Somad, 60, shows tendrils of vines with a stem circumference of up to 6 centimeters in the Mount Pulosari forest, Pandeglang regency, Banten, Sunday (2/4). It is believed that the outgrowths of pepper are the remnants of an old pepper plantation in the rural areas of Banten.
Leftover treeson the slopes of Mount Pulosari in the village of Pandat, Mandalawangi, Pandeglang Regency, Banten, have opened the eyes of Somad, 60. The neglected farm is a treasure as well as evidence of diplomatic relations across the continents.
It is pepper that has called him back to the farm. Carrying a ragged bag and with a machete tucked in his waist, Somad descends down the slope of Mount Pulosari.
Five years ago, he decided to quit his job as a driver and move on to work as a pepper farmer.
"In the past, I never touched the forest here. However, after years of observing high demand for pepper in the market, I finally stopped being a driver and focused on growing and selling pepper," he said.
Somad, who went to and fro between Banten and Lampung everyday as a driver, has come to understand that pepper is still in great demand. "Whatever the amount, it is sold out, be it black or white pepper," he said.
Old pepper trees can still be found on the slope of Mount Pulosari, where Somad lives. The plants are believed to be left overs of plantations from the Banten Girang Kingdom, which used to be the main producer of pepper.
Even though traces can still be found, the glorious days of Banten pepper are now all but forgotten. Pepper warehouses in Pamarican, besides the Speelwijk Fort, Old Banten, have given way to densely populated residential areas.
"Pamarican used to be a place of pepper warehouses," said Sonny Wibisono, an archaeologist with the National Archaeological Research Center.
A Dutch scientist\'s sketch from 1902, Serrurier, shows how the Sultanate of Banten was designed in a highly structured way. The coastal city was divided into 33 multicultural settlements, including Karangantu (a village of foreigners), Kebalen (a Balinese kampong) and Karoya (a kampong for the native people).
Cornelis de Houtman, who landed in Banten on June 27, 1596, was startled by a small town that, according to him, resembled Amsterdam. The old town of Banten was built to a very orderly city plan.
Long before the establishment of the Sultanate of Banten, the area had grown as a pepper-producing region. At the end of the 12th century, Chinese writer Zhao Rugua called Sin-t’o or Sunda, which was none other than Banten, a pepper-producing region.
Initially, the Banten government center was in the interior, namely BantenGirang, which was 56 kilometers from Old Banten. However, at the end of 1526, Demak troops led by Maulana Hasanuddin, the son of Sunan Gunung Jati, seized the Port of Banten and the capital of Banten Girang.
The conquest of Banten Girang by Demak was dramatic. The King of Sunda or the King of Banten Girang had asked the Portuguese for help against Demak.
For compensation, the Portuguese were allowed to build the fort and would be given 1,000 sacks of pepper, or about 11,200 kilograms of pepper, every year. However, the offer was not immediately accepted by the Portuguese until Banten Girang was captured by Demak’s troops in late 1526.
Banten\'s contact with the international world was confirmed by the discovery of Chinese ceramic fragments of the Southern Song and Yuan Dynasty in 1990-1993. The artifacts were buried ata depth of 5-7 meters.
As noted by Zhao, China was the main buyer of quality pepper from Banten from the 12th century to the beginning of the 17th century. Banten\'s pepper exports to China receded when JP Coen forbade Chinese junks from docking at the Port of Banten (Claude Guillot, Banten, History and Civilization of X-XVII Century/2008).
The shift of the Banten administrative center to the coastal area in 1526-1570 further solidified Banten as an international trading city, with pepper as its means of diplomacy. A letter of Sultan Abul Fath to King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland in 1664, for example, was referred to as a letter of friendship accompanied with the sending of 7 tons of black pepper and 100 pikul of ginger as a form of love and peace. The spices were exchanged for weapons.
"Pepper turned Banten into a commercial center and a multicultural maritime city, such as Malacca in the Malay Peninsula, Ayutthaya in Thailand, Hoi An in Vietnam, Amoy in Xiamen, China; Deshima in Taiwan and Sakai in Japan. This growth marked the glory of Asia, especially before the Europeans arrived,” Sonny said.
The Banten Sultanate Center was only 1 square kilometer in size. However, thanks to pepper, the area had transcontinental relations with countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Portugal,England, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Expansion
High foreign demand for pepper enabled Banten to increase its supplies. This sultanate finally stretched its wings of power to Lampung.
"In Lampung, there was no great kingdom. To gain recognition from Banten, its leaders carried out the seba tradition to Banten and the sultan gave lawang kuria (pair of doors from teak wood)," said the head of the Lampung Museum Service, Budi Supriyanto.
Now, Lampung black pepper is still a very well-known spice, aside from Muntok white pepper from Bangka. However, is the pepper from Lampung still an“ambassador” on the international stage like the old era of the Sultanate of Banten?
The fact is that Indonesia is no longer the world\'s largest producer of pepper. Indonesia\'s pepper production capacity is far behind that of Vietnam, a country that learned to grow pepper from Indonesiain the 1980s.
