Other representations of East and West can also be found in the contrast between Sumedang and Mataram. Sumedang is a centre of Sundanese culture, Mataram is the Javanese kingdom to the east. The Babad Pamijahan makes clear references to Mataram and Sumedang. Sumedang and Sukapura-Tasikmalaya have common historical legitimacy. Under Mataram's hegemony, their territories were granted to their leader in reward for brave service rendered in capturing a local figure, Dipati Ukur, who led a rebellion against Mataram’s authority. (Ekadjati 1982)

There is a marked similarity between local history and the babad accounts of the position of Sumedang as a political intermediary between Mataram and the realm of Sunda. In the Babad Pamijahan, Sumedang features as a meeting place between the Sundanese (Raden Rangga) and the Javanese (Raden Wiracandra). Raden Wiracandra was the grandson of Sunan Giri, one of the Nine Saints, who travelled to Sunda after the death of his wife. In Sumedang, he married a Sundanese noblewoman. It is from this linkage that the Babad Pamijahan derives Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s genealogy.

After the expanding Dutch administration reduced Mataram’s influence in Sunda relations between Sukapura and Sumedang became unstable. The colonial power used these two regencies to help them gain control of coffee and other agricultural commodities developed in the area. For instance, when Sukapura rejected the Dutch agricultural policy of forced cultivation known as tanam paksa, the Regent of Sukapura was replaced by an official from Sumedang. The Sumedangese then tried to impose their will in Sukapura’s territory by replacing certain officials. However, the Sumedangese in Sukapura were not successful in persuading the local people to plant coffee and other plantation crops as were required. The Dutch realised that the Sukapuranese did not have the support of the people of Sumedang. Ultimately the regency of Sukapura was allowed to return to its own lineage. With all of this in mind, it seems to me that Babad Pamijahan articulates the position of Sumedang rather than that of Sukapura.

If the historical background has bearing on the authorship of the Babad Pamijahan, it is easy to assume that the chronicle is part of the aristocratic tradition, whether of the Bupati of Sukapura or of Sumedang. Our question is how the Pamijahanese or the Karangnese recognise this past.

During my conversations with the elders, the custodians and other villagers, I grasped a different theme relating to their affiliation with aristocratic centres. The Pamijahanese tend to see their village and region as a centre in itself, rather than as part of Sukapura or Sumedang. Again, the priority of the ritualised space of Pamijahan is affirmed. As a consequence, they believe that all the important figures of Sukapura-Tasikmalaya and Sumedang are descendants of, or at least, have mystical relations with, Pamijahan. This assumption was revealed to me by the custodian when the Bupati of Tasikmalaya made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Shaykh. Unlike other people in other areas, the Pamijahanese did not perform any special ceremonies to honour the Bupati. The custodians and villagers accepted him and his entourage in a modest manner, as they do for other pilgrims.

The next morning I asked the custodian in his office about this phenomenon. “Why did you not perform a special ceremony for the Bupati?” He answered, “All the Bupatis of Tasikmalaya regard it as compulsory to make a visit to Kangjeng Shaykh because they know that their predecessors, the old regents of Tasikmalaya, always came here to remember the important relationship between Sukapura-Tasikmalaya and Pamijahan. Sukapura-Tasikmalaya has a strong bond (pakuat-pakait) with Pamijahan.” He went on, “One of Sukapura’s bupati was buried in the area of Shaykh Abdul Muhyi’s shrine. He was a follower of Kangjeng Shaykh.” The villagers share this story.

Indeed, these areas have been filled by historical energy from various sources. Karang and Pamijahan have perpetuated the concept of kabuyutan, an ancestral heartland which radiates spiritual power. Sukapura, Sumedang, and Mataram in contrast are recognised only as political centres. Relations between the two realms have been dynamic, particularly when they deal with foreigners like the Dutch (de Haan 1910-12: 462,674-676). At times political centres such as Sukapura have wanted to occupy all of Karang and Pamijahan. However, they have never succeeded in regulating all the spaces. Even today the Pamijahanese maintain their perdikan status with independence from government taxes. (Ricklefs 1998)

When the government wanted to promote tourism in the area by building a bus station in Pamijahan, they had to face the custodians and elders, who questioned the proposal. The elders wanted to show their symbolic authority to the government by insisting that they be consulted about any changes planned for the area. The government had to recognise them because all the lands were in the hands of Pamijahanese. The Pamijahanese, through a local foundation called the ‘Holy Place Foundation’ (Yayasan Kakaramatan), then leased the land to the government to used for the constgruction of the bus station.