Fort Willem II, Ungaran

Fort Willem II of Ungaran (known locally as Benteng Ungaran or Benteng Diponegoro) is a late 18th-century Dutch fort located in Ungaran, in the Semarang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. The fort is the place where Diponegoro was imprisoned while waiting for his judgment in Batavia and further exile to Makassar.

Fort Willem II is a relatively old fortress in Java. There are differing opinions regarding the fort's completion. The fort was built by the Dutch in 1786 as one of the series of Dutch forts built to maintain peace along a trade route in Central Java, which include Fort Herstelling in Salatiga and Fort Veldwachter in Boyolali. The fort was originally named Fort de Ontmoeting ("the meeting") to commemorate the historic meeting between Pakubuwono II and Baron van Imhoff on May 11, 1746, regarding the transfer of the capital of the Mataram Sultanate from Kartosuro to Surakarta. Other claim is that the fort was built in 1712. There is also other claim that the fort was constructed between 1740 and 1742 during a chaotic condition in Java; Baron van Imhoff was hospitalized in the fort after an attack by a troop from Surakarta in 1742.

Between 1800 and 1807 Fort Willem II was controlled by the Batavian Republic; later from 1807-1811 the French soldiers took over the fort. Later the British army took over the fort until 1816. The Dutch took over the fort again.

In 1826 the fort was attacked by the troops of Diponegoro, led by Kyai Mojo (religious advisor and war commander of Diponegoro) from the direction of Rembang. The fort almost fell to the hand of Kyai Mojo after being surrounded for two weeks. When the war ended in 1830, Diponegoro was captured and imprisoned inside Fort Willem II for three days in August 1830 before being transferred to Batavia to be judged.

...
Wikipedia