PERPEDUUR: As Expensive as Bangka White Pepper

White pepper - shutterstock_327386213 – ELAKSHI CREATIVE BUSINESS - https:// www.shutterstock.com/g/ecbpl

PERPEDUUR Peperduur (as expensive as pepper) is a typical expression of the Bangka people. This expression shows how sahang (large grain pepper) “brought As Expensive As more money to the Bangka people”. (Hooyer DG--Resident of Bangka, 1928-1931).Bangka White Pepper

Finely ground white pepper. - shutterstock_561597922 – Sivapoom Yamasaki - https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Sivapoom+Yamasaki

Finely ground white pepper. - shutterstock_1897520770 - FabrikaSimf - https:// www.shutterstock. com/g/FabrikaSimf

Bangka pepper is an export commodity that has been traded since the Sriwijaya era. Hsin-tangshu, a historian from the Tang Dynasty,

China, in the 7th century AD, recorded that the Sriwijaya Kingdom at the time had 14 trading cities. One of the listed trading cities was Kotakapur Bangka. In the historical record, Kotakapur was one of the supporting ports (feeder points) for the Sriwijaya Kingdom. Based on its characteristics and geographical location, it is very likely that Kotakapur was indeed one of the important supporting port cities for the Sriwijaya Kingdom.

It is believed that in the past, Arab countries had various trade products, such as cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, areca nut, agarwood, sapan wood, spices, turtles, gold, silver, and pepper. If traced carefully, most of these commodities came from the Sriwijaya Kingdom. Some of these commodities, such as turtles, agarwood, frankincense, areca nut and tin were commodities from the island of Bangka. Likewise, sahang (Piper ningrum), a pepper with large grains and very spicy, which is a plant inherited from our ancestors from generation to generation, is not only a plantation product but also a cultural product for the Bangka people.

The history of pepper moved briefly to Banten to see the spice route from precolonial to colonial times. History says that the Sultanate of Banten reached the peak of its glory along with the strengthening of the influence of Islam, the weakening of the Sultanate of Demak, and the strengthening of intercontinental trade in the sixteenth century. Before becoming a sultanate, Banten had become an important pepper producing country in the world. At that time, the world’s spice trade, including pepper, was dominated by the Portuguese with Lisbon as the main port. On the other hand, before the Dutch Revolution, the city of Antwerp was the centre of spice distribution in Northern Europe. However, after 1591, the Portuguese cooperated with Germany, Spain and Italy and made Hamburg a centre for the distribution of spices and abandoned Antwerp. This prompted the Dutch to enter the intercontinental spice trade.

To that end, the Dutch needed to maintain the supply and distribution of their pepper. Therefore, the Dutch made an agreement with the King of Samiam (King of Sunda Ruler of Banten) and with Henrique Lem the envoy of Jorge d’Albuquerque, the Portuguese Governor of Malacca. In return for Portuguese assistance for helping them fight their enemy, namely the Islamic kingdom of Demak, the Portuguese were allowed by the King of Sunda to build a fort and were given security guarantees in making their voyage to Banten.

Participants of a Serampang Duabelas contest in 1963 – National Library of Indonesia.

The Portuguese then built a fort at Kalapa Harbor on August 21, 1522, marked by the laying of a memorial stone (padrao in Portuguese). The padrao was found on Jalan Cengkeh, Jakarta (formerly known as Prinsen Straat). Now, the padrao is stored in the Jakarta National Museum with inventory number 18423/26.

The shipping route from Aur island to Banten was guaranteed. Stopover ports at Chang-yao shu (Mapor Island), Lung-ya-ta-shait (Mount Daik on Lingga Island), Man-t’ouhsu (Roti Island), Chi-shu (Seven Island) and Peng-chia shan (Mount Bangka, Mount Menumbing), even at the mouth of the Palembang River towards the upstream to Chiii-chiang (Palembang) were secured. Likewise, the journey to the south to enter the Bangka Strait through a narrow strait between Tanjung Tapa and Tanjung Means, San-mai shu (Maspari Island), Kuala Tu-ma-heng (Wai Tulang Bawang), and Lin-ma to (Wai Seputih). And the passage continued through KaoTa-lan-pang (Wai Sekampung), Nu-sha la (Ketapang), Shih-tan (Sumur Island). From here the direction of the route was changed to the southeast and after seven hours, they finally arrived at Shun-t’a (Sunda) which was also guaranteed to be safe.

