Kota Batu is a historical as well as populated area in

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB; Jawi: بندر سري بڬاوان; ) is the capital city of Brunei. It is officially a municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei-Muara District, the sm ...

, the capital of

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

. It is home to the Kota Batu archaeological site, a few of the country's museums and two mausoleums of the earliest

Sultans of Brunei The sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...

. However, the place is still populated and at present it is a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural are ...

of the capital.

Name

"Kota Batu" is the

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

term which literally means "Stone Fort".

History

Kota Batu was believed to be the ancient capital of Brunei, before the emergence of

Kampong Ayer Kampong Ayer is a prominent traditional settlement in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. It comprises neighbourhoods of traditional houses, schools and mosques built on stilts above the Brunei River near the capital's city centre. It ha ...

, which is further inland, and over the

Brunei River The Brunei River ( ms, Sungai Brunei) is a river which flows through Brunei and empties into the Brunei Bay towards the north-east direction. The Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, stands on its banks. The Brunei ...

, during the

Brunei Civil War The Brunei Civil War was a civil war fought in the Bruneian Empire from 1660 to 1673. Causes During the reign of the thirteenth Sultan Muhammad Ali, there was a disagreement between the son of the Sultan, ''Pengiran Muda'' ("prince") Bong ...

in the 17th century. According to Brunei source Silsilah Raja-Raja Brunei, Kota Batu was founded by

Sharif Ali Sharīf ʿAlī ibn ʿAjlān ibn Rumaithah ibn Muḥammad ( ar, ٱلشَّرِيْف عَلِي ٱبْن عَجْلَان ٱبْن رُمَيْثَة ٱبْن مُحَمَّد), also known as ''Barkat Ali'' or "Blessed Ali", was the third Sult ...

ibn Ajlan ibn Rumaithah ibn Muhammad. Among the founding workers were

Chinese people The Chinese people or simply Chinese, are people or ethnic groups identified with China, usually through ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, or other affiliation. Chinese people are known as Zhongguoren () or as Huaren () by speakers of s ...

. The palace,

masjid A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

and educational institutions were built in the quickly developing center of the Sultanate. During the reign of Muhammad Hassan, there were "two palaces within a square compound surrounded by a wall" in Kota Batu.

Administration

As Kota Batu is still a populated area, it is primarily gazetted as a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

, the third- and lowest-level administrative division of Brunei. It is one of the villages under the

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The clo ...

of the same name, which a subdistrict of

Brunei-Muara District Brunei-Muara District ( ms, Daerah Brunei dan Muara; Jawi: برونائی-موارا ضلع) or simply Brunei-Muara is one of the four districts of Brunei. It has the smallest area among the four districts, with , yet is the most populous, wi ...

. Kota Batu is also a designated postcode area with the

postcode A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

BD1517. However, the archaeological site in Kota Batu as well as its vicinity, which includes the mausoleums and the museums' area, have also been gazetted under the Antiquities and Treasure Trove Act of 1967 and thus managed by the government's Museums Department. Since 2007, Kota Batu has also been incorporated into Bandar Seri Begawan municipal area and thus, becomes a neighbourhood of the capital.

Historical places

Kota Batu is home to among the most important historical places in Brunei, which also serve as the country's tourist attractions.

Archaeological site

The archaeological site in Kota Batu was discovered in the 1950s and it was the first one in the archaeological history of the country. Kota Batu archaeological site has since become the largest and most prominent, which has since yielded important artifacts, most notably Chinese porcelain which are datable to the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

(960–1279 AD). The site has also unearthed remains of stone structures from the place eventually obtained the name. The site has now been made into an 'archaeological park' where it is opened to the public.

Royal mausoleums

Kota Batu is also home to two royal tombs which belong to the third and fifth

and

Bolkiah Bolkiah, also known as Nakhoda Ragam, was the 5th Sultan of Brunei. He ascended the throne upon the abdication of his father, Sultan Sulaiman, and ruled Brunei from 1485 to 1524. His reign marked the Golden Age of Brunei and saw the Sultanat ...

. The official history dates the Sultans to had lived in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries respectively. Mausoleums have been built in the modern time to house the tombs.

Museums

In regards to the historical importance of Kota Batu, a few museums have been established in the area. The Brunei Museum is the national museum of Brunei and the current building was inaugurated in 1972, although it is temporarily closed since 2014 until further notice. The

Malay Technology Museum The Malay Technology Museum ( ms, Muzium Teknologi Melayu) is a museum in Kota Batu, a historical area in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. It was opened in 1988 and contains exhibits on the traditional technologies used by the indigenous people of ...

was opened in 1984 and has galleries mainly dedicated to depicting the traditional lifestyle and technology which had been practiced by the Kampong Ayer residents throughout history. The most recent museum in Kota Batu is the Brunei Darussalam Maritime Museum; it was inaugurated in 2015 and mainly exhibits the artifacts from the Brunei Shipwreck which was discovered off the coast of Brunei in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kota Batu History of Brunei Villages in Brunei-Muara District Neighbourhoods in Bandar Seri Begawan