Guyangan, Central Java Province, Java Region, Indonesia

🇮🇩 Kudus is the capital and the namesake of the Kudus Regency in Central Java, Indonesia. Its name has an Arabic etymology connected to its foundation by the legendary figure Sunan Kudus. It also houses the mosque established by Sunan Kudus named Menara Kudus Mosque, one of the most important and influential mosques in Indonesia. During the Dutch East Indies era, Kudus was the seat of the Kudus Regency which was a part of Semarang Residency dating back to 1817. During the period of 1928 to 1931, it was the seat of the short-lived Koedoes Residency, which incorporated the regency as well as the neighboring Demak and Jepara regencies.

History The town of Kudus was something of an important Islamic holy city in the sixteenth century. It is the only place in Java that has permanently acquired an Arabic name ('al-Quds', Jerusalem). Sunan Kudus, one of the nine Wali Sanga, was said to have been the fifth imam (head) of the mosque of Demak and a major leader of the 1527 campaign against 'Majapahit', before moving to Kudus.

The Mosque of Kudus (Masjid Menara) which dates from this period, remains a local landmark to this day. It is notable for both its perseverance of pre-Islamic architectural forms such as Old Javanese split doorways and Hindu-Buddhist influenced Majapahit-style brickwork, and for its name al-Manar or al-Aqsa. The date AH 956 (AD 1549) is inscribed over the mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca).

On 8 December 1951, a clash between the ex-426 Battalion fighters and Indonesian Armed Forces occurred in Kudus after the battalion commander refused to surrender. This marked the start of Ex-426 Battalion Rebellion. During the battle, the rebels fired mortar shells, and some fell to the town square. The battle lasted until dusk when heavy rain poured on the town, resulting in the ex-426 Battalion members fleeing the town to the south.

Geography The administrative boundaries of Kudus Regency include: • North = Jepara Regency • South = Grobogan Regency and Demak Regency • West = Demak Regency • East = Pati Regency

Most of the Kudus Regency area is lowland. In part of the northern region stands a mountain, namely Mount Muria, with the peaks Puncak Songolikur (Saptorenggo Peak) (1,602 m above sea level), Puncak Rahtawu (Rahtawu Peak) (1,522 m above sea level), and Puncak Argojembangan (Argojembangan Peak) (1,410 m above sea level). The largest river is the Kali Serang which flows to the west, bordering Kudus Regency with Demak Regency. Kudus is divided by the Gelis River in the middle, with the two sections being known by the terms Kudus West and Kudus East. Kudus Regency is the regency with the smallest area in Central Java, but is the richest regency in Central Java with per capita income reaching more than IDR 123 million.

Kudus town The town of Kudus, including those parts of the regency who form part of the urban area (the surrounding Kaliwungu, Jati, Gebog and Bae Districts), had a population of 358,335 at the 1990 Census. Although most residents of Kudus are Javanese, there is an Indonesian Chinese minority in the town centre, as well as an Arab neighborhood, Kudus Kulon, to the west of the town centre.

The town is considered to be the "birthplace" of the kretek clove cigarette, which is by far the most widely smoked form of tobacco in the country, and it remains a major centre for their manufacture. Haji Jamahri, a resident of the town, invented them in the 1880s. A festival named Dandangan is held for about one whole month before Ramadhan, Muslim's fasting month in Kudus Kulon.