Malacca from "Oud
en Nieuw Oost-Indien" (1724-26). My thanks to Gerard Fernandis.
On 14
January 1641 the Dutch took possession from the Portuguese of the fortress of Malacca,
with the help of their ally the Sultan of Johore.
The Dutch had treaties with the Johore Sultans to get
rid of the Portuguese. The Malays were confident of a victory that, with the help of the
Dutch, would regaining the Malacca throne. But this was not the Dutch aim. After the
capture, the Dutch set up government. Malacca was too important for the VOC strategies, as
the city was situated on the main trade route to the Far East (Spices islands, China and
Japan) and was a formidable strategic outpost.
A short time later the conquest of Malacca, the Dutch made trading agreements with several
states of the Malay Peninsula, so as to obtain tin (Kedah 1642, Ujung Salang 1643,
Bangkeri 1645, Perak). For this reason, a Dutch outpost was established at Perak, but, in
1651, the garrison was killed and the outpost destroyed by the Malay. In 1660, even the
factory established at Ujung Salang, was abandoned.
In the 1650s., a great imposing building, the Stadthuys, is built by the Dutch as the
administrative centre and home of the Governor of Malacca.
By the 1660s., the trade at Dutch Malacca was in decline and the relations with the Malay
states had deteriorated as well.
The Dutch had a factory at Bengkalis (1670s.) at the mouth of the Siak river (Sumatra).
From here they controlled the tin trade. The trade at Siak was vital for Malacca and for
the Malacca Freeburghers community, a community of Dutch and Portuguese descendants
intermarried with the local peoples. The duty collected on their Siak trade was an
important share of Malacca's revenue.
Table of Malacca Population under Dutch Rule
Year
Population of Freeburghers
VOC servants
Mestiços
Portuguese Eurasian
Indians
Chinese
Malay
Slaves
Total Population of
Malacca
Freeburghers
Ships
1675
104 (1,9%)
674 (12,6%)
1463 (27,5%)
356 (6,7%)
160 (3% )
597 (11,2%)
1970
(37%)
5.324
1678
145 (2,4%)
666 (11,1%)
1489 (24,9%)
547 (9,2%)
426 (7,1%)
690 (11,5%)
2027 (33,9%)
5.970
1680
50
72
1420
135
382
523
1681
52
82
1409
115
382
581
1687
40
114
1542
120
270
521
1688
43
129
1445
135
292
443
1728
27
1732
15
1737
12
Perak was
the main tin producing kingdom in the whole Peninsula and the VOC was interested in
controlling its trade. For this reason a Dutch outpost was established from 1670 to 1690
at Teluk Gedung in Palau Pangkor. This fort was re-occupied by the Dutch in 1746 and,
later in the same year, the fort was moved upstream to Tanjung Putus.
Malacca trade quickly declined after the Dutch conquest. In fact, the city prosperity was
supported by free trade. However, to the contrary, the VOC wanted the monopoly on all
goods.
Malacca's decline was also due to the fact that, while under the Portuguese rule, the city
was behind Goa, the main Portuguese base in the east. Under the Dutch, Batavia was the
main Eastern base of the VOC and the company had no interest in developing Malacca’s
trade to the detriment of that of Batavia.
The Sultanate of Johore (the Dutch ally during the siege of Portuguese Malacca) took
advantage of all of this, by opening his seaport of Riau (an Indonesian island near
Singapore) to all ships and to all commerces.
Dutch
tombstones, Malacca.
In the
1700s., Johore was a powerful force in the Straits. The trade of Riau (the seaport for the
Johore Sultanate) had far surpassed that of Malacca. The VOC maintained the alliance with
Johore, despite the discontent of Malacca, for the Dutch East India Company. The strength
of Johore was seen as a safeguard to the peaceful trade in the Straits.
In those years it was rumored that the Dutch might leave the city. The only importance of
Malacca, for the Dutch, was that it was situated in a very strategic point and they did
not want Malacca to fall into any other European hands; this is why the Dutch remained.
During the period of Dutch rule, Malacca had a garrison of usually less than 550 Dutchmen.
Year
Strenght of Dutch Garrison in Malacca
1685
303
1714
450
1721
440
1722
540
1746
364
In 1710,
St. Peter's Church is built. It is still the oldest functioning Christian church in
Malaysia.
In the 1720s., a new power came in the scene: the Bugis. They were and are the main ethnic
group of the south-western coastal region of Sulawesi (Celebes). After the Dutch conquest
of the Sultanate of Makassar, several groups of Bugis emigrated from Makassar (Sulawesi)
and settled near Malacca in the 1710s.
In 1722, the Bugis captured the port of Riau and the whole Kingdom of Johore. The Bugis
developed not only the port of Riau but also that of Selangor (north of Malacca).
In 1710, the St. Peter's Church is built, it's the oldest functioning Christian church in
Malaysia.
In 1720s. a new power came in the scene: the Bugis, they were and are the main ethnic
group of the South-Western coastal region of Sulawesi (Celebes). Several groups of Bugis
emigrated from Makassar (Sulawesi) after the Dutch conquest of Makassar Sultanate, and
settled near Malacca in 1710s.
In 1722 the Bugis captured the port of Riau and the whole Kingdom of Johore. The Bugis
developed not only the port of Riau but also that of Selangor (North of Malacca).
A Dutch map of Malacca 1750.
