Indos in colonial history
Encyclopedia
Indos are a Eurasian
people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The pre-colonial evolution of this hybrid Eurasian community in the East Indies commenced during the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century and continued with the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
At the break of the 19th century official colonisation of the East Indies started and the territorial claims of the VOC expanded into a fully fledged colony named the Dutch East Indies
. The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complimented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies. These European settlers, who were government officials, business men, planters and particularly military men without wives, engaged into relations with native women. Their offspring was considered Indo-European and if acknowledged by the father belonged to the European legal class in the colony.
In 1860 there were less than 1,000 European females against over 22,000 European males. It was only by the end of the 19th century that a sizeable number of Dutch women started to arrive in the colony. This increasingly hastened the growing pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture.
At the end of the colonial era a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When in the second half of the 20th century the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one sided identification with their paternal lineage, were expelled from the country.
There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution. Over time the Indo mix culture was forced to adopt more and more Dutch trades and customs. To describe the colonial era it is diligent to differentiate between each distinctive time period in the 19th and 20th century.
The Dutch East Indies were not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from the mother countries (such as the USA or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders. Neither was it a plantation colony build on the import of slaves (such as Haiti or Jamaica) or a pure trade post colony (such as Singapore or Macau). It was more of an expansion of the existing chain of VOC trading posts. In stead of mass emigration from the homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations, were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force. Servitude of the indigenous masses was enabled through a structure of indirect governance, keeping existing indigenous rulers in place and using the Indo Eurasian population as an intermediary buffer. Being one of the smallest nations in the world it was in fact impossible for the Netherlands to even attempt to establish a typical settler colony.
In 1869 British anthropologist Alfred Russel Wallace
described the colonial governing structure in his book "The Malay Archipelago
":
The need for a sizeable European population to administer the vast region of the East Indies did however initially steer colonial policies to stimulate inter-marriage of European men with native women. Up to the 19th century Indos often occupied the role of 'Resident', 'Assistant Resident' or 'Controleur'. Colonial legislation allowed for assimilation of the relatively large racially mixed Indo population into the European stratosphere of the colonial hierarchy. The official judicial (and racial) division had three layers where the top layer of Europeans in fact included a majority of Indo Europeans. Subsequently these Eurasians were not registered as a separate ethnic group, but were included in the European headcount Unlike other colonies such as South Africa which had a strict policy of ‘Apartheid’ (i.e. stringent racial segregation) and mixed race people were put in the separate legal class of Coloured
s.
In comparison to the British Indies and overall colonialism worldwide, strictly speaking the Dutch version of colonial policies and legislation did not maintain a so called colour line. In comparison to Catholic colonial powers there was a lesser degree of missionary zealotry. However it cannot be maintained that the actual expatriate colonists did not share similarly racist values and beliefs along the line of pseudo scientific theories based on proto-social Darwinism, placing the white Caucasian race at the top of society i.e. 'naturally' in charge of dominating and civilizing non white populations. Also in the Dutch East Indies colonial practice was based on these typical values leading to cultural hegemony and chauvinism as seen in colonies around the world. So even though there was in fact no official ‘colour line’ excluding Indo Eurasians, there certainly has always been a ‘shade bar’. What in comparison to other colonial powers of the time sometimes looked like a liberal and even modern attitude towards race mixing, was basically grounded in Dutch pragmatism and opportunism.
The process of colonisation imposed Dutch economical and cultural domination over the resources, labor and markets of the East Indies. It dominated to a high degree its organisational and socio-cultural structures and to a lesser degree its religious and linguistic structures. The pragmatic and opportunistic colonial policy and cultural perception regarding the Indo Eurasians varied throughout history. But towards the end of the colonial period the Indo-Eurasian mix culture came under exceeding pressure to assimilate completely into Dutch imposed culture.
Due to the above described diversity the ethnic features of each Indo family (member) may vary considerably. Notwithstanding their European legal status and even though all family names were uniformly European, their ethnic features made most Indos in colonial times quite easily distinguishable from the full blooded (totok) Dutch expatriate or settler and often physically indistinguishable from indigenous islanders. This ethnic diversity also meant that each Indo family (member) may have had an individual perception of identity and racial affiliation. It was only in the last phases of colonisation a Dutch cultural identity was forced onto all Indo-Europeans.
) class. Unlike for instance Singapore no Eurasian sub-class was ever used to register citizens in the Dutch East Indies and Indos were per definition included in the European census.
