Beads in Banten Girang Site in an International Trade of Sunda Kingdom, X-XVI Century

Abstract

ABSTRACT : Tatar Sunda (Sundanese Land), as part of the Indonesian archipelago, is thought to be involved in an international trade. Knowledge about based on historical sources, which state that on the North Coast of Sunda during the Sunda Kingdom triumphed in the X-XVI century, there were at least six important and crowded ports, namely: Chemamo = Cimanuk, Calapa = Sunda Kelapa, Chegujde = Cigede, Tamgara = Tangerang, Pondang = Pontang, and Bantam = Banten. Historical and archaeological research in the past few decades has shown the presence of artifacts that are declared as an international trade commodities rather than agricultural products at several points along the Cibanten River, including beads, Chinese ceramics, and Arikamedu pottery. Through the historical methods (heuristic, criticism, interpretation, and historiography), as well as theories and concepts of early trade (read: ancient trade) in relation to exchange and trade as Karl Polanyi (1977) and other currently scholars’ thinking, the fact of the presence of beads and Chinese ceramics in this article trace the transportation of the Cibanten River was to the constellation of the international trade routes of Sunda Kingdom in West Java, Indonesia. As the second international port of the Sunda Kingdom, in the port of Banten, there were trade contacts with various nations in the world, including people from West Asia. KEY WORDS : International Trade; Sunda Kingdom; Beads; Chinese Ceramics; Banten Girang Site. About the Authors: Drs. Wan Irama is a Master Student at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UNPAD (Padjadjaran University) Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Prof. Dr. Nina Herlina and Dr. Mumuh Muhsin Zakaria are the Lecturers at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UNPAD Bandung. For academic interests, the Authors are able to be contacted via e-mail address at: puarsastra@gmail.com Suggested Citation: Irama, Wan, Nina Herlina & Mumuh Muhsin Zakaria. (2019). “Beads in Banten Girang Site in an International Trade of Sunda Kingdom, X-XVI Century” in TAWARIKH: Journal of Historical Studies , Volume 11(1), October, pp.1-14. Bandung, Indonesia: Minda Masagi Press owned by ASPENSI, with ISSN 2085-0980 (print) and ISSN 2685-2284 (online). Article Timeline: Accepted (August 17, 2019); Revised (September 19, 2019); and Published (October 30, 2019).