He was a skilled soldier who conquered neighbouring states and expanded and consolidated his kingdom to its greatest territorial and military power.

For his service as a fighter and cultural observer, Sultan Agung was declared as National Hero of Indonesia on November 3, 1975.

Rangsang ascended to the throne when he was 20 years old, succeeding his half-brother, Duke Martapura, who became Sultan of Mataram for only one day.

He was however able to extract a significant indemnity and used this in 1615, to conquer Wirasaba (present-day Mojoagung, near Mojokerto), an operation which he led.

The economy of Mataram was centered on agriculture, thus Sultan Agung who was openly contemptuous of trade, saw no need to maintain significant naval forces.

Though he possessed larger and superior land-based forces, the Dutch had decisive advantages in naval power and were able to withstand the Siege of Batavia.

After the failure of the siege, Agung turned against the Balinese, then controlling Balambangan in East Java, in a "holy war" against infidels.

[1]: 31  However, its military strength did not deter Mataram's vassals from rebellion, due to his inability to conquer Batavia.

[citation needed] In 1632 Sultan Agung began building Imogiri, his burial place, about 15 kilometers south of Yogyakarta.

Sayidin, styled Amangkurat I. Sultan Agung's major legacy lies however in the administrative reforms he undertook in the conquered territories.

He commissioned the building of the Karta Palace in 1614, the Royal Graveyard of Imogiri, as well as other social and civic structures within the kingdom.

A kabupaten like Karawang, for instance, was created when Sultan Agung appointed Prince Kertabumi as its first adipati in 1636.

When the Dutch East India Company (VOC) took control of Mataram territories, it kept the kadipaten structure.

His existence within a cultural framework where myth and magic are intertwined and the scarcity of verifiable records of his early life have elevated him to heroic and near-mythical status.

His influence and imagination in the popular mind remain strong to the present day, exemplified by the making of the 2018 Indonesian film Sultan Agung Mataram 1628.

In 1641, Sunan Agung had an Arabic title, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Maulana of Mataram, bestowed by imams in Mecca.