The authoritative census of 1930 shows 240,162 people belonging to the European legal class of which 208,269 (86,7%) were Dutch nationals. Only 25,8% of the Dutch nationals were expatriate (totok) Dutchmen, leaving a vast majority of native born Indo-Europeans.
Still the European population of the Dutch East Indies was no more than 0.4% of the total population.
Indos (short for Indo-Europeans) are a Eurasian
people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The pre-colonial evolution of this hybrid Eurasian community in the East Indies commenced during the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century and continued with the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
At the break of the 19th century official colonisation of the East Indies started and the territorial claims of the VOC expanded into a fully fledged colony named the Dutch East Indies
. The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complimented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies. These European settlers, who were government officials, business men, planters and particularly military men without wives, engaged into relations with native women. Their offspring was considered Indo-European and if acknowledged by the father belonged to the European legal class in the colony.
In 1860 there were less than 1,000 European females against over 22,000 European males. It was only by the end of the 19th century that a sizeable number of Dutch women started to arrive in the colony. This increasingly hastened the growing pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture.
At the end of the colonial era a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When in the second half of the 20th century the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one sided identification with their paternal lineage, were expelled from the country.
There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution. Over time the Indo mix culture was forced to adopt more and more Dutch trades and customs. To describe the colonial era it is diligent to differentiate between each distinctive time period in the 19th and 20th century.
The Dutch East Indies were not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from the mother countries (such as the USA or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders. Neither was it a plantation colony build on the import of slaves (such as Haiti or Jamaica) or a pure trade post colony (such as Singapore or Macau). It was more of an expansion of the existing chain of VOC trading posts. In stead of mass emigration from the homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations, were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force. Servitude of the indigenous masses was enabled through a structure of indirect governance, keeping existing indigenous rulers in place and using the Indo Eurasian population as an intermediary buffer. Being one of the smallest nations in the world it was in fact impossible for the Netherlands to even attempt to establish a typical settler colony.
In 1869 British anthropologist Alfred Russel Wallace
described the colonial governing structure in his book "The Malay Archipelago
":
The need for a sizeable European population to administer the vast region of the East Indies did however initially steer colonial policies to stimulate inter-marriage of European men with native women. Up to the 19th century Indos often occupied the role of 'Resident', 'Assistant Resident' or 'Controleur'. Colonial legislation allowed for assimilation of the relatively large racially mixed Indo population into the European stratosphere of the colonial hierarchy. The official judicial (and racial) division had three layers where the top layer of Europeans in fact included a majority of Indo Europeans. Subsequently these Eurasians were not registered as a separate ethnic group, but were included in the European headcount Unlike other colonies such as South Africa which had a strict policy of ‘Apartheid’ (i.e. stringent racial segregation) and mixed race people were put in the separate legal class of Coloured
s.
In comparison to the British Indies and overall colonialism worldwide, strictly speaking the Dutch version of colonial policies and legislation did not maintain a so called colour line. In comparison to Catholic colonial powers there was a lesser degree of missionary zealotry. However it cannot be maintained that the actual expatriate colonists did not share similarly racist values and beliefs along the line of pseudo scientific theories based on proto-social Darwinism, placing the white Caucasian race at the top of society i.e. 'naturally' in charge of dominating and civilizing non white populations. Also in the Dutch East Indies colonial practice was based on these typical values leading to cultural hegemony and chauvinism as seen in colonies around the world. So even though there was in fact no official ‘colour line’ excluding Indo Eurasians, there certainly has always been a ‘shade bar’. What in comparison to other colonial powers of the time sometimes looked like a liberal and even modern attitude towards race mixing, was basically grounded in Dutch pragmatism and opportunism.
The process of colonisation imposed Dutch economical and cultural domination over the resources, labor and markets of the East Indies. It dominated to a high degree its organisational and socio-cultural structures and to a lesser degree its religious and linguistic structures. The pragmatic and opportunistic colonial policy and cultural perception regarding the Indo Eurasians varied throughout history. But towards the end of the colonial period the Indo-Eurasian mix culture came under exceeding pressure to assimilate completely into Dutch imposed culture.
Due to the above described diversity the ethnic features of each Indo family (member) may vary considerably. Notwithstanding their European legal status and even though all family names were uniformly European, their ethnic features made most Indos in colonial times quite easily distinguishable from the full blooded (totok) Dutch expatriate or settler and often physically indistinguishable from indigenous islanders. This ethnic diversity also meant that each Indo family (member) may have had an individual perception of identity and racial affiliation. It was only in the last phases of colonisation a Dutch cultural identity was forced onto all Indo-Europeans.
