Sunda Kelapa ( su, , Sunda Kalapa) is the old port of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

located on the estuarine of

Ciliwung River Ci Liwung (often written as Ciliwung; also as Tjiliwoeng in Dutch, Sundanese: ᮎᮤᮜᮤᮝᮥᮀ) is a 119 km long river in the northwestern region of Java where it flows through two provinces, West Java and the special region of Jakarta ...

. "Sunda Kalapa" ( Sundanese: "Coconut of Sunda") is the original name, and it was the main port of the Sunda Kingdom. The port is situated in

Penjaringan Penjaringan is a subdistrict of North Jakarta, Indonesia. It is the westernmost subdistrict of North Jakarta. Muara Angke port and the mouth of Sunda Kelapa Port are located within Penjaringan. Penjaringan contains the remnants of the original ...

sub-district, of

North Jakarta North Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Utara; bew, Jakarte Belilir) is one of the five administrative cities (''kota administrasi'') which form Special Capital Region of Jakarta, Indonesia. North Jakarta is not self-governed and does not have a city counc ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. Today the old port only accommodate

pinisi Literally, the word pinisi refers to a type of rigging (the configuration of masts, sails and ropes (‘lines’)) of Indonesian sailing vessels. A pinisi carries seven to eight sails on two masts, arranged like a gaff-ketch with what is called ...

, a traditional two masted wooden sailing ship serving inter-island

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

service in the archipelago. Although it is now only a minor port, Jakarta has its origins in Sunda Kelapa and it played a significant role in the city's development. The port is currently operated by the state-owned

Indonesia Port Corporations PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero), trading as Pelindo, is Indonesian State-owned enterprise Based on one of the world's biggest archipelagos with an extensive history in the world maritime stage, Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) is a world-class port ...

History

Hindu-Buddhist period

The Chinese source, '' Zhu Fan Zhi'', written circa 1200,

Chou Ju-kua Zhao Rukuo (; 1170–1231), also read as Zhao Rugua, or misread as Zhao Rushi, was a Chinese historian and politician during the Song dynasty. He wrote a two-volume book titled ''Zhu Fan Zhi''. The book deals with the world known to the Chinese in t ...

identified the two most powerful and richest kingdoms in the

Indonesian archipelago The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. History ...

as Sriwijaya and Java ( Kediri). According to this source, in the early 13th Century, Sriwijaya still ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java ( Sunda). The source identifies the port as strategic and thriving, pepper from Sunda being among the best in quality. The people worked in agriculture and their houses were built on wooden poles (''rumah panggung''). However, robbers and thieves plagued the country. However it was uncertain which port of Sunda was referred to by Chou Ju-kua, it probably referred to the port of

Banten Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Ja ...

, and not Kalapa. From the 13th to 16th century Sunda Kelapa was the main port of Sunda Kingdom. The port served the capital, Pakuan Pajajaran, located about 60 km inland south, along the Ciliwung river

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associate ...

, now the site of modern

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.pepper, the main spice produce of the Sunda kingdom. Sunda Kelapa, together with

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a ...

and

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Meda ...

, were one of the few Indonesian ports that maintained ties with Europe.

The Portuguese

By 1511, the Portuguese had conquered

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

and established the earliest European colony in Southeast Asia. According to Suma Oriental, written in 1512–1515, Tomé Pires, a Portuguese explorer reported about the importance of the port of ''Calapa'' which corresponds to the port of Sunda Kalapa. In 1522, the Portuguese secured a politics and economic agreement with the Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, the authority of the port. In exchange for military assistance against the threat of the rising Islamic Javan

Sultanate of Demak 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 found ...

, Prabu Surawisesa, king of Sunda at that time, granted them free access to the pepper trade. Portuguese who were in the service of the sovereign, made their homes in Sunda Kelapa. However, in 1527,

Fatahillah Fatahillah, Fadhillah Khan, or Falatehan (Portuguese writing) was a commander of the Sultanate of Demak who is known for leading the conquest of Sunda Kelapa in 1527 and changing it name to Jayakarta. The conquest of Sunda Kelapa was one of his ...

