Sultanate of Banten

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The Sultanate of Banten was founded in the sixteenth century. It is said to have been founded by Sunan Gunungjati, who later went on to found Cirebon.

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[edit] History

Before 526 AD, Banten was not situated on the coast, but about ten kilometers inland in the Cibanten River, in the area which is today occupied by the southern suburbs of the town of Serang. Known as Banten Girang, meaning “Banten-up-the-river it owed its name to its geographical position.[1]

In fact, an ulema known today as Sunan Gunung Jati settled in Banten Girang, with the intention of spreading the world of Islam in this still pagan town. Although at first well received by Sunda authorities, he nevertheless asked Demak sultanate to send troops to capture the town when he judged the time was right. It is likely that his son, Hasanudin, who commanded the military operation in 1527 just as the Portuguese fleet was arriving of the coast.[2]

Sunan Gunung Jati had his son named king of Banten by the Sultan of Demak who, in turn, offered his sister’s hand in marriage to Hasanuddin. Thus a new dynasty was born at the same time as a new kingdom was created. Banten was the capital of this kingdom.[3]

From the beginning it was obviously Hasanuddin’s intention to revive the fortunes of the ancient kingdom of Sunda for his own benefit. One of his earliest decision was to travel to southern Sumatra, which in all likelihood belonged to Sunda kingdom, and from which came the bulk of the pepper sold in Sundanese region. He was keen to assure himself of the loyalty of these wealthy areas as soon as possible and to guarantee supplies of paper for his ports, since it was on this spice that all international trade was based and, hence, in which the wealth of his kingdom lay.[4]

Having established control over the ports and the pepper trade, Hasanuddin decided to build a new capital, to symbolize the new era which was beginning. On the advice of his father, Sunan Gunung Jati, he choose to construct it on the coast at the mouth of the Cibanten River. That a settlement already existed at this place is evidence by its harbour activities, but at this time the seat of political power was in Banten Girang. The royal city was founded on the delta, formed by the two arms of the river. Two main streets running north-south and east-west divided the city into quarters. The royal palace surrounded by residences of the principal Minister of State, was built on the south side of the royal square and the great mosque on the west side. Foreigners, for the most part merchants, had to live outside the royal city, that is on either side of the delta.

Some twenty years, the new dynasty was so firmly established that Hasanuddin had no hesitation in leaving the kingdom in 1546 to take part in a military expedition against Pasuruan, at the request of the Sultan of Demak. The Sultan lost his life in this venture an it is likely that Hasanuddin tokk advantage of his suzerain’s death and the troubles which ensued, to free his kingdom from any further obligations to this royal house.

From 1550 onwards the kingdom enjoyed a period of great prosperity. According to tradition, the development of this kingdom was managed by Hasanuddin’s son, Maulana Yusup, who had become co-sovereign with his father, following a custom long practiced in the archipelago.[5]

Also during this period, Hasanuddin decided to deal the final blow to what remained of the kingdom of Sunda. Maulana Yusup was who led the attack. The city, already deprived of its trading revenues, was of symbolic importance only, and there were even city officials who hoped for and abatted Banten’s victory. Pakuan Pajajaran put up little resistance and henceforth Banten ruled over the entire territory of the former kingdom of Sunda. At their intersection in the royal square was set A sacred stone (watu gigilang) serving as the sovereign’s throne of Sunda kingdom was taken away from Pakuan Pajajaran and put at the street intersection in the royal square of Banten Sultanate. Henceforth this stone was to serve as the sovereign’s throne. When Hasanuddin died in 1570, the royal kingdom of Banten comprised the whole Sundanese Java, with the exception of Cirebon, and all of southern Sumatra, as far as Tulangbawang in the north-east and Bengkulu in the noerth-west. Trade was expanding to become one of the largest in South-East Asia.[6]

[edit] Sultans

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Guillot, Claude (1990). The Sultanate of Banten. Gramedia Book Publishing Division, 12. 
  2. ^ Guillot, Claude (1990). The Sultanate of Banten. Gramedia Book Publishing Division, 17. 
  3. ^ Guillot, Claude (1990). The Sultanate of Banten. Gramedia Book Publishing Division, 18. 
  4. ^ Guillot, Claude (1990). The Sultanate of Banten. Gramedia Book Publishing Division, 19. 
  5. ^ Guillot, Claude (1990). The Sultanate of Banten. Gramedia Book Publishing Division, 20. 
  6. ^ Guillot, Claude (1990). The Sultanate of Banten. Gramedia Book Publishing Division, 21. 

[edit] Reference

  • Sumber-sumber asli sejarah Jakarta, Jilid I: Dokumen-dokumen sejarah Jakarta sampai dengan akhir abad ke-16
  • The Sunda Kingdom of West Java From Tarumanagara to Pakuan Pajajaran with the Royal Center of Bogor, Herwig Zahorka, Yayasan Cipta Loka Caraka, Jakarta, 2007-05-20

[edit] See also

 Indonesia Portal 
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