Batavia, Dutch East Indies

Arrival Amsterdam merchants embarked on an expedition to the East Indies archipelago in 1595 under the command of Cornelis de Houtman. The English East India Company's first voyage in 1602, commanded by James Lancaster, arrived in Aceh and sailed on to Bantam. There, Lancaster was allowed to build a trading post which was the center of English trade in the East Indies archipelago until 1682. There were three governmental administrations in the Batavia region. Initial authority was established in 1609 The local rural administration, formed in 1664, became fully functional in 1682. Expansion From its founding, Batavia was planned in a well-defined layout. Three trenches were dug east of the Ciliwung River in 1619, its first Dutch-made canals. The canals were named (from south to north) Leeuwengracht, Groenegracht, and Steenhouwersgracht. The castle area begins in a former field north of Steenhouwersgracht, in which a town market was established. The first church and town hall were built c. 1622 on the east bank of the river; Batavia's first combined church and town hall (replaced during the 1630s) was at . Around 1627, the three canals were connected with the Tijgersgracht canal. The new canal was lined with coconut trees; according to a contemporary observer, "Among the Grachts, the Tygersgracht is the most stately and most pleasant, both for the goodliness of its buildings, and the ornamentation of its streets, which afford a very agreeable shadow to those who pass along the street". The Prinsestraat, originally the street leading to the castle, became an urban center connecting the castle's south gate with the city hall. Eastern Batavia was protected by a long canal which linked the castle moat and the Ciliwung riverbend, and ran at a slight angle to Tijgersgracht. The canal cost over 160,000 real, which was paid mostly by the Chinese instead of the company (who had strengthened the castle with slave and prison labor). The short-lived outer canal was redesigned several years after the 1628–1629 siege of Batavia. Sultan Agung (king of the Mataram Sultanate) gained control of most of Java by defeating Surabaya in 1625. Large-scale cultivation negatively impacted the environment, and Batavia's northern area experienced coastal erosion. The canals required extensive maintenance, with frequent closures for dredging. Residents of the Ommelanden lived in country houses or ethnic kampungs governed by a headman. with rising unemployment and social disorder. In 1789, the Americans visited and were permitted through formal applications to trade. ==Dutch East Indies (1800–1949)==

After the VOC went bankrupt and was dissolved in 1800, the Batavian Republic nationalized its debts and possessions and expanded its territorial claims into a colony known as the Dutch East Indies. Batavia evolved from a regional company headquarters into the colony's capital. Southward expansion In 1808, Herman Willem Daendels decided to leave the dilapidated, unhealthy Old Town. A new town center was built further south, on the Weltevreden estate. Batavia became a city with two centers; Kota was the business hub with offices and warehouses of shipping and trading companies, and Weltevreden was home to the government, military, and shops. The centers were connected by the Molenvliet Canal and a road alongside the canal. British rule Under British rule, Daendels was replaced by Stamford Raffles. Foreigners were known locally as totoks, distinguishing new Chinese arrivals from the peranakans. Many totoks adopted Indonesian culture, wearing kebayas, sarongs, and summer dresses. By the end of the 19th century, Batavia's population was 115,887 people; of these, 8,893 were Europeans, 26,817 were Chinese and 77,700 were indigenous islanders. The city's expanding commercial activity led to the immigration of large numbers of Dutch employees and rural Javanese to Batavia. The 1905 population of Batavia and its surrounding area reached 2.1 million, including 93,000 Chinese people, 14,000 Europeans, and 2,800 Arabs. This growth resulted in an increased demand for housing, and land prices soared. New houses were built close together, and kampung settlements filled spaces between the houses. Settlements, built with little regard for the region's tropical conditions, resulted in overcrowding, poor sanitation, and an absence of public amenities. Java had an outbreak of plague in 1913. Old Batavia's abandoned moats and ramparts experienced a boom during the period, as trading companies were established along the Ciliwung. The old city soon re-established itself as a commercial center, with 20th- and 17th-century buildings adjacent to one another. Dutch Ethical Policy The Dutch Ethical Policy was introduced in 1901, expanding educational opportunities for the indigenous population of the Dutch East Indies. In 1924, a law school was founded in Batavia. On 5 March 1942, Batavia fell to the Japanese. The Dutch formally surrendered to the Japanese occupation forces on 9 March 1942, and the colony's government was transferred to Japan. Batavia was renamed Jakarta. The economic situation and the physical condition of Indonesian cities deteriorated during the occupation. Buildings were converted to internment camps for the Dutch. After the Japanese defeat in 1945, the region experienced a period of transition and upheaval during the Indonesian struggle for independence. During the Japanese occupation, and when the Indonesian nationalists declared independence on 17 August 1945, the city was renamed Jakarta. In 1945, it was briefly occupied by the Allies and returned to the Dutch. The Dutch name, Batavia, remained the internationally recognized name until Indonesian independence was achieved and Jakarta proclaimed the national capital on 27 December 1949. ==Society==

