Makassar
Encyclopedia
Makassar, is the provincial
Provinces of Indonesia
The province is the highest tier of local government subnational entity in Indonesia. Each province has its own local government, headed by a governor, and has its own legislative body...

 capital of South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia, located on the western southern peninsula of Sulawesi Island. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi province to the north, South East Sulawesi province to the east and West Sulawesi province to the west...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably. The port city is located at 5°8′S 119°25′E, on the southwest coast of the island of Sulawesi, facing the Makassar Strait
Makassar Strait
Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea.The Mahakam River of Borneo empties into the strait....

.

Its area is 175.77 km2 and has population of around 1.4 million.

History

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Makassar was the dominant trading center of eastern Indonesia, and soon became one of the largest cities in island Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

. The Makassarese kings maintained a policy of free trade, insisting on the right of any visitor to do business in the city, and rejecting the attempts of the Dutch
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

 to establish a monopoly over the city.

Sulawesi's colourful history is the story of spices and foreign merchants of mariners and sultans and of foreign power wresting control of the spice trade. Much of South Sulawesi's early history was written in old texts that can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries.

The first Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an settlers were the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 sailors. When the Portuguese reached Sulawesi in 1511, they found Makassar a thriving cosmopolitan entre-port where Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

, Arabs, Indians
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...

, Siamese
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...

, Javanese, and Malays came to trade their manufactured metal goods and fine textiles for precious pearls, gold, copper, camphor and spices - nutmeg, cloves and mace imported from the interior and the neighbouring Spice Islands
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...

 of Maluku
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...

. By the 16th century, Makassar had become Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

's major port and centre of the powerful Gowa
Gowa
Gowa is a region in the province of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a "level 2 district," with an area of 1,883 km² and a population of approximately 500,000 people...

 and Tallo sultanates which between them had a series of 11 fortresses and strongholds and a fortified sea wall which extended along the coast.

The arrival of the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 in the early 17th century, altered events dramatically. Their first objective was to create a hegemony over the spice trade and their first move was to capture the fort of Makassar in 1667, which they rebuilt and renamed Fort Rotterdam
Fort Rotterdam
Fort Rotterdam was a Dutch fort built in Makassar on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia during the 1670s. It was originally known as Ujung Pandang, named after the screwpine pandanus pal which grew in the region and was used for making mats. The fort became a center of Dutch colonial power in...

. From this base they managed to destroy the strongholds of the Sultan of Gowa who was then forced to live on the outskirts of Makassar. Following the Java War
Java War
The Java War or Diponegoro War was fought in Java between 1825 and 1830. It started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro. The proximate cause was the Dutch decision to build a road across a piece of his property that contained his parents' tomb...

 (1825–1830), Prince Diponegoro was exiled to Fort Rotterdam until his death in 1855.

The character of this old trading centre changed as a walled city known as Vlaardingen grew, a place where slaves were at the bidding of the imposing foreigners. Gradually, in defiance of the Dutch, the Arabs, Malays
Malay Indonesian
Malay Indonesians are ethnic Malays living throughout Indonesia, as one of the indigenous peoples of the island nation. Indonesia has the second largest ethnic Malay population, the first is Malaysia. Historically, Indonesian, the national language of Indonesia, was derived from the Malay spoken...

 and Bugis
Bugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...

 returned to trade outside the grim fortress walls and later also the Chinese.

The town again became a collecting point for the produce of eastern Indonesia - the copra, rattan, pearls, trepang and sandalwood and the famous oil made from bado nuts used in Europe as men's hair dressing - hence the anti-macassars (embroidered cloths placed at head rests of upholstered chairs).

Although the Dutch controlled the coast, it was not until the early 20th century that they gained power over the interior of the south through a series of treaties with local rulers. Meanwhile Dutch missionaries converted many of the Toraja
Toraja
The Toraja are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 650,000, of which 450,000 still live in the regency of Tana Toraja . Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk...

 people to Christianity. By 1938, the population of Makassar had reached around 84,000 - a town described by writer Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...

 as "the prettiest and perhaps, cleanest looking of all the towns in the islands".

