The history of Garut was marked by the dispersal of Limbangan County in 1811. Daendles dispersed Limbangan County for the coffee production seriously fell off and the county commissioner refused to plant Indigo. In February 1813, lieutenant governor Raffles issued a decree to reform Limbangan County as well as to make Suci the capital city of it. Somehow, Suci was later considered inappropriate place to be capital city.
The county commissioner, Adipati Adiwijaya (1813 – 1831), finally form a committee to find a more appropriate place to be the capital of Limbangan County. At first, they proposed Cumurah (now it’s well-known as Kampung Pidayeuheun). It’s about 3 km to the east of Suci. However, it’s again considered to be inappropriate place because there could hardly be found freshwater. As the result they had to find another place.
They moved on westward and finally found a really good place to be the capital. It’s about 5 km away from Suci. In addition to having fertile farmland, there was a small lake streaming down to the Cimanuk River. The place laid beyond the mountain range of Mount Cikuray, Mount Papandayan, Mount Guntur, Mount Galunggung, Mount Talaga Bodas, and Mount Karacak.
The small lake was covered by thorny bush (Maranta) that the committee had to clear it. When they were doing so, one of the committee members had his hand scratched by the thorn and bled. A Dutchman who involved in the group saw this and asked, “What’s wrong with your hand?” The man whose hand was scratched said, “kakarut” (Sundanese) meaning to be scratched. The Dutchman tried to say the word kakarut and mispronounced it and he said, “gagarut.” Afterward, people called the bush Ki Garut, the lake Ci Garut as well as the place around Garut.
Adipati Adiwijaya agreed to make Garut the capital of the county. The foundation-stone was officially put on September 15, 1813.
Limbangan County was renamed Garut County by the commissioner RAA Wiratanudatar (1871 – 1915) on July 1, 1913.
