In the 5th century, Banten was part of the Kingdom of Tarumanagara. The Lebak relic inscriptions, found in lowland villages on the edge of Ci Danghiyang, Munjul, Pandeglang, Banten, were discovered in 1947 and contains 2 lines of poetry with Pallawa script and Sanskrit language.[citation needed] The inscriptions speak of the courage of king Purnawarman.[citation needed] After the collapse of the kingdom Tarumanagara following attack by Srivijaya, power in the western Java fell to the Kingdom of Sunda. The Chinese source, Chu-fan-chi, written circa 1200, Chou Ju-kua mentioned that in the early 13th Century, Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java (Sunda). The source identifies the port of Sunda as strategic and thriving, pepper from Sunda being among the best in quality. The people worked in agriculture and their houses were built on wooden poles (rumah panggung). However, robbers and thieves plagued the country.[4] It was highly possible that the port of Sunda mentioned by Chou Ju-kua was probably refer to the port of Banten.
According to Portuguese explorer, Tome Pires, in the early 16 th century the port of Bantam (Banten) was one of the important ports of the Kingdom of Sunda, along with the ports of Pontang, Cheguide (Cigede), Tangaram (Tangerang), Calapa (Sunda Kelapa) and Chimanuk (estuarine of Cimanuk river).
BANTEN CULTURE AND TRADITION
Regregan TRADITION
Ngembang Cultural
Saweran TRADITION
Ngabendrong Cultural
Beluk Cultural
Nadar TRADITION
Rampak Bedug yudha TRADITION
Prajurit Cultural dance
Rampak Bedug Cultural dance
