Date of city's founding changed to May 31, 1293
Date of city's founding changed to May 31, 1293
It turns out that historians have found it difficult to
determine the exact origin of Surabaya, one of Indonesia's oldest
towns. No wonder then that the city has had two official
anniversaries to date.
When the country was still under Dutch colonial rule, the
Dutch Indies administration decided that April 1, 1906, was the
official date of Surabaya's founding. So for a number of years,
the people of Surabaya commemorated their city's anniversary on
April 1.
Experts eventually began to doubt the wisdom of the Dutch
colonial administration's decision. This led the Surabaya
municipality administration to set up a team in 1973 to carry out
extensive research to determine just when exactly Surabaya was
founded.
After poring over numerous historical texts and artifacts, the
historians came up with four dates.
The first was Sept. 11, 1294, the date when Raden Wijaya
bestowed a reward to the people and the village chief of Kedadu
for their help in fighting against the Tartar soldiers.
The second was July 7, 1358, the date on the ancient
inscription of Trowulan I stating that the name of Surabaya was
for the first time used as naditira pradeca sthananing anambangi
(the village on the bank of river, a crossing site)
The third was Nov. 3, 1486, the date on the ancient Jiu
inscription, which stated that the Surabaya regent ruled for the
first time in that region.
The fourth was May 31, 1293, the date when Raden Wijaya's
soldiers defeated and expelled Kublai Khan's Tartar soldiers from
Ujunggaluh.
Of these four possible dates, and taking into consideration
all of the historical arguments, the regional legislative
assembly of Surabaya and the Surabaya municipality administration
selected May 31, 1293, as the official anniversary of the city.
The city that is today called Surabaya developed from a small
village located near the trading port of Ujunggaluh, according to
historians.
It, however, remains unclear why the name Surabaya was chosen,
and the port of Ujunggaluh eventually disappeared from all
historical records. But many believe that the entire coastal area
was named Surabaya in the 14th century, replacing the name
Ujunggaluh.
The trading port of Surabaya experienced massive growth in the
15th century, when it regularly received traders from other parts
of the archipelago. At that time, there were about 1,000 families
living in the area.
Ever since people have come from far and wide to settle in the
city. The Chinese arrived in the 17th century and established
communities in the areas of Kembang Jepun, Slompretan, Bongkaran
and Semut Utara. Then came the Arabs, who settled near the mosque
of Sunan Ampel. --JP