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.