Mataram handed over Semarang to the VOC

1677 - 1678

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Caption Bahasa Indonesia

Pagger Fort van Semarang

Source: 's Comp:s Pagger tot Samarangh, seer defensief voor de Javanen [Nationaal Archief]

On 15 January 1678 , a specific agreement concerning the cession of the territory of Semarang to the VOC was signed by Tummenggung Martapura with the permission of Amangkurat II and Admiral Cornelis Janzoon Speelman at the VOC post in Jepara. Mataram gave part of the territory of Semarang to the VOC in return for the successful suppression of the Trunojoyo movement.

Related event:

19-20 October 1677 – Mataram during the reign of Amangkurat II, promised the VOC a plot of land and permission to build a lodge. Cornelis Speelman, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies at the time, then built a simple defence fort using clay in the meander of the Semarang river.

>>>More information regarding Mataram - VOC Treaty<<<

1682 – A map by Isaac de Graaff depicts the construction of lodges that also served as VOC strongholds along Java's north coast to protect against enemy attacks, particularly from the Inlander or Bumiputera (Javanese). These pagger forts were built in Tegal, Rembang, Surabaya, and Semarang.

The pagger fort that was constructed was still a simple form of fortification with wooden materials arranged as a palisade or fence of pointed-end wooden blocks. While clay is the primary reinforcing material for the fort. The walls of Semarang Pagger Fort, like those of other pagger forts, were constructed with wood arranged in a palisade pattern. The Fort is located on a meander east of the Semarang River, surrounded by two water canals, the Kleine rivier and the Gegrave gracht. The Pagger fort was the prototype for an early Semarang fort that would later become Fort Vijfhoek.