Batavia – A Chinese Town Under Dutch Rule
Going back further in time we find court records by the royal cities of Demak in addition to also Cirebon hinting of which ancestors of the ruling classes had Chinese blood. There can be also evidence of trade between the port cities of north Java, such as Surabaya, Gresik in addition to also Tuban, in addition to also China going back to the 9th Century. 700 years before the Dutch arrived, of which’s an awful lot of history waiting to be told.
Like throughout South East Asia, those far-off pioneers set off in search of riches in addition to also often never returned. Single men, hard working, they might settle down in addition to also marry locally. When they became wealthy they might send money home for their families in addition to also always, at the back of their minds, was the notion of which one day they might return home. To be buried with their ancestors, their filial duty.
This specific didn’t always work out of which way in addition to also by the time the Dutch in addition to also some other Europeans commenced poking their prows round the eastern seas, the Chinese were at the heart of a vast maritime trading empire by the coastal cities of India, down the Straits of Malaka, along the north coast of Java, taking within the riches of Siam in addition to also along the pirate infested seas off the southern coast of China.
The business was trade, the language in those early days Malay, Farsi, Portuguese yet This specific was the Chinese who opened doors in addition to also who spotted markets.
By the 16th Century, Banten was at the centre of This specific emporium, fat in addition to also rich by the proceeds of pepper in addition to also spices in addition to also the Chinese held the purse strings. Today Banten Lama stands as a silent reminder to those heady, unhealthy days. A Chinese temple stands alongside a cumbersome Dutch fort of which once overlooked the busiest port within the east. yet right now, like the traders in addition to also the vagabonds who filled those medieval bazaars, the seas have gone. The ruins of a Sultan’s palace opposite a mosque with its Chinese designed minaret remain a memory of an early Singapore.
At the same time the Chinese settlement by the Ciliwung was a back water, selling arak to sailors who passed through. The area was once where the Pajajaran Empire communicated to the outside world, perhaps the Chinese had seen the river rise in addition to also fall in importance, selling intoxication to hardy men setting out on hazardous missions around the eastern waters.
As Jakarta grew under Dutch influence, so did the Chinese population, yet even within the early 17th Century there was resentment at what was perceived to be the Chinese special privileges. Europeans who arrived seeking their fortune found of which the Dutch authorities protected the interests of the Dutch East India Company monopoly in addition to also they couldn’t get a foot within the mercantile door. The Chinese however, were free to do so in addition to also This specific upset the newcomers who sought their own piece of the pie. In those early years Jakarta, then of course known as Batavia, was considered a Chinese town under Dutch rule.
Until 1740 the Chinese flourished as never before. Banten faded in addition to also died, trade in addition to also money headed east. Masts filled Jakarta bay as ships came to in addition to also fro in addition to also at the heart of the business were the Chinese. This specific was their golden era yet times of bounty never last. The riots in addition to also pogrom of 1740 killed many thousands of Chinese in addition to also the rivers ran red. Indeed Angke means just of which, Red River, in addition to also the name of the river recalls those grim days 267 years ago.
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Batavia – A Chinese Town Under Dutch Rule
Batavia – A Chinese Town Under Dutch Rule