The Banten Sultanate (Sundanese: ᮊᮞᮥᮜ᮪ᮒᮔᮔ᮪ ᮘᮔ᮪ᮒᮨᮔ᮪, كسلطانن بنتن, Kasultanan Banten) was a Bantenese Islamic trading kingdom founded in the 16th century and centred in Banten, a port city on the northwest coast of Java; the contemporary English name of both was Bantam. It is said to have been founded by Sunan Gunungjati, who had previously founded Cirebon.
Once a great trading centre in Southeast Asia, especially of pepper, the kingdom reached its apogee in the late 16th and mid-17th centuries. By the late 17th century, it was overshadowed by Batavia and was finally annexed to the Dutch East Indies in 1813.
Its core territory now forms the Indonesian province of Banten. Today, in Old Banten, the Great Mosque of Banten is an important destination for tourists and for pilgrims from across Indonesia and from overseas.
Prior to 1526, a settlement called Banten was situated about ten kilometres inland from the coast on the Cibanten River, in what is today a suburb of Serang town. It was known as Banten Girang, meaning "Upper Banten" owing to its location. This town previously was a native Hindu Sundanese principality that was held under the Kingdom of Sunda.
A grandson of the King of Sunda, Sri Baduga Maharaja (also known as Prabu Siliwangi) was an ulama named Sunan Gunungjati (Sharif Hidayatullah). He was part of the educated class of Muslim legal scholars who was educated in the Middle East. In the early 16th century, Gunungjati arrived in the town of Banten Girang with the intention of spreading Islam in the then Hindu-dominated area. Gunungjati eventually became the tumenggong of the Sultanate of Cirebon in 1479, succeeding his uncle and father-in-law Prince Cakrabuana who had also founded Cirebon town in 1445. In 1482 Gunungjati sent a letter to his grandfather, proclaiming independence of Cirebon from Sunda. According to the Suma Oriental, written in 1512–1515 by Tomé Pires, a Portuguese explorer, it was reported that the port of Banten still belonged to the Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, while Cirebon had been established as an Islamic state.
"First the king of Çumda (Sunda) with his great city of Dayo, the town and lands and port of Bantam (Banten), the port of Pomdam (Pontang), the port of Cheguide (Cigede), the port of Tamgaram (Tangerang), the port of Calapa (Kelapa), and the port of Chemano (Chi Manuk or Cimanuk), this is Sunda, because the river of Chi Manuk is the limit of both kingdoms.
Now comes Java and we must speak of the kings within the hinterland. The land of Cheroboam (Cirebon), the land of Japura, the land of Locarj (Losari), the land of Tateguall (Tegal), the land of Camaram (Semarang), the land of Demaa (Demak)."
— Suma Oriental.
Although at first well received by the Sunda authorities, once news of the Portuguese-Sunda alliance in 1522 became known, Gunungjati asked the Demak Sultanate to send troops to Banten, starting the Demak-Sundanese war. It was likely that his son Hasanudin commanded this military operation in 1527, just as the Portuguese fleet was arriving of the coast at Sunda Kelapa to capture these towns. Subsequently, the Portuguese fleet that intended to establish a coastal fortress was defeated by the combined Cirebon and Demak forces.
Gunungjati and his son settled in Banten Girang, and took control of both the port of Banten and Kelapa, while Surawisesa, the king of Sunda at that time was powerless to prevent this takeover and signed a peace treaty with Demak and Cirebon in 1531. Gunungjati crowned Hasanudin as the temenggong of Banten with authority bestowed by the Sultan of Demak Trenggana who, in turn, offered Hasanudin his sister's hand in marriage. This resulted in the establishment of a new dynasty and a new kingdom. Old Banten (currently part of Serang town) was the capital of this kingdom, and was held as a province under the Sultanate of Cirebon.
Growth
Initial expansion of Hasanuddin
Sultan Hasanuddin planned on reviving the fortunes of the ancient kingdom of Sunda — the rice and spice trade, especially pepper. One of his earliest decisions was to travel to southern Sumatra (today Lampung province), which had traditionally belonged to the kingdom of Sunda, and from which the bulk of the pepper sold in the Sundanese region came. He was keen to assure himself of the loyalty of these agriculturally wealthy areas as soon as possible and to guarantee supplies of pepper 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.
Having established control over the ports and the pepper trade, Hasanuddin decided to build a new capital, to symbolise the new era which was beginning. On the advice of his father, Sunan Gunungjati, he chose to construct it on the coast at the mouth of the Cibanten River. A settlement had already existed at this place as evidenced by its harbour activities, however the settlement's 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 was surrounded by residences of the principal minister of state, and was built on the south side of the royal square while 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. The international trade was accommodated in the larger western harbour where Pecinan (Chinatown), European trading post and the foreigner quarters were located, while the eastern port accommodated domestic trade with smaller vessels, and where the retail market was also located. A ship-wright to repair ships was located on the eastern side of the city. Hasanuddin tried to invade multiple times during the reign of Ratu Dewata, however his efforts failed due to the strong defense employed by the Sundanese army.
After 20 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 in eastern Java, at the request of Sultan Trenggana, the third sultan of Demak. At that time, Banten was still under the suzerainty of Demak, and thus were obliged to fulfill the duty as a vassal state to participate in Demak's endeavour. During this venture, the Demak Sultan lost his life, and it is likely that Hasanuddin took advantage of his suzerain's death and the troubles which ensued to free his kingdom from any further obligations to this royal house.
