Mangkunegoro VII and Rabindranath Tagore: A brief meeting of like minds

From youth Mangkunegoro VII (1885–1944) fought to preserve the Javanese language and its literature. Later in life, and particularly after he became ruler, he strove to give a prominent place to Javanese art and culture. Through education and politics he sought to prevent the Javanese language from becoming second to Malay. Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) played a similar role for the Bengali culture and language. In both cases the requisite for playing a role on the world stage was the actors' awareness of their respective cultures.