) class. Unlike for instance Singapore no Eurasian sub-class was ever used to register citizens in the Dutch East Indies and Indos were per definition included in the European census.
The authoritative census of 1930 shows 240,162 people belonging to the European legal class of which 208,269 (86,7%) were Dutch nationals. Only 25,8% of the Dutch nationals were expatriate (totok) Dutchmen, leaving a vast majority of native born Indo-Europeans.
Still the European population of the Dutch East Indies was no more than 0.4% of the total population.
Indos (short for Indo-Europeans) are a Eurasian
people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The pre-colonial evolution of this hybrid Eurasian community in the East Indies commenced during the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century and continued with the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
At the break of the 19th century official colonisation of the East Indies started and the territorial claims of the VOC expanded into a fully fledged colony named the Dutch East Indies
. The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complimented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies. These European settlers, who were government officials, business men, planters and particularly military men without wives, engaged into relations with native women. Their offspring was considered Indo-European and if acknowledged by the father belonged to the European legal class in the colony.
In 1860 there were less than 1,000 European females against over 22,000 European males. It was only by the end of the 19th century that a sizeable number of Dutch women started to arrive in the colony. This increasingly hastened the growing pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture.
At the end of the colonial era a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When in the second half of the 20th century the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one sided identification with their paternal lineage, were expelled from the country.
There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution. Over time the Indo mix culture was forced to adopt more and more Dutch trades and customs. To describe the colonial era it is diligent to differentiate between each distinctive time period in the 19th and 20th century.
The Dutch East Indies were not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from the mother countries (such as the USA or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders. Neither was it a plantation colony build on the import of slaves (such as Haiti or Jamaica) or a pure trade post colony (such as Singapore or Macau). It was more of an expansion of the existing chain of VOC trading posts. In stead of mass emigration from the homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations, were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force. Servitude of the indigenous masses was enabled through a structure of indirect governance, keeping existing indigenous rulers in place and using the Indo Eurasian population as an intermediary buffer. Being one of the smallest nations in the world it was in fact impossible for the Netherlands to even attempt to establish a typical settler colony.
In 1869 British anthropologist Alfred Russel Wallace
described the colonial governing structure in his book "The Malay Archipelago
":
The need for a sizeable European population to administer the vast region of the East Indies did however initially steer colonial policies to stimulate inter-marriage of European men with native women. Up to the 19th century Indos often occupied the role of 'Resident', 'Assistant Resident' or 'Controleur'. Colonial legislation allowed for assimilation of the relatively large racially mixed Indo population into the European stratosphere of the colonial hierarchy. The official judicial (and racial) division had three layers where the top layer of Europeans in fact included a majority of Indo Europeans. Subsequently these Eurasians were not registered as a separate ethnic group, but were included in the European headcount Unlike other colonies such as South Africa which had a strict policy of ‘Apartheid’ (i.e. stringent racial segregation) and mixed race people were put in the separate legal class of Coloured
s.
In comparison to the British Indies and overall colonialism worldwide, strictly speaking the Dutch version of colonial policies and legislation did not maintain a so called colour line. In comparison to Catholic colonial powers there was a lesser degree of missionary zealotry. However it cannot be maintained that the actual expatriate colonists did not share similarly racist values and beliefs along the line of pseudo scientific theories based on proto-social Darwinism, placing the white Caucasian race at the top of society i.e. 'naturally' in charge of dominating and civilizing non white populations. Also in the Dutch East Indies colonial practice was based on these typical values leading to cultural hegemony and chauvinism as seen in colonies around the world. So even though there was in fact no official ‘colour line’ excluding Indo Eurasians, there certainly has always been a ‘shade bar’. What in comparison to other colonial powers of the time sometimes looked like a liberal and even modern attitude towards race mixing, was basically grounded in Dutch pragmatism and opportunism.
The process of colonisation imposed Dutch economical and cultural domination over the resources, labor and markets of the East Indies. It dominated to a high degree its organisational and socio-cultural structures and to a lesser degree its religious and linguistic structures. The pragmatic and opportunistic colonial policy and cultural perception regarding the Indo Eurasians varied throughout history. But towards the end of the colonial period the Indo-Eurasian mix culture came under exceeding pressure to assimilate completely into Dutch imposed culture.
