Early history in 1599 , Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin founded the
Sultanate of Banten. During the fifth century, Banten was part of the kingdom of
Tarumanagara. The fourth-century
Lebak inscription, discovered in 1947 in a lowland village on the Cidanghiyang River in , contains two lines of
Sanskrit poetry in the
Pallawa script which describes life in the kingdom under the reign of
Purnawarman. The kingdom collapsed after an attack by
Srivijaya, and western Java became part of the
Sunda Kingdom. In the Chinese
Chu-fan-chi, written around 1225,
Chou Ju-kua wrote that Srivijaya ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java during the early 13th century.
Chu-fan-chi identified the port of Sunda as strategic and thriving, with
pepper from Sunda among the highest quality. The population were made up of farmers, and their houses were built on wooden poles (
rumah panggung). Robbery, however, was common. According to Portuguese explorer
Tome Pires, Bantam (
Banten) was an important early-16th-century port in the Kingdom of Sunda along with the ports of
Pontang, Cheguide (Cigede), Tangaram (
Tangerang), Calapa (
Sunda Kelapa) and Chimanuk (on the
Cimanuk river estuary). In 1527, as the Portuguese fleet arrived off the coast, newly-converted
Javanese Muslims under
Sunan Gunungjati captured the port of Banten and the surrounding area from the Sundanese and established the
Sultanate of Banten. According to Portuguese historian
João de Barros,
Banten was the center of the sultanate and a major
Southeast Asian port (rivaling
Malacca and
Makassar). The town of Banten was in the middle of the bay, about across. It was 850
fathoms in length. A river, navigable by
junks, flowed through the center of the town; a small tributary extended to the town's edge. The present-day river is smaller, and only navigable by small boats. A fortress near the town had brick walls seven
palms thick. Armed, wooden defence buildings were two stories high. The town square was used for military activities and folk art, with a market in the morning. The palace was on the south side of the square. Next to the palace is a tall, flat-roofed building known as Srimanganti, which was used by the king to meet his subjects. West of the square is the
Great Mosque of Banten.
Colonial era Herman Willem Daendels ordered the annexation of the
Banten Sultanate. This marked the end of the four-century-old sultanate and the beginning of 150 years of
Dutch rule in the region. When the Dutch arrived in Indonesia, the Portuguese had long been in Banten. The English established a
factory in Banten, followed by the Dutch. The French and the Danish also came to trade in Banten. In the competition among European traders, the Dutch emerged victorious. The Portuguese left Banten in 1601 after their fleet was destroyed by the Dutch off the coast during the
Dutch–Portuguese War. In 16th century, Chinese junk ships regularly traded with Jambi, Patani, Siam and Cambodia. Local Muslim women who dealt in the cloth trade willingly married Han Chinese men in Palembang and Jambi and also local Muslim women in Banten married Han Chinese men. The Han Chinese men usually converted to Islam to please their Muslim wives. Although the Dutch won the war, they preserved the
Banten Sultanate. The maritime sultanate relied on trade, and the pepper monopoly in
Lampung made the Banten authorities intermediaries. The sultanate grew rapidly, becoming a commercial center. As sea trade increased throughout the archipelago, Banten became a multi-ethnic region. Assisted by the British, Danish and Chinese, Banten traded with
Persia,
India,
Siam,
Vietnam,
the Philippines,
China and
Japan. The reign of Sultan
Ageng Tirtayasa was the sultanate's height. Under his reign, Banten had one of the strongest navies in the region, built to European standards with help from European shipbuilders and attracted Europeans to the sultanate. To secure its shipping lanes, Banten sent its fleet to
Sukadana (the present-day
Ketapang Regency in
West Kalimantan) and conquered it in 1661. Banten also tried to escape the pressure of the
Dutch East India Company (VOC), which had blockaded incoming merchant ships. In the ensuing war, Ageng withdrew from his palace to Tirtayasa (present-day
Tangerang); on 28 December 1682, the region was seized by Haji with Dutch assistance. Ageng and his other sons, Pangeran Purbaya and Syekh Yusuf from
Makassar, retreated to the southern Sunda interior. On 14 March 1683, Sultan Ageng was captured and imprisoned in
Batavia. The VOC continued to pursue and suppress Sultan Ageng's followers, led by Prince Purbaya and Sheikh Yusuf. On 5 May 1683, the VOC sent Lieutenant
Untung Surapati and his Balinese troops, joining forces led by VOC Lieutenant Johannes Maurits van Happel to subdue the and
Dayeuhluhur regions; on 14 December 1683, they captured Sheikh Yusuf. Heavily outnumbered, Prince Purbaya surrendered. Surapati was ordered by Captain Johan Ruisj to pick up Purbaya and bring him to Batavia. They met with VOC forces led by Willem Kuffeler, but a dispute between them destroyed Kuffeler's forces; Surapati and his followers became fugitives from the VOC. 's painting of Banten in 1694 Lampung was given to the VOC on 12 March 1682 by Sultan Haji as compensation for the company's support, and a 22 August 1682 letter gave the VOC the province's pepper monopoly. The sultanate also had to reimburse the VOC for losses caused by the war. After Sultan Haji's death in 1687, the VOC's influence in the sultanate began to increase; the appointment of a new sultan required the approval of the governor-general in Batavia. Sultan Abu Fadhl Muhammad Yahya ruled for about three years before he was replaced by his brother, Pangeran Adipati (Sultan Abul Mahasin Muhammad Zainul Abidin). The civil war in Banten left instability for the next government, due to dissatisfaction with the VOC's interference in local affairs. In 1808, at the peak of the
Napoleonic Wars, Governor-general
Herman Willem Daendels ordered the construction of the
Great Post Road to defend Java from British attack. Daendels ordered the sultan of Banten to move his capital to
Anyer and provide labor to build a port in
Ujung Kulon. The sultan defied Daendels' order, and Daendels ordered an attack on Banten and the destruction of Surosowan Palace. The sultan and his family were held in the palace before their imprisonment in Fort Speelwijk. Sultan Abul Nashar Muhammad Ishaq Zainulmutaqin was then exiled to Batavia. On 22 November 1808, Daendels announced from his
Serang headquarters that the sultanate had been absorbed into the
Dutch East Indies. The sultanate was abolished in 1813 by the British after the
invasion of Java. That year, Sultan Muhammad bin Muhammad Muhyiddin Zainussalihin was disarmed and forced to abdicate by
Thomas Stamford Raffles; this ended the sultanate. After the British returned Java to the Dutch in 1814 as part of the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Banten became a
residentie (residency) of the Dutch East Indies. The rōmusha working in the mines were taken from
Central and
East Java, the railway rōmusha were primarily from Banten. The construction took 12 million human days over 14 months. Working conditions were harsh due to food shortages, lack of medical care, and the tropical climate. Casualties are estimated at 20,000 to 60,000, not including mine workers. After Indonesian independence, Banten became part of the province of
West Java. Separatist sentiment led to the creation of the province of Banten in October 17, 2000. == Geography ==