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History of Bogor


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Crown Prince of Banten and the VOC.

The first, and temporal, colonial settlement at Pakuan was a camp of lieutenant Tanuwijaya, a Sundanese employed by the VOC who was sent in 1687 to develop the area. It was seriously damaged by the eruption on 4�5 January 1699 of the Mount Salak volcano (Indonesian: Gunung Salak), however the concomitant forest fires removed much forest, leaving much area for the planned rice and coffee plantations. In a short time, several agricultural settlements appeared around Pakuan, the largest being Kampung Baru (lit. "new village"). In 1701, they were combined into an administrative district; Tanuwijaya was chosen as the head of the district and is regarded as the founder of the modern Bogor Regency.

The district was further developed during the 1703 Dutch mission headed by the Inspector General of the VOC Abraham van Riebeeck (the son of the founder of Cape Town Jan van Riebeeck and later Governor of Dutch East Indies). The expedition of van Riebeeck performed a detailed study of the Pakuan ruins, discovered and described many archaeological artifacts, including prasasti, and erected buildings for the VOC employees. The area attracted the Dutch by a favorable geographical position and mild climate, preferred over the hot Batavia which was then the administrative center of the Dutch East Indies. In 1744�1745, the residence of the Governor-General was built in Pakuan which was hosting the government during the summer.

In 1746, by the order of the Governor-General Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, the Palace, a nearby Dutch settlement and nine native settlements were merged into an administrative division named Buitenzorg (Dutch for "beyond (or outside) concerns," meaning "without worries" or "carefree," cf. Frederick the Great of Prussia's summer palace outside Potsdam, Sanssouci, with the same meaning in French.)  Around the same time, the first reference to Bogor as the local names of the city was documented; it was
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