Investigation of the Early Traces of Pepper Trading in Banten Area, West Java

Abstract

Berbagai sumber sejarah menyebutkan bahwa Banten merupakan salah satu pelabuhan lada untuk pasar Asia dan Eropa pada abad ke-17. Namun pecahan keramik dari periode Tang dan Song-Yuan hasil penggalian di situs Banten Girang membuktikan bahwa aktivitas perdagangan telah dimulai sejak abad X. Permasalahannya, sejarah awal perkebunan lada belum diketahui dengan jelas, oleh karen itu diperlukan suatu kajian untuk mengetahui tentang perdagangan lada pra-Islam di Banten. Kami melakukan survei di pedalaman Banten yang diduga sebagai lahan perkebunan di masa lalu. Pengamatan lapangan telah menemukan kembali jejak lada yang terhubung ke pelabuhan di pantai utara dan barat. Berdasarkan keterkaitannya dengan peninggalan pra-Islam, lada diduga telah dibudidayakan sejak Milenium pertama Masehi seiring dengan masuknya pedagang India dan China melalui Selat Sunda. Hasil analisis kontekstual terhadap jejak arkeologi dan etnografi, telah memberi gagasan bahwa perdagangan lada telah menjadi penggerak utama perekonomian yang dikendalikan oleh kekuasaan politik pesisir utara Jawa yang mungkin telah dimulai pada masa Tarumanagara dan berkembang pada masa kerajaan Sunda-Banten. Various historical sources state that Banten was one of the pepper ports for the Asian and European markets in the 17th century. Ceramic shards from the Tang and Song-Yuan periods at the Banten Girang site prove that trading activities have started since the 10th century. The problem is, the early history of pepper plantations is unknown, therefore a study is needed to gain knowledge about the pre-Islamic pepper trade in Banten. We conducted a survey in the interior of Banten suspected as plantation land in the past. Field observations have rediscovered traces of pepper connected to ports on the north and west coasts. Based on its association with pre-Islamic remains, pepper was supposed to have been cultivated since the first millennium AD along with the arrival of Indian traders through the Sunda Strait. The results of the contextual analysis on archaeological and ethnographic traces, propose the idea that the pepper trade has become the main driver of the economy controlled by the north coast polities of Java which may have started during the Tarumanagara period and developed during the Sundanese kingdom of Banten.