Raden Ajeng Kartini Lahir Tahun
Fearful of losing control over their island territory, the Dutch colonialists believed that knowledge of European languages and education could a be dangerous tool in the hands of the native Javanese. Consequently, they suppressed the activities of the native people, keeping them as peasants and plantation laborers, while at the same time counting on the Javanese nobility to support them in their rule over the region. Only a few of the nobility, Kartini's father included, were taught the Dutch language. Kartini believed that once the Europeans introduced Western culture to the island, they had no right to limit the desire of native Javanese to learn more. Clearly, by the late nineteenth century there was talk of independence. With her letters and her egalitarian fervor, Kartini can be said to have started the modern Indonesian nationalist movement.
