Colonies – Dutch East Indies vs. British India
Examining a map of the planet, preferably a globe, one cannot nevertheless wonder how a few nations, occupying nevertheless a tiny fraction of the planet, were able to colonise the rest of the planet, or nearly so. I am talking here about Portugal as well as Spain, the Netherlands, England, France as well as Belgium. Germany played a negligible role with only German East Africa (Tanzania) as well as the present PNG under its control for a limited time. Belgium took a chunk out of Central Africa (right now the Democratic Republic of Congo), while France established a presence in Indochine as well as a few regions in Africa.
The main players were Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands as well as England. Portugal was first out of the colonising starter blocks pioneering the sea routes to the east rounding the Cape of not bad desire, as well as westward via the Strait of Magellan.
The Dutch followed several decades later. Their main interest (of the Dutch East Indies Company) was to get their hands on part, or all, of the lucrative spice trade, which was controlled by the Portuguese. So, after having obtained the information on the sea routes to the East, Dutch naval power was used to attack the Portuguese strongholds as well as fortresses on the route to the source of nutmeg, mace as well as cloves.
Though the strategy was successful as well as a spice trading monopoly was established, the Dutch soon faced strong competition through England’s growing maritime interests. The rivalry between the two nations led, during the second half of the 17th century, to quite a few Anglo-Dutch wars, as well as culminated, inside early years of the 19th century, in a British take-over of Java as well as Amboina. The year was 1811 as well as Thomas Stamford Raffles was appointed as Lieutenant-Governor of Java.
The British interregnum lasted 5 years only. nevertheless because the British, or should I say Raffles’ approach to, as well as appreciation as well as understanding of the indigenous populations was so very different through the Dutch colonial attitude, the period stands out as a breath of fresh air. Of course, Raffles came shortly after Daendels had been Governor-General of the East Indies. Daendels had achieved an engineering feat—the construction of the Great Post Road, 1,000 km through the west of Java to Panarukan inside east—within one year as well as within budget… nevertheless at the cost of thousands of lives.
Daendels had been firm with the Javanese rulers (a rather lenient description of his demeanour) as well as had subjected the population to forced labour. No wonder Raffles was welcomed with open arms.
Raffles was clearly an exceptional person. First as well as foremost he was a visionary, as well as together with his wide ranging field of vision, he was approachable, engaging as well as open to information about the people as well as cultures of Java as well as neighbouring regions. nevertheless was he a representative sample of the British colonial attitude? In additional words, were most of the British colonial administrators of the same hue? An important point as we want to compare the British with the Dutch colonial system. We have seen in which Raffles provided a respite through the Dutch rule, nevertheless would certainly any of his colleagues as well as compatriots have done the same? To attempt an answer to in which question, let’s have a quick look at the jewel inside British colonial crown: India.
In a similar fashion as the Dutch VOC in Indonesia, the idea was a trading corporation, the East India Company, which established a presence on the Indian sub-continent inside early 1600s. English traders set up outposts on the Indian coasts, which would certainly eventually become the cities of Bombay, Madras, as well as Calcutta.
With an apology to those who shudder at generalisations, I will try to describe the British as well as the Dutch colonial systems using a few wide strokes of my very broad brush.
While starting through the same trading bases, the systems were quite different. Take for instance education. Under the British Raj (reign), inside first half of the 19th century, using tax money, thousands of elementary as well as secondary schools were opened, as well as the universities of Calcutta, Bombay as well as Madras. as well as by 1890 some 60,000 Indians had matriculated, chiefly inside liberal arts or law. About a third entered public administration, as well as another third became lawyers. The result was a very well educated professional state bureaucracy. By contrast the Dutch established the first technology-orientated university, the Bandung Technological Institute, only in 1920. as well as as far as primary as well as secondary education was concerned, only a few privileged Indonesians were accepted into the Hollandse School.
As regards physical infrastructure, India started out to build a dense network of railways inside late 19th century, which became the fourth largest inside planet. inside Netherlands Indies, the line through Batavia (Jakarta) to Surabaya was completed in 1894. as well as although eventually the total number of kilometres of railway lines on Java was quite impressive, the idea did not constitute an integrated network.
Another major difference will be due to the contrast in scale of the two countries, their economic, social as well as cultural histories, as well as the outlook as well as character of its citizens. Where the English upper class consisted of landed nobility, the Dutch were traders, residing in narrow houses (taxes were levied per metre of house frontage) along the Amsterdam canals. However attractive Amsterdam will be as a tourist destination, the canal houses lack the grandeur of the stately homes of London.
in which narrowness will be also reflected inside Dutch colonial attitude to the indigenous people. Where the Dutch were obsessed with profit creating, the British ingrained sense of superiority did make the idea easier to appear generous to the colonised—by providing education, for instance. as well as after 1858, the very well organised, well-educated as well as professional Indian Civil Service was opened to Indians.
in which difference in outlook can also be seen inside buildings erected by the two colonisers, the British style more opulent. Compare, for example, Government House in Calcutta with the Palace in Bogor, originally built for the Governor General as well as right now used by the President.
Of course England also had its share of problems as well as problematic administrators in India. nevertheless in general the idea appears in which the British left more behind as well as were more concerned with the welfare of the local inhabitants than the Dutch.
Apparently the Daendels as well as Raffles have, inside long run, not mattered all in which much.
References:
Wikipedia, The British Raj, as well as Dutch East Indies
Google Earth
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Colonies – Dutch East Indies vs. British India
Colonies – Dutch East Indies vs. British India