In Jakarta, local culture, Betawi,
fuse with European, Indian, Chinese, and Arab influences. In the 4th century AD, Jakarta, then
named Sunda Kelapa, was
already known as a busy port of the Hindu Pajajaran kingdom where were settlements of
traders from China, India and Arabia, as well as of ethnic groups from the many
islands in the Indonesian archipelago who came to trade predominantly in
pepper. During the European Age of Discovery in quest of the Spice Islands, the
first Portuguese vessel anchored here in 1522 and carried home a large cargo of
precious pepper.
In 1527, fearing the power of the
Portuguese who supported the Hindu Sunda kingdom, Prince Fatahillah of
the Islamic kingdom of Cirebon attacked the town and established a new town
called Jayakarta on
22 June 1527, which today is taken as the official date of birth of the city of
Jakarta. Towards the end of the 17th century in 1596, the first Dutch merchant
ships anchored here, followed in 1602 by the first British ship of the English
East India Company.
In 1527, fearing the power of the
Portuguese who supported the Hindu Sunda
kingdom, Prince Fatahillah of
the Islamic kingdom of Cirebon attacked the town and established a new town
called Jayakarta on
22 June 1527, which today is taken as the official date of birth of the city of
Jakarta. Towards the end of the 17th century in 1596, the first Dutch merchant
ships anchored here, followed in 1602 by the first British ship of the English
East India Company.
Because Batavia continued to be attacked
by the surrounding Javanese kingdoms of Demak and Mataram, the Dutch built a walled city here,
where indigenous Indonesians were kept outside the walls while only Europeans
and Chinese could live inside the walls. Nonetheless, at the uprising and
massacre of the Chinese, in 1740 these were relegated to the area known as Glodok,
today’s Chinatown, the city’s center for trade and business.
In the meantime, the many indigenous
ethnic groups intermarried and merged to form the Betawi
ethnic group. The Betawi are
today considered the indigenous people of the city of Jakarta.
Today, Old Batavia, with its many Dutch
heritage buildings together with the nearby Kota are preserved and revitalized
to become an important business center business area as well as historic
tourist destination. The large buildings once housing government offices and
large corporations now house among others the Wayang Museum, the Arts and Ceramics Museum, and
other heritage sites.
Meanwhile, with the growth of the city,
the government moved the capital south to Weltevreden, today’s Menteng area in Central Jakarta, where the Dutch
built palaces, churches, cathedrals, theatres and museums, besides opulent
residential areas. This is the reason why most of the Dutch colonial heritage
buildings can be found in this municipality.
After a 3 years occupation by the
Japanese from 1942-1945, the Indonesian people declared their Independence on
17 August 1945. Soekarno, was
chosen as the first President of the Republic of Indonesia. The name Batavia
was again changed to be called Jakarta. It was President Soekarno who
first planned the modernization of Jakarta further south along the present Jalan Sudirman. Soekarno also
built the National Monument, the Istiqlal Mosque, the Senayan
Sports Stadium and the wide Thamrin-Sudirman
Boulevard as well as Indonesia’s first highrise hotel, the Hotel Indonesia.
With this rich histori
multi-racial and multi-ethnic heritage, Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta has
become a convergence of national and international interest and networks,
providing lessons of the past and creations, innovations and hope for
generations to come.
Photo courtesy of YouTube
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