JAKARTA - Kretek cigarettes are cultural products that cannot be taken lightly. Kretek, which was originally used as a medicinal cigarette, later became a differentiator, so it was so popular. The secret ingredient in the form of a mixture of tobacco, cloves, and flavoring sauce is the main formula. As a result, kretek is able to shake up the existence of white cigarettes made in the western world. Since kretek, the history of smoking in the archipelago has changed. Kretek is a high-value product to this day.
The presence of kretek in the archipelago has a long history and has various versions. Some stories reveal that long before the emergence of kretek, this nation was first familiar with the habit of eating areca nut and lime betel. The custom even lasted until the 16th century.
Tobacco entered the archipelago is believed to have been brought in by the Portuguese in the 17th century. At that time, the tobacco that was brought was made into sugi tobacco or in Java it was known as "bako susur."
However, historians Ong Hok Ham and Amen Budiman believe that cigarettes were first recognized by the Javanese community at the end of Penembahan Senopati leading the Mataram Kingdom. In the book Kretek Cigarettes: Historical Trajectories and Their Meaning for Nation and State Development (1988), Ong and Amen, quote Babad Ing Sangkala in one verse which reads: Kala seda Panembahan syargi ing Kajenar pan anunggal warsa purwa sata sawiyose milaning wong ngaudud.
Translation: The time when the late shooting died in the Yellow House was at the same time as the emergence of tobacco, after which people started smoking.
That is the sound of one of the oldest sources of written history in Java. Therefore, it is possible that cigarettes have been widely known to the Javanese community since the childhood of Senopati, Sultan Agung, ruled from 1613 to 1645.
The evidence of cigarettes having entered Java Island around the 1600s was reviewed by the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies, Thomas Stamford Raffles (1811-1816). Tobacco, said Raffles, has grown in many places in Java.
Locals call it "tombaku" or "sata." For export, tobacco production is usually carried out in Kedu and Banyumas areas. The reason is that these areas have loose soil types so they don't need a lot of maintenance.
"For the consumption of the population, many tobacco fields are planted in various places. But districts in the eastern region and Madura get tobacco from the Pugar area. Bantam (Banten) receives tobacco from Banyumas, which is brought by traders from Pakalongan who are anchored at Bantam port. Production from Kedu is brought to Semarang which is a port for export, ”wrote Raffles in the masterpiece The History of Java (1816).
Not only that. One of the famous cigarette stories during the reign of Sultan Agung is the story of Roro Mendut-Pranacitra. Once upon a time, Roro Mendut, who refused to be the concubine of Tumenggung Wiraguna, who was old, was sentenced to pay three real taxes per day.
In order to pay taxes, Roro Mendut tried and sold cigarettes. All these efforts were made by Roro Mendut so that he could meet Pranacitra who was young and beautiful. However, a couple who fall in love are forced to be separated by death. Pracacitra was killed by jealous Wiraguna. Meanwhile, Roro Mendut, who lost his idol, committed suicide.
The beginning of kretekThe native people, at the time of Sultan Agung, only made very simple cigarettes, both in terms of material and shape. Because of that, cigarettes had not become an attractive merchandise, until finally the oral tradition began to introduce fruit medicinal cigarettes by H. Djamhari from Kudus.
The unexpected discovery of medicinal cigarettes became an important momentum in the development of tobacco cigarettes. In fact, Djamhari arguably made medicinal cigarettes as an attempt to find a "cure" for his asthma. At first, Djamhari used clove oil, then tried mixing clove-tobacco to burn and smoke.
"Clove oil became an alternative medicine by rubbing it on his chest and back, then the man tried to chew it and swallowed it." It turned out that his condition, according to the oral story, was starting to improve. Then the man whose figure and face was unknown mixed tobacco-cloves to be used as cigarettes. When cigarette smoke is inhaled into the lungs, the disease is felt to be healed, ”said Rudi Badil in the book Javanese Kretek: Cross-Cultural Lifestyle (2011).
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Rumors of the success of Djamhari's medicinal cigarettes increasingly popularized the tobacco-clove-wrapped klobot cigarette among the people of Kudus. Gradually, the pleasures and medicinal properties of cigarettes began to spread throughout Java in the 1870s. Because the sound of tobacco-clove cigarettes being burned makes sounds: kretek, kretek, kretek. So Djamhari's medicinal cigarette is called kretek.
It is this popularity that has inspired the home-based cigarette entrepreneurs to make kretek cigarettes. Hence, it is not strange when the end of the 19th century (1870-1880) the Kudus Kulon area sprang up a home cigarette industry with its own brands. Some are very well known, such as the Garbis stamp, Sugarcane stamp, Corn stamp, Gunung stamp, and Leaf belt stamp.
Long story short, the kretek industry reached its peak when a priyai named Nitisemito started making small-scale cigarettes in 1910. Slowly but surely, after 12 years of selling cigarettes, he began to reap huge profits.
Nitisemito also founded a klobot cigarette business under the brand Tjap Kodong Mangan Ulo (Cap Kodok Eating Snake). However, because he became a laughing stock, Nitisemito replaced his brand with a three-circle image as a label without any writing or product name.
This uniqueness is what makes Nitisemito's cigarette products successful and in demand in the market. As revealed by Bedjo Riyanto in the book Siasat Mengemas Nikmat (2019), people call it by various names, such as 'Bal Teloe', 'Bal Tiga', or 'Tiga Bola'.
This success led Nitisemito to become the pioneer of the first kretek cigarette industry for Bumiputra. It was also what made him nicknamed the King of Kretek (kretek kooning) by the Dutch East Indies. For more details regarding the kretek king Nitisemito we have reviewed it in the article "How Nitisemito Becomes the King of Kretek in the Archipelago".
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Advantages of the kretek industry
The aroma of Nitisemito's triumph has been smelled by the Dutch East Indies colonial government. The Company also smelled the economic value contained in the kretek industry. In line with that, the Company began to use tobacco as a source of income for the Dutch East Indies. Quoted from JA Noertjahyo in the book 1000 Tahun Nusantara (2000), the tobacco tax collected by the Company was enormous.
Tobacco taxes in 1938 amounted to Rp1,790,000 or 6.2 percent of total tax and duty revenues. 20 years later (1959), that amount had soared to Rp. 244,930,000 and constituted 18.2 percent of the total tax and duty revenue for the government. So, in 20 years the increase was almost 137 times.
Not only that, according to data from the Association of Indonesian Cigarette Manufacturers (Gappri) in 1988, the cigarette excise payments for its members reached Rp1,090,241,756,641. while in 1998 it had doubled more than six times, reaching Rp. 6,286,982,466,382.
"The data shows the big role of the kretek industry in putting money into the state treasury (since the past). That number will certainly increase by taking into account the income from other types of taxes, for example corporate taxes, sales, billboards, export-import, and so on, "JA Noertjahyo concluded.
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