ISLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA
BEYOND THE SHADOWS OF YESTERYEAR
or
the rapidly changing societies of modern Island Southeast
Asia, the past seems nowadays like a foreign country. Yet
there are some constants. For over 600 years the Straits of
Melaka have pulsed with commercial energy. The big port cities
along its coasts were and continue to be cultural melting
pots where countless ethnic groups meet. World religions such
as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity now as then
share their space with local belief systems. Historians can
now discover the roots of Island Southeast Asia in the VOC
records of yesteryear.
A Violent Entrance
number of aggressive conquests marked the VOC
's arrival in insular Southeast Asia as they sought a profitable
source of spices. The Dutch occupation of Ambon in 1605 and
Jakarta in 1619, the annexation of the nutmeg production centre
of Banda in 1622, and the conquest of Makassar (Ujung Pandang)
in 1669 sent shockwaves throughout the archipelago, especially
among Javanese, Malay, and Makassarese overseas traders. These
operators were forced to regroup, reorganize their ancient
networks, and look for other allies.
In contrast to the mainland of Southeast Asia, in
the Indonesian archipelago the VOC
was not just another of many traders. The VOC
's administrative and diplomatic centre at Batavia, its interests
in the Spice Islands of Maluku, and its presence to varying
degrees throughout the entire archipelago have made its documents
an indispensable part of studying Indonesia's history.

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Example
of the countless VOC documents
in Indonesia wich are a rich source for local history
(click image to enlarge) |
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Beyond the Shadows of History: Java and
the VOC
uropeans
arrived in Java at the height of the last and greatest of
the imperial states of Java, the Sultanate of Mataram. Sultan
Agung (1613-1646) conquered most of Java, but his son, Susuhunan
Amangkurat I, virtually destroyed the state his father had
forged. The period that followed the collapse of Mataram in
1677 was one of confusion. In 1680, Amangkurat II could only
restore the kingdom in East and Central Java with the help
of the VOC , who in return gained
more control over trade. A new Mataram court was established
in Kartasura, but the period that followed was one of Javanese
bloodshed, succession wars, rebellion of regional kingdoms
against the central court, and growing Dutch interference
with Javanese matters of state.
Subsequent events during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries show that tensions between the core region of Java
and the coastal periphery gave way to increasing VOC
intervention. As a trading company, the VOC
's aims were initially not directed towards territorial expansion.
Direct involvement in Javanese civil wars and the country's
instability, however, smoothed the way for the VOC
to become a territorial power controlling much of western
Java (Priangan), the Pasisir (the north-east coast), and eventually
eastern Java as well (1743-1746).
The renewed study of Javanese and VOC
sources concerning Java has changed the historical picture.
The Dutch presence on Java is now seen as a sort of laboratory
of early colonialism. But it is also obvious that Javanese
early modern politics can be judged solely on its own terms.
A combination of Javanese and Dutch sources will eventually
present a clearer picture of this important episode in Indonesian
history.
The Ports: Their Rise and Demise
he
rise and demise of ports such as Melaka, Banten, Makassar,
Gresik and Semarang, are inextricably connected to the history
and fortunes of the VOC itself. The
daily arrival and departures of numerous local vessels in
various south-east Asian ports, cross-cultural contacts between
trading families and diaspora communities, and even ecological
changes such as deforestation as a result of extensive shipbuilding
were all dutifully noted in the records of the VOC
. In exploring the history of the maritime towns of the archipelago
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the more
that VOC sources have been explored,
the more complex and remarkable our historical picture of
the archipelago has become.
Forgotten Islands
he
breadth of subjects and depth of detail in the enormous quantities
of VOC documents from eastern Indonesia
make them ideal resources for new and innovative approaches
to the histories of seafaring nomads, island societies, the
practice and propagation of Islam and Christianity, systems
of slavery and bondage, and petty trade in spices and marine
products. The Moluccas (Maluku) were the main target of western
trading companies in the early seventeenth century. The Dutch
administrations resident in strong fortresses on Ternate in
the north, Ambon in the centre, and Banda in the south have
left voluminous collections of VOC
records in Jakarta and The Hague. From the Banda archives,
detailed seventeenth-century surveys of forgotten Austronesian
island cultures from Maluku Tenggara (south-east Maluku) come
to us. How these island peoples, who cherished a distinct
nautical symbolism in their artefacts, housing, and shipbuilding,
lived their lives just a few centuries ago is still a mystery
today.

View of Malacca, 17th
century
(click image to enlarge)
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The World of the Malay
n
the past, the world of the Malay stretched much further than
present day Malaysia. The Malay world included a number of
local polities such as Johor, Perak, Aceh, Palembang, the
Minangkabau and many more. The presence of the VOC
did not change a fundamental pattern which had been in place
since at least the time of the Sumatran kingdom of Srivijaya
and perhaps much earlier, in that all of the states in the
region reacted to shifting balances more or less as they long
had, with an eye to maintaining--and if possible improving--their
position in both local and long-range commerce relative to
their neighbours. Initially, the VOC
simply added an additional variable to this dynamic system.
During the 18th century the relationships between
many Southeast Asian states and the European trading settlements
underwent change. VOC sources complement
Malay texts to show how some polities successfully navigated
narrowing political and economic straits while others in the
region did not. These sources show, for instance, how the
kingdom of Johor successfully used the presence of the VOC
to strengthen its own position towards Aceh, and without the
help of Johor the Dutch attack on Portuguese Melaka would
have ended quite differently. The political relations between
the Malay states in the eighteenth century, their role in
the upsurge of regional trade, and the creation of an environment
that encouraged the English to settle in Singapore, are important
themes still insufficiently studied through VOC
sources.
Early Philippine - Indonesian Relations
ess
well known than the VOC records on
Indonesia and Southeast Asia are those collections of documents
that pertain to the Philippines. There are hundreds of documents
extant, including the correspondence between Ternate (both
VOC and the sultan) and the kings
of Magindanao and Zamboanga, that promise to reveal vital
new information about the poorly understood and often ephemeral
island kingdoms in the liminal between the present-day states
of the Philippines and Indonesia.
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