This trade route, of course, followed the area around the East coast of Sumatra, through Tujuh Island (Chi-shu) in the north of the island of Bangka to the island of Bangka itself to the Bangka Strait and then to Sunda (Shun-t’a). This agreement only lasted a short time because, in 1527 AD, Fatahillah succeeded in taking over Sunda Kelapa from the Portuguese.

This pepper trade route was of course a major concern for the Demak Sultanate, Banten Sultanate, Palembang Sultanate and the kingdoms on the east coast of Sumatra such as Riau Lingga and Jambi. These kingdoms competed for influence and power over shipping and trade routes, and it became the main cause of the wars between the Sultanate of Banten during the reign of Sultan Maulana Muhammad also known as

Kanjeng Ratu Banten Surosowan or Pangeran Ratu ing Banten (1580-1596 AD) against the Sultanate of Palembang. In the battles in Palembang and around the Musi river, Maulana Muhammad was killed and his troops returned to Banten.

In subsequent developments around the mid-17th century, the pepper trade was marked by the intervention of the VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie). In 1642 AD, the Kingdom of Palembang was ruled by Prince Sedo ing Kenayan. At that time the kingdom of Palembang signed a pepper trade agreement with the VOC in Batavia (1710). According to Alfiah’s notes, the agreement was later renewed by the Dutch East Indies government with the tin trade (1722) which was signed by the VOC representative with Sultan Ratu Anum Komaruddin from Palembang.

This agreement opened the door wider for the Dutch to buy tin from other areas in Bangka, including Toboali. This was recorded in the ANRI archives based on a report by K. Heynis, resident of Bangka and Palembang to the Comissarissen regarding the districts of Blinjoe, Soengi Liat, Marawang and Pankal Pinang in 1818.

On February 13, 1682 AD, Prince Aria, son of sultan Abdurrahman, established a fort in Bangkakota, on the river of the same name, with a unit of troops from Makassar. The construction of this fort was primarily aimed at securing the narrow shipping lanes, pepper, and tin trade in the Bangka Strait, which is located close to Bangkakota. The construction of this fort was opposed by the VOC because it interfered with their pepper trade flow, and it was a threat to VOC ships in the area. Sultan Abdurrahman (1662-1706) succeeded in laying a strong social, economic, political, and cultural life for the people in the territory of the Sultanate of Palembang Darussalam, including in the Sindang area, an area located on the border of the sultanate whose population was mardika (free) on the island of Bangka. The main task of the residents of the Sindang area was guarding the border. Sultan Abdurrahman obliged his territories to develop pepper plants. He also created a water system between Ogan, Komering, and Mesuji, which was not only used for agriculture, but also defence purposes.

The inner areas on the west coast of the island of Bangka were the Sindang area which at the time of Sultan Abdurrahman was required to plant sahang/sang (pepper). However, along with the start of tin exploitation, because of its high value and marketability in the world market, the Sultanate of Palembang implemented a new policy for the Bangka island region, namely the development of the tin mining sector. Pepper was gradually abandoned and the inhabitants of the island of Bangka began to switch to the tin mining sector. The transition was marked by the opening of tin mining trenches with simple technology through a shifting perforation system (tobo-alih).

Pepper was reintroduced in the 19th century, and slowly pepper returned to its former glory. Pepper planting was again a part of Bangka culture. The Bangka people again used peperduur as a distinctive expression. As a smallholding (people’s plant), sahang has brought prosperity and to the people of Bangka. Thanks to sahang, the number of Bangka people who perform the haj pilgrimage has increased. As Resident Hooyer (1931) said, pepper is more prosperous than tin (Dato’ Akhmad Elvian, DPMP, Bangka Belitung historian and cultural award recipient).

Fresh white pepper - shutterstock_1897520770 - FabrikaSimf - https:// www.shutterstock. com/g/FabrikaSimf