Brief Background

In 2003 when I decided to focus my research on women and pesantren by examining the agency of the nyai (the kiai's wife or daughter) in a pesantren, the first question I encountered from one of my colleagues was ‘Apa mereka memang berperan’ (Do they have any role)? This question came as no surprise to me, as the majority of the best-known references and published works on pesantren in Indonesia barely lift the tip of the veil on the lives of women in pesantren. The main focus of pesantren research has almost always been on the role and leadership of kiai, either in the pesantren or in connection with their affiliation to such religious organisations as the Nahdlatul Ulama and the like. In his book, Pesantren, Sekolah and Madrasah, Karel Steenbrink states that “the wives of kiais never achieved significant roles”. Nevertheless, data from the 1930s reveal that a female leader of a pesantren in Jombang, Nyai Khoiriyah, was a learned ulama who was influential both in the pesantren leadership and the wider community. She and her [ first] husband established a pesantren, and she was actively involved in its leadership. In Indonesia, the term nyai itself is also commonly known from literary works as the term used to designate the concubines or “housekeepers” of Dutch officers or ordinary Dutchmen in the history of colonial East Indies. Well-known examples are Nyai Dasima in the book by G.F. Francis or Nyai Ontosoroh in Bumi Manusia, a novel written by the famous Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer. In Java in general, beyond the colonial sphere, nyai was a term of respect for an older woman, and in some areas in Java, legends live on of a powerful woman/goddess/leader of the world of the invisible spirits, called Nyai Roro Kidul, who possessed enormous mystical powers. Nowadays, nyai also carries connotations of respect for a woman, particularly in a santri community, as it indicates that she is an immediate member of a kiai. Regardless of her educational and family background, once she is married to a kiai, she is a nyai in the eyes of her santri or local community.