History of Semarang

Indonesia - Jakarta - Lombok - Semarang - Yogyakarta - Bali Semarang is the capital city of Java, Indonesia and the place is fascinating in terms of history and the interesting locales here. However the place is famous for the interesting history associated with the place. Semarang has quite an eventful past and the place has its history dates back to the ninth century and was known as Bergota. In the 15th century an Islamic Boarding school was established by an Arab and the school was called Kyai Pandan Arang and on 2nd May 1547 Sultan Hadiwijaya of Pajang declared Kyai Pandan Arang as the first bupati of Semarang and thus formally and officially Semarang came into existence on that day.

Sunan Amangkurat II decided to hand over the power to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a repayment of a debt. However the Semarang state came into existence in 1682 and was established by the Dutch Colonial power. On October 5th 1705 after many years of occupation Semarang was finally declared as the VOC city when Susuhunan Pakubuwono I had also decided to give the rights to the VOC in return of the Mataram’s debt. Semarang later became a very important colonial trading center with the numerous tobacco plantations in the region and roads and railroads.

In the beginning of the 1920s Semarang had become the nerve center of all leftist and nationalist movements. Semarang was also called the Red City simply because it was found in the Communist Party of Indonesia while the Japanese also had at one point of time occupied the city during the Pacific War of World War II and during that particular time the city of Semarang was ruled by the military government Shiko and there were also two governors and one of them was a local gentleman and the other one was Japanese and in 1945 Semarang was declared the capital city of Java after the Indonesians acquired independence.

Thus one can deduce that Semarang has had a very interesting past and people from all over the world flock here to see this place and also look at the amazing monuments and other attractions here which have gone on to become hugely popular with the tourists.