The nobleman Raden Mas Tjondronegoro V (1837-1885) crossed Java in four journeys along the Great Post Road between 1860 and 1875. ‘Radèn’ is a nobility title; ‘mas’ indicates male gender. On his travels he visited eighteen residences in Java, from Batavia in the west to Banyuwangi in the east, and covered a total of some five thousand kilometres. Tjondronegoro was a domestic tourist, travelling in his own country, where he visited areas and cities unknown to him. En route Tjondronegoro had his own carriage to use, pulled by six post-horses, which he regularly changed along the Great Post Road. A coachman and two ‘palfreniers’ (coach servants) kept the animals in check.
Raden Mas Toemenggoeng Tjondronegoro, Regent of Kudus, also known as Purwalelana. Woodbury & Page, around 1862. [KITLV 32087]