Jakarta,CNBC Indonesia – Currently, cars are one of the most popular means of transportation. Referring to National Police data, there are 160 million cars spread throughout Indonesia. From the hundreds of millions, then who owned the first car in Indonesia?

History records that person was Pakubuwana X.

Pakubuwana According to Pakubuwana XII and A. Mutholi'in in Surakarta Palace (2004), wealth is obtained through ownership of pThe sugar factories built by the previous rulers have borne fruit. All of them succeeded in supplying thousands of tons of sugar to the market. Its existence enlivened the sugar industry in the Dutch East Indies, which at that time was dominated by Chinese traders, namely Oei Tiong Ham.

Pakubuwana X got a windfall. He was the person who most tasted the sweetness of the profits from the sugar trade, so he could live in luxury. This luxurious lifestyle is reflected in his behavior.

Not long after ascending the throne, Pakubuwana X contacted John C. Potter, an Englishman who worked as a technician in Surabaya. Potter was the first person to own a motorbike in the Dutch East Indies since 1893. Apparently, the King of Surakarta wanted to have an 'iron horse' similar to that owned by Potter.

He was fascinated by the motorized vehicles that Europeans had previously developed. Having a vehicle is considered much more effective and efficient than a horse-drawn carriage or cart. From here, Pakubuwana X asked Potter to take care of purchasing motorized vehicles from Europe. Potter then forwarded this to the Prottle&Co company in Surabaya. However, what the king asked for was not a motorbike, but a car.

“The purchase of this car is the first car import and the first car in Indonesia,” wrote James Luhulima in History of Cars & Stories of the Presence of Cars in this Country (2012)

In 1894, the Benz Viktoria branded car carrying a 2,000 cc engine arrived at the courtyard of the Sultanate of Surakarta. The price is 10,000 guilders. The existence of the first car in the Dutch East Indies indirectly changed the paradigm of wealth. If previously being rich was having a horse-drawn carriage, now cars are a symbol of wealth.

The ownership of a car by the ruler of Surakarta is shocking news. The reason is that it was reported that the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies and the Queen of the Netherlands did not have a car at that time. Aka still using horse-drawn carriages as a means of transportation.

Photo: Benz Victoria. (Doc. Mercedes-Benz) Benz Victoria. (Doc. Mercedes-Benz)

Since then the Europeans in the Dutch East Indies did not want to lose. Car purchases slowly increase every year. And this continued to increase because cars proved to be more effective than horse-drawn carriages.

“Cars have been proven to be a very important means of transportation. Especially in areas that are hampered by the lack of railway tracks, or in areas where railways have not yet been built, contact between distant places can be reached by car,” wrote J. Stroomberg in Dutch East Indies 1930 (2017)

According to Stroomberg's presentation, in 1928 alone there were 40,1554 cars, 10,505 motorbikes, 3,756 trucks and 2,545 buses. In fact, since 1927 there has been a car assembly factory in Tanjung Priuk, Batavia.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(mfa/mfa)