From the 1550s onwards the kingdom enjoyed a period of great prosperity. Trade saw a significant growth due to the flourishing trade with Portuguese Malacca, a former enemy that despite their political rivalry, saw Portuguese fleets trading in Banten for pepper. According to tradition, the development of this kingdom was managed by Hasanuddin's son, Maulana Yusuf, who had become co-sovereign with his father, following a custom long practised in the archipelago.
Rapid economic development led to an increase of the urban population. Major agricultural developments to ensure food production was launched, by constructing irrigation canals, dams and the expansion of ricefields. The royal city itself had undertaken a major project; 1.80 metres thick brick ramparts were built encircling the entire city which spanned 8 kilometres. Maulana Yusuf also led the construction of the Great Mosque of Banten, perhaps built upon an older and simpler structure.
Also during this period, Hasanuddin decided to launch the final blow to what remained of the Kingdom of Sunda. Maulana Yusuf led the attack on Dayeuh Pakuan, its capital city located in modern Bogor. After losing its most important port Sunda Kelapa, the kingdom, already deprived of its trading revenues, was of symbolic importance only. Nilakendra, the Sundanese ruler at that time, decided to move the center of government to Pulasari (present-day Pandeglang Regency). The already-weakened kingdom put up little resistance and henceforth Banten ruled over the territory of the former Kingdom of Sunda west of the Citarum River. Geusan Ulun, the ruler of Sumedang Larang, refused to acknowledge Banten's authority over the former territory of Sunda and proclaimed his kingdom as the successor of Sunda. Sumedang Larang would later become part of the Mataram Sultanate.
The sacred stone (watu gigilang) that was serving as the sovereign's throne of the Sunda Kingdom was taken away and placed at the street intersection in the royal square of Banten, thus marking the end of the Sundanese dynasty. Henceforth, this stone was to serve as the Banten sovereign's throne.
When Hasanuddin died in 1570, the royal kingdom of Banten comprised all of Sunda, except for Cirebon and Sumedang Larang, and all of southern Sumatra, as far as Tulangbawang (modern-day Lampung) and Bengkulu. Trade was expanding to become one of the largest in Southeast Asia.
Maulana Yusuf and a crisis of succession
After the death of Hasanuddin in 1570 at 70 years old, Maulana Yusuf ascended the throne when he was about 40. He was already an experienced ruler as co-sovereign with his late father. During Yusuf's reign, his younger brother Pangeran Japara returned from Jepara in Central Java. The name of this prince describes that he had spent his life in Jepara, the late king Hasanuddin had entrusted his younger son under the care of Queen Kalinyamat of Jepara.
Yusuf chose his young son Prince Muhammad as heir. However, not long after, Yusuf fell ill and died in 1580. The chosen successor, Prince Muhammad was only a child of 9 years old at that time and was not come of age. Thus, this provoked the first crisis of succession, as his uncle — Pangeran Japara, was eager to replace his late brother as the new king of Banten.
This created two factions in Banten's court; one led by the Prime Minister of the late Yusuf that supported Pangeran Japara, while the other faction was led by the qadi of Banten, an important religious figure and the head of the regency council that insisted on the protection of the inheritance and rights of the child prince Muhammad. The tension increased and almost broke into a war of succession, yet being undone in the last minute due to the reversal of the Prime Minister who withdrew his support for Pangeran Japara.
Claude Guillot, a historian on Banten, argues that in the Banten court there was two competing factions; the liberals represented by Ponggawa civil servants and merchants, and the elitist Nayaka and Santana nobilities who favoured strong government control. The rise of the child prince as the successor was a victory for the liberals which saw more years of economic liberty without too much interference from the royal household.
Muhammad and the Palembang campaign
Prince Muhammad ascended to the throne in 1580 when he was 9 years of age. During the reign of the young king, Banten continued to flourish as merchants enjoyed relative freedom in trade. Pepper remained Banten's top export commodity. However, the wealth was generated by large numbers of merchants from the ports of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea that was flocking to Banten. The influx of traders filled the tax income of Banten's treasury.
Feeling confident of the wealth and the power of his kingdom, the youthful 25 year-old King Muhammad in 1596 launched a military campaign against the principality of Palembang — both by naval fleet and by land army marching through Southern Sumatra. At that time, Palembang was still a Hindu-Buddhist polity, a remnant of Majapahit overseas vassal, which was regarded by Muslim Banten as a pagan state. Inspired by his illustrious grandfather Hasanuddin and his valiant father Maulana Yusuf, that conquered the pagan kingdom of Sunda, Muhammad was eager to find fame of his own by expanding his realm. By 1596 the siege of Palembang was set in place, and when victory seemed within his grasp, a sudden tragedy happened as a cannonball struck and killed the king on his ship when he was sailing on the Musi River by the city. With the sudden death of the young monarch, Banten's expansionist policy was shattered, as the troops retreated and sailed home.
The successor, the infant and future Sultan Abulmafakhir was still a few months old, when a few months after the king's death, a new faction of European merchant fleets arrived in Banten. On 27 June 1596 Dutch trade ships led by Cornelis de Houtman, the first Dutch fleet to arrive in East Indies, landed in Banten. On its return to the Netherlands, the voyage (1595–97) generated a modest profit.