Pusatoka

Pusatoka ᮕᮥᮞᮃᮊᮧᮒᮃ
Capital city
Clockwise from top:Fort Saint Dominique with Pusatoka harbour in the background, Church of St. Martin, House of the people, presidential villa, Pusatoka international airport, fishing boats in Pusatoka harbour
Etymology: Foam City
Special Municipality	Pusatoka Special Municipality
Founded by	King Gumelar II. of Batu
Government
• Body	Pusatoka City Council
•  Mayor	Botak Mainaky (Kapulakan People's Party)
Area
• Total	104.7 km2 (40.4 sq mi)
Elevation	15 m (49 ft)
Population  (2022)
• Total	109,437
• Density	1,000/km2 (2,700/sq mi)
Demonym	Pusatokan
Postal Code	101
Website	putasoka.gov.kl

Pusatoka (Kapulakan:ᮕᮥᮞᮃᮊᮧᮒᮃ) is the oldest and largest city of Kapulaka and its capital. It was founded as a trade settlement during the Batu period and steadily grew since then. Pusatoka is the the political, cultural and economic centre of Kapulaka and also the home to roughly one third of Kapulakas population. Next to its function as national capital Pusatoka is also the capital of Poeok, the state it is located in.

The history of settlements in the bay of Pusatoka probably traces back to the first humans to arrive on the Kapulakan Archipelago but volcanic activity up to the 13th century destroyed most of those early structures leaving only a very small archeological record. This same volcanic activity is also generally regarded as the one of the major factors for the construction of stilt houses by the kapulakans, a tradition that is kept alive to this day. Its generally assumed that by the time the Batu unified the islands under their rule Pusatoka already was the biggest settlement in the Archipelago.

History

Foundation

Human settlements in Pusatoka bay probably trace back to roughly 1200 years ago when prehistoric kapulakans built stilt houses in the shallow waters of the bay. Around 1000 BCE. the settlement became the staging grounds of the Batu-clans attacks on other clans and families in the archipelago. After he launched the unification wars against the 7 other major clans of the kapulakan archipelago king Gumelar I. of Batu made Pusatoka his official base of operations and also built the first land installations. As he died soon after having unified the archipelago under his families rule it became the role of his son Gumelar II. to expand the capital in 1215. Under the rule of Gumelar II. the town was expanded from being mostly located on stilts to also include land settlements, including temples and especially the Royal palace of Pusatoka.

Reconstruction of the Royal Batu Palace in Pusatoka, nowadays the National Heritage Museum

Colonial-period

Gaullican-occupation

In 1928 Cahya Sitepu created the Independent Pusatoka Fire Fighter Brigade.

The Great war

During the Great war Gaullica bolstered its forces on Kapulaka, especially expanding its ammonition depots and hospital facilities. Other than that the only time Pusatoka was touched by the war was in 1932 when a weranian cruiser squadron bombarded the city with the goal of destroying Fort Saint Dominique, the gaullican military headquarters for kapulaka. While the bombardment failed to destroy any military installation, largely becaue weranian maps of the island were outdated or straight up incorrect, it instead destroyed several warehouses belonging to a cooperative of local shipbuilders and a gaullican fish raffinery.

The aftermath of the weranian bombardment.

The resulting fire not just destroyed a large amount of wood needed for the construction of fishing boats but also extended to the local neighbourhood where it destroyed 26 houses, the fire burned for a total of 6 hours before the combined efforts of gaullican and kapulakan firefighters managed to contain it. In total 32 people, including 6 Firefighters died

Modern period

August 20th coup

On the 20th of August 1964 the armed wing of the People's Freedom Front of Kapulaka(HRMK), the Republican Guard of Kapulaka stormed the government building in Pusatoka. After minor skirmishes with the National gendarmarie they entered the presidential office and arrested President Lotulelei. Afterwards the leader of the Republican Guard Ajat Sanaky was declared provisional president. The fighting between members of the Republican Guard and Lotulelei loyalists continued throughout Pusatoka for the next week until HRMK control of the entire city was secured. After the establishment of the modern kapulakan republic the first municipal elections in Pusatoka were held and Kusworo Rehatta sworn in as the first freely elected mayor of Pusatoka.

Soldiers of the Republican Guard raise their flag in front of Pusatoka town hall

Politics

Municipal Government

Administrative divisions

Pusatoka has 14 subdivisions

Economy

Transportation

Pusatoka Tram and Bus Corporation

Tram services in Pusatoka were first established in the 1920s to transport workers to the farmland of inner Poeok. In the 1950s public transport was expanded with a busline connecting the harbour to the city center and the main train station. In 1976 the management of all public transport in Pusatoka was unified into the Pusatoka tram and bus corporation whic is operated by the ministry of trasnportation. This move was necessary as poltical divisions between the PRK and PMN regarding the topic began to threaten the normal operations of the city government.

Pusatoka International Airport

The first Airfield in Pusatoka was constructed to facilitate the aircraft of the newly established coast guard in 1953. It was later expanded and opened for civilian use in 1957. In 1985 it was inaugurated as an international airport with the flag carrier Air Kapulaka performing the first flight from Kapulaka to Werania.