Jakarta

History

The old name of Jakarta was Sunda Kelapa. The earliest record mentioning this area as a capital city can be traced to the Indianized kingdom of Tarumanagara as early as the fourth century. In AD 39, King Purnawarman established Sunda Pura as a new capital city for the kingdom, located at the northern coast of Java.Purnawarman left seven memorial stones with inscriptions bearing his name spread across the area, including the present-day Banten and West Java provinces. The Tugu Inscription is considered the oldest of all of them.

After the power of Tarumanagara declined, all of its many territories, including Sunda Pura, became part of the Kingdom of Sunda. The harbour area were renamed Sunda Kelapa as written in a Hindu monk's lontar manuscripts, which are now located at the Bodleian Library of Oxford University in England, and travel records by Prince Bujangga Manik. By the 14th century, Sunda Kelapa became a major trading port for the kingdom. The first European fleet, four Portuguese ships from Malacca, arrived in 1513 when the Portuguese were looking for a route for spices, especially black pepper.

The Kingdom of Sunda made a peace agreement with Portugal by allowing the Portuguese to build a port in 1522 in order to defend against the rising power of the Sultanate of Demak from central Java.[8] In 1527, Fatahillah, a Sumatran Malay warrior from Demak attacked Kingdom of Sunda and succeeded in conquering the harbour on June 22, 1527, after which Sunda Kelapa was renamed Jayakarta.
The Castle of Batavia, seen from West Kali Besar by Andries Beeckman circa 1656-58

Through the relationship with Prince Jayawikarta from the Sultanate of Banten, Dutch ships arrived in Jayakarta in 1596. In 1602, the British East India Company's first voyage, commanded by Sir James Lancaster, arrived in Aceh and sailed on to Banten where they were allowed to build a trading post. This site became the center of British trade in Indonesia until 1682.

Apparently, Jayawikarta also made a trading connection with the English merchants, rivals of the Dutch, by allowing them to build houses directly across from the Dutch buildings in 1615. When relations between Prince Jayawikarta and the Dutch later deteriorated, Jayawikarta's soldiers attacked the Dutch fortress. But even with the help of fifteen British ships, Prince Jayakarta's army wasn't able to defeat the Dutch, in part owing to the timely arrival of Jan Pieterszoon Coen (J.P. Coen). The Dutch burned the English fort, and forced the English retreat on their ships. With this victory, Dutch power in the area was consolidated. In 1619 they renamed the city "Batavia."
Batavia c.1870

Within Batavia's walls, wealthy Dutch built tall houses and pestilential canals. Commercial opportunities attracted Indonesian and especially Chinese immigrants, the increasing numbers creating burdens on the city. Tensions grew as the colonial government tried to restrict Chinese migration through deportations. On 9 October 1740, 5,000 Chinese were massacred and the following year, Chinese inhabitants were moved to Glodok outside the city walls .The city began to move further south as epidemics in 1835 and 1870 encouraged more people to move far south of the port. The Koningsplein, now Merdeka Square, was completed in 1818, and Kebayoran Baru was the last Dutch-built residential area.

The city was renamed "Jakarta" by the Japanese during their World War II occupation of Indonesia. Following World War II, Indonesian Republicans withdrew from allied-occupied Jakarta during their fight for Indonesian independence and established their capital in Yogyakarta. In 1950, once independence was secured, Jakarta was once again made the national capital.Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, envisaged Jakarta as a great international city. He instigated large government-funded projects undertaken with openly nationalistic and modernist architecture. Projects in Jakarta included a clover-leaf highway, a major boulevard (Jalan Sudirman), monuments such as The National Monument, major hotels, and a new parliament building.