Due to the above described diversity the ethnic features of each Indo family (member) may vary considerably. Notwithstanding their European legal status and even though all family names were uniformly European, their ethnic features made most Indos in colonial times quite easily distinguishable from the full blooded (totok) Dutch expatriate or settler and often physically indistinguishable from indigenous islanders. This ethnic diversity also meant that each Indo family (member) may have had an individual perception of identity and racial affiliation. It was only in the last phases of colonisation a Dutch cultural identity was forced onto all Indo-Europeans.
) class. Unlike for instance Singapore no Eurasian sub-class was ever used to register citizens in the Dutch East Indies and Indos were per definition included in the European census.
The authoritative census of 1930 shows 240,162 people belonging to the European legal class of which 208,269 (86,7%) were Dutch nationals. Only 25,8% of the Dutch nationals were expatriate (totok) Dutchmen, leaving a vast majority of native born Indo-Europeans.
Still the European population of the Dutch East Indies was no more than 0.4% of the total population.
Indos lived in a patriarchal social and legal system. As colonial systems are per definition non-egalitarian for Indo children to obtain the legal status of European (i.e. the highest level of colonial hierarchy) the European father was required to officially acknowledge his children with the indigenous mother. If a European male decided to acknowledge his children he would often marry his indigenous partner to legitimise their relationship This did not always happen and a considerable number of Indo children assimilated into their mothers’ indigenous community. The colonial saying to describe this phenomenon was “The (Indo) child would disappear into the kampung (English: native village)”. Only after the introduction of the 1848 civil code it was allowed for a couple belonging to two different religious groups to marry.
Once the total numbers of the community allowed for it Indos would usually marry amongst their own social group and the vast majority of Indo children were born from these marriages. Due to the community’s female surplus Indo women would also marry newly arrived European settlers, as well as indigenous men, who were usually educated Christians that had obtained the so called ‘European equality’ status (Dutch: Gelijkgesteld), following a legal ordinance introduced in 1871.
The civil code of 1848 even stipulated that indigenous men would acquire the European status of their Indo-European wives after marriage. With the arrival of more and more Dutch women in the colony this law suddenly became highly contentious. In the juridical congress of 1878 the ruling was heavily debated as Dutch legal experts did not want European women to “marry into the kampung” and by 1898 this statue was reversed. Another sign pressure on the Eurasian nature of Indo culture was increasing.
Indo women who would marry indigenous men would carry their husband’s family name and their children would be registered according to their father’s ethnicity e.g. Moluccan or Menadonese, but retain his legal class of European Equality status. Notable examples are South Mollucan leaders Chris Soumokil
(1905–1966) and Johan Manusama
(1910–1995) who both had Indo mothers and were legally classified as European.
Although Indos were legally European and could be found in all layers of society, with the continued arrival of white (totok) Dutch settlers and expatriates, their social status in colonial times increasingly depended on their efforts to blend into the white upper class. Within the legal class of Europeans therefore there was clear social and racial distinction between the ‘Totok’ (full blooded) and ‘Indo’ (mixed race) European or in other words the expatriate and native European. The other 2 common Dutch terms to make a social distinction are: 1) trekkers (English: sojourners) and 2) blijvers (English: stayers). The first term refers to the typical white expatriate colonial, while the second refers to the white colonial settler, but includes native Indo-Europeans.
. But other variations such as Javindo also existed. Most languages have died out due to the loss of its function and loss of its speakers. The Pecok mix language reflects the ethnic origin of Indos. Typified as a mixed marriage language, the grammar of Pecok is based on the maternal Malay language and the lexicon on the paternal Dutch language.
At the beginning of colonisation Indos were at least bi-lingual and as off the VOC era Indos have always been used as translators and interpreters of indigenous languages. Their first language was often Malay or a creole language. By the end of the 19th century a research project showed that 70% of (Indo)European children in their first year of elementary school
still spoke little to no Dutch.
To persuade his brother in law, the father of Conrad Théodoor van Deventer (who later became the leading spokesman of the 'Ethical Policy'), not to take the position of principal at the 'Koning Willem III' school in Batavia (the only school for secondary education in the Dutch East Indies), newspaper editor Conrad Busken Huet expressed the following popular opinion among the expatriate Dutch community in 1869:
In the next century of the colonial era creole languages were further discredited and Indos were expected to speak Dutch as their first language. To a degree the use of Malay and Pecok has persisted in private conversation and literature. Only through the post colonial work of Indo author Tjalie Robinson
the Pecok language regained its cultural status.