s and slaves were employed from outside Java. Batavia, founded as the trade and administrative center of the VOC, was never intended to be a Dutch settlement. Jan Pieterszoon Coen founded Batavia for trade, with the city's inhabitants producing and supplying food. There was no migration of intact Dutch families, and there were few Dutch women in Batavia. A mixed society was formed; relationships between Dutchmen and Asian women did not usually result in marriage, and the women did not have the right to return to the Dutch Republic. This societal pattern created a group of mestizos in Batavia. Since the VOC preferred to maintain complete control of its business, a large number of slaves was employed. Women became an important feature of Batavia's social network; they were accustomed to dealing with slaves, and spoke the same language (mostly Portuguese and Malay). Many of these women effectively became widows; their husbands left Batavia to return to the Netherlands, and their children were often removed as well. Most of Batavia's residents were of Asian descent. Thousands of slaves were brought from India and Arakan; later, slaves were brought from Bali and Sulawesi. To avoid an uprising, a decision was made to free the Javanese people from slavery. Chinese people made up the largest group in Batavia (most being merchants and laborers), and were the most decisive group in the city's development. Other residents included Malays and Muslim and Hindu merchants from India. Initially, these ethnic groups lived together; however, in 1688, segregation was imposed on the indigenous population. Each ethnic group was forced to live in its own village outside the city wall. Each person was tagged to identify their ethnic group; later, the identity tags were replaced with parchment. Batavia experienced more malaria epidemics during the 18th century, as its marsh areas bred mosquitoes. Wealthier European settlers moved to southern areas at higher elevations. The population of the Dutch East Indies was never purely European. Of the 30,000 Dutch citizens in the Dutch East Indies in 1860, less than 5,000 were purely Dutch. Seventy percent of the population was male, since more male immigrants arrived from Europe. Slavery existed in Batavia until its abolition in 1853. Slaves mainly lived in the back of the garden of the main house and were paid, with free food and lodging. Female slaves, known as baboe, cooked and cared for children. When the British left Batavia in 1815, most of the native people reverted to their original Javanese attire but some new aspects persisted. Native males chosen to be the governing elite wore a European outfit on duty, but after hours they would change to sarongs and kebaya. Lower-ranked Dutchmen might wear the local style all day. Women wore sarongs and kebaya to official events, where they wore tighter-fitting robes or richly colored (or flowered) cloth—in the style of British India—and batik shawls. ==Notable people==

• Souw Beng Kong (1580–1644), the first Kapitan Cina of Batavia. • Untung Surapati (1660–1706), former Balinese slave from the city, imprisoned in the Stadhuis. • Adriana Bake (1724–1787), first Indonesian-born first lady of Batavia • Si Pitung (1866–1893), well-known 19th-century preman (bandit) from Batavia • Mohammad Husni Thamrin (1894–1941), pre-independence Indonesian politician and nationalist • Reinout Willem van Bemmelen (1904–1983), geologist • Ben Bot (born 1937), diplomat and politician • Tonke Dragt (1930–2024), writer and illustrator of children's literature • Boudewijn de Groot (born 1944), musician • Michel van Hulten (born 1930), politician • Yvonne Keuls (1931-2025), writer • Taco Kuiper (1941–2004), investigative journalist and publisher • Carel Jan Schneider (1932–2011), foreign service diplomat and writer • Francis Steinmetz (1914–2006), Royal Netherlands Navy officer • Pehin Khatib Awang Abdul Latif bin Muhammad Taha, also known as Abdul Latif Taha (1771–1873), Bruneian muslim ulema • Frans Tutuhatunewa (1923–2016), president of the Republic of South Maluku • Henk Engelsman (1914–1979), lawyer and politician == Notes ==