Sapudi Islands

The Sapudi Islands lie in the Java Sea between Madura and the Kangean Islands. Sapudi and Raas are among the larger islands in a group linked by short sea crossings; a dialect of Madurese is spoken there. Their wider setting was shaped by the history of Madura, conquered by Mataram in 1624 and affected by Dutch intervention in the Javanese succession struggles of the early eighteenth century. These events concern the larger regional political world and do not by themselves establish what happened on each small island. For island communities, boats and the channels between neighbouring shores formed the practical connections through which people and goods could move.