Imagine a world without coffee! Even if you are not a coffee drinker, imagine the shopping centres along with high streets without the ubiquitous coffeehouses, coffee shops, cafes along with some other outlets specializing inside sale of espresso, cappuccino, latte, café noir, mocha, café macchiato, or just java. nevertheless several centuries ago, coffee was prohibited in quite quite a few countries.

Even inside country of its origin, Ethiopia, coffee was banned by the country’s Orthodox Christians until 1889, as of which was considered a Muslim drink. along with on the grounds of which of which was an intoxicating drink, Muslim ulemas (scholars) in 1511, had done the same, nevertheless overturned their decision some 30 years later. In Europe, King Charles II outlawed the coffeehouses in 1676 because of their association with rebellious political activists, nevertheless two days before the ban might take effect, he backed down due to the uproar of which followed his decree. along with for nationalistic along with economic reasons, Frederick the Great banned of which in Prussia to force people back to beer. Prussia, without any colonies where coffee was produced, had to import all its coffee at great expense. Luckily (my personal opinion) we have overcome these restrictions to enjoying the brew.

Originally by Kaffa, a kingdom in medieval Ethiopia, coffee (Coffea arabica) was brought to Arabia, to be more specific, to the present day Yemen, where of which was cultivated along with exported through the port of Mocha. Starting in 1616 the Netherlands East India Company (VOC) bought their coffee there along with took of which to Batavia (present day Jakarta). Coffee soon became a valuable along with very profitable trade commodity, along with in 1696 the first seedlings were brought to Batavia for planting in Java.

This kind of first batch, planted on the estate of Governor General Willem van Outshoorn, was shortly thereafter lost in a flood. The experiment was, however, repeated along with in 1706, the first introductory sample of locally grown coffee could be exported to Amsterdam, together with one coffee plant. along with, believe of which or not, This kind of seedling, nourished along with multiplied inside Amsterdam Botanical Gardens (Hortus), became the grandparent-stock of the Arabica coffee plants in Brazil along with the Caribbean. At least of which is actually the story according to the Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indië. Wikipedia tells a different story along with credits the French with bringing coffee seedlings to Martinique, by where of which spread to Mexico, Haiti along with some other Caribbean islands; while Brazil got its Santos coffee by the Isles de Bourbon (the present Réunion).

Eduard Douwes Dekker aka Multatuli

Around 1878, disaster struck, as inside coastal regions of Java the Arabica variety became susceptible to coffee leaf rust (Hemilea vastatrix) along with had to be abandoned. When in about 1900 the Robusta variety (Coffea canephora), which was resistant to the disease, was imported by the Congo, the lower altitudes could be brought under cultivation again.

Before 1800, the VOC had imposed the growing of coffee on the population inside area around Batavia along with inside mountainous region of West Java (Parahyangan). The district heads (Regent/Bupati) were contracted to each year deliver a certain amount of coffee beans. The VOC did not get involved inside cultivation, nevertheless the regents had to ensure of which the population planted coffee, maintained the gardens along with delivered the required amount of not bad quality coffee. During the second half of the 18^th century, cultivation of coffee was extended into Central Java, nevertheless on a rather limited scale only. The main push into the rest of Java along with the some other islands was started out by Governor General Daendels (1808-1811) along with subsequent administrators.

inside Batavia area coffee was most successfully grown in Rijswijk (right now Duri Pulo, a short distance west of the Presidential Palace) along with Meester Cornelis (some several miles south-east of the Palace, right now Manggarai). The population apparently did not object to the forced cultivation. along with the same applied to West Java, where the requested volumes along with quality were delivered on time. inside some other parts of Java along with the outer islands—in particular western Sumatra along with Maluku—the population was, however, less taken with the scheme of mandatory cultivation.The lure of additional income did inside beginning stimulate the population to grow coffee. In 1724, some one million pounds of coffee could be shipped to Amsterdam. nevertheless when carrot became whip, along with the requested volume was increased to four million pounds (1727) along with six million pounds in 1736, the people’s enthusiasm decreased considerably. The regents received six stuiver (several-cent piece) per pound, which had to cover purchase, along with transport of the coffee to the VOC warehouse. The actual purchase (at farm gate) was done by the village heads. One can thus imagine of which the cost paid to the farmers was nevertheless a fraction of the one received by the regent.

Not only coffee was an enforced crop, nevertheless also sugar along with indigo. This kind of system of enforced cultivation, the Cultuurstelsel (Cultivation System), had been introduced in 1830 along with forced farmers to grow export crops on 20 percent of their land, or alternatively provide 60 days per year of unpaid labour on public projects for the common not bad, instead of growing rice along with some other staple foods. At the same time the collection of taxes was turned over to collecting agents, who were paid by commission. Unsurprisingly, the systems were widely abused: prices paid to the farmers were minimal, the weight of the purchased produce was tampered with, the 60 unpaid-labour days were often extended, or spent on private projects of the regional colonial officer or the regents. along with the tax collectors ruthlessly squeezed the farmers dry to raise their commission. No wonder the system created widespread hunger along with dissatisfaction.

The rise of a more liberal outlook along with parliamentary questions about poverty along with famine on Java, along with the desire to allow private commercial interests to be involved inside production of export crops, led, in 1870, to the abolishment of the Cultuurstelsel. nevertheless because of its profitability, the cultivation of coffee remained enforced till the early 1900s.

Among the individuals who most passionately (along with effectively) contributed to the rising liberal along with self-questioning mood, was Eduard Douwes Dekker. A colonial civil servant since 1838, he was in 1857 appointed Assistant-Resident in Lebak, western Java, where he started out to openly protest about the exploitation along with maltreatment of the natives by the regents, along with the misconduct of the colonial authorities.

Max Havelaar

He resigned before he was dismissed along with returned to the Netherlands. There he continued his protestations in newspaper articles, pamphlets along with in 1860 published his book Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company, under the penname Multatuli.

Deprecated along with discredited by his superiors inside colonial administration, he is actually right now listed as a hero inside Indonesian annals for the period of the Dutch East-Indies, 1800-1945—together with prince Diponegoro, the initiator along with commander of the Diponegoro war against the Dutch in Jogjakarta / Central Java, along with Teuku Umar, the guerrilla leader in Aceh.

The coffee cultivation on Java along with elsewhere inside archipelago was, fortunately, not brought to an end by the mismanagement along with misconduct of the colonial administrators. Production in 2012-13 of coffee in Indonesia was some 12.7 million 60-kg bags, of which nearly 11 million bags were exported.