Jatinegara (originally known as Meester Cornelis or Meester/Mester for short) is one of the districts (Indonesian: kecamatan) of the administrative city of East Jakarta, Indonesia.

The area is historically known for its cosmopolitan character, dominated formerly by indigenous Christians from the so-called Outer Islands, but also with sizeable Chinese and Arab communities (Vreemde Oosterlingen or 'foreign orientals').

The name Jatinegara is derived from Jatina Nagara, Sundanese for "the might of the state", symbolizing the resistance of the princes of Banten in their fight against the Dutch East India Company.

[3] In 1656, Senen was granted a private estate (particuliere land) to the east of Ciliwung, with total area of 5 square kilometers, about 12 km southeast of the fort of Batavia.

During the 18th century, Meester Cornelis was a military district with residential areas, wide roads, and a semi-rural character.

In 1810, the Napoleonic Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, Herman Willem Daendels (1762–1818) designated Meester Cornelis as Batavia's line of defence against a possible, British attack.

A horse tram was established in 1869 connecting Meester Cornelis to Kota Intan (the "Diamond City", the oldest Dutch settlement in Jakarta), via Harmoni.

In the 1880s, the Batavian Eastern Railway Company (BOS) also constructed a 35-mile (56 km) route linking Batavia with Karawang via Meester Cornelis and Bekasi.

[2] Meester was, at first, governed by an Assistant-Resident, overseeing a traditional bureaucracy with separate administrations for the Europeans, 'Foreign Orientals' and indigenous population of the territory.

The district of Jatinegara is divided into eight kelurahan or subdistricts: The Meester-Cornelis (H5) meteorite fell in Jakarta Raya, Indonesia, on 2 June 1915.