Banten is the westernmost province on the island of Java, in Indonesia. Its provincial capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta to the east, the Java Sea to the north, the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Sunda Strait to the west, which separates Java from the neighbouring island of Sumatra. The population of Banten was officially estimated at 13,160,496 in the middle of 2020, up from over 10.6 million during the 2010 census. Formerly part of the province of West Java, Banten became a separate province in 2000. The province is a transit corridor to the neighbouring Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Banten region is the homeland of the Bantenese people and has historically had a slightly different culture from the Sundanese people in the West Java region. In recent years, the northern half, particularly those areas near Jakarta and the Java Sea coast, have experienced rapid rises in population and urbanization, while the southern half, particularly that facing the Indian Ocean, maintains a more traditional character.
West Java is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to the west, the Java Sea to the north, the province of Central Java to the east and the Indian Ocean to the south. The province is the native homeland of the Sundanese people, the second-largest ethnic group in Indonesia after the Javanese.
Banten, also written as Bantam, is a port town near the western end of Java, Indonesia. It has a secure harbour at the mouth of Banten River, a navigable passage for light craft into the island's interior. The town is close to the Sunda Strait through which important ocean-going traffic passes between Java and Sumatra. Formerly Old Banten was the capital of a sultanate in the area, was strategically important and a major centre for trade.
Tarumanagara or Taruma Kingdom or just Taruma is an early Sundanese Indianised kingdom, located on Western parts of Java, whose 5th-century ruler, Purnawarman, produced the earliest known inscriptions in Java, which estimated dated from around 450 CE.
The Salakanagara Kingdom is the first historically recorded Indianised kingdom in Western Java. The kingdom existed between 130-362 AD.
Claudius Ptolemaeus has written about Java in his book, Geographie Hypogenesis. He mentions name of Argyre Chora in Labadio. According to the Historian, Labadio means Dwipa-Javaka, Dwipa-Javaka or Java Dwipa, is the ancient name of Java Island. There’s one Kingdom, which rule west coast Java in 160 AD, It was Salakanagara Kingdom. Salakanagara means “Silver Nation”. It reinforces the theory that Ptolomaeus might visited Java in 160 AD.
A relatively modern literature in the 17th century Pustaka Rajya Rajya i Bhumi Nusantara describes Salakanagara as being founded by an Indian merchant from Pallava Kingdom.
The Sunda Kingdom was a Sundanese Hindu kingdom located in the western portion of the island of Java from 669 to around 1579, covering the area of present-day Banten, Jakarta, West Java, and the western part of Central Java. The capital of the Sunda Kingdom moved several times during its history, shifting between the Galuh (Kawali) area in the east and Pakuan Pajajaran in the west.
The Luso-Sundanese padrão is a padrão commemorating a treaty between the kingdoms of Portugal and Sunda, better known as the Luso-Sundanese Treaty of Sunda Kalapa.
The Sultanate of Cirebon was an Islamic sultanate in West Java founded in the 15th century. It is said to have been founded by Sunan Gunungjati, marked by his letter proclaiming Cirebon's independence from Pajajaran in 1482, although the settlement and the polity had been established earlier in 1445. Sunan Gunungjati also established the Sultanate of Banten. It was one of the earliest Islamic states established in Java, along with the Sultanate of Demak.
Pakuan Pajajaran was the fortified capital city of Sunda kingdom. The location is roughly corresponds to modern Bogor city in West Java, Indonesia, approximately around the site of Batu Tulis. The site is revered as the spiritual home of Sundanese people as it contains much of shared identity and history of Sundanese people.
Carita Parahyangan is a text contained in a single manuscript written around the late 16th century, registered as Kropak 406 from the former collection of the Bataviaasch Genootschap voor Kunsten en Wetenschappen, now in the Perpustakaan National in Jakarta. It was identified as early as 1882 by Holle as the "Carita Parahyangan", the name derived from Parahyangan highlands in West Java, originated from Sundanese words which means "the abode of hyangs (gods)". Since that time the manuscript has received much scholarly attention.
KingdomofGaluh was an ancient Hindu kingdom located in the eastern part of Tatar Pasundan, present-day Indonesia. It was established following the end of the Tarumanagara kingdom around the 7th century. Traditionally the kingdom was associated with Eastern Priangan cultural region, around the Citanduy and Cimanuk rivers, with territory spanned from Citarum river on the west, Pamali and Serayu river on the east. Its capital was first located in Karangkamulyan, Ciamis Regency, then Saunggalah, Kuningan, and Kawali, near today Ciamis City. The etymology of "galuh" is Old Sundanese and Old Javanese word for "gemstone".
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish a colonial presence in the East Indies. Their quest to dominate the source of the lucrative spice trade in the early 16th century through the Portuguese East India Company, and their simultaneous Roman Catholic missionary efforts, saw the establishment of trading posts and forts, and a Portuguese cultural element that remains in modern-day Indonesia, although not nearly as strong as in neighbouring East Timor.
Sunda Kelapa is the old port of Jakarta located on the estuarine of Ciliwung River. "Sunda Kalapa" is the original name, and it was the main port of the Sunda Kingdom. The port is situated in Penjaringan sub-district, of North Jakarta, Indonesia. Today the old port only accommodate pinisi, a traditional two masted wooden sailing ship serving inter-island freight service in the archipelago. Although it is now only a minor port, Jakarta has its origins in Sunda Kelapa and it played a significant role in the city's development. The port is currently operated by the state-owned Indonesia Port Corporations.
Port of Tanjung Priok is the busiest and most advanced Indonesian seaport, handling more than 50% of Indonesia's trans-shipment cargo traffic. The port is located at Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, which is operated by Indonesian state owned PT Pelindo II. The port loaded and unloaded 6.2 million, 6.92 million, and 7.8 million TEUs of cargo during 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively, out of a total capacity of about 8 million TEUs. The container port ranked as 22nd busiest in the world by Lloyd's One Hundred Ports 2019.
Parahyangan is a cultural and mountainous region in West Java province on the Indonesian island of Java. Covering an approximately a little less than one sixth of Java, it is the heartland of Sundanese people and their culture. It is bordered to the West by Banten province, to the North by the northern coast region of Subang, Cirebon and Indramayu, to the east by Central Java provinve, and to the south by the Indian Ocean.
Sumedang Larang was an Islamic Kingdom in western Java. Its territories consisted the Parahyangan region, before it became a vassal state under the Mataram Sultanate.
King Siliwangi or Prabu Siliwangi was a semi-legendary great king of the Hindu Sunda kingdom prior to the coming of Islam in West Java.
Kebon Kopi I also known as Tapak Gajah inscription, is one of several inscriptions dated from the era of Tarumanagara Kingdom circa 5th century. The inscription bearing the image of elephant footprint, which was copied from the elephant ride of King Purnawarman of Tarumanagara, which is equated with Airavata, the elephant vahana (vehicle) of Indra.
Cidanghiang inscription, also called Lebak inscription, is an inscription from the Tarumanagara kingdom, estimated to be from the 4th century CE. The inscription was found in 1947 on the bank of Cidanghiang River in Lebak village, Munjul district, in Pandeglang Regency, Banten, Indonesia. The inscription is written in the Pallava script and composed in the Sanskrit language.
The history of Sunda Kingdom spanned almost a millennium, between 7th to 16th century. It is not sure however, whether the Sunda Kingdom was actually a continuous polity or not, nor whether its rulers belongs to a single continuous lineage of dynasty or not. This is because the scarcity of evidences, historical records and archaeological findings that plausibly connected to this kingdom.
