Surosowan Palace

One can only see this palace’s shape through archeological reconstruction. The building is no longer complete. The only parts remaining are the ruins of its walls and traces of its square rooms’ foundation. Long time ago, this palace was the most important place for Banten people. Here lived the sultans of Banten, since Sultan Maulana Hasanudin (1552) to Sultan Haji who was on throne in 1672-1687.

It was the second sultan, Sultan Maulana Hasanudin, who ordered the building of this palace in 1526. At first, the palace was called Kedaton Pakuwan. In the next years, it was said that the Surosowan Palace was rebuilt three times because it had been destroyed in wars. However, data from the excavation shows that there were two reconstruction phases (Permana, 2004).

The first destruction was in the time of Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa (1680). The palace was burnt down when the sultanate fought against the Dutch. The palace was rebuilt in 1680-1681 (R. Cecep Eka Permana, 2004). In 1808, the Surosowan Palace was destroyed by the Nederlandshe Indische colonial administration along with other palaces including Kaibon Palace where the mother of the sultan lived. It began when Du Puy, the General Governor Herman Daendels ordered Sultan Syafiudin to continue the construction of historic Anyer-Panarukan highway and the Dutch naval base in Teluk Lada in Labuhan. The Sultan firmly rejected. His Majesty even beheaded Du Puy and gave his head to Daendels. The Governor, in great anger, then destroyed Banten Palaces.

Historical bakcground

The main evidence for the existence of Banten Sultanate was ancient manuscript by Pangeran Wangsakerta of Cirebon, dated 17th century. The other evidence was two envoys from Banten Sultanate, Kiai Ngabehi Wira Pradja and Kiai Abi yahya Sendana, to London.

In 16th and 17th century, Banten was growing rapidly. Its port, 2 kilometers away from the government center in Old Banten, was one of the routes for merchants from Gujarat (India), Chinese, Malay, Portuguese, and the Dutch. When Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa was on the throne, Banten was known as pepper exporter. The spices attracted many merchants from different countries who then came and even stayed in Banten. It was evident that here, there are many old building, most of them more than a hundred year of age, such as temples, Old Banten mosque, and traces of Arabian, Indian, and Chinese villages.

Reconstruction of Surosowan Palace

Surosowan Palace lies near the Banten Grand Mosque at Banten Village, Kasemen district, Serang Regency. The mosque itself is a pilgrimage tourism destination.

Surosowan Palace has double meanings. It was a dwelling place for the sultan and his family and also the other royal-related persons as well as the center of the kingdom. In line with the city planning in Javanese culture, Surosowan Palace was the center of the city of Banten. As such, the town square was stretched on the north of the palace, the Grand Mosque was on the west, the Karangantu Market was in the east, and the port was on the north (Permana, 2004).

Surosowan Palace was looked like a strong Dutch fortress with bastions (corner of a diamond-shaped fort) at its four corners. Its total territory was approximately 3.8 acres. The walls were standing 2 meters high surrounding the palace. The three stairways at the front were made of red bricks and rocks, with red parallelogram tiles. There were also a barrack for the royal officers that was called Gedong Ijo.

This palace was equipped with a bath pool for the princess, known as Roro Denok. It still has water now. In the middle of the pool was a resting placed called Bale Kambang. The architect was apparently familiar with clean water filtering technique. It was supposed that there was six water tap at the back of the palace. The taps was made of yellow copper so that they acquired the name of Pancuran Mas (Golden Fountain). While Roro Denok was a bathing place for the princess, Pancuran Mas was for the royal officers.

The palace’s water source was Tasik Ardi Spring, 2.5 kilometers away. Before the water was used for drink, it had to pass three filtering (pengindelan). There were three processes, each was known as Pengindelan Putih, Pengindelan Abang, and Pengindelan Mas. The spring is now still extant and has been one of the tourist attractions at Old Banten, even though its debit is much smaller. However, parts of the terracotta pipes made of clay are covered with soils and streets.

It appears that the palace was connected with the sea by canals because there was a Jembatan Rante at the front of the palace, north of the Grand Mosque. This hydraulic bridge was stretched over the now narrowed canal. The bridge was probably served as a checking point for the ships that traveled in and out to the palace. The bridge was hauled over when a ship passes.

The palace now

The Surosowan Palace is almost completely buried under the ground. Its bricks and rocks are covered with mosses and the rooms only left the traces of their foundations. However, the Roro Denok still functions even though no longer the princess that bathing in the now dirty water, but kids who make it as their playing ground. Most of the parts are still buried. It was only a small part that had been resulted from some excavations by the Direktorat Perlindungan dan Pembinaan Peninggalan Sejarah dan Purbakala in 1967 (Permana, 2004).

Reading:

Anita Yoshihara, 2008. “Banten Lama, Tak Sekadar Ziarah”, dalam Kompas, 17 Mei 2008. available at http://www.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/05/17/14583674/banten.lama.tak.sekadar.wisata.ziarah and http://www.bantenbiz.com/visitbanten/50-banten-lama-lebih-dari-sekadar-wisata-ziarah.html retrieved at 28 Oktober 2009

Anita Yoshihara, 2008. “Kisah perlawanan dari Keraton Surowasan” available at http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/09/26/01121864/kisah.perlawanan.dari.keraton.surosowan retrieved at 29 Oktober 2009

Anonim, 2008. “Situs Bersejarah Banten Lama”, available at http://www.koranbanten.com/2008/03/11/situs-bersejarah-banten-lama/ retrieved at 28 Oktober 2009

R. Cecep Eka Permana, 2004. “Kajian arkeologi mengenai keraton Surosowan Banten Lama, Banten. In Makara, Jurnal Sosial Humaniora, Vol. 8, No. 3, Desember 2004, available at http://www.google.co.id/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjournal.ui.ac.id%2Fupload%2Fartikel%2F04_KAJIAN%2520ARKEOLOGI_Cecep.pdf&ei=TnrpSrbuJ9CNkAW5wN2JDw&usg=AFQjCNEKw_zucoXClPcsieA2NKZdDa36JA. retrieved at 28 Oktober 2009

Sulastri Soetrisno, 2007. “Sejarah Banten – indahnya peninggalan masa lalu.” available at http://www.indonesiamedia.com/2007/03/mid/sejarah/banten.htm retrieved at 28 Oktober 2009

Susi Ivvaty, 2004. “Menengok sisa kejayaan Kasultanan Banten”. available at http://www.indonesiamedia.com/2004/09/mid/budaya/budaya-0904-banten.htm retrieved at 29 Oktober 2009