Mataram, having lost much of its lands by the middle of the eighteenth century, by 1743 consisted only of areas around Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Kedu and Bagelen.
Mataram's ruler, Pakubuwana II, had moved his court to Surakarta in 1745, but he is far from secure on his throne.
Raden Mas Said, Pangeran Sambernyawa (meaning "Soul Reaper"), son of banished Arya Mangkunegara, and several other princes of the royal blood still foment rebellion.
Pakubuwana II declares that anyone who can suppress the rebellion in Sukawati, areas around present day Sragen, will be rewarded with three thousand households.
Pangeran Mangkubumi, Pakuwana II’s brother, takes the challenge and defeated Mas Said in 1746, but when he claims his prize, his old enemy, patih Pringgalaya, advises the king against it.
In the middle of this problem, VOC’s Governor General, Baron van Imhoff, pays a visit to the kraton, the first one to do so during the entire history of relations between Mataram and VOC, to confirm the de facto Dutch possession of coastal and several interior regions.
Pakubuwana II hesitantly accepts the cession in lieu of twenty thousand real per year.
Mangkubumi is dissatisfied with his brother’s decision to yield to van Imhoff’s insistence, which has been made without consulting the other members of royal family and great nobles.
Van Imhoff has neither the experience nor the tact to understand the delicate situation in Mataram and he rebukes Mangkubumi as “too ambitious” before the whole court when Mangkubumi claims the three thousand households.
This shameful treatment from a foreigner who had wrested the most prosperous lands of Mataram from his weak brother leads him to leadhis followers into rebellion in May 1746, this time with the help of Mas Said.
