Jatinegara, a site for military matters in Batavia
By Ida Indawati Khouw
Sprawling, polluted Jatinegara in East Jakarta is notorious today for its traffic congestion and disorderly rows of market vendors spilling over onto the streets. It belies its very important role in the history of Batavia and contemporary Jakarta as a military center and the site of a landmark battle between colonial forces. This is the 82nd article in our series on Old Batavia.
JAKARTA (JP): It is not unusual for longtime Jakarta residents, aged 60 or above, to call the area located at the eastern tip of the capital "Mester", although its official name today is Jatinegara.
Few people know that the name comes from schoolteacher Cornelis Senen, an Indonesian Christian from the island of Banda Neira who settled in Batavia. Meester is the Dutch word for teacher and Meester Cornelis left his mark on the area by giving it his name.
There is very little surviving biographical data on him, but it is believed he was granted the land as a teacher in 1661.
However, another source said he was a wealthy man who purchased a "plantation" near Ciliwung River in 1656. Up until the 19th century, people were able to acquire huge plots of land, which were sold by the Dutch government and gave rise to the system of private landlords in Batavia.
Danish painter Johannes Rach (1720-1783), who was a soldier in the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the ruler of the Dutch East Indies until 1799, depicted the area as having a fort with a market open on Thursdays.
The book Johannes Rach 1720-1783, Artist in Indonesia and Asia describes the fort as strategically located on a high bank on the bend of the Ciliwung River, which guarded the southern road to Buitenzorg (Bogor).
Behind the fort were the typical palm frond-roofed homes with crossed beams and the coconut groves of a Javanese kampong.
At that time, Meester Cornelis was located in a suburban area, about 15 kilometers south of the old-walled city of Batavia (now downtown Kota).
It is one of the most historical sites in the city because many important events, mostly related to military affairs, occurred here from the early establishment of Batavia. It was the base for troops of the Mataram Kingdom of Central Java (at the site today of Matraman kampong) when they attacked the Dutch in the walled city in the 17th century.
When the country was ruled by Governor General Herman Willem Daendels (1808-1811), several military centers concentrated at Waterlooplein (Lapangan Banteng in Central Jakarta) were built with fortifications at Meester Cornelis, where he also built the artillery school.
In 1811 it was here that a monumental battle occurred between British and French-Dutch forces, when Batavia was then ruled by the French who had annexed the Netherlands.
"English General Sir S. Auchmuty landed 10,000 British-Indian troops in 1811 in order to conquer Batavia and attack the Dutch- French forces at Meester Cornelis," writes the author of Historical Sites of Jakarta, Adolf Heuken.
"In August 1811 General Auchmuty went ashore with 12,000 soldiers in Cilicing (North Jakarta). His cavalry took the old city without fighting. The Dutch army retreated after a short skirmish at Kramat to Struiswijk (Salemba) and Meester Cornelis," he added.
Thus, from 1811 to 1816 the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) was under British rule.
After that period, there are few records of the development of the military area. It grew into an autonomous regency (besides the regency of Batavia) after the government purchased private land.
An official report, the Verslag 1926-1929 Kaboepaten Meester- Cornelis, shows that the regency was officially established in 1925, built on private land purchased by the government, with four districts of Meester Cornelis, Kebajoeran (Kebayoran at present), Bekasi and Tjikarang (Cikarang).
It records that there were 54 designated private pieces of land scattered across the four districts.
The first regent was Raden Abdoerachman, an indigenous man.
"The role of the regent was to be a bridge between the Dutch and indigenous people. To do so, the regent was under the control of the Dutch," said Sudarmadji, an expert on art and Jakarta's history.
The regent's house can still be found today at Jl. Raya Bekasi Timur No. 76, and it was used for several years by the East Jakarta Military Command.
Markets
Sudarmadji said that Mester market, called Grote Passer on the old map, was one of the three major markets in the municipality of Batavia, along with Tanah Abang and Pasar Senen, both in Central Jakarta.
"At that time, markets were usually located near crossroads leading outside the city and were always surrounded by Pecinan (Chinatown), along with their temples, as well as an Arab quarter. The pecinan near Mester market was at Rawa Bangke (now a housing complex across from Jatinegara railway station), while the Arabs lived in surrounding Kampung Melayu," he said.
The military men needed places to live in. Nearby were the Officiers Woningen for high-ranking officials (now the Oerip Sumohardjo Army housing complex) and the Officiers Kamp at Berenlaan (military barracks, now at Berlan, one of the hotspots for communal brawls).
There were also large residences and commercial areas.
It is interesting to note that the area is home to many old churches (Koinonia, Rehoboth and St. Joseph) and Christian charity houses.
"I think it was because of the development there of kampongs of poor people, so it would be easier for the religious institutions to work with these people," said Sudarmadji.
Data from the book Batavia als Handel, Industrie en Woonstad shows that 324 hectares of the 811 hectares of the total area of the kampongs were located at Meester Cornelis.
"There was a convent (now Gembala Baik convent on Jl. Jatinegara Barat) that was like a shelter for pregnant young women, who usually left after giving birth while the babies were taken care of by the convent," said former Mester resident Louis Hilman, 74, whose old house was located on Passerstraat (now Jl. Jatinegara Barat).
He said most of his neighbors were middle-income Indo-Eurasian people. "They usually had big houses of more than 1,500 square meters," he added.
He still vividly remembers the beauty and calm of the neighborhood of his family house on Passerstraat (now Jl. Jatinegara Barat).
"It was so nice to see the sights surrounding the area after school. Every day we rented a horse and cart to go to and from school, located at Rawa Bangke area," said Louis, whose father was a landlord who owned about five houses in Pasar Senen and several plot of lands in Kebayoran.
But the most interesting place for him was the military housing complex with its big square, the General Staal Plein.
"Ordinary people were afraid of entering the complex although there weren't any guards," he said, "but after I could ride a bike I traveled around the complex without fear."
Another fond memory is of when he, a boy scout, was assigned to sell stamps to collect money for a worldwide jamboree in the Netherlands in the 1930s.
"I sold stamps at the military complex in the afternoon when families usually sat out on their verandahs. It was the wives of the military personnel who usually purchased my stamps, even though their husbands sometimes did not agree.
"The wives usually felt they should buy the stamps to encourage youths like me. In this way, I became the most successful seller, which made my father proud," he recalled.
Louis said that daily needs were easily taken care of. For instance, at Balimester subdistrict behind Bethelkerk (now Koinonia Church) there was a public health service, a pawn shop and other commercial buildings.
The name Mester Cornelis was changed to Jatinegara during the Japanese occupation during World War Two.
Like others who experienced the beauty of Batavia, Louis also deplores the fact that the "paradise" of his former home area has changed for the worse today.
His playing spot, the military housing complex, is still there but its beautiful Jugendstil (decorative style) houses are now blighted by the presence of sidewalk vendors along Jl. Matraman Raya.
He said the condition deteriorated after the construction of Kampung Melayu bus terminal and the flyover in the 1980s.
"I never want to live there again," said the man, who moved to a beautiful home in Jaya Mandala area some 20 years ago.