The influence of waters environment on the existence of Martapura port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan

¹ Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Diponegoro University, Semarang 50275, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: endangsusilowati@lecturer.undip.ac.id

Abstract

This article examines the influence of waters environment on the existence of Martapura port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. Martapura port is a port located on the banks of Martapura River, Banjarmasin. This port has been an essential trade center since the 17th century during the heyday of Banjar sultanate. The strategic port location along the riverbank that divides Banjarmasin makes Martapura port crowded and visited by sailors and traders from various islands and other regions in Indonesia, even from other countries. Through historical research methods consisting of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography, this article reveals how the waters environment influenced the existence of Martapura port until finally the port had to be moved to a new location. The results emphasize that the narrowing Martapura river due to the development of economic centers and residential settlements in the form of floating houses on both sides of the river and also sedimentation in the estuary, caused disruption of the shipping lanes to the port and the silting of the turning basins. As a result, the waterway became narrow and large ships were no longer able to move into the port. Therefore, in 1961, the construction of a new port on the banks of Barito river began and since 1965 Martapura port has only been used for the activities of small wooden ships and sailboats.