Pawon Man represents significant evidence of prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities in the Rajamandala karst region of West Bandung. Human skeletal remains, stone tools, bone artifacts, and traces of habitation indicate that Pawon Cave functioned as a dwelling place, a tool-production area, and a burial site. The flexed burial practice reflects the presence of cultural systems and mortuary rites among prehistoric communities of Tatar Sunda.
This period coincided with the end of the Ice Age and the early Holocene transition, when human communities across the world adapted to climatic change, lake and river environments, and the emergence of more settled habitation patterns.
Hunter-gatherer life in Pawon Cave.
The Austronesian migration marked an important phase in the transformation of material culture in Tatar Sunda. Younger skeletal remains, pottery, and more refined stone tools indicate a gradual transition from hunting and gathering toward settled life, agriculture, and more complex social networks. This phase demonstrates Tatar Sunda’s connection to wider migration movements from mainland Asia into the Indonesian archipelago.
During the same period, East and Southeast Asia witnessed the spread of agricultural technologies, early metal use, and the formation of broader maritime trade networks.
Salakanagara is often regarded as one of the earliest political entities in Tatar Sunda. According to manuscript traditions, the kingdom is associated with Dewawarman I and the western coastal region of Java. The name Salakanagara, meaning “Land of Silver,” suggests a possible symbolic connection with classical references to Argyre, a silver region in western Java. Although its historicity remains debated, Salakanagara is significant as an early marker of political formation in Tatar Sunda.
In the second century CE, Indian Ocean trade networks became increasingly active. The Mediterranean world, India, and Southeast Asia were connected through the exchange of commodities, geographical knowledge, and cross-cultural contact.
Tarumanagara was an early kingdom of Tatar Sunda supported by strong epigraphic evidence in the form of inscriptions written in Pallava script and Sanskrit. Under King Purnawarman, the kingdom demonstrated significant political and technological capacity, particularly through the excavation of the Candrabaga and Gomati rivers for flood control and irrigation. Tarumanagara marked the development of organized governance, royal legitimacy, and Tatar Sunda’s integration into Asian diplomatic networks.
From the fourth to seventh centuries CE, Indian cultural influence spread widely across Southeast Asia. Early kingdoms in the region built legitimacy through religion, inscriptions, infrastructure projects, and diplomatic relations with major powers such as India and China.
Excavation of Candrabaga and Gomati river by Purnawarman.
After the decline of Tarumanagara, Tatar Sunda underwent a process of political division and consolidation through the Sunda and Galuh kingdoms. The Citarum River is often understood as a symbolic boundary between these two centers of power. The dynamics of Sunda-Galuh reveal the continuity of local political traditions, adaptation to changing regional forces, and the formation of Sundanese political identity before the rise of Pajajaran as a dominant center.
During the same period, Southeast Asia witnessed the growth of agrarian and maritime kingdoms. Trade relations, the spread of Hindu-Buddhist traditions, and competition among political centers shaped the region’s historical development.
The reign of Sri Baduga Maharaja, widely remembered in cultural memory as Prabu Siliwangi, is regarded as a significant period of stability and advancement in the Sunda Pajajaran Kingdom. Centered in Pakuan Pajajaran, the kingdom developed governance structures, trade networks, and an agrarian economy supported by strategic commodities such as pepper. Pajajaran became a symbol of Sundanese political and cultural prosperity before the growing influence of Islam along Java’s northern coast.
The late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries marked the expansion of oceanic trade. European powers began entering Asian trade networks, while kingdoms across the Indonesian archipelago faced major transformations caused by economic and religious competition.
The Sunda-Portuguese Treaty of 1522 was a diplomatic initiative by the Sunda Kingdom in response to political and military pressure from Islamic powers along Java’s northern coast. Through the envoys Surawisesa and Henrique Leme, the agreement allowed the Portuguese to establish trade and defensive relations in Sunda Kelapa. This event demonstrates Tatar Sunda’s involvement in international maritime diplomacy in the early sixteenth century.
The treaty occurred during the Age of Exploration, when Portugal, Spain, and other European powers expanded their influence into Asia. At the same time, the spice routes became a central arena of global economic competition.
In 1527, Fatahillah’s forces captured Sunda Kelapa from the influence of the Sunda Kingdom and the Portuguese. The strategic port was subsequently renamed Jayakarta. This event marked the weakening of Sundanese authority along Java’s northern coast and the strengthening of Islamic influence within the region’s political structure.
The sixteenth century was a period of major global transformation. In Europe, the Protestant Reformation was developing, while in Southeast Asia maritime trade routes and strategic ports became central arenas of political contestation.
The fall of Pakuan Pajajaran in 1579 marked the end of the classical phase of the Sunda Kingdom. After Pajajaran’s center of power fell to the Sultanate of Banten, the political structure of Tatar Sunda underwent major transformation. The western region increasingly came under Banten’s influence, while Priangan later entered the political orbit of Mataram and the VOC.
By the late sixteenth century, Europe was entering the late Renaissance and an increasingly intensive phase of colonial expansion. In Southeast Asia, Islamic sultanates strengthened their political and commercial positions in major port cities.
Prianganstelsel was a compulsory coffee delivery system imposed by the VOC and later by the colonial government in the Priangan region. This system transformed the economic structure of Tatar Sunda, as coffee production was directed toward colonial market interests. Local regents served as intermediaries of colonial authority, while rural communities bore the burden of producing and delivering plantation commodities.
From the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, the world economy was increasingly shaped by colonial capitalism. Commodities such as coffee, sugar, tea, and spices became central to global trade linking Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The construction of the Great Post Road under Governor-General Daendels fundamentally transformed the spatial organization of Tatar Sunda. The road connected western and eastern Java and accelerated colonial military, administrative, and economic mobility. Although strategically important for the colonial government, its construction also imposed significant social burdens on local populations.
This period coincided with the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. Colonies in Asia became part of geopolitical competition among European powers, especially France, the Netherlands, and Britain.
Paguyuban Pasundan was founded on 20 July 1913 as a modern organization of Sundanese society. Initially focused on culture and education, it later developed into a socio-political force involved in the national movement. Under figures such as Oto Iskandar di Nata, Paguyuban Pasundan promoted the advancement of Sundanese society while supporting the broader idea of Indonesian unity.
The early twentieth century was marked by the rise of nationalism across many colonial territories. In Asia, education, the press, and modern organizations became important instruments in challenging colonial domination.
West Java Province was established as one of the early provinces of the Republic of Indonesia after the proclamation of independence. The decision of the PPKI session on 19 August 1945 formed the initial basis, later strengthened by Law No. 11 of 1950. As the administrative core of modern Tatar Sunda, West Java became an important center of governance, culture, education, and regional development.
The formation of the province occurred after the end of the Second World War and the establishment of the United Nations. By the early 1950s, the world was entering the Cold War era and new geopolitical conflicts such as the Korean War.
The State of Pasundan was established on 24 April 1948 within the context of Dutch federal strategy after Indonesia’s proclamation of independence. Although its formation was linked to colonial interests, the leadership of R.A.A. Wiranatakusumah V displayed pro-republican tendencies and contributed to the reintegration process. The State of Pasundan was eventually dissolved and rejoined the Republic of Indonesia on 11 March 1950.
This period followed the Second World War, when decolonization movements began gaining strength across Asia and Africa. The United Nations had recently been established, while the world order entered the early phase of the Cold War.
The DI/TII rebellion in West Java was led by S.M. Kartosuwiryo, who proclaimed the Islamic State of Indonesia in Tasikmalaya on 7 August 1949. The conflict lasted for more than a decade and had a major impact on the social, economic, and security stability of rural Tatar Sunda. The movement was eventually suppressed through Operation Pagar Betis in 1962.
This period took place during the early Cold War, when newly independent states faced challenges of state consolidation, ideological conflict, and competition over national political direction.
Jakarta was once part of the administrative territory of West Java before gaining a special status as the national capital. In 1959 its status was elevated, and in 1961 Jakarta was designated as the Special Capital Region of Greater Jakarta through Law No. 2 of 1961. This change marked Jakarta’s administrative separation from West Java and strengthened its role as the center of national government.
The year 1961 was a significant period in the Cold War. The construction of the Berlin Wall and the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement reflected both global tension and the efforts of newly independent states to build independent political positions.
Banten Province was officially established on 4 October 2000 through Law No. 23 of 2000 as a result of separation from West Java. Its formation was driven by public aspirations to accelerate development, address infrastructure disparities, and manage regional economic potential more independently. Banten represents an important transformation of Tatar Sunda’s administrative landscape during the era of regional autonomy.
The year 2000 marked the turn of the millennium and growing global optimism toward democracy, decentralization, and sustainable development. In Indonesia, this period coincided with Reformasi and the strengthening of regional autonomy policies.