Oenarang was a village situated at the foot of a mountain, between Semarang and Salatiga. The mountain slopes were used to cultivate various crops and orchards and black sugar was grown there. According to Pieter van Dam, who recorded the history of the VOC around 1701, Oenarang had a population of 300 or 400 households subject to the local ruler. When the VOC established a presence here in 1780 it built the fort 'de Ontmoeting'.