The war started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro, a leading member of the Javanese aristocracy who had previously cooperated with the Dutch.

The direct cause of the Java War was the decision by the Dutch to build a road across a piece of Diponegoro's property that contained his parents' tomb.

The Java War began 21 July 1825 when Prince Diponegoro raised the standard of revolt on his estate at Selarong.

[3] The rebel forces were successful in the early stages of the war, taking control of central Java and besieging Yogyakarta.

Until 1827, the Dutch army struggled to protect the Javanese hinterland, so they bolstered their territorial defense by deploying mobile detachments of colonial troops, based in small forts throughout central Java.

[4] The rebellion ended in 1830, after Prince Diponegoro was tricked into entering Dutch-controlled territory near Magelang, under the pretense of negotiations for a possible ceasefire.

[6] Due to the Dutch forces' heavy losses, the colonial government decided to enlist African recruits in Gold Coast: the so-called "Belanda Hitam" ("Black Dutchmen"), to augment its East Indian and European troops.

Overseen by the new governor general, Johannes van den Bosch, this cultivation system required that 20% of village land be devoted to growing cash crops for export at government rates.