Ambon city, a melting pot of culture and religion

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon

Ambon city has a colorful history, starting from the struggle between the Portuguese, British and Dutch colonial powers to the humanitarian tragedy that ravaged the city in 1999 when residents of different religions faced off.

Victims fell and belongings were lost. After four years of trying to rise from the destruction, Ambon city, which just celebrated its 430th anniversary, has gradually returned to normal amid the forming of enclaves based on religion.

According to folklore, the 1937 transfer of command report of the assistant to the residency, Van Wijk, states that a Portuguese commander arrived at Honipopu Beach in Ambon and met the native ruler of Soya. The commander proposed to the Soya ruler that he grant a piece of land measuring no more than a single cowhide. The king, who considered the request no burden, accepted the proposal.

The commander then took out a cowhide and cut it into strips, which he used to mark a plot of land from Honipopu Beach to the foot of Soya hill.

The west bordered the Wai Batugajah River and the east, the Wai Tomu River. The Portuguese built a fort on the low plains that included a town in its southern section.

The tale presumably describes the beginning of Ambon city, which was established around the fort near Honipopu Beach. The Portuguese chose to call it Gidado/Cidades de Ambyono, which means City on Amboina Island.

The tale's message is clear -- Westerners are cunning while the natives are naive, or in the colonialism context, Westerners are more powerful than local people.

According to the Portuguese, the cornerstone for the fort was laid by a commander from the Portuguese fleet named Sancho de Vasconselos on March 23, 1575.

The fort was finished in three months, and in June or July 1575, De Vasconselos ordered his men to occupy the fort and named it Nossa Senhora da Anunciada.

The name was in reference to the cornerstone laying ceremony held in conjunction with the Annunciation celebration, which in the Catholic tradition marks March 23 as the day when the Virgin Mary was told by God that she would bear a child.

However in the 17th and 18th centuries, according to two people, George Everardus Rumphius and Francois Valentijn, as quoted in the book Oud en Nieuw Oostindien, and confirmed by Imam Rijali in Hikayat Tanah Hitu, the fort was better known as Kota Laha, which means Fort on the Bay, among the people of Ambon island.

The Portuguese colonial rule lasted until the 20th century, and since then Ambon city has developed well past the fort. The fort was later taken over by Dutch colonial forces, forcing the Portuguese to abandon it and move to Leitimor, south of Ambon island.

From historical reports, Portuguese commander Casper de Melo surrendered to the Dutch, under the command of Steven der Haghen, on Feb. 23, 1602. The name of the fort was later changed to Victoria Fort, which means victory, to mark the Dutch victory against the Portuguese.

Laha City soon became one of the two forts in Asia that the Dutch forces captured from the Portuguese, the other being Malacca Fort in 1648.

The fort later fell into the hands of British forces (East India Company) between 1794 and 1816, but Dutch forces later recaptured it.

The fort was badly damaged in a massive earthquake in 1754. Extensive renovation to the fort was only completed in the 1780s, due to limited funds. It was later named Nieuw Victoria (new victory).

Ambon is a city of migrants, and its residents are descendants of Europeans, Arabs, Persians, Chinese and Malays, as well as indigenous Ambonese, making it pluralistic in terms of culture and religion.

Ambon has a Mestizo population -- as can be seen from their family names, such as De Fretes, Diaz, Gazpers, De Quelju, De Lima, Tan, Kiat, Ciat, Bsalamah, Alkatiri, Attamimi, Al-Idrus and Bahasoan.

The diversity of its populace can also be seen in the different cultures and religions, a universal mix between Western and Eastern, Islam and Christianity. People from other ethnic groups from across the archipelago also moved there, such as from Makassar, Banten, Palembang and Semarang, bringing with them various other cultures.

A number of communities -- later known as Soa Ema, Soa Kilang, Soa Silale, Hative, and Urimesing -- have lived in the vicinity of the fort since 1575 and are considered the founders of Ambon city.

Pattimura University organized a seminar on the history of the city on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, 1972 and, despite the long history of Ambon city, determined Sept. 7, 1575 as the city's anniversary. A year later, on Sept. 7, 1973, Ambon commemorated its first anniversary.