SUNDA KALAPA - HISTORIC PORT NORTH OF JAKARTA

Sunda Kelapa ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ ᮊᮜᮕ (Sunda Kalapa) is the name of a port and surrounding areas in Jakarta, This port is located in Penjaringan sub-district, North Jakarta

Even though now Sunda Kelapa is just the name of one of the ports in Jakarta, this area is very important because the village around the Sunda Kelapa port is the forerunner of the city of Jakarta whose anniversary is set on "June 22"

The Sunda Kingdom or better known at that time as the Pajajaran Kingdom had its capital in Pakuan_Pajajaran, Bogor City which was captured by Demak and Cirebon troops. Although the anniversary of the city of Jakarta was only established in the 16th century

The history of Sunda Kelapa began much earlier, namely in the era of Pajajaran's predecessor, namely the "Tarumanagara" kingdom. The "Tarumanagara" kingdom was once attacked and conquered by the Srivijaya kingdom from "Sumatra Island"

Kalapa Harbor has been known since the "12th Century" and at that time was the most important port of Pajajaran. Then, during the arrival of Islam and European colonialists, Kalapa was fought over between the archipelago and European kingdoms. Finally, the Dutch managed to control it for more than 300 years. These conquistadors changed the name of the port of Kalapa and the surrounding area. However, in the early 1970s, the ancient name Kalapa was used again as the official name of this old port in the form of "Sunda Kelapa".

According to the Portuguese writer "Tomé Pires", Kalapa was the largest port in West Java, apart from the "Kingdom of Sunda"(Banten), "Pontang""Cigede Cimanuk which also belonged to Pajajaran. Sunda Kelapa which in this text is called Kalapa is considered the most important port because it can be reached from the royal capital called Dayo (in modern Sundanese: dayeuh which means city) within two days.

This port has been used since the Tarumanagara era and is thought to have existed since the "5th Century" and at that time it was called Sundapura. In the "12th Century", this port was known as the busy "Lada" port belonging to the "Sunda Kingdom", which had its capital in Pakuan Pajajaran or Pajajaran which is currently "Bogor City". Foreign ships originating from China, Japan, South India and the Middle East have anchored at this port carrying goods such as porcelain, coffee, silk, cloth, perfume, horses, wine and dyes to be exchanged for spices which were trade commodities at that time.

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, European explorers began sailing to visit corners of the world. The Portuguese sailed to Asia and in 1511, they were even able to capture the port city of Malacca, on the "Malacca Peninsula". Malacca was used as a base for further exploration in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

one of the Portuguese explorers, visited the ports on the north coast of Java Island between 1512 and 1515. He described that the port of Sunda Kelapa was busy with traders and sailors from outside, such as from Sumatra, the Sultanate of Malacca, South Sulawesi, Java and Madurese. According to the report, in Sunda Kelapa a lot of pepper, rice, tamarind, slaughtered animals, gold, vegetables and fruit are traded.

Portuguese reports explain that Sunda Kelapa stretches for one or two kilometers on narrow strips of land cleared on both banks of the Ciliwung river. This place is near the estuary which is located in a bay protected by several islands. The river allows access to 10 merchant ships, each with a capacity of around 100 tons. These ships were generally owned by the "Malay Tribe", Japanese and Chinese. Apart from that, there were also ships from the area now called Eastern Indonesia. Meanwhile, small Portuguese ships with a loading capacity of between 500 - 1,000 tons must anchor in front of the beach. Tome Pires also stated that Sundanese trade commodities were transported by lanchara, which is a type of ship with a cargo of approximately 150 tons.

Then in 1522 Governor Alfonso d'Albuquerque who was based in Malacca sent Henrique Leme to attend the invitation of the Sunda king to build a security fort in Sunda Kalapa to fight the expansive Cirebon people. Meanwhile, the kingdom of Demak had become the center of Islamic political power. These Muslims were originally immigrants from the Javanese tribe and some of them were of Arab descent.

So on August 21 an agreement was made which stated that the Portuguese would build a loji (offices and housing equipped with a fort) in Sunda Kelapa, while Sunda Kelapa would receive the necessary goods. The Sunda king will give the Portuguese 1,000 baskets of pepper as a sign of friendship. A memorial stone or "Padraõ" was created to commemorate the event. Padrao's "Sundanese-Portugal Treaty Inscription" is referred to as the salaka domas kite in the Sundanese folk tale "Mundinglaya Dikusumah". Padraõ was discovered back in 1918 at the corner of Prinsenstraat (Jalan Cengkeh) and Groenestraat (Jalan Nelayan Timur) in Jakarta.