In the 1830s colonial policies steered from the Netherlands (Ministry of colonial affairs) to decrease the autonomous and arbitrary nature of the colony, considerably increased pressure on the Indo population to ‘Dutchify’ its society. Particularly during the implementation of the 'Cultivation System' legislation and regulations discriminatory against Indos were enforced. When the 'Cultivation System' policy was abandoned in 1870 it however also put in place a ban for Indos to own land. Under threat of marginalisation the Indo community was forced to reflect on its position in the Dutch East Indies. For the first time in history Indos began to organise politically in an attempt to emancipate as a group.
Meanwhile the number of Indos in the 19th century also increased as the existing pre-colonial communities were complimented with offspring of European military men and indigenous women. The total number of Europeans on Java and Madura in 1880 was 44,000, 55,000 by 1890 and 72,000 by 1900.
was occupied by the French forces of Napoleon. This resulted in an influx of French settlers in the East Indies. Notwithstanding the fact that the Dutch government went into exile in England and formally ceded its colonial possessions to Great Britain, the pro-French Governor General of the Dutch East Indies fought the British before surrendering the colony. He was replaced by the British Governor Raffles
, who later founded the city of Singapore
. The 10 years of the French-British interregnum
(1806–1816) saw an influx of British settlers in the East Indies. To this day one can still find many French and British family names in the Indo community.
At the time the British took over governmental responsibilities of the Dutch East Indies, the European segment of society was still strongly Eurasian in nature. Even most Dutch governor-generals had married into matriarchal Indo clans and the European segment of society was in fact dominated by Indo culture. The polygot society he encountered spoke Malay
, Portugis
and other creole languages, as its first language and Dutch or other European languages only as a second or third language. The arts and crafts patronized by the Indo elite were usually indigenous e.g. gamelan
, batik
, various court dances, etc. Women clothing was often indistinguishable from indigenous fancy dress and many practices were rooted in ancient indigenous court culture.
Intending to modernize the colony Raffles, a keen anthropologist and progressive administrator, attempted to westernize the character of the Dutch, Indo and Indigenous colonial elite alike. He was the first European governor to establish western style schooling and institutions and by show of example attempted to introduce western values and morals.
This first all encompassing attack on the existing Indo character of European society also revealed its political and cultural strength and the British were in the end unable to drastically change it. Only in later decennia with the arrival of larger numbers of Dutch expatriates, that included women and families, Indo dominance would be broken.
colonial government of the East Indies was ceded back to the Dutch in 1817. To secure unchallenged dominion over its colony in the East Indies the Dutch started to consolidate its power base through military campaigns ensuring the Dutch tricolor was firmly planted in all corners of the Archipelago
. These military campaigns included: the Padri War
(1821–1837), the Java War
(1825–1830) and the Aceh War
(1873–1904). This raised the need for a considerable military build up of the colonial army (KNIL). From all over Europe soldiers were recruited to join the KNIL.
This period started the next significant wave of Indo families complimenting the already existing Indo community. This new wave of Indo Eurasian families compounded to the already plural
nature of the Indo community as this time it specifically concerned soldiers raising families on military compounds. Children born from the European KNIL soldiers and indigenous women were immediately acknowledged as Europeans as it was more cost effective to recruit European soldiers locally than in Europe.
The colonial army became the largest employer in the Dutch East Indies and Indo males born into barrack life, also joined the KNIL. From the age of 7 Indo boys were sent to military school and at the age of 18, with the lack of other career opportunities, joined the KNIL. At large Indos chose to join the non combatant units of the colonial army. The period up to 1870 showed the highest number of professional Indo soldiers.
After 1870 the number of Indos that enlisted in the colonial army strongly declined, as other career opportunities in the emerging agricultural industries presented themselves and the ongoing colonial wars continued. The unwillingness to join the colonial army forced the government to re-focus on military recruitment in Europe, which in turn resulted in a second big wave of Indo families based in KNIL induced migration during the 30 years of the Aceh War
. In the second half of the Century, of the 85,000 military men who left for the Dutch East Indies from the KNIL recruiting centre in the Netherlands, only about 45,000 were Dutch, the others were mainly German, Belgian, Swiss or French. By now this group of KNIL soldiers made up 50% of all white Totok males in the colony.
, Governor-General (1833–1836) and Minister of Colonies (1840–1848), added discrimatory regulations aimed to withhold Indos from key governamental functions. He was of the opinion that full blooded i.e. white Dutch officials were better suited to persuade native nobility to comply to the ‘Cultivation System’. His thinking, influenced by his aristocratic background, was a radical shift from the opinion that Indos were the ideal intermediaries towards the indigenous rulers.
