Palembang

After three days, we travelled further in Indonesia to Palembang. We had to fly with a plane because this was the quickest way to get there. If we were going by car, we would travel for almost 10 hours.

Palembang is the capital of the South Sumatra province. This city is also the largest city after Medan in Sumatra. It is also one of the oldest cities in Indonesia. Palembang is divided in two parts because of the river “Musi”, the longest river in Sumatra. The northern part is “Ilir” and the southern part “Ulu”. But the “Ampera Bridge” connects the two cities.

More than thousand years ago, Palembang was the capital of the Srivijaya-Kingdom. Palembang came into existence in 1382, by the King of Srivijaya, who, according to stories, came down from heaven on a small hill in the west side of the city. He belongs to the ancestor of all Malaysian rulers.

After the political fall of the Srivijaya Empire, the city remained an important port. In 1370, a mission was send to China to join for recognition in the Ming dynasty. The Ming-emperor sent people to the city to admit the city as a vassal state of China. But these people were killed in Java. In 1392, de ruler of Palembang tried to become independent but a Javanese navy destroyed the villages on the main basic maritime, Banka. In the 16^th century, Palembang was no longer a Chinese enclave but an important port under the Javanese government, dominated by the Javanese culture.

In 1942, the Japanese bombed the airport with combat planes. All the planes were destroyed.

Since 2005, the city is known as the “city of Water Tour” by the testimony from the Indonesian President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono).

The city is very interesting to visit because of its rich history and good climate.

Delphine

Sources:

http://mysriwijaya.blogspot.be/2008/05/history-of-palembang.html

http://ksap.dpr.go.id/puic2012/page/detail/id/8

http://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/14274/ID

http://palembangcityguide.blogspot.be/2012/10/palembang-city.html