When I say that something is Javanese, or is not Javanese, I am attempting to apply the definition of Java/Jawa, as the concept of "The Land of Jawa".This is not my standard.This is the concept of Jawa as held by all traditional Javanese people I have ever known, and it comes through in the babads.
The Land of Jawa is not the same as the Island of Java. I cannot be too specific in fixation of precise limits on The Land of Jawa, because I think that to understand what is and is not The Land of Jawa we would need to have a very firm idea of what Sultan Agung regarded as the limits of his core realm.
To the west, we can certainly exclude Sunda, but what were the precise limits of Sunda in Sultan Agung's time? The limit of where Sundanese was spoken? Possibly, but I doubt that it is possible today to fix that exactly.
To the east we can include the area of the old Majapahit seat of power, and perhaps we can extend the idea as far as the old kingdom of Kediri, but if we do that, we over-rule the definition on the basis of language.Just how far east we can extend the concept of The Land of Jawa, I am uncertain.
As an approximate guide we might be able to use the boundaries of present day Jawa Tengah, but I do emphasise "approximate". It could be an interesting research project to go back to the old records and try to define as closely as possible what The Land of Jawa was in Javanese thought from, say, early 1600's through to perhaps the establishment of Surakarta.
As non-Javanese, possibly we could come close to understanding the concept if we thought of The Land of Jawa as the cultural heart of Jawa:- the area where Central Javanese dialects are spoken. If we used this measure, we would have to acknowledge that the boundaries of The Land of Jawa cannot be fixed precisely across time, but will vary throughout history.
Since Modern Javanese (language) did not begin to develop until the time of the establishment of the second kingdom of Mataram, and prior to that, Old Javanese was in general use, then a definition of boundaries based on language useage would be difficult to support on a historic basis, no matter how convenient it might be to apply now.
We cannot be so restrictive as to say The Land of Jawa is only those areas under the influence of the two branches of the House of Mataram. This would limit the boundaries to only the Central Javanese Plain, and possibly not all of that.Additionally, it would fix the concept historically to commencement in the 17th century. Since the early rulers of Mataram traced their lineage to Majapahit, and Majapahit linked to Kediri, I think we must accept that Sultan Agung would have regarded at least some of the old Majapahit kingdom as his right.
I'm sorry I cannot be more precise than this, but "The Land of Jawa" is an idea, or perhaps an ideal, more than a precise geographic definition. However, this idea is central to the classification of wesi aji, because the dominant Surakarta system really only considers as legitimate those items of wesi aji that can be classified as being produced by the Empus of the Land of Jawa.
Thus, when I look at a tombak, I look for the designated indicators that will allow me to classify that tombak as "Javanese", that is, an item of wesi aji made by a maker from The Land of Jawa.
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