Indo Residents were removed from their positions as liaisons to the Javanese and Madurese Regents, a role they had played since the VOC era. To further complicate the appointment and promotion of Indos, Baud enforced a Royal decree
stipulating that governamental functions could only be granted on request of the Governor-General and needed approval by the Dutch King himself. Additionally in 1837 the pensions of Indo civil servants was cut in half. The reasoning behind that was based on the conviction that native born Indo officials should be easily able to adhere to lower living standards than expatriate Dutch officials born in the Netherlands.
Another discrimatory measure stipulated that it was mandatory for colonial government officials to be educated in the Netherlands. Simultaneously the already limited educational opportunities for the native born people of the Dutch East Indies (European, Indo-European and Indigenous alike) further decreased. All these restrictions had a direct impact on the livelihood of the Indo community, which finally resulted in revolutionary tensions.
In 1848 the leading figures of the colonial capital Batavia (Now Jakarta) assembled in protest. In fear of a violent backlash from the populous Indo community in Batavia the Governor-General at the time ordered the army to the highest state of preparedness. Violence was averted, but 1848 was a watershed moment starting the political emancipation of Indos, which in the next century would result in several Indo dominated political parties of which some even advocated independence from the Netherlands.
Cautious not to alianate the largest segment of European society the second half of 19th century saw a change in colonial policy and loosening of the discrimatory measures against Indos. Opportunities for local education also increased a little.
Towards the end of the century the 'Cultivation System' was abandoned however pressure on the Indo community continued with arguments raising the question how native born Indo-Europeans could ever truly represent Western civilisation.
) prevailed more than ever. Also on a social level the arrival of larger number of Dutch expatriates, for the first time including many Dutch women and families, continued to affect the nature of Indo-European society. In the end political and social ‘Dutchification’ almost totally eradicated the Eurasian character of Indo culture. The European population on Java and Madura in 1920 was 133,000, 189,000 by 1930 and circa 240,000 by 1940. This was an increase of over 500% from the numbers in the previous century.
The process of political emancipation of Indos, which started in the previous century, continued resulting in various political organisations such as Dekker
‘s ‘Indische Party
’ and Zaalberg
’s 'Indo European Alliance
', but was cut short by WWII and never established a structural connection to the Indonesian independence movement.
When World War II
broke out the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany
in 1940, while the Dutch East Indies was occupied by Imperial Japan in 1942. All non Axis
Europeans, including most Indo-European males, were interned in Japanese prisoner camps
until 1945. During this period close to 25% of the POW’s did not survive their imprisonment.
The end of WWII heralded the end of colonialsm worldwide. From 1945 to 1949 the Indonesian National Revolution
turned the former Dutch East Indies into an increasingly hostile environment for Indo-Europeans. Violence aimed towards Indo-Europeans during its early Bersiap
period (1945-1946) accumulated in almost 20,000 deaths.
In 1949 the Dutch recognised the Republic of Indonesia, save the area of Dutch New Guinea. Most Indos that chose Indonesian citizenship retracted their decision due to continued anti-Dutch sentiments and regulations. Many Indo Europeans also hoped for a future in Dutch New Guinea until in 1962-1963 this area too was annexed into present day Indonesia, officially ending the colonial era of the Dutch East Indies.
The Indo diaspora which started in the ‘Bersiap
’ period continued up to 1964 and resulted in the emigration of practically all Indo-Europeans from a turbulent young Indonesian nation.
in 1912, Insulinde (Political Party)
in 1913 and the IEV
and NIP in 1919. Although content with the greater opportunities for schooling in the colony, Indos also felt dubious about the increasing competition on the job market by educated indigenous people. Notwithstanding the obvious awakening of a national consciousness, the speed in which the great catalyst of WWII accelerated the transformation from colony into independent nation was not forseen by anyone.
, who had been made Governor-General (1904-1909) for his victory in the Aceh War
(1904), subdued the last indigenous resistance in Bali (1906 and 1908) and Papua, bringing the whole of the Dutch East Indies under direct colonial rule. Meanwhile the number of Indos signing up to join the colonial army (KNIL) was at an all time low.
Notwithstanding the large numbers of Indo offspring (known as ‘Anak Kolong’) from the 2 main waves of KNIL induced migration in the previous century, the number of professional Indo soldiers kept declining steadily. At the turn of the century all schools for officers in the Dutch East Indies had been liquidated leaving military career opportunities limited to the rank of non-commissioned officers. Officers were now solely educated and recruited in the Netherlands. Meanwhile civilian career opportunities increased and even Indo boys born into barrack life preferred seeking employment outside the army.
