Semarang

Semarang is a city on the north coast of the island of Java, Indonesia. It is the capital of the province of Central Java (Jawa Tengah). It has an area of 373,67 km² and approximately 1.5 million people making it the Indonesia's fifth largest city . Semarang is located at {{coor dm|6|58|S|110|25|E|}}. A major port during the Dutch colonial era, and still an important port today, the city is known in Indonesia for its large ethnically Chinese population. The name of the city, Semarang, may have originated from the concatenation of the words "asem" (tamarind) and "arang".

History

Semarang's history dates back to the ninth century, when it was known as Bergota. By the end of fifteenth century, an Arab mullah with the name of Kyai Pandan Arang founded a village and an Islamic boarding school in this place. On 2 May 1547, after consulting Sunan Kalijaga, Sultan Hadiwijaya of Pajang declared Kyai Pandan Arang the first bupati (town leader) of Semarang, thus culturally and politically, on this day Semarang was born.

Related Topics:
Mullah - Kyai Pandan Arang - 2 May - 1547 - Kalijaga - Hadiwijaya - Pajang - Pandan Arang - Bupati

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In 1678, Sunan Amangkurat II promised to give control of Semarang to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a part of a debt payment. In 1682, the Semarang state was founded by the Dutch colonial power. On 5 October 1705 after years of occupations, Semarang officially became a VOC city when Susuhunan Pakubuwono I made a deal to give extensive trade rights to the VOC in exchange of wiping out Mataram's debt. VOC and later the Dutch East Indies government established tobacco plantations in the region, and built roads and railroads, making Semarang an important colonial trading centre.

Related Topics:
Amangkurat II - Dutch East India Company - 1682 - 5 October - 1705 - Pakubuwono I - Mataram - Dutch East Indies - Tobacco

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Beginning in the 1920s the city became a center of leftist and nationalist activism. Particularly with the founding in the city of the Communist Party of Indonesia, Semarang became known as the "Red City". The Japanese military occupied the city, along with the rest of Java, in 1942 during Pacific War of World War II. During that time, Semarang was headed by a military governor (Shico) from Japan and two vice governors (Fuku Shico), one from Japan and one from local. After Indonesian independence in 1945, Semarang became the capital of Central Java province.

Related Topics:
Leftist - Nationalist - Communist Party of Indonesia - Japan - Pacific War - World War II - Central Java

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