1740 Batavia massacre
Encyclopedia
The 1740 Batavia massacre was a pogrom
against ethnic Chinese living in the port city of Batavia, the Dutch East Indies
(present-day Jakarta), that occurred between 9 and 22 October 1740.
Because of unrest in the Chinese population, Governor General
Adriaan Valckenier
declared that any uprising was to be dealt with using deadly force. This resolution was called into force on 7 October after hundreds of ethnic Chinese killed 50 Dutch soldiers, in response to which the Dutch sent over 1,800 troops and supporting units; this led to the Chinese populace being stripped of all weapons and put under curfew. After an assault by ethnic Chinese on the walls of Batavia, Valckenier called another meeting of the Council on 9 October; the same day, other Batavian ethnic groups began burning Chinese houses along Kali Besar after being frightened by rumours of Chinese atrocities. This encouraged the Dutch soldiers, who later that day launched an assault on ethnic Chinese homes using cannons. From there the violence spread throughout Batavia, with Chinese men, women, and children being killed. For the following two weeks fugitive Chinese were hunted and killed by gangs of "bandits", until Governor General Valckenier called for a cease of hostilities on 22 October.
The massacre is generally agreed to have killed 10,000 ethnic Chinese, with only a total of 3,000 surviving. It was followed by a period of numerous attacks on ethnic Chinese throughout Java, which led to a two-year war between a joint army of ethnic Chinese and Javanese against Dutch
troops. Governor General Valckenier was recalled to the Netherlands
and charged with crimes related to the massacre, with Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff replacing him as governor general.
, many people of Chinese descent were contracted as skilled artisans in the construction of Batavia
, on the northwestern coast of Java. Along with the economic boom caused by trade between the East Indies via Batavia and China, the number of ethnic Chinese in Batavia grew rapidly, reaching a total of 10,000 by 1740; at least another 15,000 lived outside the city walls, with numbers reportedly as high as 80,000.
After an outbreak of malaria
killed thousands during the 1730s, including Governor of Batavia Dirck van Cloon
, conflict arose among the Dutch. Increasingly suspicious of the growing number of ethnic Chinese and their economic prowess, on 25 July 1740 the government released a resolution stating that Chinese considered "suspicious" should be deported to Zeylan
(modern day Sri Lanka) in order to provide manpower for cinnamon harvesting there. Wealthy Chinese were also extorted, threatened with deportation by Dutch officials.
This caused unrest among the ethnic Chinese, as well as rumours that deportees were not taken to their destinations at all, but were instead thrown overboard once they were out of sight of Java. As a result, many Chinese workers fled from their jobs. Although at first some councilors believed that the Chinese would never attack Batavia, on 26 September Governor General Adriaan Valckenier
called an emergency meeting of the Council of the Indies, where he gave orders to respond to any ethnic Chinese uprisings with deadly force. This was contested by former governor of Zeylan Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, who had recently returned to Batavia.
) and Tanah Abang
; in response, the Dutch sent 1,800 troops, as well as schutterij
(militia) and eleven battalions of conscripts to stop the revolt. They established a curfew and canceled plans for a Chinese festival; the Chinese were not allowed to light candles either, for fear that they would conspire against the Dutch in the candlelight. They were also disarmed, forced to surrender everything "down to the smallest kitchen knife". The following day, the Dutch repelled a Chinese attack at the city's outer walls, leading to Governor General Valckenier calling another meeting of the council on 9 October.
Meanwhile, rumours spread among the other ethnic groups, including Betawi servants and Indian soldiers
, in Batavia that the Chinese were plotting to kill, rape, or enslave them. As a preemptive strike, they burned houses belonging to ethnic Chinese along Kali Besar; this was followed by a Dutch assault on Chinese settlements elsewhere in Jakarta, in which they burned houses and killed men, women and children. Dutch politician and colonial system critic Wolter Robert
wrote in 1840 that "pregnant and nursing women were killed ... hundreds of prisoners were slaughtered like sheep ... [and] rich Chinese, running to their European friends' houses for protection ... were promptly surrendered to the bloodthirsty hunters".