In 1910 only 5 Indo-Europeans volunteered for military service, while there was a shortage of 15,310 European soldiers. As a result the KNIL remained dependent on lengthy and costly recruitment in Europe and was forced to re-organise its internal structure. Ethnic Ambonese were considered the most competent and reliable indigenous soldiers and their military status was practically equalised to European status. In the following years slots for Ambonese i.e. South Moluccan KNIL soldiers also greatly increased to compensate for the lack of Indo-Europeans.
Most KNIL soldiers and non commissioned officers now consisted of indigenous people. The vast majority of indigenous soldiers were ethnic Javanese. While a relatively high percentage was from the Minahasa
and the South Moluccas
. To ensure a sizeable European military segment and enforce the return of Indos to the KNIL the colonial government introduced obligatory military service
for the (Indo-)European population of the Dutch East Indies in 1917.
The introduction of mandatory military service for (Indo-) European conscripts successfully boosted the European segment in the colonial army, while simultaneously reducing costly recruitment in Europe. In 1922 a supplemental legal enactment introduced the creation of a ‘Home guard
’ (Dutch: Landstorm) for (Indo-)European conscripts older than 32. By 1940 these legal measures had successfully mitigated the strong trend of Indos discarting the colonial armed forces and had once again secured the proportionally high ratio of 1 European soldier for every 3 Indigenous soldiers.
, Burgher people
, Eurasian Singaporean
, Filipino mestizo
, Kristang people
, Macanese people
.
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The pre-colonial evolution of this hybrid Eurasian community in the East Indies commenced during the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century and continued with the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
At the break of the 19th century official colonisation of the East Indies started and the territorial claims of the VOC expanded into a fully fledged colony named 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....
. The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complimented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies. These European settlers, who were government officials, business men, planters and particularly military men without wives, engaged into relations with native women. Their offspring was considered Indo-European and if acknowledged by the father belonged to the European legal class in the colony.
In 1860 there were less than 1,000 European females against over 22,000 European males. It was only by the end of the 19th century that a sizeable number of Dutch women started to arrive in the colony. This increasingly hastened the growing pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture.
At the end of the colonial era a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When in the second half of the 20th century the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one sided identification with their paternal lineage, were expelled from the country.
There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution. Over time the Indo mix culture was forced to adopt more and more Dutch trades and customs. To describe the colonial era it is diligent to differentiate between each distinctive time period in the 19th and 20th century.
The colonial position of Indos
Formal colonisation commenced at the dawn of the 19th century when the Netherlands took possession of all VOC assets. Before that time the VOC was in principle just another trading power among many, establishing trading posts and settlements in strategic places around the archipelago. The Dutch gradually extended their small nation’s sovereignty over most of the islands in the East Indies. The existing VOC trading posts and its European and Eurasian settlements were developed into Dutch ruled enclaves, with its own administration governing both its indigenous and expatriate populations.The Dutch East Indies were not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from the mother countries (such as the USA or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders. Neither was it a plantation colony build on the import of slaves (such as Haiti or Jamaica) or a pure trade post colony (such as Singapore or Macau). It was more of an expansion of the existing chain of VOC trading posts. In stead of mass emigration from the homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations, were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force. Servitude of the indigenous masses was enabled through a structure of indirect governance, keeping existing indigenous rulers in place and using the Indo Eurasian population as an intermediary buffer. Being one of the smallest nations in the world it was in fact impossible for the Netherlands to even attempt to establish a typical settler colony.
In 1869 British anthropologist Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
described the colonial governing structure in his book "The Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago is a book by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace that chronicles his scientific exploration, during the eight year period 1854 to 1862, of the southern portion of the Malay Archipelago including Malaysia, Singapore, the islands of Indonesia, then known as the Dutch...
":
"The mode of government now adopted in Java is to retain the whole series of native rulers, from the village chief up to princes, who, under the name of Regents, are the heads of districts about the size of a small English county. With each Regent is placed a Dutch Resident, or Assistant Resident, who is considered to be his "elder brother," and whose "orders" take the form of "recommendations," which are, however, implicitly obeyed. Along with each Assistant Resident is a Controller, a kind of inspector of all the lower native rulers, who periodically visits every village in the district, examines the proceedings of the native courts, hears complaints against the head-men or other native chiefs, and superintends the Government plantations."
