YOGYAKARTA (pronounced "Jogjakarta" and often just shortened to "Jogja") ranks as one of the best preserved and most attractive cities in Java, and is a major centre for the classical Javanese arts of batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows. At its heart is Yogya's first family, the Hamengkubuwonos, whose elegant palace lies at the centre of Yogya's quaint old city, the Kraton , itself concealed behind high castellated walls. Tourists flock here, attracted not only by the city's courtly splendour but also by the nearby temples of Prambanan and Borobudur , so there are more hotels in Yogya than anywhere else in Java and, unfortunately, a correspondingly high number of touts, pickpockets and con artists.

Yogyakarta grew out of the dying embers of the once-great Mataram dynasty. In 1752, the Mataram empire, then based in nearby Solo, was in the throes of the Third Javanese War of Succession. The reigning susuhunan, Pakubuwono II , had been steadily losing power in the face of a rebellion by his brothers, Singasari and Mangkubumi, and the sultan's nephew, Mas Said. To try to turn the tide, Pakubuwono persuaded Mangkubumi to swap sides and defend the court, offering him control over three thousand households within the city in return. Mangkubumi agreed, but the sultan later reneged on the deal. In fury, Mangkubumi headed off to establish his own court. Thus Yogyakarta was born, and Mangkubumi crowned himself Sultan Hamengkubuwono I . He spent the next 37 years building the new capital, with the Kraton as the centrepiece and the court at Solo as the blueprint. By the time he died in 1792, his territory exceeded Solo's. After his death, however, the Yogya sultanate went into freefall and spent most of the nineteenth century concentrating on artistic pursuits rather than warmongering. In 1946, the capital of the newly declared Republic of Indonesia was moved to Yogya from Jakarta, and the Kraton became the unofficial headquarters for the republican movement. With the financial and military support of Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX , Yogya became the nerve centre for the native forces. Today, over fifty years on from the War of Independence, the royal household of Yogya continues to enjoy almost slavish devotion from its subjects and the current sultan, Hamengkubuwono X, is one of the most influential politicians in the country.