Jakarta: A historical city of forts

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Hardly nobody cares that Jakarta was once home to some 40 forts, inherited from the Dutch colonial period. Residents in the neighborhood, which is close to the two remaining forts in the capital -- in Sungai Bambu subdistrict and in Ancol -- both in North Jakarta, cannot tell and are not aware that the forts are still there. This is the 14th article in a series about Jakarta's historical buildings appearing in Saturday editions of The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): It is difficult to convince people that Jakarta was originally a city of forts as there is hardly any evidence available.

The only thing which can prove they were a part of Jakarta's history are the old city maps, which were made during the Dutch colonial era.

Based on the maps, which were made by different people and have become rare now, people discovered that Jakarta was once home to about 40 forts scattered around the capital, the head of the archeology section at the City Museum and Restoration Agency, Candrian Attahiyat, said recently.

Research conducted by the agency could only find 21 of them. Yet there is little information about the forts as it sometimes fails to mention their location.

Only two forts, one in Ancol subdistrict and the other in Sungai Bambu area, both in North Jakarta, still exist.

Candrian said forts were "abundant" in the city because the Dutch colonial administration continuously built them as a sign of territorial borders. "So if they (the Dutch) managed to expand their territory, they would automatically build new forts."

"The old ones would become useless and sometimes were demolished for the sake of development," he said.

The function of the forts was not only to safeguard the territory for the colonial administration, but also to perform other nonmilitary tasks.

An example was the establishment of the Noordwijk fort in 1675, located near the present Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta.

Historian Adolf Heuken wrote in his book Historical Sites of Jakarta, the purpose for the establishment of the small fort was to keep an eye on the cattle that grazed in the Paviljoensveld, the first of many names given to the present Lapangan Banteng area in Central Jakarta.

Another example of a similar nonmilitary function was the Rijswijk fort, constructed between the present Jl. Hasyim Ashari and Jl. Alaydrus in Central Jakarta. The fort was used to regulate a canal, which is now between Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Gajah Mada, also in Central Jakarta.

Almost all the forts no longer exist as most disappeared after the Dutch era due to various reasons. Many were transformed into different buildings.

The only remaining forts at Ancol and Sungai Bambu were established to protect the Dutch colonial territory. Yet both buildings are hardly identifiable as their condition is very poor.

A group of big forts in Sungai Bambu subdistrict of the Tanjung Priok area in North Jakarta were used as foundations for houses, mostly semipermanent ones. Inhabitants have constructed ladders to reach their homes on top.

Small forts can sometimes only be recognized as solitary walls standing among housing complexes or on the roadside within a radius of half a kilometer of one another.

Due to structural changes, the scattered forts are not easy to identify as some are located within crowded residential areas or along narrow alleys.

It would not be surprising if there was no exact data on the overall number of forts in the area, their thickness or other basic information.

The history of the forts is unclear and even the report from the museum and restoration agency's research only states that fort complexes were built in the 20th century.

One of the people living above the forts is Ampi Abarua, who has been there for five years. He rents the land from neighbor Peter Helia.

Ampi did not know how the late Peter Helia came to possess the fort. He only knew that there had been another fort in the area before he built his house.

Atop the some six-meter-thick wall, Ampi built a house of six bedrooms, a family room, a kitchen and a dining room for his large family. He also covered the floor with ceramic tiles.

"Almost all the big forts here have been used as foundations for houses because we believe that they are strong," said the seaman.

The father of three children said the wall was so strong that once he failed to knock it down to make another room.

"It is like it is made of rock," he said.

Archeologist Candrian said it was not surprising that people were now able to build houses on the forts as they were usually so sturdy. "Usually, forts were made really thick so patrolling troops could walk on them," he said.

He said it was also not surprising if the existing forts were not well taken care of.

"In the past, most forts almost had no function because they were built mainly for security. The colonial administration were anxious about any possible attacks," he said.

A similar construction can also be found at the Ancol fort, which is in Ancol Dreamland.

Built in 1920, the fort is not so old, but it was a typical fort to protect from any naval attacks. It was equipped with cannons, reported a book titled Historical Buildings in DKI Jakarta.

According to the museum and research from the restoration agency, it could be that the fort, which was built to improve the city's defense, also functioned as a bunker because there were plenty of rooms inside with windows and doors.

"Besides having a function as a fort, it was also used as a warehouse for artillery and ammunition. The artillery was transported to other areas by way of nearby Tanjung Priok railway station," the research stated.

The mossy fort stands steadily amid the growing urbanization. Houses have been built around it, and a tennis court is located just in front of the wall.

A small section of the fort has been turned into a garbage dump, while another part has become temporary housing for employees of Ancol Dreamland.

Many people in the neighborhood do not even realize there was a benteng Belanda (Dutch fort) in the area.

However, the Ancol fort is probably the luckiest of them all, compared to the dozens of others which have disappeared.

The notorious Dutch governor-general, Herman Willem Daendels, who served in Batavia as the governor-general from 1808 until 1811, contributed to the destruction of most of the city's forts.

For the sake of developing the new city of Weltevreden (now the surrounding Lapangan Banteng area in Central Jakarta), Daendels tore down the ancient castle of Batavia in 1809 -- which used to stand in downtown Kota in Central Jakarta -- and other forts in order to use the material for new buildings.