SOUTH SULAWESI

 A Glance of South Sulawesi 

A Glance of South Sulawesi

Sulawesi which was known as Celebes is a beautiful island. It has an area of about 227 thousands square kilometers. It is somewhat smaller than the whole land of England and Scotland.

With the long and narrow peninsulas. There is no more than 90 kilometers spot of land from seashore. This makes the island has a long beach-line. It is a lmountainous island. 

Because of these two things, Sulawesi becomes an island with very beautiful seashores and highlands sceneries. 

Geographically, straight of Sulawesi (Makassar)  is known as the border of Wallacea line, which separates two different kinds of fauna, between the eastern and western parts of Indonesia. It has a specific flora and fauna such as ebony woods, hog-deer,  and maleo birds which has large eggs. The island has been inhabited by people since about 30.000 years ago. It is proven by the signs found in caves near the limestone hills not far from Maros town, which is about 30 kilometers northeast of Ujung Pandang, the capital of South Sulawesi  Province. There is possibility that the oldest civilization in this island was at a Wallace valley, a place between Soppeng and  Sengkang where tools which were made of pebbles and flakes were found from river terrace around this valley. Fossils from the extinct species of pig-deer and elephants were also found around this area.

During the Golden ages of spices trade in the 15th  till 19th centuries, South Sulawesi played a role as the gate to Moluccan Islands, the land of spices. The Mighty Kingdom of Makassar and Bone as mentioned in the past history of the eastern part of Indonesia, had played an important role. 

South Sulawesi is inhabited by four main ethnics, namely Bugis, Makassar, Mandar and Toraja.  The people of the first 3 ethnics have been known as patriotic and brave sailors both during and after the wartime was over. With the traditional sailing boats,  they sail across the seas of Indonesia archipelago, to the northern part of Australia, a number of islands in the Pacific Ocean, and to the African coasts

The Toraja people is well known with their specific culture. It can  be seen in a death ceremonial, traditional houses with arch-shaped roofs, and beautiful carvings with natural colors.

Ideographically, prehistory and history of South Sulawesi has come up with very interesting cultural elements. From these areas, one can see  and enjoy uniquesses of the culture, such as ceremonial, traditional, dances, carvings, beautiful weavings from cotton and silk,  and the fascinating natural tropical sceneries.

Makassar City as a city that we encounter today as the capital of South Sulawesi Province, with all its advantages and disadvantages, is undoubtedly a city or country that has history.  It has a history because the humans who inhabit it have involved themselves in the life of this city, so that they have arrived at the face they have today. Humans who have made a history of themselves on the atmosphere of this city, go and come and go, beyond centuries, years, months and months.  thousands of days, and many more days will follow in the changing circulation of days and nights in Makassar City, living the lives of its residents, centuries ago and centuries to come. The humans who are its residents give color to life.  itself , and in that line of life various kinds of events are transformed which become milestones in the memory of the sustainable life of a civilization .  Understand what we are now, and what will come later, that life is actually a meeting between what has been in the past and hopes for the future that are brought together by the present.  The city of Makassar today, therefore, is the realities of the past meeting the hopes of the future which are borne out in today's reality.

The 2010 census estimated the population as 8,032,551 which makes South Sulawesi the most populous province on the island ( 46 % of the population of Sulawesi is in South Sulawesi ) , and the sixth most populous province in Indonesia . At the 2020 Census this had risen to 9,073,509 , and the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 9,225,747 . The main ethnic groups in South Sulawesi are the Buginese , Makassarese , Toraja , and Mandar . The economy of the province is based on agriculture , fishing , and mining of gold , magnesium , iron and other metals . The pinisi , a traditional Indonesian two - masted sailing ship , is still used widely by the Buginese and Makassarese , mostly for inter - insular transportation , cargo , and fishing purposes within the Indonesian archipelago . During the golden era of the spice trade , from the 15th to 19th centuries , South Sulawesi served as the gateway to the Maluku Islands . There were a number of small kingdoms , including two prominent ones , the Kingdom of Gowa near Makassar and the Bugis kingdom located in Bone . The Dutch East India Company ( VOC ) began operating in the region in the 17th century . VOC later allied with the Bugis prince , Arung Palakka , and they defeated the kingdom of Gowa . The king of Gowa , Sultan Hasanuddin was forced to sign a treaty which greatly reduced the power of Bungaya Gowa.