, on behalf of the Demak attacked the Portuguese in Sunda Kelapa and succeeded in conquering the harbour on 22 June 1527, after which Sunda Kelapa was renamed Jayakarta. Later, the port became a part of the

Banten Sultanate The Banten Sultanate (كسلطانن بنتن) was a Bantenese Islamic trading kingdom founded in the 16th century and centred in Banten, a port city on the northwest coast of Java; the contemporary English name of both was Bantam. It is sai ...

The VOC

In 1619,

Jan Pieterszoon Coen Jan Pieterszoon Coen (, 8 January 1587 – 21 September 1629) was an officer of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the early 17th century, holding two terms as governor-general of the Dutch East Indies. He was the founder of Batavia, ...

, an official working for 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 ...

, seized the port of Jayakarta from the Sultanate of Banten and founded Batavia. During the early period of VOC, the port was mainly used by small ships which were able to sail into the canal and toward the Kali Besar, where goods were loaded and ships were repaired in shipyards i.e. the VOC and the Chinese shipyards located opposite of the

Batavia Castle Batavia Castle ( nl, Kasteel Batavia, ) was a fort located at the mouth of Ciliwung River in Jakarta. Batavia Castle was the administrative center of Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Asia. Batavia Castle was also the residence of the Governor Ge ...

. Larger ships were difficult to enter the port due to its narrow width as well as the shallow water, so these had to anchor out at sea. By the late 17th-century maintenance of the port already prove to be very difficult. Sandbanks continuously building up at its mouth and around the area. A fortification called Waterkasteel was built in 1741 to provide protection to the harbour. In the 18th-century, for a short time the VOC made use of slaves and horses to tow dredges along the canal from its eastern bank. The strategy proved to be inefficient and caused loss of life, partly also because of the unsanitary condition and the heat of the tropical climate.

Modern colonialism

During the 19th-century, the port was known as the ''Haven Kanaal'' ("Harbor Canal"). Being the only entrance to Batavia, it earned the nickname "Roads of Batavia" or "Batavia's Roadstead". The port was still a narrow canaled harbor, so large vessels still had to anchor their ships further north. Smaller ships, known as "lighters", were used to transport cargo and passengers to the port. The lighters were described as a very small and very shallow iron steamship, which replaced the earlier large rowing boats. The condition of the ''Haven Kanaal'' during the period was deteriorating and performed below the accepted standards, which was similar with the condition of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

at that time. The whole process of carrying passengers and cargo were time-consuming and could be dangerous during stormy weather. Accidents e.g. collision between ships with moored junks were recorded. In 1885, the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised Factory (trading post), trading posts o ...

government decided to build a new

Tanjung Priok Tanjung Priok is a district of North Jakarta, Indonesia. It hosts the western part of the city's main harbor, the Port of Tanjung Priok (located in Tanjung Priok District and Koja District). The district of Tanjung Priok is bounded by Laksaman ...

port to accommodate the increasing traffic as a result of the opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popula ...

.Cobban, James L. 1985. The ephemeral historic district in Jakarta. ''Geographical Review'' 75(3):300-318. The new port is located 9 kilometers to the east from the old port.

Post-independence

After the independence of the

Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. In ...

, the Batavia old port was renamed back to its original name, Sunda Kelapa, as a tribute to the long history of the port as the cradle of Jakarta.

Notes

Works cited

* Adolf Heuken SJ dan Grace Pamungkas, 2000, ''Galangan Kapal Batavia selama tiga ratus tahun''. Jakarta:Cipta Loka Caraka/Sunda Kelapa Lestari * Jan Gonda, 1951, ''Sanskrit in Indonesia''. * * Supratikno Rahardjo et al., 1996, ''Sunda Kelapa sebagai Bandar di Jalur Sutra. Laporan Penelitian''. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan RI * Thomas B. Ataladjar dan Sudiyono, 1991, 'Sunda Kelapa' di ''Ensiklopedi Nasional Indonesia''. Jakarta: Cipta Adi Pustaka

External links

Menyusuri Kota Tua Jakarta, Pikiran Rakyat

{{in lang, id Ports and harbours of Indonesia Sunda Kingdom Buildings and structures in Jakarta Cultural Properties of Indonesia in Jakarta North Jakarta