In October 1965, Jakarta was the site of an abortive coup attempt which saw 6 top generals killed, and ultimately resulted in the downfall of Sukarno and the start of Suharto's "New Order. A propaganda monument stands at the place where the general's bodies were dumped. In 1966, Jakarta was declared a "special capital city district" (daerah khusus ibukota), thus gaining a status approximately equivalent to that of a state or province.Lieutenant General Ali Sadikin served as Governor from the mid-60's commencement of the "New Order" through to 1977; he rehabilitated roads and bridges, encouraged the arts, built several hospitals, and a large number of new schools. He also cleared out slum dwellers for new development projects—some for the benefit of the Suharto family—and tried to eliminate rickshaws and ban street vendors. He began control of migration to the city in order to stem the overcrowding and poverty.Land redistribution, structural adjustment,and foreign investment contributed to a real estate boom which changed the face of the city The boom ended with the 1997/98 East Asian Economic crisis putting Jakarta at the center of violence, protest, and political maneuvering. Long-time president, Suharto, began to lose his grip on power. Tensions reached a peak in the Jakarta riots of May 1998, when four students were shot dead at Trisakti University by security forces; four days of riots and violence ensued resulting in the loss of an estimated 1,200 lives and 6,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.Suharto resigned as president, and Jakarta has remained the focal point of democratic change in Indonesia. A number of Jemaah Islamiah-connected bombings have occurred in the city since 2000.

West Sumatera

History:

The history of West Sumatra is closely related to the history of the Minangkabau people. Archaeological evidence indicates that the area surrounding the Limapuluh Koto regency forms the first area inhabited by the Minangkabau. This interpretation seems to be justified as the area of the Limapuluh Koto regency covers a number of large rivers which meet at the eastern part of the Sumatran coastline. The rivers were known have provided important sailing transportation from the previous era to the end of the last century. The Minangkabau ancestors were believed to have arrived on this route. They sailed from Asia (Indo-China) via the South China Sea, crossing the Malacca Strait and later settled along the Kampar, Siak and Indragiri (or Kuantan) rivers. A portion of them lived and developed their culture and traits around the Limapuluh Koto regency.

The integration with migrants in the ensuing periods introduced cultural changes and an increase in population. Their settlement area gradually became diminished and eventually they spread to other parts of West Sumatra. A portion of them went to the Agam regency while others went to the now Tanah Datar regency. From those areas onward, further spread of the population occurred north of the Agam regency, in particular, the Lubuk Sikaping. Rao and Ophir districts. Most of them settled in the western area such as the coastline and some in the southern parts in Solok, Selayo and the surrounding areas of Muara and Sijunjung.

The history of the West Sumatra Province became more accessible at the time of the rule by Adityawarman. This ruler left considerable amount of evidence of himself, although he did not proclaim that he was the Minangkabau King. Adityawarman ruled Pagaruyung, a region believed by the Minangkabau to be the center of its culture. Adityawarman was the most important figure in Minangkabau history. Apart from introducing a government system by a ruling monarch, he also contributed significantly to the Minangkabau world. His most important contribution was the spread of Buddhism. This religion had a very strong influence in the Minangkabau life. The evidence of such influence found in West Sumatra today includes names such as Saruaso, Pariangan, Padang Barhalo, Candi, Biaro, Sumpur and Selo.

Since the death of Adityawarman in the middle of the 17th century the history of West Sumatra seems more complex. During that time, the connection of West Sumatra with the outside world, in particular, Aceh, became more intense. West Sumatra at that time was the political dominion of Aceh which also monopolized the economy of the area. Coupled with the intensive connection Islam entered into West Sumatra. The new faith eventually became fundamental to the social and cultural way of life in the region. Sheik Burhanuddin was regarded as the first preacher of Islam in West Sumatra. Prior to expanding the faith in the region, he was studying in Aceh.

The dominating influence of Aceh’s politics and economy did not make the people of West Sumatra happy. Ultimately, the growing dissatisfaction gave way to the acceptance of the Dutch although the presence of them also opened up a new chapter in the history of West Sumatra. The arrival of the Dutch in the region caused them to enter the era of colonialism in the very of essence of its meaning.

The first westerner to reach West Sumatra was the French explorer Jean Parmentier in 1529. However, the westerners who came for economic and political reasons were the Dutch. The Dutch commercial fleet was seen along the southern coast of West Sumatra between 1595 – 1598. Apart from the Dutch, other European nationalities also came to the region such as the Portuguese and the English.

From Wikipedia