The Banda Islands are a volcanic group of ten small islands in the Banda Sea, about 140 km south of Seram Island and about 2000 km east of Java, and constitute an administrative district (kecamatan) within the Central Maluku Regency in the Indonesian province of Maluku. The islands rise out of 4 to 6 km deep ocean and have a total land area of approximately 172 km2; with associated maritime area this reaches 736.3 km2. They had a population of 18,544 at the 2010 Census[2] and 20,924 at the 2020 Census;[3] the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 21,902.[4] Until the mid-19th century the Banda Islands were the world's only source of the spices nutmeg and mace, produced from the nutmeg tree. The islands are also popular destinations for scuba diving and snorkeling. The main town and administrative centre is Banda Neira, located on the island of the same name.
Geography
There are seven inhabited islands and several that are uninhabited. The inhabited islands are: Main group (formed from the drowned caldera of a former volcano, with Bandaneira and still-smoking Guning Api islands at the centre of the crater, and the crescent-shaped Lonthair, Pulau Pisang and Batu Kapal being the surviving above-water parts of the volcanic rim):
Some distance to the west:
To the north of Banda Besar:
To the southeast:
Others, all small or uninhabited, are:
The islands are part of the Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests ecoregion.
- Bandaneira, or Naira, the island with the administrative capital and a small airfield (which stretches across the whole island, splitting the southern third from the northern two-thirds) as well as accommodation for visitors. It contains six villages (desa), from south to north being Nusantara (that part not on Gunung Api Island, and containing the district administration), Kampung Baru, Dwiwarna, Rajawali, Tanah Rata and Merdeka. Present on Banda Neira is Fort Belgica, one of the largest remaining Dutch forts that are still intact in Indonesia, and Fort Nassau.
- Banda Api, an active volcano (Gunung Api) with a peak of about 650 m. It forms most of the land area of the desa of Nusantara.
- Banda Besar, also called Lontar or Lonthoir, is the largest island (Indonesian besar, big), 12 km long and 3 km wide. It has three main settlements, Lonthoir (in the west of the island), Selamon (which includes Pulau Pisang, and which with Cumbir Kaisastoren, Walling Spanciby and Boiyauw villages faces the islands in the centre of the caldera) and Waer (which with Dender to its north and Lautang and Uring-Tutra to its west face away from the caldera). The residual former Dutch fortifications of Fort Hollandia and Fort Concordia are on this island.
- Pulau Ay (formerly spelt Pulau Ai), 12 km from Bandaneira, and containing the remains of the former Dutch Fort Revenge.
- Pulau Rhun (formerly spelt Run), another 8 km further west again. In the 17th century, this island was involved in an exchange between the British and the Dutch, when it was exchanged for the island of Manhattan in New York.
- Pulau Pisang (Banana Island), also known as Syahrir.
- Pulau Hatta (formerly Rosengain or Rozengain), 19 km from Bandaneira, with its single village (of the same name) at its northern tip.
- Naijalaka, a short distance northeast of Pulau Rhun
- Batu Kapal, a small island northwest of Pulau Pisang
- Manuk, an active volcano
- Pulau Keraka or Pulau Karaka (Crab Island), a short distance north of Banda Api
- Manukang or Suanggi, to the northwest of the main group
- Skaru Reef, a short distance south of Pulau Hatta
Administration
The Banda Islands District (kecamatan) is sub-divided into eighteen administrative villages (desa), listed below with their areas and their officially-estimated populations as at mid 2002.[5] All share the postcode of 97586.
Notes: (a) comprising 10,723 males and 10,702 females.
History
Pre-European history
The first documented human presence in the Banda Islands comes from a rock shelter site on Pulau Ay that was in use at least 8,000 years ago.[6]
The earliest mention of the Banda Islands is found in Chinese records dating as far back as 200 BCE[7] though there is speculation that it is mentioned in earlier Indian sources. The Srivijaya Kingdom had extensive trade contacts with the Banda Islands. Also during this period (from the late 13th century and onwards) Islam arrived in the region. It soon became established in the area.[8]
Before the arrival of Europeans, Banda had an oligarchic form of government led by orang kaya ('rich men') and the Bandanese had an active and independent role in trade throughout the archipelago.[9]
Demographics
Language
Bandanese speak Banda Malay, which has several features distinguishing it from Ambonese Malay, a Malay dialect that is a lingua franca in central and southern Maluku alongside Indonesian. Banda Malay is famous in the region for its unique, lilting accent, but it also has a number of locally identifying words in its lexicon, many of them borrowings or loanwords from Dutch.
Examples:
Banda Malay shares many Portuguese loanwords with Ambonese Malay not appearing in the national language, Indonesian. But it has comparatively fewer, and they differ in pronunciation.
Examples:
Finally, and most noticeably, Banda Malay uses some distinct pronouns. The most immediately distinguishing is that of the second person singular familiar form of address:.
The descendants of some of the Bandanese who fled Dutch conquest in the seventeenth century live in the Kai Islands (Kepulauan Kei) to the east of the Banda group, where a version of the original Banda language is still spoken in the villages of Banda Eli and Banda Elat on Kai Besar Island. While long integrated into Kei Island society, residents of these settlements continue to value the historical origins of their ancestors.
Culture
Most of the present-day inhabitants of the Banda Islands are descended from migrants and plantation labourers from various parts of Indonesia, as well as from indigenous Bandanese. They have inherited aspects of pre-colonial ritual practices in the Banda Islands that are highly valued and still performed, giving them a distinct and very local cultural identity.[34]
See also
- 1938 Banda Sea earthquake
- Dutch East India Company in Indonesia
- History of Indonesia
- List of earthquakes in Indonesia
- Maluku Islands
General references
- Warburg, Otto (1897) Die Muskatnuss: ihre Geschichte, Botanik, Kultur, Handel und Verwerthung sowie ihre Verfälschungen und Surrogate zugleich ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte der Banda-Inseln. Leipzig: Engelmann.Die Muskatnuss : ihre Geschichte, Botanik, Kultur, Handel und Verwerthung sowie ihre Verfälschungen und Surrogate zugleich ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte der Banda-Inseln
Further reading
- Ghosh, Amitav (2021). The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 1529369479.
- Giles Milton. Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History (Sceptre books, Hodder and Stoughton, London)
External links
References
- G. Banda Api Badan Geologi, retrieved 2022-01-28^
- Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.^
- Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.^
- Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2024.