History of Batik

Batik is pictorial fabrics specially written by wax on them, then processed into many peculiarities with specific methods. History of Indonesian batik is very related to the Majapahit kingdom and the spread of Islam in Java Island. On some note, batik is very developed during the Sultanate of Mataram’s age, then continued to Sunanate of Surakarta, and the Sultanate of Yogyakarta.

Word batik itself comes from Java, but batik technique was not from Java. Gerret Pieter Rouffaer has an opinion that batik was introduced from India or Srilanka around 6th or 7th century AD. Jan Laurens Andries Brandes and Sujipto speculate that batik is originated from Toraja, Flores, Halmahera, and Papua regions.

Batik technique itself has already existed in ancient times. They are from Ancient Egypt or Ancient Sumerian around the 4th century BC. They commonly used them to wrap mummies. Around the 6th century AD, batik technique spread and also practiced in Asia, especially by the Tang Empire of China, India, and Japan (in Nara period). In Europe itself, batik is mentioned and described in a book called History of Java by Stamford Raffles, a former British governor who has been commissioned in Sumatra. 

In traditionally, batik technique was in writing technique using canting and wax. But, since the Industrial Revolution and globalization, which introduced the automation concept. Batik developed into two new methods for mass-production purposes. They are cap technique and print technique.

In the beginning, batik was only limited to the Keraton royal families for the clothes of sultans, his families, and other nobles. Because most of the nobles lived outside of the Keraton, they bring the technique and produce them in their own place, which made them spread to the commoners and have a lot of variations. These variations are batik that we know nowadays.

As a summary, Indonesian batik is a unique pictorial fabric that written with wax with various designs. They are very related to Java kingdoms such as Majapahit, Mataram Sultanate, Surakarta Sunanate, and Yogyakarta Sultanate. The batik technique already existed in Ancient Egyptian or Sumerian. Then practiced in Asia by China, Japan, and India. From India or Srilanka, batik was spreading into Indonesia. Making batik has three methods, writing, cap, and print. Written batik is for artistic and aesthetic purposes, and then cap and print are for mass-production purposes. Back then, batik was only limited to the Keraton royal family, but now commoners can make batik as well.