During the colonial period many significant examples of Dutch architecture were built in Semarang, Indonesia. Control of Semarang was given to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a part of a debt payment by Sunan Amangkurat II in 1678 and established as area in 1682 Dutch. On 5 October 1705, Semarang officially became a VOC city when Susuhunan Pakubuwono I made a deal to give extensive trade rights to the VOC in exchange for wiping out Mataram's debt. The VOC, and later, the Dutch East Indies government, established tobacco plantations in the region and built roads and railroads, making Semarang an important colonial trading centre.