City museums are not best place to learn about Fatahillah

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): This year, Jakarta celebrates its 470th anniversary. In grade schools, Jakarta's school children are taught that Jakarta was founded on June 22, 1527, the date when Fatahillah seized Sunda Kelapa from the Portuguese and founded Jayakarta -- City of Victory -- and most school kids would take the information for granted.

In fact, there is much to learn about Jakarta's history. The celebration of Jakarta's anniversary was held in front of the capital city's City Hall on Jl. Merdeka Selatan, on June 22, 1956. That very year, based on his research, prominent Indonesian historian Soekanto concluded that the date of Fatahillah victorious recapture of Sunda Kelapa was June 22, 1527.

Where can school children learn Jakarta's history?

The best places to learn about history are at museums and Jakarta certainly has many museums. A publication entitled Jakarta, City of Museums (1991) boasts the city has 35 museums. Currently, the number has increased to around 50 museums.

Museum Sejarah Jakarta (Jakarta Museum of History), located in the former town hall of the city of Batavia, has the greatest potential in presenting exhibitions where people can learn about Jakarta's history. The exhibition on the first floor of the building focuses on the early history of Jakarta. As well as a display of prehistorical artifacts, a duplicate of the inscription of Tarumanagara, the first historical evidence in the region, is also exhibited.

Although the museum is situated in front of a square called Fatahillah, after the founder of Jayakarta, almost no information about Fatahillah or Jayakarta is available in the museum. One mural depicts the city's early interactions with Europeans but it primarily focuses on Sultan Agung's abortive attempt to recapture the city from the Dutch.

It also features old canons and ammunition probably dating from that period. Within the museum there are dungeons in which Pangeran Diponegoro, the 19th century prince who rebelled against the Dutch and caused the War of Java between 1825 and 1830, was once held prisoner. The museum is mostly filled with Dutch colonial furniture from the 18th century and 19th century, grouped in period rooms.

So, where can we learn about Fatahillah and Jayakarta?

Sudarmadji Damais, Museum Sejarah Jakarta's director, said there was no exhibition on Fatahillah because of a lack of information on the enigmatic hero.

"We only have information about Fatahillah from a Portuguese source, which reports about a certain Falatehan who occupied Jacatra at the service of the Sultan of Demak and Cirebon," he said.

The Office of the Protection of Historical and Prehistorical Remains' former director, Uka Tjandrasasmita, said that this report is known as the Chronicles of de Barros. He said that it was the historian Hoesein Djajadiningrat who first wrote about Falatehan in 1913 in his dissertation.

Djajadiningrat equated Falatehan with Syarif Hidayatullah and Sunan Gungung Jati. In 1933, he added that the name Falatehan used by the Portuguese was a misinterpretation of Fatahillah.

"This was based on a mention by Fruin Mees in the second volume of History of Java, published in 1920," Tjandrasasmita added.

The interpretation that Fatahillah was synonymous with Sunan Gunung Jati continued until the 1970s. At that time, according to Tjandrasasmita, a new source was cited. Purwaka Caruban Nagari, a manuscript written in 1720 by Pangeran Arya Cirebon clearly mentions the existence of a son-in-law of Sunan Gunung Jati, called Wong Agung (Great Man) from Pasai, who is considered to be Fatahillah. Sultan Tranggono, the leader of Demak, also wed this man from Pasai to his sister and the widow of Pangeran Sabrang Lor.

Tjandrasasmita explained further that Purwaka Caruban Nagari also mentions that the Wong Agung Pasai was ordered by the leader of Demak to attack Palapa with an army of 1,967 soldiers. De Barros's report mentions an army of 2,000, thus confirming the Cirebon manuscript.

Damais added that many scholars questioned the authenticity of Purwaka Caruban Nagari. Historians de Graaf and Pigeaud questioned why this manuscript used a Gregorian calendar and not a Javanese one. Tjandrasasmita explained that Pangeran Arya Cirebon, the author of Purwaka Caruban Nagari, was appointed by the VOC as the Superintendent of the Regents of East Priangan between 1706 and 1723 to 1724. As he was familiar with the Dutch administrative systems, and corresponded with the Dutch regularly, it would have made sense for him to have adopted a Gregorian calendar for his manuscript.

The exact date of Fatahillah's seizure of Sunda Kelapa and its renaming to Jayakarta may never be known for sure.

"Even the exact dates of the establishments of many major European cities are not known for certain," said Damais.

Until further evidence proves otherwise, Indonesians will continue to consider June 22, 1527 as the date of the founding of Jakarta.

Although material evidence about Fatahillah seems to be no longer available, Damais still hopes to be able to provide an interpretation about the enigmatic figure in the Jakarta History Museum. Until then, perhaps we can learn about Fatahillah from the film, Fatahillah, which has been proudly coproduced by the Governor of Jakarta. After all, this film is based on the scholarly research of historians and archaeologists, including Uka Tjandrasasmita.