Ulama Hill

Abstract

A report on a hill near Situbondo, East Java, featured early in Soetjipto's autobiography of the early 1930s. Anderson observes that Soetjipto called the hill “Bukit Ulama,” implying that the tombs at the top were of orthodox and revered Muslim teachers. But the tombs turn out to contain the remains of immigrant Madurese pioneers, perhaps also minor nobility; and the atmosphere is less Muslim than animist-magical. Includes photographs