonomy however became increasingly constrained by severe treaties and settlements. Two of these continue to exist as a princely territory within the current independent republic of Indonesia.

The four Javanese princely states were:

• Surakarta, a sunanate to the north
• Yogyakarta, the sultanate to the south
• Mangkunegaran, a duchy or principality to the east
• Pakualaman, a small duchy or principality largely enclosed within the area of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta

These princely territories were successor states to the Mataram Sultanate and originated in civil wars and wars of succession within the Javanese nobility. The susuhunan of Surakarta represented the direct line of succession; the other three rulers represented cadet branches.