Ambon city, a melting pot of culture and religion

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.