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History
 Jakarta's history
began in the 14th century as a small harbor town
called Sunda Kelapa during Java's last Hindu
kingdom of Sunda or Pajajaran as it is more
popularly known. The Portuguese were the first Westerners
to set foot on its shores.
From Malaka in
nowadays Malaysia, the city they had already
conquered in 1511, the Portuguese in 1522 sent an
emissary to negotiate a treaty with the King of
Sunda or Pajajaran for the founding of a
fortification on the mouth of Ciliwung River.
Fearing the invasion of Islam, the King of
Pajajaran gave his permission for the Portuguese
to built the fortress.
But it was not
until 1527 that the Portuguese sent an armada to
Sunda Kelapa to start building the fortress.
Meanwhile, Islamic forces from Banten under the
leadership of Fatahillah attacked and conquered
Sunda Kelapa. Unaware of the changed situation,
the small Portuguese armada who arrived from
Malaka to built the fortress was attacked and
easily destroyed by Fatahillah forces.
The name Sunda
Kelapa was changed into Jayakarta, meaning the
City of Victory. It happened on June 22, 1527, and
to this day on that date is confirmed as the
anniversary of Jakarta's founding. The Dutch
arrived in 1596 when Cornelis de Houtman landed at
the harbor of Jayakarta and got permission to
build a lodge or trading post on the eastern bank
of Ciliwung River.
 The Dutch broke the
agreement by building a fortress, complete with
bastions and equipped it with cannons. Meanwhile,
not trusting the Dutch completely, Prince
Jayakarta -- ruler of Jayakarta -- permitted the British
to build a trading lodge on the western bank of
Ciliwung River, just opposite the Dutch fortress.
Fearing competition
from the British, the Dutch under the command of
Jan Pieterzoon Coen aimed their cannons towards
the kraton of Prince Jayakarta and at the British
settlement. The act insulted and enraged Prince
Jayakarta so that the prince and Jayakartans
attacked the Dutch fortress. Coen fled to Maluku
(the Malacca) to get help from the Dutch fleet
stationed there. In 1619 Coen came back with the
Dutch from Maluku, attacked and conquered
Jayakarta. He razed Jayakarta to the ground and on
it ashes the Dutch founded a new settlement,
calling it Batavia in honor of their ancestors.
The Dutch made
Batavia the centre for the expansion of their
power in the East Indies for nearly three and a
half centuries. Shortly after the outbreak of
World War II, Batavia fell into the invading
Japanese forces who changed its name into Jakarta
again in a gesture aimed at winning the sympathy
of the Indonesians.
The Japanese left
Indonesia after they surrendered to the Americans
who destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs
in early August 1945. The Dutch tried to reoccupy
Jakarta, but before the Dutch arrived, on August
17, 1945, Soekarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed
Indonesia's independence. The name Jakarta was
retained up till now.
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