When Hinduism spread to Java and the two powerful kingdoms—Pajajaran in the western and Mojopait in the eastern part of the island—were firmly established, Bali became a vassal state of the latter. Around middle of the 15th century, however, Islam came to be the main religion on Java, and Bali, once again independent, provided a safe haven for many religious refugees from the Mojopait kingdom.
Since then the Hindu-Javanese and their descendants lived there undisturbed… that is, till the arrival of the Dutch and their VOC—the Dutch East India Company. For Bali that was the year 1597, and the first Hollanders visiting Bali described the island as overflowing with milk and honey. In 1620 the Company established its first trading post in Buleleng from where its representatives traded with the island's kings. The more specific task of these representatives was to enter into trade agreements with the kings for the supply of… slaves!
Herman Willem Daendels, the 36th Governor-General of the Netherlands Indies (1808-1811) assigned a Lieutenant-Quartermaster with the title of Resident to the island for the specific purpose of procuring as many slaves as the kings would release. These slaves were presumably needed to replenish the ones working on the Great Post Road linking Anyer (west of Jakarta) with Panarukan (east of Surabaya) as the death toll was horrendous. This road with a length of 1000 km was completed in one year using forced labour, a truly astonishing feat, but at the cost of tens of thousands lives. Regional heads along the route were obliged to provide labour and construct their relevant road section within a specified time. Those who did not achieve their target were killed together with their labourers, and their heads strung from the trees along the route. Daendels, who by that time was called the Iron Marshall, never showed mercy, but the road was completed within one year.
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| Great Post Road at Pasuruan - 1890 |
In the early fifties of last century, when I attended primary school in Holland, we were taught about our national hero Daendels and the great things he had accomplished!
Indonesian history books do, of course, hold a different opinion.
Interestingly, Raffles (A History of Java, Volume 1 and Volume 2) held the bunch of administrators he had sent fleeing to Bandung in contempt. The landing of the British forces at Tanjung Priok had been completely unopposed—the only casualty suffered by the landing forces was a marine accidentally shooting himself in the foot when scrambling overboard.
And ironically the Great Post Road had been built to be able to quickly mobilise defenders when, as foreseen many years before the fact, the British would attack.
References: Wikipedia and Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
When I attended school, 40 years after you, I don't think we were taught anything about Daendels. Perhaps he no longer is considered a national hero?
ReplyDeleteA very interesting story nonetheless. Does the Great Post Road still exist is some form? Incredible that it only took a year to build! Nowadays, a task like that would take close to a decade. Of course, the number of lives lost would probably be a bit less.
I'm sure you would not learn anything heroic about Daendels. I was taught about him, although Indonesia was then already independent,because the authorities had not been able to adjust the curriculum yet... The same for our geography classes which covered Holland and its 11 provinces and then straight to Ned Indie / Insulinde / de Gordel van Smaragd... and Jakarta was still called Batavia.
ReplyDeleteSo once the education department had accepted the new situation and had ordered that changes be made in the curriculum, Daendels was removed from his elevated position and Batavia became Jakarta - the Big Durian.
And the Great Post Road does of course still exist. It is the old road across the Puncak to Bandung and then to Cirebon and on to Surabaya. The road has in places been widened of course and improved. But I think the old route still could be navigated.
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