History of Gorontalo
According to history, the Gorontalo Peninsula was formed approximately 400 years ago and is one of the oldest cities in Sulawesi apart from the cities of Makassar, Pare-pare and Manado. At that time Gorontalo became one of the centers for the spread of Islam in Eastern Indonesia, namely from Ternate, Gorontalo, Bone. Along with the spread of this religion, Gorontalo became a center for community education and trade in surrounding areas such as Bolaang Mongondow (Sulut), Buol Toli-Toli, Luwuk Banggai, Donggala (Central Sulawesi) and even Southeast Sulawesi. Gorontalo became a center for education and trade because of its strategic location. facing Tomini Bay (south) and the Sulawesi Sea (north).
The seat of the Royal City of Gorontalo was originally in Hulawa Village, Telaga District now, precisely on the banks of the Bolango River. According to research, in 1024 H, this royal city was moved from Hulawa Village to Dungingi, Tuladenggi Village, West City District now.
Then during the reign of Sultan Botutihe, this royal city was moved from Dungingi on the banks of the Bolango river, to a location located between two villages, namely Biawao Village and Limba B Village.
With its strategic location which is the center of education and trade as well as the spread of Islam, Gorontalo has a very large influence on the surrounding area, even becoming the center of government which is called the Head of the North Sulawesi Region Afdeling Gorontalo which covers Gorontalo and surrounding areas such as Buol ToliToli and, Donggala and Bolaang Mongondow.
Before the colonial period, the Gorontalo region was in the form of kingdoms regulated according to Gorontalo customary constitutional law. These kingdoms were united in one family bond called “Pohala’a”. According to Haga (1931) in the Gorontalo area there are five pohala’a:
Pohala’a Gorontalo
• Pohala’a Limboto
• Pohala’a Suwawa
• Pohala’a Boalemo
• Pohala’a Atinggola
With this customary law, Gorontalo is included in 19 customary territories in Indonesia. Between religion and custom in Gorontalo is united by the term “Custom is based on Syara’ and Syara’ is based on the Book of Allah”.
Pohalaa Gorontalo is the most prominent pohalaa among the five pohalaa. That is why Gorontalo is more widely known.
There are various opinions and explanations about the origin of the name Gorontalo, including:
• Derived from “Hulontalangio”, the name of one of the kingdoms which was shortened to hulontalo.
• Derived from “Hua Lolontalango” which means Gowa people walking around.
• Derived from “Hulontalangi” which means more noble.
• Derived from “Hulua Lo Tola” which means the place where snakehead fish grow.
• Derived from “Pongolatalo” or “Puhulatalo” which means waiting place.
• Derived from Gunung Telu which means three mountains.
• Comes from “Hunto” a place that is always flooded with water
So the origin of the name Gorontalo (the meaning of the word) is no longer known, but it is clear that the word “hulondalo” is still alive today in the speech of the Gorontalo people and the Dutch because of the difficulty in pronouncing it, it is pronounced Horontalo and when written it becomes Gorontalo.
In 1824 the Limo Lo Pohalaa area was under the authority of a Resident assistant in addition to the traditional government. In 1889 the royal government system was transferred to direct government known as “Rechtatreeks Bestur”. In 1911 there was another change in the government structure of the Limo lo pohalaa region, divided into three Onder Afdeling, namely:
• Onder Afdeling Kwandang
• Onder Afdeling Boalemo
• Onder Afdeling Gorontalo
Furthermore, in 1920 it changed again into five districts, namely:
• Kwandang District
• Limboto District
• Bone District
• Gorontalo District
• Boalemo District
In 1922 Gorontalo was designated into three Afdelings, namely:
• Afdeling Gorontalo
• Afdeling Boalemo
• Afdeling Buol
Before the independence of the Republic of Indonesia, the people of Gorontalo were pioneered by Mr. H. Nani Wartabone fought and became independent on January 23, 1942. For approximately two years, namely until 1944, the Gorontalo region was sovereign with its own government. This patriotic struggle became a milestone in the independence of the Indonesian nation and gave an impact and inspiration to the surrounding region and even nationally. Therefore, Mr. H. Nani Wartabone was confirmed by the Indonesian Government as a pioneering hero of independence.