At around 5:00 p.m. local time (UTC+7), the Dutch opened fire on Chinese-occupied houses with cannons, causing the houses to catch fire. Some Chinese were trapped in the burning houses, while others were shot upon leaving their homes and still others committed suicide in desperation. Those who reached the canal located near the housing district were killed by Dutch troops waiting in small boats. The actions later spread throughout the city.
The following day the violence continued to spread, with Chinese patients in a hospital being taken outside and killed. During the next two weeks ethnic Chinese who had survived the initial assault were hunted by gangs of "bandits", who killed those they found. On 22 October 1740, Governor General Valckenier called for all killings to cease.
, causing another massacre in 1741 in Semarang
, and more later in Surabaya
and Gresik.
As part of conditions for the cessation of violence, all of Batavia's ethnic Chinese were moved to a pecinan
, or Chinatown, outside of the city walls, now known as Glodok
. This allowed the Dutch to more easily monitor the Chinese. In order to leave the pecinan, ethnic Chinese required special passes granting permission. However, by 1743 ethnic Chinese had already returned to inner Batavia, with several hundred merchants operating there. Other ethnic Chinese fled to Central Java
, where they attacked Dutch trading posts, later joined by troops under the command of Pakubuwono II
. This uprising was quashed in 1743.
After a vote of no confidence by the Council of the East Indies on 16 December 1740, Governor General Valckenier resigned, leaving the East Indies in 1744 and later being investigated for his involvement in the massacre; Valckenier died before the investigation was completed. Van Imhoff was called back to the Netherlands to face charges of insubordination. After these charges were dismissed, van Imhoff was sent back to Batavia to be the new Governor General of the East Indies, beginning his service in 1743.
The massacre led to the names of numerous areas in Jakarta. One possible etymology for Tanah Abang, meaning "red earth", is that it was named for the Chinese blood which was spilled there. Rawa Bangke, a subdistrict of East Jakarta
, may be derived from the vulgar Indonesian word for corpse, bangkai, due to the amount of ethnic Chinese who were killed there; a similar etymology has been suggested for Angke in Tambora
.
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
against ethnic Chinese living in the port city of Batavia, the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
(present-day Jakarta), that occurred between 9 and 22 October 1740.
Because of unrest in the Chinese population, Governor General
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company...
Adriaan Valckenier
Adriaan Valckenier
Adriaan Valckenier , was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 3 May 1737 until 6 November 1741....
declared that any uprising was to be dealt with using deadly force. This resolution was called into force on 7 October after hundreds of ethnic Chinese killed 50 Dutch soldiers, in response to which the Dutch sent over 1,800 troops and supporting units; this led to the Chinese populace being stripped of all weapons and put under curfew. After an assault by ethnic Chinese on the walls of Batavia, Valckenier called another meeting of the Council on 9 October; the same day, other Batavian ethnic groups began burning Chinese houses along Kali Besar after being frightened by rumours of Chinese atrocities. This encouraged the Dutch soldiers, who later that day launched an assault on ethnic Chinese homes using cannons. From there the violence spread throughout Batavia, with Chinese men, women, and children being killed. For the following two weeks fugitive Chinese were hunted and killed by gangs of "bandits", until Governor General Valckenier called for a cease of hostilities on 22 October.
The massacre is generally agreed to have killed 10,000 ethnic Chinese, with only a total of 3,000 surviving. It was followed by a period of numerous attacks on ethnic Chinese throughout Java, which led to a two-year war between a joint army of ethnic Chinese and Javanese against Dutch
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
troops. Governor General Valckenier was recalled to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and charged with crimes related to the massacre, with Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff replacing him as governor general.
Background
During the early years of the Dutch colonization of IndonesiaDutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, many people of Chinese descent were contracted as skilled artisans in the construction of Batavia
History of Jakarta
The history of Jakarta begins with its first recorded mention as a Hindu port settlement in the 4th century. Ever since, the city had been variously claimed by the Indianized kingdom of Tarumanegara, Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, Muslim Sultanate of Banten, Dutch East Indies, Empire of Japan, and finally...
, on the northwestern coast of Java. Along with the economic boom caused by trade between the East Indies via Batavia and China, the number of ethnic Chinese in Batavia grew rapidly, reaching a total of 10,000 by 1740; at least another 15,000 lived outside the city walls, with numbers reportedly as high as 80,000.
After an outbreak of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
killed thousands during the 1730s, including Governor of Batavia Dirck van Cloon
Dirck van Cloon
Dirck van Cloon was Eurasian Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He died of malaria at the age of 46.He was born in Batavia sometime in 1684. For his education and training he was sent to the Netherlands...
, conflict arose among the Dutch. Increasingly suspicious of the growing number of ethnic Chinese and their economic prowess, on 25 July 1740 the government released a resolution stating that Chinese considered "suspicious" should be deported to Zeylan
Chinese people in Sri Lanka
There have been Chinese people in Sri Lanka since the 1700s. Though their numbers dwindled in the decades after independence, in the 1990s and 2000s a new wave of Chinese international students, migrant workers, and businesspeople have been coming to Sri Lanka....
(modern day Sri Lanka) in order to provide manpower for cinnamon harvesting there. Wealthy Chinese were also extorted, threatened with deportation by Dutch officials.
This caused unrest among the ethnic Chinese, as well as rumours that deportees were not taken to their destinations at all, but were instead thrown overboard once they were out of sight of Java. As a result, many Chinese workers fled from their jobs. Although at first some councilors believed that the Chinese would never attack Batavia, on 26 September Governor General Adriaan Valckenier
Adriaan Valckenier
Adriaan Valckenier , was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 3 May 1737 until 6 November 1741....
called an emergency meeting of the Council of the Indies, where he gave orders to respond to any ethnic Chinese uprisings with deadly force. This was contested by former governor of Zeylan Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, who had recently returned to Batavia.
Incident
On 7 October, hundreds of ethnic Chinese killed 50 Dutch soldiers in Meester Cornelis (now JatinegaraJatinegara
Jatinegara is a subdistrict of East Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. The boundaries of Jatinegara are Bekasi Barat Raya - Bekasi Timur Raya - I...
) and Tanah Abang
Tanah Abang
Tanah Abang is a subdistrict of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. The subdistrict hosts the biggest textile market in Southeast Asia, Tanah Abang Market...
; in response, the Dutch sent 1,800 troops, as well as schutterij
Schutterij
Schutterij refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces within the city, near the city walls, but, when the...
(militia) and eleven battalions of conscripts to stop the revolt. They established a curfew and canceled plans for a Chinese festival; the Chinese were not allowed to light candles either, for fear that they would conspire against the Dutch in the candlelight. They were also disarmed, forced to surrender everything "down to the smallest kitchen knife". The following day, the Dutch repelled a Chinese attack at the city's outer walls, leading to Governor General Valckenier calling another meeting of the council on 9 October.
Meanwhile, rumours spread among the other ethnic groups, including Betawi servants and Indian soldiers
Sepoy
A sepoy was formerly the designation given to an Indian soldier in the service of a European power. In the modern Indian Army, Pakistan Army and Bangladesh Army it remains in use for the rank of private soldier.-Etymology and Historical usage:...
, in Batavia that the Chinese were plotting to kill, rape, or enslave them. As a preemptive strike, they burned houses belonging to ethnic Chinese along Kali Besar; this was followed by a Dutch assault on Chinese settlements elsewhere in Jakarta, in which they burned houses and killed men, women and children. Dutch politician and colonial system critic Wolter Robert
Wolter Robert, Baron van Hoevell
Wolter Robert, Baron van Hoëvell was a Dutch politician, and vicar.He traveled extensively through the Dutch colonies in Indonesia and was appalled by the colonial system and the treatment of slaves he had to witness...
wrote in 1840 that "pregnant and nursing women were killed ... hundreds of prisoners were slaughtered like sheep ... [and] rich Chinese, running to their European friends' houses for protection ... were promptly surrendered to the bloodthirsty hunters".
At around 5:00 p.m. local time (UTC+7), the Dutch opened fire on Chinese-occupied houses with cannons, causing the houses to catch fire. Some Chinese were trapped in the burning houses, while others were shot upon leaving their homes and still others committed suicide in desperation. Those who reached the canal located near the housing district were killed by Dutch troops waiting in small boats. The actions later spread throughout the city.
