Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, located in the northwestern part of the country's most populated island, Java. It is the largest metropole in Southeast Asia and a major financial, commercial, and cultural center. From the 17th to the mid-20th century, the city was known as Batavia and served as the de facto capital of the Dutch East Indies.

Names

While the area around modern-day Jakarta had been settled as early as the 5th century BCE, the city was first mentioned under the name Sundapura in 358 CE, when it was part of the Taruma Kingdom. In 669 CE, it came under the rule of the Sunda Kingdom and became known as Sunda Kelapa, an important port town. In 1527, the city was conquered by the Demak Sultanate, who renamed it to Jayakarta.

In 1619, the Dutch East India Company occupied Jayakarta after driving out its longtime rival, the British East India Company. The city was subsequently renamed to Batavia and became the center of the Dutch's trading network in Asia. It held this position for over three centuries, until World War II, when it was conquered by Japan. Following Japan's surrender and the subsequent formation of the independent Republic of Indonesia, Batavia became the capital of the new country under the name Djakarta, which was later changed to its current name.

History

Golden Age of Piracy

In 1725, after saving the Fenghuang's crew from an ambush by the East India Company's and Admiral Zheng's fleets, Jan van Aert, the Dutch East India Company's chief navigator, sailed to Batavia alongside his allies to celebrate their victory. During the celebrations, Jan explained to the British Assassin Edward Kenway how the latter's friend, Zhang, had reached out to him for help and how Jan had decided to work alongside the Zhang Wei Union once more, despite their previous falling out in the Sultanate of Sulu.

Edward speaking with Zhang and Jan

Jan claimed that, with their enemies in possession of two Pieces of Eden, he had no choice but to turn to Edward for help in order to retrieve the artifacts and restore the balance of power in Southeast Asia. The Assassin agreed to resume his partnership with Jan and instructed his crew to gather additional allies from among the city's pirates and privateers.

While the others did so, Edward headed to a tavern and rallied the pirates there with a speech, inspiring them to fight against those who would rob them of their freedom. The pirates lent their ships to the Zhang Wei Union's cause, and Edward oversaw the preparation of his new fleet before he and his allies left Batavia, embarking on their final voyage together.

Modern times

By the early 21st century, the headquarters of the Zhawang Corporation, the Zhang Wei Union's modern incarnation, was located in Jakarta. In 2023, Noa Kim and Nathan Zhang traveled to the Corporation's headquarters with a group of Assassins who had saved them from an attack by Sigma Team, in order to meet with the company's director Claire Zhang, Nathan's sister. During their meeting, the DedSec hacker group breached the building's security system to communicate with the others, and Noa proposed an alliance between all those present to stop Abstergo Industries' plans and save Shimazu Sei.

After Claire, the Assassins, and DedSec agreed to work together, one of DedSec's members sent Noa and the others footage gathered from Abstergo's internal network. The footage showed Sei being used as an Animus test subject to help the Templars find a Piece of Eden, which was hidden within Shimazu Saito's grave. While the others decided to eliminate Sei and prevent Abstergo from extracting more information from her, Noa wished to save the doctor instead. As such, he volunteered to carry out the mission and left for Osaka, Japan, where Sei was being held captive at the Abstergo Genetic Research Lab.

Following their return from Osaka, Sei, who was suffering from the Bleeding Effect due to overexposure to the Animus, was taken to rest. Meanwhile, Claire introduced Noa to the Brahman 3.0, an Animus model developed by the Zhawang Corporation, which Noa used to relive Edward Kenway's memories and find the Forgotten Temple, an Isu site in Cambodia.

After Sei awakened, she met Claire and Nathan, who informed her that Noa had saved her. She then provided them with a backdoor code, allowing DedSec to access Abstergo's network and discover that the Templars had already launched their own expedition to find the Forgotten Temple.

Behind the scenes

The Zhawang Corporation's headquarters is modeled after the Thamrin Nine, a real complex in Jakarta that houses company offices as well as residental apartments, hotels, and sports and entertainment facilities.

Gallery

• 
  The Zhang Wei Union members at Batavia's harbor
• 
  The Zhawang Corporation's headquarters in Jakarta

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple