Founding date criticized as `inaccurate'

Apriadi Gunawan ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Medan   |  Thu, 07/02/2009 1:35 PM  |  The Archipelago

Historians have criticized the anniversary celebrations for Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra, claiming the date was chosen more as a compromise rather than based on historical analysis.

Ichwan Azhari, head of Medan State University's Center for Social and Historical Studies, said the July 1 anniversary date was completely fabricated and held no historical relation whatsoever with the founding of Medan city.

"To present date historians have found no basis for why July 1, 1590, was the decided birth date of Medan," Ichwan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said a manuscript, Hampatan Perak, did mention the year 1590 as the time when a figure named Guru Patimpus established the first village between the Deli and Babura Rivers in Medan. Still, no exact date was mentioned.

Ichwan said that prior to 1909, Medan's anniversary was celebrated every July 1, but it was eventually changed to April 1.

This date was upheld for 66 years before it was finally reverted back to July 1 in 1975.

"This action shows we actually have no strong data *regarding the founding date of Medan*. We need to correct this so that we are not deceived by history," he said.

He said he had raised the matter with both the municipal administration and local legislature but received no response.

The only living member of the committee assigned with determining the founding date, T. Lukman Sinar, said July 1 did in fact have nothing to do with the establishment of Medan.

July was chosen because it was relevant to the history of the Karo ethnic group's Manteka Kuta (establishing a village), while the 1st was selected because it was simply the first day of the month.

He also said the committee dropped the April 1 choice because the date was set by the Dutch colonial administration.

"There was a very strong feeling of nationalism at that time, so the April 1 anniversary was dropped," he said.

Personally he had no issue with being criticized for the inaccuracy of the date, he said, and had no problem with changing the date to accommodate history.

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