On Saturday, October 8th 2011, I went to Jakarta History Museum (also known as Fatahillah Museum) it is housed in the former City Hall located in the old part of the city now known as Kota, some hundred meters behind the port and warehouses of Sunda Kelapa. Jakarta History Museum is located in the building which was the former City Hall of Batavia, known in the past as Stadhuis. This building was the administrative headquarters of the Dutch East India Company and later of the Dutch Colonial Government. The current building was constructed in 1707 by the city government, replacing the former city hall built in 1627. Governor General Abraham van Riebeeck inaugurated it in 1710.
The building contains 37 ornate rooms. There are also some cells located beneath the front portico which were used as dungeons and filthy water. Most prisoners, both Dutch rebels and Indonesian were publicly flogged, barbarically impaled and executed on the square called the Stadhuisplein--now known as Fatahillah Square--while the Dutch overlords looked down superciliously on the proceedings below from the portico and windows above. A Javanese freedom fighter Prince Diponegoro, who was treacherously arrested, was imprisoned here in 1830 before being banished to Manado, North Sulawesi. Another freedom fighter earlier imprisoned here around 1670 was Untung Suropati from East Java.
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| Stadhuisplein, Fatahillah square. |
This building is located in front of a public square, which in the past was known as Stadhuisplein, the City Hall Square. In the center of the square is a fountain which was used as a water supply during colonial era. Also located in the square is a Portuguese cannon (known as Si Jagur Cannon) with a hand ornament showing a fico gesture, which is believed by local people to be able to induce fertility on women. The square was also used as the place of executions.
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| Execution part. |
In 1970, the Fatahillah Square was declared a Cultural Heritage. This effort was the beginning of the development of the historical area of the City of Jakarta, carried out by the Government of DKI Jakarta. The Jakarta History Museum was inaugurated on 30 March 1974 as the center for collection (displays the history of Jakarta from prehistoric days to the founding of the town of Jayakarta in 1527 by Prince Fatahillah of Banten and through Dutch colonization from the 16th century onwards until Indonesia’s Independence in 1945) conservation and research for all kinds of objects of cultural heritage related to the history of the City of Jakarta. The building's generous scale with massive timber beams and floorbands.
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Jakarta History Museum has a collection of around 23,500 objects, some of them inherited from de Oude Bataviasche Museum (now the Wayang Museum). The collection includes objects from the Dutch East Indies Company, historic maps, paintings, ceramics, furnitures, and archeological objects from the prehistoric era such as ancient inscriptions and sword. museum. Jakarta History Museum also contains the richest collection of Betawi style furnitures from the 17th to the 19th century. The collections are divided into several rooms such as Prehistoric Jakarta Room, Tarumanegara Room, Jayakarta Room, Fatahillah Room, Sultan Agung Room, and MH Thamrin Room.
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| Hermes Statue. |
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| Prison Underground. |
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| Si Jago Cannon. |
Si Jagur cannon was from in Macao. The cannon was brought to Malako by the Portugal fleet that was dominating Malaka at that time. In 1641 the Dutch fleet brought the cannon to Batavia. The weight of Si Jagur cannon is 3.5 tons with length of 3.84 meters and 25 cm diameter of the pitch. There’s a script “Ex me ipsa renata sum” written on the cannon, which means “from myself, I’m reborn”. Some people believe that Si Jagur cannon is the symbol of fertility, may be because of the script and the how the finger shaped at the back end of its body.
The museum also contains a replica of the Tugu Inscription from the age of Great King Purnawarman, which is the evidence that the center of the Kingdom of Tarumanegara was located around the seaport of Tanjung Priok on the coast of Jakarta. There is also a replica of the 16th century map of the Portuguese Padrao Monument, a historical evidence of the ancient Sunda Kelapa Harbor.
Further historical evidence of thriving Sunda Kelapa Harbour is in 16th. Century map and replica of the 1522 Padrao monument, commemorating the friendship treaty between the Portuguese and the Sunda kingdom. Furthermore, maps and drawings show the establishment of the City of Jayakarta in 1527 by Prince Fatahillah. While the rich collection of Betawi and Colonial style furniture dating to the 17th, 18th and 19th century belongs to one of the most complete in the world. This collection reflects the influences of various cultural elements on the City of Batavia, namely from Europe, especially from the Netherlands, from China and India as well as from Indonesia itself.
And to bring more life and activities to the Old Batavia square, today, the Jakarta Government has organized regular attractions involving local communities and their cultures. On Sundays, shows are performed presenting the Zapin dance, a combination of Betawi and Middle Eastern influences, the Barongsai Chinese lion dance, the Portuguese influenced keroncong music, the typical Betawi Tanjidor music, batik fashion shows, vintage cars parades, food and souvenirs and fireworks.
