Battle of Surabaya (1677)

Battle of Surabaya

A map of East Java, depicting Surabaya and other places of interest in the campaign

Date	4–13 May 1677
Location	Surabaya (in today's East Java, Indonesia)
Result	VOC victory

Belligerents

Dutch East India Company (VOC)

Forces of Trunajaya

Commanders and leaders

Cornelis Speelman

Trunajaya

Strength

1,500

unknown men
120+ cannons

The Battle of Surabaya was fought in May 1677 during the Trunajaya rebellion, in which the Dutch East India Company (known by its Dutch acronym "VOC") defeated the forces of Trunajaya and took Surabaya on behalf of its ally, the Mataram Sultanate.

The Trunajaya rebellion began in 1674 as rebel forces conducted raids against the cities of the Mataram Sultanate. In 1676, a rebel army of 9,000 invaded Java from their base in Madura and shortly after took Surabaya, the principal city of eastern Java. Mataram sent a much larger army to suppress them, but Trunajaya's forces routed this army at the Battle of Gegodog. The rebels continued to win victories and gain territories in the following month, taking most of the northern coast of Java as far west as Cirebon. Facing the imminent collapse of his authority, the Mataram King Amangkurat I sought help from the VOC in Batavia. On 20 January 1677, Admiral Cornelis Speelman, recently named commander of the VOC's forces in Java's north coast, arrived in Jepara to negotiate with Wangsadipara, the Mataram governor of the north coast. They agreed to a contract in February, which was ratified by the king in March.

Speelman's fleet left Jepara, anchored off Surabaya in early April and tried to start negotiations with Trunajaya. Trunajaya was initially friendly towards the VOC, but he refused to meet Speelman on board a VOC ship. The VOC's impression of Trunajaya declined after he failed to keep an appointment on neutral waters, and after emissaries reported that he was a drunkard. By the end of April, Speelman had decided to attack Surabaya over negotiations.

Speelman had around 1,500 men under his command, including about 400 VOC troops from Jepara; the remainder had sailed with him from Batavia. The force from Batavia included 600 sailors, 310 European soldiers, and four "companies" (each about 50 strong) of Ambonese, Malays, Balinese and Mardijkers.

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