Naditira Widya Vol.14 No.2 Oktober 2020-Balai Arkeologi Provinsi Kalimantan Selatan p-ISSN: 1410-0932; e-ISSN: 2548-4125 BANDAR SUKABUMI IN THE BEGINNING OF THE 19TH CENTURY: THE ROLE OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RIVER-CITY IN KOTAWARINGIN REGION, SOUTHWESTERN KALIMANTAN BANDAR SUKABUMI PADA AWAL ABAD KE-19 MASEHI: PERAN OTORITAS POLITIK DALAM PENGEMBANGAN KOTA SUNGAI DI KAWASAN KOTAWARINGIN, KALIMANTAN BARAT DAYA Moh Ali Fadillah Department of History Education, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training Program, University of Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa, Serang–Banten, Indonesia; email: [email protected] Diterima 2 Juli 2020 Direvisi 19 September 2020 Disetujui 8 Oktober 2020 Abstract. Kotawaringin is the name of a small kingdom founded in the first half of the 17th century, centered in Kotawaringin Lama on the upper reaches of Sungai Lamandau, in southwestern Kalimantan. In the early 19th century the royal capital was moved to Pangkalan Bun. The shift of the capital city is an important factor in the history of human geography as a cause of changes in demography and urbanization. This research aimed to find clarity about the agglomeration of river cities in terms of symbolic and pragmatic aspects. Such aspects include the origin, existence, reasons for shifting capital and the type of culture that underlies the function of Kotawaringin as a center of government and trade that grew during the early colonial period. The research used methods which were carried out by observing sites indicated as capitals and ports, combining it with studies of historical sources, as well as collecting physical evidence, including a number of symbolic objects associated with royal legitimacy. Results of contextual analysis provide a set of knowledge about the growth of river city as the implementation of the spatial planning policy of the government and the support of urban communities rooted in Malay culture. The Kingdom of Kotawaringin reached a peak of progress during the reign of Prince Ratu Imanuddin, after the capital was moved to Pangkalan Bun from Kotawaringin Lama. The location of the new capital is on the lower reaches of the Sungai Lamandau, precisely on the banks of the Sungai Arut, which was formerly called Bandar Sukabumi. Keywords: Kotawaringin, Human geography, Pangkalan Bun, River city, Malay culture, Political economy Abstrak. Kotawaringin adalah nama sebuah kerajaan kecil yang didirikan pada paruh pertama abad ke-17 Masehi, berpusat di Kotawaringin Lama di kawasan hulu Sungai Lamandau, di barat daya Kalimantan. Pada awal abad ke-19 Masehi, ibukota kerajaan dipindahkan ke Pangkalan Bun. Pergeseran ibukota merupakan faktor penting dalam sejarah geografi manusia sebagai penyebab perubahan demografi dan urbanisasi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kejelasan tentang aglomerasi kota sungai ditinjau dari aspek simbolik dan pragmatis. Aspek-aspek tersebut mencakup asal usul, keberadaan, alasan perpindahan ibukota dan jenis budaya yang mendasari fungsi Kotawaringin sebagai pusat pemerintahan dan perdagangan yang tumbuh pada masa kolonial awal. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode yang dilakukan dengan mengamati situs-situs yang diindikasikan sebagai ibukota dan pelabuhan, memadukannya dengan studi sumber-sumber sejarah, serta mengumpulkan bukti-bukti fisik, termasuk sejumlah benda simbolis yang terkait dengan legitimasi kerajaan. Hasil analisis kontekstual memberikan seperangkat pengetahuan tentang pertumbuhan kota sungai sebagai implementasi kebijakan perencanaan tata ruang pemerintah, dan dukungan masyarakat kota yang berakar pada budaya Melayu. Kerajaan Kotawaringin mencapai puncak kemajuan pada masa pemerintahan Pangeran Ratu Imanuddin, setelah ibu kota dipindahkan ke Pangkalan Bun dari Kotawaringin Lama. Lokasi ibu kota baru berada di bagian hilir Sungai Lamandau, tepatnya di tepi Sungai Arut yang dahulu dinamai Bandar Sukabumi. Kata kunci: Kotawaringin, geografi manusia, Pangkalan Bun, Kota sungai, Budaya Melayu, ekonomi politik INTRODUCTION character of a royal capital city in an urban landscape can make a difference from rural The existence of a royal capital city in the settlements, especially in Kalimantan, Indonesian Malay world in the period of Islamic history is Borneo. Archaeological research supported by always interesting to study, both from the physical ethnohistoric sources relating to the subject and socio-economic dimensions. The prominent revealed various cultural phenomena in the spaces 121 Bandar Sukabumi in the Beginning of the 19th Century: The Role of Political Authority in the Development of River-City in Kotawaringin Region, Southwest Kalimantan- Moh Ali Fadillah (121-136) Doi: 10.24832/nw.v14i2.427 occupied. In the case of Kotawaringin in the Hindarto 2017). Between the 16th and 17th southwestern region of Kalimantan, this brief centuries, the coastal cities of the 14th century growing period of river city can be explored continued to develop under the Islamic regime through traces of its past which began with the (Manguin 2000). The new cities include Pontianak decisive journey of a prince of the Banjar dynasty (Lombard 1984), followed by Mempawah, to ‘open a new country’ known as the Buka Negeri Sukadana, Sambas (Kratz 1980) as well as tradition (Logan 1848; the case of Kotawaringin, Martapura and Banjarmasin (Ras 1990) that grew Figure 1). as the center of the Malay sultanate cities. Evidence found in the Kotawaringin river catchment, in the Lamandau and Arut branches, still leaves some physical and cultural traces which are thought to originate in the 17th century. The problem is that there is a very limited source of information about the history of Kotawaringin. It is acknowledged that the principality or ‘princedom’ of Kotawaringin was also the heir of the Banjar dynasty (Dijk 1962). However, the attention of scholars was more directed at the Banjar sultanate, the royal ‘mother’ who initiated the birth of Kotawaringin four centuries ago. Source: Ras 1990 The tendency for a subjective choice can be Figure 1 The Territorial Expansion of the Banjar understood because since the early 17th century Dynasty to Kotawaringin Banjarmasin has played an essential role in the political and economic domain. Many foreign In a fairly old tradition, the determination of traders such as the Dutch, British and Chinese as urban and rural locations in Kalimantan is always well as traders from other regions in the river-oriented. Since the 14th century, as archipelago have visited and traded in mentioned in the Nagarakertagama text, almost all Banjarmasin (Gais 1922). In the second half of the Majapahit tributaries in Nusa Tanjung Negara 19th century, due to economic motives, the (Kalimantan today) have been located in coastal sultanate faced various pressures from the colonial areas or on the banks of rivers that are easily regime until finally lost its sovereignty (Rees 1865- reached. Kutai and Pasir on the east coast, Baritu, 1867). The dramatic contestation as the ‘Banjar Sampit, Kutawaringin on the south coast, while War’ did not occur in the history of Kotawaringin. Tanjungpuri, Lawe, Landak, and Sambas are This Kotawaringin region, therefore, was located on the west coast (Pigeaud 1963; also see spared from total destruction whose historical and Fadillah 1998). Some evidence of Majapahit archaeological remains, though mostly made of influence was found at the open site of Candi wood, still give us some objective testimony about Laras, in the southeastern region of Kalimantan, their existence. Such a reason may have caused such as the brick structure, Hindu relics, inscription Kotawaringin less attractive to historians. in Sanskrit and its associated findings which are Kotawaringin is only known as a peripheral country thought to originate from the golden age of whose historical discourse is still shrouded in Majapahit (Kusmartono and Suhadi 1997; legend. However, such status was not substantial. Sulistyanto 2000). While at the Negeri Baru site, The most important issue is that until the 1990s the old Tanjungpura area, in Ketapang, in the there were no specific studies from the disciplines province of West Kalimantan, researchers have of history, archaeology, and other social sciences discovered also ancient Islamic tomb complexes in the area (Fadillah et al. 1990). with ancient Javanese inscriptions and also brick The present research focuses on the urban structures from the same era as stated in the news spatial planning and ports related to Kotawaringin of findings in 1993 and that gave a reason for to obtain specific ideas that underlie the formation archaeological excavation at the site (Atmojo 2013; of a Malay estuary civilization in the lowlands of see also Amerta Berkala Arkeologi, 14, 1993/1994; Kalimantan. The main problem starts from the 122 Naditira Widya Vol.14 No.2 Oktober 2020-Balai Arkeologi Provinsi Kalimantan Selatan p-ISSN: 1410-0932; e-ISSN: 2548-4125 fundamental question, what is the role of the period, from an independent country to a colonial Kotawaringin political authority in spatial planning regime. Some of the remaining buildings show a which has implications for the development of certain characteristic and provide a set of aspects river-city culture? The answer to that question is of Islamic civilization from the former principality of expected to be able to explain whether the design Kotawaringin. Results of field observations of cities in Kotawaringin shows a certain indicated the first capital city was located in a place uniqueness and whether it has