Samarinda
Encyclopedia
Samarinda is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan region on the east of Borneo island. The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda and Balikpapan...

 on the island of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

. The city lies on the banks of the Mahakam River
Mahakam River
The Mahakam River is in Indonesia. It flows 980 km from the district of Long Apari in the highlands of Borneo, to its mouth at the Makassar Strait....

. It is the most populous city in East Kalimantan with a population of 726,223. Although it is the capital of East Kalimantan, some government institutions such as the Police, Indonesian Army District VI Of Tanjung Pura, and Pelabuhan Indonesia (Port Transportation) are located on the island. Samarinda is known for its traditional food amplang, as well as the cloth sarung samarinda. The city also has a bridge connecting its river banks, Mahakam Bridge
Mahakam Bridge
Mahakam Bridge is a bridge that crosses the Mahakam River in Samarinda, East Kalimantan province, Indonesia.Mahakam Bridge was built in 1987 and inaugurated by the President of Indonesia, Soeharto....

. The city center is on one side and the other side is named Samarinda Seberang.

History

At the start of the Gowa War, the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 under Admiral Speelman's command attacked Makassar
Makassar
Makassar, is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably...

 from the sea. Meanwhile, the Netherlands' local ally Arung Palaka led a ground attack. The Kingdom of Gowa was forced to surrender and Sultan Hassanudin was made to sign the Bongaya Treaty on 19 November 1667.

The treaty did not quell all trouble for the Dutch however, since the Bugis
Bugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...

 from Gowa continued their struggle using guerilla tactics. Some Buginese moved to other islands close by such as Kalimantan. A few thousand people led by Lamohang Daeng Mangkona or Pua Ado I, moved to East Kalimantan, known then as Kutai
Kutai
Kutai is the traditional name of a historic region in East Kalimantan in Indonesia on Borneo, a Dayak people of the region with a language of the same name and their historic states. Today the name is preserved in the names of three regencies in East Kalimantan, the Kutai Kartanegara Regency, the...

, where they were welcomed by the local Sultan.

The Sultan of Kutai gave the migrants land in Kampung Melantai around the Karang Mumus River, now known as Kampung Selili, where established farms and fisheries. In payment, the Bugis people promised to help the Sultan defend Kutai whenever needed.

The arrival of the first Bugis on 21 January 1668 was chosen to mark the city's anniversary.

Samarinda was a small, sleepy town in 1942 with several small oil fields in the vicinity. It was occupied by the Japanese after the Dutch East Indies had fallen.

In 1955, the Apostolic Vicariate of Samarinda was established in the city. In 1961, it was promoted as the Diocese of Samarinda. In 2003, the diocese was promoted as the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Samarinda.

Etymology

The name Samarinda originates from the description of the way in which the Bugis
Bugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...

 houses were constructed. At that time houses were customarily built on a raft and generally had the same height. This provided important social symbolism of equality between residents; no person's house, and thus no person, was seen as higher or lower than another. They named the settlement 'Samarenda', meaning 'equal in height'. After hundreds of years of use the pronunciation of the name changed slightly and the city became known as Samarinda.

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