Semarang Residency ( nl, Residentie Semarang) was an administrative subdivision (
Residency
Residency may refer to:
* Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place
** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship
* Residency (medicine), a stage of postgra ...
) of the
Dutch East Indies located on the northern coast of
Central Java and named after its capital city
Semarang.
It existed from 1818 to 1942, although its borders were changed many times during that period.
History
Prehistory
The territory around Semarang was the core of the
Demak Sultanate
The Demak Sultanate (کسلطانن دمق) was a Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day city of Demak. A port fief to the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founded ...
in the sixteenth century; after its decline the
Mataram Sultanate came to claim it.
As the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
(VOC) became a greater presence in Java in the seventeenth century, they allied themselves with Mataram in exchange for trade and territorial concessions.
Although Mataram continued to control most of central and eastern Java, they ceded the city of
Semarang and its surrounding villages to the VOC in January 1678.
At first it was only a small enclave, but gradually the VOC demanded expansions until
Pakubuwono II
Pakubuwono II (also transliterated Pakubuwana II) (1711–1749) was the last ruler of Mataram and the first Susuhunan (ruler of Surakarta
Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central J ...
was forced to yield all of the northern coast around Semarang to them in the 1740s.
They were not initially structured as a residency, but as a
Governorate (the of Java's Northeast Coast), with Semarang as its seat.
When the French under
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
took control of the Indies and appointed
Herman Willem Daendels as governor, he abolished the former administrative divisions and created prefectures, including Semarang, Japara, and Pakalongan.
Semarang Residency
After the end of the
French and British interregnum in the Dutch East Indies
The French and British interregnum in the Dutch East Indies were a relatively short period of French and then British interregnum in the Dutch East Indies that took place between 1806 and 1816. The French ruled between 1806 and 1811, while the ...
in 1817, Java was reorganized once again into Residencies. Semarang became one such Residency, although it was much smaller than its later extent, and was bordered by
Pekalongan Residency to the west and
Djapara Residency to the northeast.
In January 1901 the former Djapara Residency was added to Semarang Residency.
A municipal council was established for the city of Semarang in 1906 followed by a regional council for Semarang Residency in 1908.
At around the time of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
it was divided into a number of subdivisions
(), most of which still exist as
Regencies in Indonesia today:
*
Semarang, including
Salatiga
Salatiga ( jv, ꦯꦭꦠꦶꦒ) is a city in Central Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of and had a population of 192,322 at the 2020 Census. Located between the cities of Semarang and Surakarta, and administratively an independent c ...
and
Ambarawa
Ambarawa is a town (and administratively, a district of the Semarang Regency) located between the city of Semarang and Salatiga in Central Java, Indonesia. Administratively, it is bordered by the districts of Banyubiru to the south, Jambu to the ...
;
*
Kendal;
*
Demak
Demak is on the north coast of Central Java province, on the island of Java, Indonesia.
* Demak, Demak, modern-day large town
* Demak Sultanate, sixteenth century sultanate
* Demak Regency
Demak ( jv, ꦢꦼꦩꦏ꧀) is a regency located in t ...
;
*
Grobogan (with its capital at
Poerwodadi);
*
Pati;
*
Koedoes;
* and
Japara.
In the late 1920s Semarang Residency became considerably smaller because of administrative restructuring.
The 1925 Decree on the Administrative Organization allowed for the subdivision of existing residencies in the Indies. However, it took time to implement and was not put in place in Central Java province () until 1928.
Parts of the former Semarang Residency were incorporated into the new
Koedoes Residency and
Blora Residency; Semarang only retained Semarang Regency, most of Kendal Regency, and Salatiga.
In 1931 the borders were changed once again; Koedoes and Blora residencies were abolished, Semarang absorbed part of their territories, and the new
Djepara-Rembang Residency to the northeast absorbed the rest.
After during the
Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies
The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. It was one of the most crucial and important periods in modern Indonesian history.
In May ...
and the
Indonesian National Revolution, the Residencies in Java ceased to exist; after independence Indonesia added the former territory of the Semarang Residency to Central Java province, and retained the subdivisions as regencies (
Semarang Regency
Semarang is a landlocked regency ( id, kabupaten) in Central Java province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 950.207 km2 and had a population of 930,727 at the 2010 census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. 999,817 at the 2015 census and ...
,
Demak Regency
Demak ( jv, ꦢꦼꦩꦏ꧀) is a regency located in the Indonesian province of Central Java, on northern coast of the island. It is bordered by Jepara regency and the Java Sea to the north, Kudus and Grobogan regencies to the east, Grobogan ...
, and so on).
List of residents
* Hermannus Adriaan Parvé: 1817–1818
* Jacobus de Bruin: 1818–1820
* Willem Nicolaas Servatius: 1820–1822
* Hendrik Jacob Domis: 1822–1827
* Pieter Hubertus van Lawick van Pabst: 1827–1829
* Pieter le Clereq: 1829–1834
* Daniel François Willem Pietermaat: 1834–1834
* Hendrik Stephanus van Son: 1835–1838
* Guillaume Louis Baud: 1838–1841
* Johan Frederik Walraven van Nes: 1842–1843
* Jacob Willem Hendrik Smissaert: 1843–1846
* Arnoldus Adriaan Buijskes: 1846–1850
* Hermanus Douwe Potter: 1850–1857
* Dirk Carel August van Hogendorp: 1857–1862
* Theodore van Capellen: 1862–1864
* Adriaan Anton Maximiliaan Nicolaas Keuchenius: 1864–1867
* Karel Frederik Stijman: 1867–1868
* François Henri Adolph van de Poel: 1868–1873
* Nicolaas Dirk Lammers van Toorenburg: 1873–1875
* Gerard Marinus Willem van der Kaa: 1875–1877
* Willem Herman van der Hell: 1877–1881
* Pieter Frederik Wegener: 1881–1884
* Jan Marinus van Vleuten: 1884–1885
* Pieter Frederik Wegener: 1885–1897
* Pieter Frederik Sythoff: 1897–1905
* Henri Chrétien Antoine Gérard de Vogel: 1905–1914
* Petrus Karel Willem Kern: 1914–1920
* Jan Hendrik Nieuwenhuis: 1920–1922
* Jacob van Gigch: 1922–1924
* Adrien Henri Maas Geesteranus: 1924–1925
* Pieter Johannes van Gulik: 1925–1928
* Johannes Bijleveld: 1928–1935
* Karel Johann Alex Orie: 1935–1937
* Adolph Maximiliaan Pino: 1937–1940
* Jan Frederik Antonie van Bruggen: 1940–1942
References
{{Reflist
Central Java
Residencies of the Dutch East Indies
Semarang
History of Central Java