Sulawesi was first inhabited by humans around 30,000 years ago . The archaeological remains of the earliest inhabitants were discovered in caves near limestone hills around Maros , about 30 km northeast of Makassar . Pebble and flake stone tools have been collected from the river terraces in the valley of Walanae , among Soppeng and Sengkang , including the bones from giant pig and elephant species that are now extinct . Hand print paintings , estimated to be around 35,000 to 40,000 years old , have been found in the Pettakere cave , located 12 kilometres ( 7.5 mi ) from the town of Maros and 30 kilometres ( 19 mi ) from Makassar . Increase in commerce due to the rise of external demand for South Sulawesi rice encouraged major agricultural expansion and political centralization in the early 14th century . Swidden agriculture was increasingly replaced with intensive wet rice cultivation , leading to a rise in population density . New settlements were founded in the interior part of the peninsula as pristine forests were cleared . These changes accompanied the rise of new interior agricultural polities , such as the Bugis chiefdoms of Boné and Wajoq , the Makassar polity of Gowa . as well as

By the early 16th century , Boné had assumed a paramount position in the eastern part of the peninsula , while the Makassar twin kingdoms of Gowa and Talloq started to expand their influence throughout the western part . Their competition for hegemony over South Sulawesi caused Gowa - Talloq and Boné to clash in the  1560s . In 1582 , Boné , Soppéng , and Wajoq signed a mutual defense pact known as the Treaty of Timurung . The alliance , also referred to as the Tellumpocco ( " Three Powers " , lit. " Three Peaks " ) , sought to stop Gowa's expansionism and to reclaim the autonomy of the Bugis polities under Gowa's vassalage . Gowa's campaigns against the alliance in 1582 , 1585 , and 1588 were all successfully repulsed , with another one in 1590 abandoned following the death of Gowa's ruler . By the early 17th century , however , Gowa and Talloq had become the dominant powers in South Sulawesi as they supported international commerce and embracing Islam. Gowa 51 % waged successful campaigns against the Bugis kingdoms , defeating Soppéng in 1609 , Wajoq in 1610 , and Boné in 1611. Regent of Maros , Makassar , Sulawesi The Dutch East India Company ( VOC ) began operating in the region in the 17th century and saw the Kingdom of Gowa as an obstacle for its desire to control of the spice trade in this area . VOC later allied with the Bugis prince , Arung Palakka , who was living in exile after the fall of the Bugis . After a year - long battle , they defeated the kingdom of Gowa . And the fall of the Bugis . After a year - long battle , they defeated the kingdom of Gowa . And the king of Gowa , Sultan Hasanuddin was forced to sign a treaty greatly reducing the power of Bungaya Gowa . Furthermore , Palakka became ruler in South Sulawesi . A Bugis queen later emerged to lead the resistance against the Dutch , who were busy dealing with the Napoleonic Wars in Europe , but after the end of the Napoleonic Wars , the Dutch returned to South Sulawesi and eradicated the queen's rebellion . But resistance of the Bugis people against colonial rule continued until 1905. In 1905 , the Dutch also managed to conquer Tana Toraja .

