Jatinegara, a site for military matters in Batavia

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.