Tale of Jl. Pecah Kulit more than skin deep
Tale of Jl. Pecah Kulit more than skin deep
By Ida Indawati Khouw
For those unfamiliar with the capital, its assortment of
unusually named streets -- Jl. Gereja Ayam ("church chicken"),
Jl. Gambar Hidup ("portrait of life") and Jl. Tiang Bendera
("flagpole") -- may sound more than a little odd. Our 33rd
article in a special weekly series on Jakarta's historical and
protected sites and buildings digs into the horrific tale of Jl.
Pecah Kulit ("broken skin") in West Jakarta.
JAKARTA (JP): Street names come and go with the times,
especially when their unusual meanings hit a discordant note with
modern residents.
One of them, Jl. Jagal Monyet, literally "monkey
slaughtering", has become the more genteel sounding Jl. Suryo
Pranoto.
But Jl. Pecah Kulit, a small L-shaped street near the busy Jl.
Pangeran Jayakarta in West Jakarta, has kept its name.
The 250-meter-long street's eponymous name refers to the
grisly mass killing of rebels by the Dutch colonial government at
the site some 278 years ago.
Extant records say the rebels were led by Pieter Erberveld, a
son of a German-Siamese couple, who plotted for the 1722
rebellion.
Printed data said locals gave the street its name from the
pieces of human skin left after the torture and killing of the
men on April 4, 1722.
The rebel leaders were reportedly dragged along the street by
horses before being skinned alive.
Erberveld (some sources call him Erbervelt or Ervervelt) was
59 when he was killed.
A report compiled in 1977 by the then City Museum and
Historical Agency, titled Pieter Erberveld Trying to Reach the
Stars, said Erberveld, who was born a Christian, converted to
Islam partly due to his closeness with local Muslims, who shared
his desire to banish the Dutch from Java.
It said Erberveld's father, who shared the same name, was a
noted landlord and a captain of a cavalry unit in Batavia. His
father came from a small town in Germany's Wuppertal-Elberfeld
region and married a Siamese Christian woman, Elizabeth Cornelis.
The younger Erberveld is believed to have been born in Batavia
and enjoyed a close relationship with the pribumi (indigenous
community).
The agency's report said the plan for rebellion stemmed from
an incident when Erberveld was publicly humiliated by a Dutch
trader, Van der Shuur, who accused Erberveld of being a man of
German descent who once tortured a group of Javanese.
"After the incident, Erberveld held hatred toward the Dutch.
It could have been from then that he decided to take revenge ...
In stages, he gathered (local) friends, who shared the same
feeling and desire," the report said.
Adolf Heuken said in his book Historical Sites of Jakarta that
Erberveld wanted to kill all Dutch inhabitants residing in
Batavia on New Year's Day 1722 simply to fulfill his dream to
become a community leader, locally called Tuan Goesti (My Lord).
The agency's report stated that Erberveld started plotting his
revenge in 1720 by recruiting local people in Java. He named
nobleman Raden Kartadria from Kartasura in Central Java as his
close aide.
The main task of Kartadria was to initiate contact with people
living outside of Batavia and to prepare weapons, like kris and
spears, for the massacre.
Erberveld had become known as Tuan Goesti by his followers at
the time.
With support from 17,000 people from many areas across Java,
he set up a series of secret meetings with his followers at his
house on Jl. Jacatra (now Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta).
"It was like a huge group of grasshoppers surrounding a paddy
field, ready to ravage the grains," the report said.
The plot of Erberveld and his troops was thwarted when his
slave, Ali, and the Sultan of Banten in West Java betrayed him to
a senior Dutch military official and Governor General Hendrik
Zwaardecroon respectively.
The report does not mention the sultan's reasons for betrayal,
but noted Ali was angered when Erbereld would not allow him to
marry his daughter, Sarina.
During a secret meeting on Dec. 31, 1721, a day before the
massacre of the Dutch was to be carried out, Erberveld, Kartadria
and 17 followers were arrested by the Dutch troops.
A court sentenced them to die on April 24, 1722.
Dutch clergyman Francois Valentijn recalled in his book that
Erberveld and his followers were "tortured by using burning
pliers to peel off their flesh in six parts".
Their right hands were cut off, and their hearts pried out and
thrown into their faces. They were beheaded and their bodies torn
into four, he said.
"The parts were scattered at several locations outside the
city as a frightening deterrent to others," said Valentijn.
He said that four indigenous people also were killed. Three
women were strangled to death and 10 other people were killed by
being tied to wheels as their bodies were torn apart.
Another version says Erberveld and Kartadria were dragged by
horses along what is now Jl. Pecah Kulit, causing the flaying of
their skin.
The city agency's report said 24 people were killed.
To commemorate the incident, the Dutch government erected a
white wall monument with a stone skull statue at the site of
Erberveld's house.
The inscription on the monument was written in Dutch and
Javanese: "In loathsome memory of the punished traitor Pieter
Erberveld, nobody shall now or ever be allowed to build, to
carpenter, to lay bricks or to plant in this place, Batavia, 14th
April, 1722."
Heuken believed the monument was actually constructed years
later when people no longer remembered the tragedy because "the
stone says that it's erected on April 14th, 1722, while Erberveld
was quartered on April 24, 1722".
The inscription's sober warning apparently fell on deaf ears;
Erberveld's home is now long gone, replaced by a big auto
workshop and showroom.
Local residents have no idea of the site's grisly history.
The original stone is now in the grounds of the Jakarta
Historical Museum in West Jakarta, and a replica is at Memorial
Stone Park Museum in Central Jakarta.
The blood which flowed on an April day three centuries ago has
given way to the dirt and odors of the traditional market which
now operates at the site.