Sunda Kalapa: The port where Jakarta began

Sunda Kalapa: The port where Jakarta began

By Ida Indawati Khouw

Sunda Kalapa Port in North Jakarta has a history as one of the
most important international harbors in the world. Its existence
dates back to the old kingdoms that once ruled over the city.
This is the 46th story on old and protected buildings and sites
in Jakarta appearing every Saturday.

JAKARTA (JP): Finding historical sites dating back to the era
when Jakarta was still under the rule of indigenous kingdoms is
not an easy task. Sunda Kalapa Port in North Jakarta, which is
now more commonly referred to as Sunda Kelapa Port, is one such
site which escaped destruction.

Located next to Jakarta Bay, the two-kilometer-long harbor
should not be seen as merely an old port. In fact, it is the site
where the now bustling capital city of Jakarta began its history.

Although the port has been modernized, the ambience of its
long history can still be felt, due in particular to the many
old-fashioned ships anchored there, such as the Phinisi, cargo
ships from Bugis, South Sulawesi.

"The authority, indeed, has set apart the port for old-
fashioned boats to maintain the old atmosphere," said Rahim
Bekend, a tour guide in the Kota area, where the port is located.

The traditional ships, he adds, come from cities as far away
as Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra, mainly to transport wood in
exchange for commodities such as cement, rice and flour. Foreign
ships dock at nearby Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta.

In the past, Sunda Kalapa Port must have been busier than
today because of the presence of ships from overseas. Several
printed sources make mention of the hectic activity at the port.
Dutch writer Francois Valentijn described the port as one of the
biggest centers of business in the world.

The first reference to Sunda Kalapa Port came during the Hindu
Sunda Kingdom of Pajajaran, whose capital was located at the
present-day mountain resort of Bogor, about 40 kilometers south
of here.

Sunda was taken from the West Javanese region of Sunda, while
Kalapa came from the coconut palm which was widely found along
the coastal area, sources say.

In the book Historical Sites of Jakarta, Adolf Heuken wrote
the first European ships docked at the harbor in 1513. They were
four Portuguese boats looking for spices -- the most lucrative
product in Europe at the time.

Tome Pires of Portugal visited the area in 1513, describing
the harbor as deep, crowded and well-managed.

Years later, another Portuguese national, Enrique Leme,
visited the area and brought along with him various gifts for
Sunda King Surawisesa to mark a friendship agreement between the
two countries, which was signed on Aug. 22, 1522.

"It was the first international agreement in Indonesia," noted
Heuken, adding that a large stone -- called the Padrao -- was
dropped into the sea to mark the signing of the pact.

The Padrao was found in 1918 and is now displayed at the
National Museum in Central Jakarta.

Jayakarta

Heuken said the pact was signed because the Sunda kingdom
needed to establish ties with Portugal to protect its harbor from
the Demak sultanate.

But in 1526 the sultanate conquered the port and built the new
city of Jayakarta on top of the rubble of Sunda Kalapa.

In her book Jakarta A History, Susan Abeyasekere says
Jayakarta had a reputation as a well-arranged port, where ships
could anchor and find good drinking water, local timber for
repairs or arak (rice wine), which was produced by the Chinese
who had settled there.

"Incoming ships were controlled by customs officials near the
mouth of Ciliwung River. The town was surrounded by a wooden
palisade, outside which lay a thinly-populated region of stagnant
swamps and jungle, where the aristocracy regularly hunted tigers,
rhinoceros and other game," Abeyasekere said.

Traders from various countries, including India, China,
England and the Netherlands, and other islands of the
archipelago, continued to visit the port and wait there for the
change of the monsoon season, she added.

Jayakarta continued to grow to the point that when ships from
the VOC Dutch trading company docked at the port in 1596, under
the watch of Jayakarta Prince Jayawikarta, there were about 3,000
houses located in the area.

The Dutch saw the city, which they called Jacatra, as a
possible site for their headquarters.

"Its advantages were it was close to the Sunda Strait, which
was extensively used by Dutch ships in their voyage across the
Indian Ocean to and from Europe via the Cape of Good Hope ...,"
Abeyasekere said.

The Dutch conquered the city in 1619 and renamed it, and the
port, Batavia. Under the Dutch occupation, the port grew bigger
and busier. It was visited by ships from all parts of The Dutch
East Indies, as Indonesia was then known, as well as from China,
Vietnam, Thailand, India and a number of Middle Eastern and
European countries.

"All of the spices and other products from all over the Dutch
East Indies were first brought here and separated based on type,
before being transported to other countries. That's why the VOC
built some warehouses in the surrounding area," said Gatot
Prihartono, who is researching the VOC warehouses in Kota.

Three of these warehouses exist today. One, which is still in
good condition, is the Westzijdsche Pakhuizen (warehouse at the
western part of Ciliwung River). It was built in 1652, but was
renovated several times before 1759. The warehouse is now the
home of the Marine Museum.

The other two surviving warehouses are in poor condition.
These are the 17th-century wooden warehouse located next to the
museum and the 18th-century Graanpakhuizen, or grain warehouse,
on Jl. Tongkol.

In 1839, a three-story lookout tower (Uitkijk or Menara
Syahbandar) was also built next to what is now the Marine Museum.
Its main purpose was to afford a view of the ships in the port.

"During the west monsoon when seas were heavy and dangerous or
impassible, the lookout tower would fly a blue flag to indicate
that no boats could leave or enter the river canal," Abeyasekere
said.

The tower is now tilted toward Jl. Pasar Ikan, a result of
years of traffic, including heavy trucks, passing along the
street.

It was not until the Japanese occupation that the port once
again was called Sunda Kalapa.