Pontianak

Pontianak has a population of about 300,000 people, and is West Kalimantan's provincial capital, for tourists also known as the city on the Equator, with several tourism attractions around. Pontianak was initially a sultanate, established half of the 18th century. The founder father of the sultanate was Syarif Abdurrahman. Pontianak City itself was founded on October 23, 1771 along the mouth of the Kapuas and Landak rivers. Pontianak is now-a-days a cultural gateway through which influences from the outside reach the population of the hinterland. People from the hinterland also come to the city and mixed with Malays, Javanese, Chinese, Bugis and other tribes. Pontianak has also a special History with the Japanese because of the first battle of Kalimantan was in Pontianak City. Small boats called "Betang" sail up and down the river to transport people and goods from one place to another.

 The Kapuas River itself is 1,143 kilometers long and is the most important river in the province of West Kalimantan, navigating tons of stuff up till Putussibau as the last village before the rapids, which is also the capital of the Kapuas Hulu regency,and is more then 800 kilometers inland from Pontianak. Motor or Longboats can even go further upstream to Tanjung Lokan which is on the foot of the Muller Mountain Range.

About 3 kilometers North of Pontianak City, towards the Pinyuh river, you can find the well-known Equator Monument, standing on the exact spot, passed by the equator.

More outside of Pontianak Town, you can find The small Palace of Mempawah Kingdom which was built in 1780. Mempawah is the capital of the Pontianak regency. It lies at the side of the river and is a busy town. The cannons of Kyai Sumi and Ratu Destari are found near Munggu village.


Pontianak History

The Pontianak city was formerly the capital of the independent sultanate of Pontianak and was founded in 1772 around an old trading station on the Borneo coast. It is built on swampy ground that is subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground.

During the Japanese occupation of 1942 to 1945, more than 21,000 people in Pontianak (including women and children) were kidnapped, tortured and massacred by Japanese troops. Japanese intelligence had become concerned ethnic Chinese were planning to start a rebellion, and were worried that people in the city had received guns and ammunition from the Chinese government.

After the end of war, the Japanese officers in Pontianak were arrested by allied troops and brought in front of an international military tribune. During the trial, it was revealed that the plan to start the rebellion did not exist and instead was only an imaginary plan created by Japanese officers who wanted to get promoted.

The massacre occurred from April 23, 1943 to June 28, 1944 and most of the victims were buried in several giant wells in Mandor (88 km from Pontianak). Allied forces occupying the area after the war found several thousand bones, and more than 60 years after the massacre, several secret graves of the victims were found in Mandor and the surrounding areas.

A monument called Makam Juang Mandor was created to commemorate this tragic event.