the path of silence….

Surabaya……City of Heroes

Surabaya (formerly Soerabaja) is Indonesia’s second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. It is located on the northern shore of eastern Java at the mouth of the Mas River (Kali Mas) and the side of Strait of Madura.

The city is one of the busiest ports in the country. Its principal exports include sugar, tobacco and coffee. It has a large shipyard, and numerous specialized naval schools.

Surabaya derives its name from the words sura (shark) and buaya (crocodile), which have been told in local myth fighting each other in order to gain the title “the strongest and most powerful animal in the area”. Now the two animals are used as the city’s logo, the two facing each other while circling the city’s monument, the “Tugu Pahlawan”.

History

In the fifteenth and sixteenth century, Surabaya was a sultanate and a major political and military power in eastern Java. It got into a conflict and was later taken by the more powerful Sultanate of Mataram in 1625 under Sultan Agung. It was one of Mataram’s fiercest campaign, where they had to conquer Surabaya’s allies, Sukadana and Madura and laid siege to the city before capturing it. With this conquest, Mataram then controlled almost the whole Java, with the exception of the Sultanate of Banten and the Dutch settlement of Batavia.

The expanding East Indies Companies then took the city over from a weakened Mataram in November 1743. Surabaya became a major trading center under the Dutch colonial government, and hosted the largest naval base in the colony.

In 1917 a revolt occurred amongst the soldiers and sailors of Surabaya, led by the Indies Social Democratic Association. The revolt was firmly crushed and the insurgents given harsh sentences.

During World War II Surabaya was captured by the Japanese in 1942, until the Allies bombed it in 1944. After that it was seized by Indonesian nationalists. However the young nation was soon put into conflict with the Allies-backed Dutch that tried to retake their colony. The Battle of Surabaya was one of the most important battle in the Indonesian revolution. It was started after British Brigadier General Mallaby was killed in car explosion in 8 November 1945 near Jembatan Merah (or the Red Bridge). The Allies gave an ultimatum to the Indonesian freedom fighters inside the city to surrender, but it was refused. The ensuing battle took place in 10 November.

The city was the re-occupied by the Dutch in 1947. Because of prolonged international pressure, the Dutch agreed to transfer the sovereignty of its colony in August 1949. Surabaya was ultimately incorporated into Indonesia in December 1949 and rebuilt.

The City
In her role as the main trading city in the eastern region of Indonesia, Surabaya has become one of the largest cities in Southeast Asia. Today, Surabaya’s population is around three million. The areas surrounding Surabaya include Lamongan to the northwest, Gresik to the west, Bangkalan to the northeast, Sidoarjo to the south, and Mojokerto and Jombang to the southwest.

Currently, the Indonesian government is building the Suramadu Bridge between Surabaya and the island of Madura; when completed, it will be the longest bridge in the country. Madura is currently accessible by a ferry service that operates regularly from Surabaya’s port, Tanjung Perak (literally means: “Silver Cape” in Indonesian).

Surabaya is home to Eastern Armada, one of two in the Indonesian Navy. Its strong maritime heritage is also reflected with the Submarine Monument, a real retired Russian submarine, called Pasopati, that was converted into a museum ship in the city centre.

Flooding is common in many areas of the city during the rainy season, mostly caused by clogged sewers and inept bureaucracy. The fact that Surabaya is located in a river delta and has a flat and relatively low elevation doesn’t help the matter either.

Surabaya is the location of the only synagogue in Indonesia, although it is currently inactive.

Surabaya’s zoo, opened in 1916, was the first in the world to have successfully bred orangutans in captivity.

Other points of interest includes:

1. Grand Mosque of Surabaya, the largest mosque in East Java;
2. Cheng Ho Mosque, the first mosque in Indonesia built with a Chinese style architecture;
3. Jales Veva Jaya Mahe Monument, a large, admiral like statue which commemorate Indonesian Navy;
4. Mpu Tantular Museum, has a large collection of ancient Javanese artifact

Demography
Surabaya is second most populous city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Most of its population is Javanese people. Notable minorities is Madurese from nearby Madura Island and Chinese Indonesian.

Most citizen speak a unique dialect of Javanese called Surabayan. This dialect is noted for equality and directness in speech. The usage of register is less strict than Central Javan dialect. The Surabaya dialect is actively promoted in local media, such as in local TV show, radio and traditional drama called Loedroek.

Urbanization is strong because of many industries in the city. As a result there was a large slum area.

Other History
source: http://web.petra.ac.id/surabaya-memory/

SURABAYA BRIEF HISTORY As the second biggest city in Indonesia, Surabaya past history is still covered by fog. Surabaya Mayor, Mr. Suparno, at that time (1975), made a decision to make 31 May 1293 as Surabaya’s birthday. That decision is poured into a decree No. 64/WK/75. Since that time, Surabaya’s birthday is always celebrated every May 31st.

Notes about Surabaya became clearer after falling into V.O.C. hand, as the result of the agreement between Paku Buwono II from Mataram and V.O.C. on 11 November 1743. In that agreement, half of the Northern area (including Surabaya) was handed its authority over to V.O.C. Since that time, Surabaya was fully in Dutch control.

Until 1900s, Surabaya city development went on very slowly. There was not any special government institution which took care of the city development. Surabaya’s status was as the capital of Surabaya residency. The central government administration building of Surabaya residency was located in the Western side of Red Bridge. It was this bridge which bordered European settlement (Europeesche Wijk) at that time, which was located in the Western side of the bridge, with settlement of Chinese, Malay, Arabian, and so on (Vremde Oosterlingen), which was located in the Eastern side. Until 1900s, Surabaya city center was located only around the Red Bridge.

After Surabaya was determined as a municipality (Gemeente) in 1905, slowly but sure the city developed to the South. In a short time until 1920s, there were new settlements, like in: Darmo, Gubeng, Sawahan, Ketabang, and so on. In 1926, Surabaya was determined as the capital city of East Java. After that, it keeps growing as the second biggest modern city in Indonesia after Jakarta.

In 1942 until 1945, Surabaya was under Japanese control. During that era of colonization for 3 years, the condition of the city could be said did not progress at all.

After the independence in 1945, Surabaya which is known as a city of patriot, because of the perseverance of its people in defending that independence, keeps developing. From a city which had a status as gemeente, it developed into a big city in 1950s. Then, it finally changes into a municipality.

The city, which main road almost had a shape of ribbon from Wonokromo bridge in the Southern side to Red bridge in the Northern one all along more or less 13 km, by the end of 1980s, started to change totally. The rapid growth of population and urbanization force Surabaya to develop to the Eastern and Western side like we can see nowadays. The increasing number of motorized vehicles, the growth of new industries, and the spread of settlements done by real estate companies, which are located in outskirts of the city, cause not only traffic jam in the middle of the city but also outskirts of the city. Those are Surabaya city development like we can see nowadays. From a small town in the end of the 19th century, it becomes a metropolitan city in the end of the 20th century.