5th century BC.- King Purnawarman constructs a canal to minimize the flooding by changing the course of the Ciliwung River. The city was then called Tarumanegara, and did trade with the Chinese and Indian merchants. The trading ships helped to spread Hinduism and Buddhism throughout the area.
Trading was peaceful and diverse among the Arabs, Chinese, Indians, and Indonesians, and did not become competetive or monopolized until Europeans set foot on this land.
12th century AD - Now called Sunda Kelapa because of its export of coconut, or kalapa, was the Javanese principal harbor and the port of the Pajajaran Kingdom.
1522 - The Portugese signed a contract to build a factory at Sunda Kalapa
June 22nd, 1527 Fatahillah, a muslim military leader, defeated the Hindu town of Sunda Kalapa and officially changed the name into Jayakarta.
16th cenutry - The Portugese rule, but their power does not last in the seventeenth century due to many reasons: strong missionary attempts which offended the muslims, excessive and expensive military construction, shortage of manpower due to the sickness and disease in the area, and the entry of the Dutch.
Beginning of the 17th Century - Dutch and English merchants developped trading posts in Jayakarta.
1618 - Jayakartans and the British besiege the Dutch fortress
May, 1619 - The Dutch storm the town and burn it to the ground, then construct a stronger fortress on the shoreline naming it Batavia.
17th Century - The Dutch develop Batavia into a port city.
1740 - Upset by the large number of Chinese immigrants searching for employment, the Batavians begin to deport them. The government orders a search of Chinese premises, causing the Batavians to become hysterical and massacre 5,000 Chinese inhabitants.
19th century - Batavians begin to move south, along the Ciliwung river due to poor planning of the original settlement.
March 4th, 1921 the Dutch establish a municipal Government for the first time.
1942 - The Japanese take control of Batavia and rename it Jakarta.
1945 - Java gains independence, elects Soekarno as its leader.
1950s - Soekarno starts a major construction plan in Jakarta, building a major sports complex, hotels, government buildings, etc..
1964 - Jakarta is declared the official capital of the Republic of Indonesia.