Jakarta: A historical city of forts

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.