Mangkunegara IV (3 March 1811 – 2 September 1881) was the fourth ruler of Mangkunegaran, a principality based in Surakarta, Java, ruling from 1853 to his death in 1881.

[1] The profits from the system were reinvested in the domains, instead of being sent abroad, as happened in many colonial situations; however, as typical for a less-developed economy, the inhabitants were dependent on the world price of these cash crops.

He abolished the appanage system of compensating his retainers and officials and instead paid them salaries.

Nevertheless, Mangkunegara IV had to deal with the Kingdom of Netherlands as well as the other rulers in central Java of the period.

Mangkunegara IV's most famous poem is Wedhatama ("Exalted Wisdom"), which praises morality consistent with the mystical Islam of Java, in contrast to the more self-consciously Orthodox Islamic community.