In 1746,
the Sultan of Johore gave the Siak Kingdom, as a gift, to the VOC. That same year,
agreements were made with the Peninsular Kingdom of Nanning, Rembau and Perak. In Perak
the Dutch fort was re-occupied.
With these agreements the prosperity of Malacca was improved.
However, the Bugis were a constant threat to the Dutch. Their leader, Daeng Kamboja, made
Linggi his base and, from October 1756 till July 1757, besieged Dutch Malacca. In February
1757, help arrived from Batavia and the Bugis were forced to drop the siege. In that year,
the Dutch built a fort on the Linggi River and named it Philippe (today's Kota Linggi)
after the daughter of the Dutch Governor Jacob Mussel (Governor of Batavia 1750-1761). Tin
that was transported from Linggi, Rembau and Kelang Selan. The purpose of the fort was to
collect taxes from the tin that was transported from Linggi, Rembau and Kelang Selangor.
On the 1st of January 1758, this fort was the site where the treaty between the Bugis and
the Dutch was signed. This treaty enabled the Dutch to impose their control in this area:
Linggi and Rembau were ceded to the VOC.
In 1758, on Pulau Gontong at the mouth of Siak river the Dutch built a fort to control the
tin trade, but later, in 1765, the fort was abandoned because of the good relations
between Siak and the VOC.
In 1759, the fort of Linggi was also abandoned.
Between 1753 and 1760, the Christ Church in Malacca was built.
Malacca trade was flourishing, but a new sea power came on the scene: the English. From
the 1750s., they traded tin with Riau and, in 1781, they occupied the Dutch outpost at
Perak. Then, in 1786, an English base at Penang was established.
Map of the
Malay Peninsula.
To prevent
an English occupation, the Dutch attacked Riau and, on 29 October 1784, the Bugis were
defeated. The resulting treaty ended Johore's independence, and a Dutch fort was
established at Tanjung Pinang (Riau). In the Malay Peninsula, Johore, Selangore, Perak,
Trengganu and Pahang became Dutch territories. The VOC was truly dominant in the Straits.
During the Napoleonic wars, in August 1795, the Dutch Governor surrendered Malacca to the
English East India Company.
In 1818, after the Napoleonic Wars, under the Treaty of Vienna, Malacca is restored by the
British to the Dutch.
In 1824, the Anglo Dutch Treaty or the Treaty of London was signed between the Dutch and
the British. The British give Bencoolen, in Sumatra to the Dutch and Malacca was given to
the English.
On 9 April 1825, the Dutch ceded Malacca.
Bibliography:
- Andaya, Barbarba Watson "Melaka under the Dutch 1641-1795"
In "Melaka-The Transformation of a Malay Capital c. 1400-1980" Vol one Edited by
Kernial Singh Sandhu, Paul Wheatley. p. 195-241.
- Andaya, Leonard Yuzon "The Kingdom of Johor 1641-1728: a study of economic and
political developments in the straits of Malacca"
458 pp. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, Cornell University, 1971
- Arasaratnam, S. "Dutch commercial policy and interests in the Malay peninsula,
1750-1795"
In: "An Expanding World" Vol. n° 10; Prakash, Om "European commercial
expansion in early modern Asia" pp. 177-207
Also in: "The age of partnership, Europeans in Asia before dominion" Honolulu,
1979, pp. 159-189
- Harrison, Brian " Holding the Fort: Melaka Under Two Flags, 1795-1845"
xiv, 148pp. with illustrated plates and maps, The Malaysian branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society, 1985, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Hayes Hoyt, Sarnia "Old Malacca"
xii, 84 pages, 16 pp. colour plates Oxford Paperbacks, 1997, Singapore.
A pocket history to the oldest of the cosmopolitan, entrepôt city states in Malaysia, and
includes a series of illustrations from colonial times to the present.
- Irwin, G. W. "Melaka fort"
In "Melaka-The Transformation of a Malay Capital c. 1400-1980" Vol. one Edited
by Kernial Singh Sandhu, Paul Wheatley. p. 195-241. several maps
The history of the fort of Malacca during the Portuguese and Dutch time. A detailed
historical research.
- Ketelaars, Toine "Living Apart Together - Ethnic Diversity in Dutch Malacca
1640-1690"
pp. 20
A very interesting paper, with several information on the numerical and ethnical
composition of Dutch Malacca.
- Leupe, P.A. "The seige and capture of Malacca from the Portuguese in
1640-1641"
JMBRAS vol, 14, pt. 1 (1936) pp 1-176.
Index: The occupation of the straits of Malacca 1636-1639, the siege and the capture of
Malacca 1640-1641, commissary Justus Schouten's report of his visit to Malacca 1641.
- Lewis, Dianne "Jan compagnie in the straits of Malacca 1641-1795"
176 pp. map, Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1995, Athens, Ohio, USA.
A good book on Malacca/Dutch history.
Index: The Dutch conquest and its aftermath, the crisis with Johor 1700-1718, the Dutch
company and the Bugis opting for neutrality, Dutch alliance with Malays, neutrality
revisited, neutrality abandoned: the Dutch capture of Riau, the VOC's "forward
movement" in the straits of Malacca.
- Smith, W. H. "The Portuguese in Malacca during the Dutch period"
in STUDIA N° 7 pp. 87-106, 1961, Lisbon, Portugal.
- Sta Maria, Joseph "Undi nos by di aki? Where do we go from here ? Portuguese land
title dilemma"
vi+89 pp. Sakti Bersatu Enterprises, 1994, Melaka, Malaysia.
