In March 2016, essayist Goenawan Mohamad wrote a terse piece about Amangkurat, sultan of the 17th century Javanese kingdom of Mataram, and reflected on his greed and power-madness. In the essay, Goenawan explored with fascination the naked brutality of Amangkurat, his suspicious naturehe had his court surrounded with high walls, a fortress, a moat, and walled up rivers. He had even started to create a sea from his subjects' paddyfields, to keep h