Banten

For the Banten meteorite of 1933, see Meteorite falls.

For the sultanate, see Banten Sultanate.

For the city and harbor, see Bantam (city).

Banten
Motto: "Iman Taqwa" (Faith and Piety)

Capital	Serang
Governor	Ratu Atut Chosiyah
Area	km² ( sq mi)
Population	(2005)
Density	/km² (/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Bantenese (47%), Sundanese (23%), Javanese (12%), Betawi (10%), Chinese (1%) ^[1]
Religion	Islam (96.6%), Protestant (1.2%), Catholic (1%), Buddhism (0.7%), Hindu (0.4%)
Languages	Indonesian, Javanese, Sundanese
Time zone	WIB ([[UTC+7]])
Web site	www.banten.go.id

Banten is a province of Indonesia, located at the western end of Java Island. Banten has an area of 9,160.7 km² and population of 9,083,114 (2005). Banten was established in October 2000 after being separated from West Java province. The capital of the province is Serang.

History

Banten in the fifth century was part of Tarumanagara kingdom. A stone inscription, called Prasasti Cidanghiang, coming from Tarumanagara era can be found at Lebak area at the bank of Cidanghiang river, in Pandeglang Regency, Banten. The Prasasti Cidanghiang, found in 1947, contains 2 lines of poetic sentences in Sanskrit written in Pallava characters. The inscription proclaims Purnawarman as the standard for rulers around the world. ^[2]

After Tarumanagara power declined, probably due to series of invasions from Srivijaya kingdom, all Tarumanagara territory, including Banten, was controlled by Kingdom of Sunda. Based on travel records of Prince Bujangga Manik, a Hindu Sundanese monk who visited all of the holy Hindu sites in Java Island and Bali Island at the beginning of the sixteenth century AD, in his lontar manuscripts, which are saved in Bodleian Library of Oxford University of England since the 16th century, Banten was part of Kingdom of Sunda. ^[3]

In this era of the Kingdom of Sunda, Banten became one of very important ports of the kingdom. Portuguese historical record tells that Kingdom of Sunda with great city of Dayo Pakuan Pajajaran (currently Bogor city), the town and lands and port of Banten, the port of Pontang, the port of Cigede, the port of Tangaram (Tangerang), the port of Sunda Kalapa, and the port of Cimanuk are justly governed. ^[4]

In 1524/1525, Sunan Gunung Jati from Cirebon Sultanate (former vasal Kingdom of Sunda) together with Demak Sultanate armies seized port of Banten from the control of Kingdom of Sunda, and established Banten Sultanate affilialting to Demak Sultanate. Islam preachers have penetrated and introduced people the peaceful way of life of Islam and as result many people in the region embraced Islam as their belief.

During 1552-1570, Maulana Hasanudin ruled as the first Sultan of Banten.

Banten then become a part of West Java province in 1925 when Dutch Colonial established West Java province, the first province in Indonesia, referring to a statement from Staatblad number 378.

In the present day, the area of Sultanate of Banten is a province. The province was established on 17 October 2000 through the Law Number 23/2000, but the peak of celebration to the establishment happened on 4 October 2000 when tens of thousands of citizen of Banten came to the People's Representative Council (DPR) building at South Jakarta, at the same time as the plenary meeting of the parliament to authenticate the law of forming the Province of Banten. Therefore the society of Banten mutually agree to set 4 October 2000 as day of the establishment of Banten Province.

Administrative division

Banten is subdivided into 4 regencies* (kabupaten) and 3 cities** (kota):

Culture

The indigenous people living in Banten Province speak a dialect derived from archaic Sundanese language. The dialect is classified as informal or harsh layer in modern Sundanese language, having different layers as Javanese language, which was created for the first time in the era of Islamic Mataram kingdom reigned Priangan (South Eastern of West Java Province). ^[5] However, in Serang and Cilegon, Banyumasan language (hars layer of Javanese language) is also used by Banyumas and Javanese ethnic imigrants. And, in Northern part of Tangerang, Indonesian language with Betawi dialect is also used by Betawi imigrants. Besides Sundanese, Javanese and Betawi dialect, Indonesian language is also used especially by other ethnic imigrants from other parts of Indonesia.

Kujang is the traditional weapon in Banten.

References

^ (2003) Indonesia's Population: Ethnicity and Religion in a Changing Political Landscape. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
^ (2007) The Sunda Kingdom of West Java From Tarumanagara to Pakuan Pajajaran with the Royal Center of Bogor. Yayasan Cipta Loka Caraka.
^ (2007) Three Old Sundanese Poems. KITLV Press.
^ (1999) Sumber-sumber asli sejarah Jakarta, Jilid I: Dokumen-dokumen sejarah Jakarta sampai dengan akhir abad ke-16. Cipta Loka Caraka.
^ Purwo, Bambang K. (1993). "Factors influencing comparison of Sundanese, Javanese, Madurese, and Balinese.".

External links

(Indonesian) Official website

Cities and regencies of Banten
Regencies	Lebak · Pandeglang · Serang · Tangerang
Cities	Cilegon · Serang · Tangerang

Provinces of Indonesia
Sumatra	Aceh · North Sumatra · West Sumatra · Bengkulu · Riau · Riau Islands · Jambi · South Sumatra · Lampung · Bangka-Belitung Islands
Java	Jakarta · West Java · Banten · Central Java · Yogyakarta · East Java
Kalimantan	West Kalimantan · Central Kalimantan · South Kalimantan · East Kalimantan
Lesser Sunda Islands	Bali · West Nusa Tenggara · East Nusa Tenggara
Sulawesi	West Sulawesi · North Sulawesi · Central Sulawesi · South Sulawesi · South East Sulawesi · Gorontalo
Maluku Islands and New Guinea	Maluku · North Maluku · West Papua · Papua

Coordinates: 6°30′S, 106°15′E

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