Law Number 32 of 2004, the area of ​​Makassar City is approximately 4 miles towards the sea, equivalent to 10,000 Ha, so that the entire land and sea area is ± 27,577 Ha. Motto: ONCE THE SCREEN FLAWNS THE BIDUK'S SCREEN RECEDES TO THE BEACH

MAKASSAR -UJUNG PANDANG

Makassar - Ujung Pandang

HISTORY OF THE  MAKASSAR CITY

The beginning of the city and city of Makassar was at the mouth of the Tallo River with a small commercial port in the area at the end of the 15th century.  Portuguese sources report that the town of Tallo was originally under the Siang Kingdom around Pangkajene.  In the mid-16th century, Tallo united with another small kingdom called Gowa, and began to break away from the Siang kingdom, even attacking and conquering the surrounding kingdoms.  As a result of the increasingly intensive agricultural activities in the upper reaches of the Tallo river, resulting in the shallowing of the Tallo river, so that the city was moved to the mouth of the Jeneberang river, this is where the development of power in the palace area took place by the Gowa-Tallo nobles who then built defenses. 

As a result of the increasingly intensive agricultural activities in the upper reaches of the Tallo river, the Tallo river became shallower, so the city was moved to the mouth of the Jeneberang river. This is where the development of the power of the palace area took place by the Gowa-Tallo nobles who then built the Somba Opu fort defense, which a hundred years later became the core area.  Makassar city .  During the reign of King Gowa  That period was the peak of the glory of the Gowa Kingdom, but then the Bungaya agreement brought the Gowa Kingdom to the beginning of its collapse.  Makassar's main export commodity is rice, which can be exchanged for spices from Maluku and manufactured goods from the Middle East, India and China in the West Archipelago. 

Portuguese merchants as well as local lontara records show the important role of Malay merchants in  based on the exchange of agricultural products for imported goods.  By conquering the surrounding small kingdoms, which were generally agricultural based, Makassar controlled a relatively large agricultural area and also tried to persuade merchants in the surrounding kingdoms to move to Makassar, so that trading activities became increasingly concentrated in the new trading port of Makassar.  In just a century, Makassar has become one of the world's leading commercial cities, inhabited by more than 100,000 people (the 20th largest city in the world).  At that time the population of Amsterdam, which was a cosmopolitan and multicultural city, had only reached around 60,000 people.  The rapid development of the city of Makassar is thanks to its connection with changes in the order international trade at that time.  The main center of the trade network in Malacca, conquered by Portugal in 1511, as well as North Java, was increasingly reduced following the defeat of its navy at the hands of Portugal and its annexation to the kingdom of Mataram.  Even when Malacca was taken over by the Dutch Trading Company (VOC) in 1641, many Portuguese traders also moved to Makassar.  Until the mid-17th century, Makassar attempted to spread its power to most of Eastern Indonesia by conquering Selayar Island and its surroundings, the Wolio kingdoms in Buton, Bima in Sumbawa, Banggai and Gorontalo in Eastern and Northern Sulawesi and entering into agreements with other kingdoms.  kingdoms in Seram and other islands in Maluku.  Internationally, as an important part of the Islamic world, the Sultan of Makassar established trade relations