In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the Makassar area was defended by approximately 1000 men of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was the military force maintained by the Netherlands in its colony of the Netherlands East Indies . The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force...

 commanded by Colonel M. Vooren. He decided he couldn't defend on the coast and was planning to fight a guerilla war inland. The Japanese landed near Makassar on 9 February 1942. The defenders retreated but were soon overtaken & captured.

Following the Indonesian National Revolution
Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution or Indonesian War of Independence was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between Indonesia and the Dutch Empire, and an internal social revolution...

 in 1950, Makassar was the site of fighting between pro-Federalist forces under Captain Abdul Assiz and Republican forces under Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Sunkono during the Makassar Uprising
Makassar Uprising
The Makassar Uprising was a skirmish in Makassar between former Royal Dutch East Indies Army soldiers under Captain Abdul Aziz and the RUSI army . This short-lived conflict reflected the growing tensions between the unitary Javanese-dominated Republicans and the pro-federal Outer Islands...

. By the 1950s, the population had increased to such a degree that many of the historic sites gave way to modern development and today you need to look very carefully to find the few remains of the city's once grand history.

Further, tolerant religious attitudes meant that even as Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 became the dominant faith in the region, Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s and others were still able to trade in the city. With these attractions, Makassar was a key center for Malays working in the spice trade
Spice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...

, as well as a valuable base for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an and Arab traders from much further afield.

Economy

The city is southern Sulawesi's primary port, with regular domestic and international shipping connections. It is nationally famous as an important port of call for the pinisi
Pinisi
The Pinisi is a traditional Indonesian two masted sailing ship. It was mainly built by the Konjo tribe, a sub-ethnic group of Bugis-Makassar mostly residents at the Bulukumba regency of South Sulawesi but was and currently used widely by the Buginese and Makassarese mostly for transportation and...

 boats, sailing ships which are among the last in use for regular long-distance trade.

During the colonial era, the city was famous for being the namesake of Makassar oil, which it exported in great quantity. Makassar ebony
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...

 is a warm black hue, streaked with tan or brown tones, and highly prized for use in making fine cabinetry and veneer
Wood veneer
In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood, usually thinner than 3 mm , that are typically glued onto core panels to produce flat panels such as doors, tops and panels for cabinets, parquet floors and parts of furniture. They are also used in marquetry...

s.

Nowadays, as the largest city in Sulawesi Island and Eastern Indonesia, the city's economy depends highly on service sectors with approximately 70% from total share. Restaurant and hotel service are the largest contributor (29.14%), followed by transportation and communication (14.86%), trading (14.86), finance (10.58%). Industry follows behind service with 21.34%.

Contact with Australia

Makassar is also a major fishing center in Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

. One of its major industries is the trepang (sea cucumber) industry. Trepang fishing brought the Makassan people into contact with the Yolŋu people of Northern Australia.

C. C. MacKnight in his 1976 work entitled Voyage to Marege: Macassan Trepangers in Northern Australia has shown that they began frequenting the north of Australia some time around 1700 in search of trepang (sea-slug, sea cucumber, Beche-de-mer) an edible Holothurian. They left their waters during the North-west Monsoon in December or January for what is now Arnhem Land, Marege or Marega and to the Kimberley region or Kayu Djawa. They returned home with the South-east Trades in April.
A fleet of between 24 and 26 Macassan prahus was seen in 1803 by the French explorers under Nicolas Baudin on the Holothuria Banks in the Timor Sea. In February 1803, Matthew Flinders in the Investigator met six prahus with 20-25 men each on board and was told that there were 60 prahus then on the north Australian coast. They were fishing for trepang and appeared to have only a small compass as a navigation aid. In June 1818 Macassan trepang fishing was noted by Phillip Parker King in the vicinity of Port Essington in the Arafura Sea. In 1864 R.J. Sholl, then resident magistrate for the European settlement at Camden Sound (near Augustus Island in the Kimberley region) observed seven ‘Macassan’ prahus with around 300 men on board. He believed that they made kidnapping raids and ranged as far south as Roebuck Bay
Roebuck Bay
Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after HMS Roebuck, the ship captained by William Dampier when he explored the coast of...