The Demak Kingdom considered the Sunda-Portugal friendship agreement as a provocation and a threat to it. Then Demak assigned Fatahillah to expel the Portuguese and capture this city. So on June 22, 1527, the combined Demak-Cirebon army under the leadership of Fatahillah (Faletehan) captured Sunda Kelapa. This tragedy on June 22 is what is always celebrated as the anniversary of the city of Jakarta. Since then the name Sunda Kelapa was changed to Jayakarta. This name is usually translated as the city of victory or the city of glory, but actually the meaning is "victory achieved by an action or effort" from "Sanskrit", jayakṛta "Dewanagari script"

Demak's power in Jayakarta did not last long. At the end of the 16th century, the Dutch began to explore the world and look for a way to the east. They assigned Cornelis de Houtman to sail to the area now called Indonesia. The expedition, despite its high costs, was deemed successful and the "Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie" (VOC) was founded. In looking for spices in Southeast Asia, they also needed a base. So in subsequent developments on May 30 1619, Jayakarta was captured by the Dutch under the leadership of "Jan Pieterszoon Coen" who simultaneously destroyed it. On the ruins of Jayakarta a new city was founded. J.P. Coen initially wanted to name this city Nieuw Hoorn (New Hoorn), after his hometown "Hoorn" in the Netherlands, but ultimately chose the name Batavia. This name is the name of a Celtic tribe that lived in the present-day Netherlands during Roman times.

According to historical records, the Sunda Kelapa port in the early days was built with a canal 810 meters long. In 1817, the Dutch government enlarged it to 1,825 meters. After independence, rehabilitation was carried out so that this port had a 3,250 meter long canal that could accommodate 70 sailboats using a betel stacking system.

Around the year "1859", Sunda Kalapa was no longer as busy as previous times. Due to shallowing, ships can no longer dock near the port so goods from the middle of the sea have to be transported by boats. At that time, the city of "Batavia" was actually experiencing acceleration and a modern touch (modernization), especially since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, which shortened travel distances thanks to the ability of faster steamships to increase shipping flows between oceans. Apart from that, "Batavia" also competes with Singapore which Raffles built around "1819"

So the "Tanjung Priok Harbor", which is about 15 km to the east of Sunda Kelapa, was built to replace it. Almost at the same time, the first "train" road between "Batavia" - Buitenzorg "Bogor" was built. Four years before "1869" a horse-drawn tram appeared, drawn by four horses, which had iron on their mouths.

Apart from that, in the mid-19th century the entire area around the "Syahbandar Tower" where the "Dutch" and "European" elite lived became unhealthy. And as soon as the area around "Batavia" was free from the threat of wild animals and gangs of runaway slaves, many Sundanese Kalapa people moved to the south.

Currently, Sunda Kelapa Harbor is planned to become a "tourist" area because of its high historical value. Currently Sunda Kelapa Port is one of the "ports" managed by "PT Pelindo II" which is not certified by International Ship and Port Security because the nature of its services is only for inter-island ships.

Currently, the Sunda Kelapa port has a land area of ​​760 hectares and a pool area of ​​16,470 hectares, consisting of two main ports and the Kalibaru port. The main harbor has an area of ​​3,250 meters and a swimming area of ​​approximately 1,200 meters which can accommodate 70 motorized sailboats. Kalibaru Port is more than 750 meters long with a land area of ​​343,399 square meters, a pool area of ​​42,128.74 square meters, and can accommodate around 65 inter-island ships and has a goods storage area of ​​31,131 square meters.

From an economic perspective, this port is very strategic because it is close to trade centers in Jakarta such as Glodok, Pasar Pagi, Mangga Dua, and others. As an inter-island port, Sunda Kelapa is busy with ships measuring 175 BRT. The goods transported at this port apart from grocery items are basic necessities and textiles. For construction outside Java, from Sunda Kelapa building materials such as concrete iron and others are also transported. This port is also a destination for unloading building materials from outside Java such as sawn wood, rattan, kaoliang, copra, and so on. Loading and unloading of goods at this port still uses traditional methods. At this port there are also storage facilities available, both regular warehouses and fire warehouses.

From a historical perspective, this port is also a tourist destination for DKI. Not far from this port is the Maritime Museum which displays the past maritime world of Indonesia as well as the legacy of the Dutch colonial past.

To the south of this port there is also a VOC Shipyard and renovated VOC buildings. Apart from that, this port is planned to undergo "reclamation" of coastal reclamation for the construction of the multifunctional terminal "East Ancol" of 500 hectares.

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Source: Wikipedia

Photography : Hendrohioe