Makassar maintained close trade and diplomatic relations with the kingdoms of Banten and Aceh in Western Indonesia, Golconda in India and the Otoman Empire in the Middle East.  Makassar's relationship with the Islamic world began with the presence of Abdul Ma'mur Khatib Tunggal or Dato 'Ri Bandang who came from Minangkabau, West Sumatra who arrived in Tallo (now Makassar) in September 1605. He converted the XIVth King of Gowa I - MANGNGARANGI DAENG  MANRABIA with the title SULTAN ALAUDDIN (ruled 1593-1639), and with Mangkubumi I - MALLINGKAANG DAENG MANYONRI KARAENG KATANGKA who was also King of Tallo.  These two kings began to embrace Islam in South Sulawesi.  On November 9, 1607, precisely Friday, the first Friday prayer was held at the Tallo Mosque and it was officially declared that the people of the Gowa-Tallo Kingdom had converted to Islam, at the same time converted to Islam, at the same time, Friday prayers were held at the Mangallekana Mosque in Somba Opu.  This date has subsequently been celebrated as the Anniversary of the City of Makassar since 2000, previously the anniversary of the city of Makassar was celebrated on April 1 every year.  The Makassar aristocrats and their people actively participated in international trade networks, and interaction with the cosmopolitan city community led to a "creative renaissance" which made Bandar Makassar one of the leading scientific centers of its time.  Collections of books and maps, at that time were still rare in Europe, but in Makassar many have been collected.  Makassar had one of the largest scientific libraries in the world , and the sultans did not hesitate to order the most up-to-date items from all corners of the earth , including the largest globe and binoculars of their time , which were specially ordered from Europe.  The ambition of the leaders of the Gowa-Tallo Kingdom to further expand their territory and the competition between Bandar Makassar and the Dutch Trading Company (VOC) ended in the most devastating and fierce war the Company had ever fought. Bugis troops, the Dutch and their allies from Ternate, Buton and Maluku required three years of military operations throughout Eastern Indonesia.  Only in 1669 were they finally able to level the city of Makassar and its largest fortress, Somba Opu. For South Sulawesi, the fall of Makassar at the hands of the federation was a turning point which meant that Bandar Niaga Makassar became VOC territory, and several articles of the peace agreement strictly restricted shipping activities between the islands of Gowa-Tallo and its allies.  Makassar Port was closed to foreign traders, so the merchant community moved to other ports.  In the first few decades after the destruction of the city  ​​of Makassar, the remaining residents built a new settlement to the north of the former Ujung Pandang Fort, a defensive fort on the northern edge of the old city. In 1673 it was reorganized by the VOC as a center of defense and government, given the new name Fort Rotterdam, and the 'new city' that began  growing around it is called 'Vlaardingen'.  The settlement was much smaller than the destroyed Kota Raya Makassar.  In the first decade after the war , the entire area was inhabited by no more than 2,000 people , by the middle of the 18th century that number had increased to around 5,000 people , half of whom were slaves .  During the time it was controlled by the VOC, Makassar became a forgotten city, and the colonial invaders in the 19th century were unable to conquer the South Sulawesi peninsula, which until the beginning of the 20th century still consisted of dozens of small kingdoms that were independent of foreign governments, and often had to defend themselves against military attacks carried out by these kingdoms.  Thus, the 'Company City' only functioned as a security post on the northern route of the spice trade without a hinterland and its shape was not even a 'city', but an agglomeration of villages on the coast around Fort Rotterdam.  At first, the main rice trading activity in Bandar Dunia was the marketing of slaves and supplying rice to VOC ships and exchanging it for spices in Maluku.  In the 30s of the 18th century, the port of Makassar was opened to Chinese merchant ships.  The commodities sought by Chinese merchants in Sulawesi were generally sea and forest products such as sea cucumbers, turtle scales, shells, bird's nests and sandalwood, so they were not considered a subscription and competition for the established monopoly on buying and selling spices and cloth.  VOC.  In contrast, Chinese merchandise, especially porcelain and silk fabrics, was sold at  

especially porcelain and silk cloth, which the merchants sold at cheaper prices in Makassar than foreign traders could get in China itself.  The existence of this new market has encouraged the maritime activities of residents of the city and Makassar area again.  Especially the residents of the islands in the Spermonde area began to specialize themselves as searchers for sea cucumbers, the main commodity sought by Chinese traders, by exploring the entire Eastern Region of the archipelago.  Since the mid-18th century, Sulawesi fishermen and sailors have routinely sailed to the northern coast of Australia, opening dozens of sea cucumber processing sites for three to four months.  Until now, marine products are still one of the main sources of livelihood for the residents of the islands within the Makassar City area.  After the Dutch East Indies Colonial Government replaced the bankrupt VOC trading company at the end of the 18th century, Makassar was revived by making it a free port in 1846

ADVENTURE SULAWESI LINKS' COLLECTION

MEDIA GALLERY & YT STUDIO