Basically, the people of Gorontalo have a high spirit of nationalism. The indicator that can be proven is that on “Gorontalo Independence Day”, namely January 23 1942, the red and white flag was raised and the song Indonesia Raya was sung. Even though at that time the State of Indonesia itself was still a nationalist dream, the people of Gorontalo had declared independence and became part of Indonesia.
Apart from that, during the PRRI Permesta upheaval in North Sulawesi, the people of the Gorontalo region and its surroundings struggled to remain united with the Republic of Indonesia with the motto “Once to Djogdja, always to Djogdja” as was first echoed by Ayuba Wartabone in the Eastern Indonesian Parliament when Gorontalo was part of Eastern Indonesia.
The city of Gorontalo was born on Thursday, March 18, 1728 AD or coincides with Thursday, 06 Syakban 1140 Hijriah. Exactly on February 16 2001, Gorontalo City was officially designated as the capital of Gorontalo Province (Law Number 38 of 2000 Article 7).
Before the formation of Gorontalo Province, Gorontalo City was part of North Sulawesi Province. Gorontalo is a municipality that was officially established on May 20 1960, which was later changed to Gorontalo Municipality in 1965. The name Gorontalo Municipality remained in use until 1999. Furthermore, since the enactment of Law Number 22 of 1999 concerning Regional Government, where the term Municipality is no longer used, replaced by City, Gorontalo also adjusted its name to Gorontalo City until now.
Gorontalo is known as a city of trade, education and a center for the development of Islamic culture in Eastern Indonesia. Gorontalo has long been known as the City of Verandas of Medina. This is because in the past the Gorontalo Royal Government implemented Islamic law as the basis for implementing law, both in the fields of government, society and the courts. This can be seen from the Islamic cultural philosophy of Gorontalo which states, “Customs are based on syarak; and syarak is based on the Book of Allah (Al-Quran).” Syarak is a law based on Islamic law. Because of this, Gorontalo was designated as one of the 19 customary law regions in Indonesia. The first king in the Kingdom of Gorontalo to embrace Islam was Sultan Amai, whose name was later immortalized as the name of the Islamic college in Gorontalo Province, STAIN Sultan Amai.
Gorontalo is also known as one of the four main cities in Sulawesi, namely (1) Makassar, (2) Manado, (3) Gorontalo, and (4) Parepare.
In historical records, HULONTALO is an abbreviation of HULONTALANGI, hereinafter called GORONTALO.
The founder of Gorontalo City is Sultan Botutihe who has successfully carried out government duties on the basis of God and community principles.
Even though Gorontalo has existed and been formed since 1728 (around 3 centuries ago), as an autonomous region the City of Gorontalo was officially formed on May 20 1960 as an implementation of Law no. 29/1959 concerning the formation of Dati II in Sulawesi.
The jurisdiction of Gorontalo Municipality is divided into 3 sub-districts based on Law no. 29/1959 and through North Sulawesi Regional Head Decree No. 102 dated March 4 1960 determined that 39 villages were still included in the Gorontalo Municipal area which was divided into 3 sub-districts, namely South Kota District, West Kota District and North City District.
The term Municipality is in accordance with the term used in Law no. 18/1965 concerning Regional Government which was replaced by Law no. 5/1974 concerning the Principles of Regional Government which replaced the term Municipality with Municipality and is now called City.
Since 2003, there have been two sub-district expansions in Gorontalo City, increasing to 6 sub-districts from previously only 3 sub-districts.
And also in 2011 there was another expansion into 9 sub-districts and 50 sub-districts in the city of Gorontalo