 (later Broome) where ‘quite a fleet’ was seen around 1866. Sholl believed that they did not venture south into other areas such as Nickol Bay (where the European pearling industry commenced around 1865) due to the absence of trepang in those waters. The Macassan voyages appear to have ceased sometime in the late nineteenth century and their place was taken by other sailors operating from elsewhere in the Indonesian Archipelago.

Transportation

Makassar has a public transportation system called 'pete-pete'. A pete-pete (known elsewhere in Indonesia as angkot) is a mini-bus that has been modified to carry passengers. The route of Makassar's pete-petes is denoted by the letter on the windshield. Makassar is famous for their "becak" (pedicab) which is smaller than the "becak" in the island of Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

. In Makassar, people who drive pedicab are called Daeng. The city airport is Hasanuddin International Airport
Hasanuddin International Airport
Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport is located 17 km northeast of Makassar and operated by PT. Angkasa Pura I. The new terminal was opened on 20 August 2008...

 which is actually located outside the Makassar city administration area. It is formally located in the regency of Maros
Maros
Maros is a town in the South Sulawesi province of Indonesia; it is the capital of the Maros Regency. Nearby is a prehistoric cave that has been submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list.- References :...

. In addition to "becak" and "pete-pete", the city has government-run bus system, and taxis.

A 35-kilometer monorail
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...

 in the areas of Makassar, Maros
Maros
Maros is a town in the South Sulawesi province of Indonesia; it is the capital of the Maros Regency. Nearby is a prehistoric cave that has been submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list.- References :...

, Sungguminasa, and Takalar (Mamminasata) will be realised in 2014 with cost predicted Rp.4 trillion ($468 million). The memorandum of understanding has been signed in July 25, 2011 by Makassar city, Maros Regency
Maros Regency
Maros Regency is a regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The principal town lies at Maros....

 and Gowa Regency.

Landmarks

Makassar is home to several prominent landmarks including the 16th century Dutch fort Fort Rotterdam
Fort Rotterdam
Fort Rotterdam was a Dutch fort built in Makassar on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia during the 1670s. It was originally known as Ujung Pandang, named after the screwpine pandanus pal which grew in the region and was used for making mats. The fort became a center of Dutch colonial power in...

, Trans Studio Makassar
Trans Studio Makassar
Trans Studio is the world's third-largest indoor theme park , located in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The 20,000 m2 wide and 20 meters high indoor theme park.....

—the third largest indoor theme park in the world and the Karebosi Link—the first underground shopping center in Indonesia.

Traditional food

Makassar has several famous traditional foods. The most famous is Coto
Soto (food)
Soto, sroto, tauto or coto is a common dish, found in many regional variations of Indonesian cuisine. It is a traditional soup mainly composed of broth, meat and vegetables. There is no clear definition of what makes a soto, but normally many traditional soups are called soto, whereas foreign and...

 Makassar. It is a stew made from the mixture of nuts and spices with beef parts which include beef brain, tongue and intestine. Konro
Konro
Konro is an Indonesian ribs soup originated from Buginese and Makassarese of South Sulawesi. Usually this soup was made with ribs or beef as main ingredient. The soup is brown-black in color and eaten either with burasa or ketupat cut in bite size or rice...

 rib dish is also popular traditional food in Makassar. Both Coto Makassar and Konro are usually eaten with Burasa, a glutinous rice with coconut milk and sauted coconut granule.

