[Liang Jieming]

Overseas Chinese - early settlements

Port of Gresik, Tuban, Surabaya
(source: Admiral Zheng He and Pre-Colonial Coastal Urban
Development in Southeast Asia. by WIDODO, J,)

Islam entered Gresik, the main port of Majapahit kingdom in east Java,
in 1410. From there they started to move westward, and established
Muslim strongholds or missionary centers along the northern coast
line of Java. On his visit to Java, Admiral Zheng He found large colonies
of wealthy Chinese merchants, who had arrived there at the end of the
14th century. Gresik was governed by a man from Guangdong province,
and a thousand Chinese families lived there. Surabaya, another trading
port nearby, also had a thousand Chinese inhabitants. Ma Huan in
1433 wrote that Chinese had already settled down in Surabaya when
they visited them. Surabaya was established on the left bank of
Brantas River, the main access to the inland capital city of Majapahit.
The trade and other commercial activities of the country were carried
out by the Chinese from the trading ports of Tuban, Gresik, and
Surabaya through the water ways and land routes to the capital.

These cities had three main roles: firstly as the supply ports for
intercontinental ships before their long cruises, especially for rice,
secondly as concentration center of spices for international trading,
and thirdly as the center of ship building and ship owners. Wherever
a Muslim community was established in a coastal city, the Mosque
would become the religious and social center, and thus the urban
center.

In 17th century, a temple dedicated to Zheng He (Sanbao Miao) was
built in Morokrembangan near the coast line. The temple has been
relocated to Jalan Demak 43 because the place was turned into a
naval base. Inside the temple, three local deities are also worshipped:
Raden Panji, Raden Ayu Pandan Sari, Mbah Sayid Sekh Maulana
Maghribie, beside the ancient piece of wood ("kayu aji") and an
anchor from Zheng He’s junk.

The decline process of the Hanafite Chinese communities in Java
around 1450-1475 was caused by the decline of power of the Ming
dynasty, since the maritime linkage between the mainland and
southern islands had been disconnected. A great number of
mosques were changed into temples, and the inculturation process
towards Javanese culture (in language and inter-marriage) had been
started.

Another reason for the declination of trade and Chinese colonization
in east Java was the fall of Majapahit in 1520. Moreover, because of
coastal piracy the Chinese colony of Tuban became permanently
insignificant. Gresik became inaccessible by the sea because of the
sedimentation process of its coast, and thus the Chinese settlement
here also declined. Surabaya colony was remained unimportant until
the early nineteenth century. There are no physical remains of these
towns and its Chinese settlements in the present. The fall of
Majapahit kingdom was followed by the shift of the political center
from east Java to central Java. The Majapahit culture (Hindu-Java)
gradually transformed into Muslim culture by Demak, the emerging
Muslim kingdom in the northern coastal region of central Java.