Semarang

Semarang is a port on the north coast of Java, where rivers descend from the interior to the Java Sea. Its trade and position on routes to the inland courts made it an important coastal city. Javanese, Chinese and Malay communities lived around the river and market, while the Dutch built a fortified settlement near the residence of the local regent.

In the seventeenth century Semarang belonged to Mataram. The struggle between its ruler Amangkurat II and Trunajaya gave the Dutch East India Company an opportunity to intervene: agreements in 1677 and 1678 granted the company trading privileges and a foothold by the Semarang River. Its fort, known as De Vijfhoek, became the nucleus of a walled settlement. In 1705 Pakubuwono I ceded Semarang to the company, and three years later the VOC moved its office from Jepara to the town. Semarang subsequently grew into the company's headquarters on Java's northeast coast, connecting the sea trade with the Javanese interior.