In addition, Makassar is the home of pisang epe, or pressed bananas. These are bananas which are pressed, grilled, and covered with palm sugar sauce and sometimes eaten with Durian
Durian
The durian is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio and the Malvaceae family . Widely known and revered in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk...

. Many street vendors sell pisang epe, especially around the area of Losari beach.

Tourism

Since 9 September 2009, Makassar was home to the Trans Kalla
Trans Studio Makassar
Trans Studio is the world's third-largest indoor theme park , located in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The 20,000 m2 wide and 20 meters high indoor theme park.....

—the biggest indoor theme park in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and third largest in the world. The theme park was created by a joint company between Trans TV
Trans TV
Trans TV is an Indonesian national television station based in South Jakarta. Owned by Chairul Tanjung, it began broadcasting on 15 December 2001 based in Jakarta. On 15 December 2006 based in Jakarta due to its half ownership by Trans Corporation, a company that also owned Trans 7...

 and former Vice President
Vice President of Indonesia
The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia is the first in the line of succession in the Republic of Indonesia.-History of the office:The Indonesian Vice Presidency was established during the formulation of the 1945 constitution by the Researching Body for the Preparation of the Indonesian...

 Jusuf Kalla
Jusuf Kalla
is an Indonesian politician who was the 10th Vice President of Indonesia from 2004 to 2009 and Chairman of the Golkar Party during the same period. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2009 presidential election.-Early life:...

's company Kalla Group. Beside the Theme Park, it also has a tourist resort, a marina, a bank office, and a shopping center which will be completed around 2012. The theme park is located in Tanjung Bunga.
The local government is planning to build a CPI which includes the Presidential House near the theme park.

In July 2010, the first exclusive shopping centre Trans Studio Mall which is just inside the Jusuf Kalla
Jusuf Kalla
is an Indonesian politician who was the 10th Vice President of Indonesia from 2004 to 2009 and Chairman of the Golkar Party during the same period. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2009 presidential election.-Early life:...

 was opened. Some famous brands opening shops in the mall were Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss
Hugo Ferdinand Boss was the founder of clothing company Hugo Boss.-Early life:Boss was born in Metzingen, Germany. After completing his apprenticeship and one year of employment, he founded his own company in Metzingen in 1923.-Support of Nazism:Boss joined the Nazi Party in 1931, two years before...

, Armani Jeans, Aigner
Aigner
Aigner may refer to:* Andreas Aigner , Austrian rally driver* Chrystian Piotr Aigner , Polish architect* Ernst Aigner , retired Austrian footballer...

, Mothercare
Mothercare
Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to 8 years old. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...

, Mango
Mango (clothing)
Mango, stylized MANGO, is a clothing design and manufacturing company. Isak Andic is the president.Its goal is "to be present in every city" in the world...

, Tod's
Tod's
Tod's Group is an Italian company which produces shoes and other leather goods, and is presided over by businessman Diego Della Valle. It is most famous for its driving shoes....

, Miu Miu
Miu Miu
Miu Miu is a high fashion brand from the Prada fashion house, opened in 1993 and headed by Miuccia Prada. The name of the collection is taken from Miuccia Prada’s nickname.-Stores:...

, and Francesco Biasia. Other brands opened temporary stores to assess the market. This is the first shopping mall to have medium to high range stores and the target market is the people from eastern Indonesia.

See also


Further reading

  • McCarthy, M., 2000, Indonesian divers in Australian waters. The Great Circle, vol. 20, No.2:120-137.
  • Turner, S. 2003: Indonesia’s Small Entrepreneurs: Trading on the Margins. London, RoutledgeCurzon [ISBN 0 7007 1569 X] 288pp. Hardback.
  • Turner, S. 2007: Small-Scale Enterprise Livelihoods and Social Capital in Eastern Indonesia: Ethnic Embeddedness and Exclusion. Professional Geographer. 59 (4), 407-20.
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