Sunda Kelapa is the old port of Jakarta located on the estuarine of Ciliwung River. The port is situated in Penjaringan sub-district, of North Jakarta, Indonesia. Sunda Kelapa Harbor has been well known since the 12th century, but the existence estimated to be since the 5th century. Sunda Kelapa Harbor was belongs to Sunda Empire with capital of Pajajaran, located at around the current Bogor. At that time Sunda Kelapa Harbor was busily visited for the spices trading. Foreign ships from China, South India, Japan, and Middle East was docking at Sunda Kelapa Harbor and conducting trading activities by carrying commodities like perfume, horses, wine, porcelain, coffee, silk, textiles and coloring materials to be traded with the spices.
In 1513 the first European fleet, four Portuguese ships under the command of Alvin, arrived in Sunda Kelapa from Mallaca. Mallaca had been conquered two years earlier by Alfonso d’ Albuquerque. They were looking for spices, especially pepper, to this busy and well-organized harbor. Some years later, the Portuguese Enrique Leme visited Kalapa with presents for the King of Sunda. He was well received and on 21st August 1522 and signed a treaty of friendship between the kingdom of Sunda and Portugal. In exchange for military assistance against the threat of the rising Islamic Javan Sultanate of Demak, Prabu Surawisesa, king of Sunda at that time, granted The Portuguese free access to the pepper trade and the right to build a godown (warehouse) as well as to erect a fort in Kalapa. This was regarded by the Sundanese as a consolidation of their position against the encroaching Muslim troops from the rising power of the Sultanate of Demak in Central Java.
To commemorate this treaty, they put big stone, called a Padrao, which vanished for some years. This stone was uncovered later in 1918 during an excavation for a new house in Kota area on the corner of Cengkeh street and Nelayan Timur Street. This Padrao can now be seen in the National Museum on Medan Merdeka Barat street. The original location of the stone suggests that the coastline in the early 16th century formed a nearly straight line which is marked by the present of Nelayan street, some 400 meters south to the The Lookout Tower.
The King of Sunda had his own reasons for great danger from the expansive Muslim Kingdom of Demak, whose troops threatened his second harbor town, Banten (west of Jakarta). Sunda felt squeezed and was in need of strong friends. Thus, the king hoped the Portuguese would return quickly and help him protect his important harbor. It drove Demak to finally decided to chase away Portugal and to take away Sunda Kelapa by force. On 22nd June 1527, under the leadership of Fatahillah, 1.452 soldiers from Cirebon and Demak took away Sunda Kelapa by force. According to some historians, this victory of 1527 provided the reason for Fatahillah to rename Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta, which means “Great Deed” or “Complete Victory.” On the basis of this victory, Jakarta celebrates its birthday on 22nd June, the day Fatahillah gave the town a name of victory of over Sundanese Hindus and Portuguese sailor. Later, the port became a part of the Banten Sultanate.
From the 13th to 16th century Sunda kelapa was the main port of Sunda Kingdom. The port served the capital, Pakuan Pajajaran, located about 60 km inland south, along the Ciliwung river hinterland, now the site of modern Bogor. The port thrived on international spice trade especially pepper, the main spice produce of the Sunda kingdom. Sunda Kelapa, together with Aceh and Makassar, were one of the few Indonesian ports that maintained ties with Europe.
On 30th March 1619 Jan Pieterszoon Coen, an official working for the Dutch East India Company, seized the port of Jayakarta from the Sultanate of Banten and raized the city. From the ashes of Jayakarta, the Dutch built a new city, Batavia. The old port served as the main port of Batavia until the late 19th century, when the Netherlands East Indies government decided to build a new Tanjung Priok port to accommodate the increasing traffic as a result of the opening of the Suez Canal. The new port is located 9 kilometers to the east from the old port.
In 1942, Japan took away Batavia from Holland and changed the name to Jakarta. In 1945 Indonesia became a free nation; however Holland was still trying to dominate back Indonesia. During the existence of Holland in Indonesia the name of Jakarta harbor stayed still.
Sunda Kelapa was a major sea port for hundreds of years, dating back to the Sunda Kingdom. It eventually became the gateway to Batavia – the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company. On 6th March 1974, based on the governor of DKI Jakarta’s decision, the name of Sunda Kelapa Harbor being used again as the name of the harbor as a tribute to the long history of the port as the cradle of Jakarta.
There were no remains of Jakarta except for the Padrao stone now stored at the National Museum in Jakarta. The Jayakarta grave was possibly located in Pulau Gadung. If we stand on top of Menara Syahbandar and look around, we can enjoy the beautiful panorama in the oldest area of Batavia. Certainly, we can’t enjoy the remains of the city Sunda Kelapa or Jayakarta. Kasteel or the Dutch fortress, too, has been destroyed. Here we can see several remains from the mid-17th century. Nearly all of the remains are related to trade and sailing.
Tough little remains of bustling old Sunda Kelapa except the name, the harbor is still one of the most important calls for sailing vessels from all over Indonesia. Tall-misted and brightly painted Bugis schooners from South Sulawesi, known as Pinisi, anchoring there offer a picturesque scene. They belong to one of the last-fleets of sailboats in the world and still ply the seas between the islands, as they did centuries ago, carrying merchandise. Pinisi ships were coming from many regions of Indonesia, carrying logs, rattan, copra and other agricultural products to Jakarta. When Pinisi goes back from Jakarta, it carries construction materials like steel and cement.
Wondering around Sunda Kelapa, watching walking gangs of sinew-stretched coolies smoking pungent clove-laced cigarettes manually load and unload cargos of timber, coal and spices the ships via very narrow planks, is a bit like stepping back in time. Hire a dugout canoe and paddlers and enjoy the waterside scenery. The boats also go to the nearby old fish market, which can be reached easily by foot from the port and is free to enter.
Sunda Kelapa Heritage 