The following day the violence continued to spread, with Chinese patients in a hospital being taken outside and killed. During the next two weeks ethnic Chinese who had survived the initial assault were hunted by gangs of "bandits", who killed those they found. On 22 October 1740, Governor General Valckenier called for all killings to cease.
Aftermath
Most accounts of the massacre estimate that 10,000 people were killed within Batavia's city walls, while another 500 were seriously wounded. At least 700 houses were raided and burned. A.R.T. Kemasang estimates that 3,000 Chinese survived the massacre. Indonesian historian Benny G. Setiono notes that 500 of those killed were prisoners and hospital patients, with a total of 3,431 survivors. This was later followed by an "open season" against the ethnic Chinese throughout JavaJava
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, causing another massacre in 1741 in Semarang
Semarang
- Economy :The western part of the city is home to many industrial parks and factories. The port of Semarang is located on the north coast and it is the main shipping port for the province of Central Java. Many small manufacturers are located in Semarang, producing goods such as textiles,...
, and more later in Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
and Gresik.
As part of conditions for the cessation of violence, all of Batavia's ethnic Chinese were moved to a pecinan
Pecinan
Pecinans are areas in Indonesia that are densely populated by Chinese Indonesians. Until the 1930s the Chinese were kept in certain areas, creating Chinese parts of towns and cities in Java. Pecinan's are similar to the Jewish ghettoes in Europe and means Chinatown in English. One well-known...
, or Chinatown, outside of the city walls, now known as Glodok
Glodok
Glodok is a part of the Jakarta, Indonesia. The area is also known as Pecinan or Chinatown since the Dutch colonial era, and is considered the biggest in Indonesia, as a majority of the traders in Glodok are of Chinese descent...
. This allowed the Dutch to more easily monitor the Chinese. In order to leave the pecinan, ethnic Chinese required special passes granting permission. However, by 1743 ethnic Chinese had already returned to inner Batavia, with several hundred merchants operating there. Other ethnic Chinese fled to Central Java
Central Java
Central Java is a province of Indonesia. The administrative capital is Semarang. It is one of six provinces on the island of Java.This province is the province of high Human Development in Indonesia and its Points Development Index countries is equivalent to Lebanon. The province of Central Java...
, where they attacked Dutch trading posts, later joined by troops under the command of Pakubuwono II
Pakubuwono II
Pakubuwono II was the last ruler of Kartasura and the first Susuhunan...
. This uprising was quashed in 1743.
After a vote of no confidence by the Council of the East Indies on 16 December 1740, Governor General Valckenier resigned, leaving the East Indies in 1744 and later being investigated for his involvement in the massacre; Valckenier died before the investigation was completed. Van Imhoff was called back to the Netherlands to face charges of insubordination. After these charges were dismissed, van Imhoff was sent back to Batavia to be the new Governor General of the East Indies, beginning his service in 1743.
The massacre led to the names of numerous areas in Jakarta. One possible etymology for Tanah Abang, meaning "red earth", is that it was named for the Chinese blood which was spilled there. Rawa Bangke, a subdistrict of East Jakarta
East Jakarta
East Jakarta is a city within Jakarta Special District, Indonesia. It had a population of 2,687,027 at the 2010, making it the most populous of the five cities within Jakarta....
, may be derived from the vulgar Indonesian word for corpse, bangkai, due to the amount of ethnic Chinese who were killed there; a similar etymology has been suggested for Angke in Tambora
Tambora, Jakarta
Tambora is a subdistrict of West Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. Tambora Subdistrict is bounded by a railway to the west and to the north, Kali Krukut - Kali Besar canal to the east, and Duri Selatan Road to the south....
.
See also
- Discrimination against Chinese IndonesiansDiscrimination against Chinese IndonesiansDiscrimination against people of Chinese descent in Indonesia has been recorded since at least 1740, when the Dutch Colonial Government killed up to 10,000 people of Chinese descent during the Chinezenmoord. In the period since then, discrimination and violence have been recorded both foreign and...
- May 1998 riots of Indonesia