Banda Aceh City is one of the cities in Aceh and is the capital of Aceh Province, Indonesia. As the center of government, Banda Aceh is the center of economic, political, social and cultural activities. Banda Aceh City is also the oldest Islamic city in Southeast Asia, where the city of Banda Aceh is the capital of the Aceh Sultanate.
Banda Aceh as the capital of the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate was established in the 14th century. The Aceh Darussalam Sultanate was built on the ruins of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms that had existed before, such as the Indra Purba Kingdom, Indra Purwa Kingdom, Indra Patra Kingdom, and Indrapura Kingdom (Indrapuri). From the tombstone of Sultan Firman Syah, one of the sultans who had ruled the Sultanate of Aceh, information was obtained that the Sultanate of Aceh had its capital in Kutaraja (Banda Aceh). (H. Mohammad Said a, 1981: 157).
The emergence of the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate whose capital city in Banda Aceh is inseparable from the existence of the Kingdom of Islamic Lamuri. At the end of the 15th century, with the establishment of a good relationship with the neighboring kingdom, the center of the Lamurid kingdom was moved to Meukuta Alam. [4] The location of the Meukuta Alam palace is in the Banda Aceh region.
Sultan Ali Mughayat Shah ruled the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate whose capital city was in Banda Aceh, only for 10 years. According to the inscriptions found from the tombstone of Sultan Ali Mughayat Shah, the first leader of the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate died at 12 Dhulhijah in 936 Hijri or coincided with the 7th of August 1530 AD. Although the reign of Sultan Mughayat Syah was relatively short, he succeeded in building Banda Aceh as the center of Islamic civilization in Southeast Asia. At this time, Banda Aceh had evolved into one of the central defense cities that helped secure the maritime trade route and the traffic of pilgrims from piracy carried out by the Portuguese fleet.
During the time of Sultan Iskandar Muda, Banda Aceh grew back as the center of maritime trade, especially for pepper commodities which at that time were very high demand from Europe. Iskandar Muda makes Banda Aceh a world park, which starts from the palace complex. The Aceh Sultanate palace complex was also named Darud Dunya (World Park).
During the second period of Dutch aggression, a massive evacuation of Acehnese troops emerged from Banda Aceh which was later celebrated by Van Swieten by proclaiming the fall of the Aceh sultanate and changing the name Banda Aceh to Kuta Raja. After entering into the lap of the Government of the new Republic of Indonesia since December 28, 1962, the name of the city was reverted to Banda Aceh based on the Decree of the Minister of Public Administration and Regional Autonomy dated May 9, 1963. Dec 52/1 / 43-43
On December 26, 2004, the city was hit by a tsunami tidal wave caused by the 9.2 Richter Scale earthquake in the Indonesian Ocean. This disaster claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and destroyed more than 60% of the city's buildings. Based on statistical data released by the Banda Aceh City Government, the population of Banda Aceh City until the end of May 2012 was 248,727 people.
The city of Banda Aceh as the capital of the Aceh Darussalam Sultanate which was once one of the five largest Islamic kingdoms in the world stores various historical heritage sites from various periods, starting from the Sultanate, the Dutch Colonial period, joining the NKRI frame, the conflict period to the tsunami . The various tourist sites include Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, Ghairah Park Complex, Aceh History Museum, Aceh Tsunami Museum, Tomb of Sultan Iskandar Mudadan, various other historical heritage sites located in various corners of the oldest Islamic city in Southeast Asia.