The need for a sizeable European population to administer the vast region of the East Indies did however initially steer colonial policies to stimulate inter-marriage of European men with native women. Up to the 19th century Indos often occupied the role of 'Resident', 'Assistant Resident' or 'Controleur'. Colonial legislation allowed for assimilation of the relatively large racially mixed Indo population into the European stratosphere of the colonial hierarchy. The official judicial (and racial) division had three layers where the top layer of Europeans in fact included a majority of Indo Europeans. Subsequently these Eurasians were not registered as a separate ethnic group, but were included in the European headcount Unlike other colonies such as South Africa which had a strict policy of ‘Apartheid’ (i.e. stringent racial segregation) and mixed race people were put in the separate legal class of Coloured
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
s.
In comparison to the British Indies and overall colonialism worldwide, strictly speaking the Dutch version of colonial policies and legislation did not maintain a so called colour line. In comparison to Catholic colonial powers there was a lesser degree of missionary zealotry. However it cannot be maintained that the actual expatriate colonists did not share similarly racist values and beliefs along the line of pseudo scientific theories based on proto-social Darwinism, placing the white Caucasian race at the top of society i.e. 'naturally' in charge of dominating and civilizing non white populations. Also in the Dutch East Indies colonial practice was based on these typical values leading to cultural hegemony and chauvinism as seen in colonies around the world. So even though there was in fact no official ‘colour line’ excluding Indo Eurasians, there certainly has always been a ‘shade bar’. What in comparison to other colonial powers of the time sometimes looked like a liberal and even modern attitude towards race mixing, was basically grounded in Dutch pragmatism and opportunism.
The process of colonisation imposed Dutch economical and cultural domination over the resources, labor and markets of the East Indies. It dominated to a high degree its organisational and socio-cultural structures and to a lesser degree its religious and linguistic structures. The pragmatic and opportunistic colonial policy and cultural perception regarding the Indo Eurasians varied throughout history. But towards the end of the colonial period the Indo-Eurasian mix culture came under exceeding pressure to assimilate completely into Dutch imposed culture.
Indo ethnicity
All Indo families are rooted in the original coalescence between a European forefather and a native born primordial mother. The Indo community as a whole is made out of many different ethnic European and Indonesian combinations and various degrees of racial blending. These combinations include mixes of diverse European peoples such as for example Portuguese, Dutch, Belgian, German, French and British people, with equally diverse Indonesian peoples such as for example Javanese, Sumatran, Moluccan and Minahassa people. But also to a lesser degree Chinese, Indian, Sri-lankan and African people that had settled in the East Indies.Due to the above described diversity the ethnic features of each Indo family (member) may vary considerably. Notwithstanding their European legal status and even though all family names were uniformly European, their ethnic features made most Indos in colonial times quite easily distinguishable from the full blooded (totok) Dutch expatriate or settler and often physically indistinguishable from indigenous islanders. This ethnic diversity also meant that each Indo family (member) may have had an individual perception of identity and racial affiliation. It was only in the last phases of colonisation a Dutch cultural identity was forced onto all Indo-Europeans.
"No longer quietly incorporated into the Mestizo (Indo) sociability of the eclectic (pre-colonial) Indies world, right wing 'totoks' began to view Indos as a fuzzy and troubling social category." Professor Dr. Frances Gouda.
Indo legal and social status
The Dutch East Indies colonial hierarchy initially only had 2 legal classes of citizens: First the European class; second the Indigenous (Dutch: Inlander, Malay: BumiputraBumiputra
Bumiputera or Bumiputra is a Malay term widely used in Malaysia, embracing indigenous people of the Malay Archipelago. The term comes from the Sanskrit word bhumiputra, which can be translated literally as "son of land"...
) class. Unlike for instance Singapore no Eurasian sub-class was ever used to register citizens in the Dutch East Indies and Indos were per definition included in the European census.
The authoritative census of 1930 shows 240,162 people belonging to the European legal class of which 208,269 (86,7%) were Dutch nationals. Only 25,8% of the Dutch nationals were expatriate (totok) Dutchmen, leaving a vast majority of native born Indo-Europeans.
Still the European population of the Dutch East Indies was no more than 0.4% of the total population.
| Rank | Group | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indigenous islanders | 59,138,067 | 97.4% |
| 2 | Chinese | 1,233,214 | 2.0% |
| 3 | Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... an |
240,417 | 0.4% |
| 4 | Others (foreign easterners) | 115,535 | 0.2% |
| Total | 60,727,233 | 100% |
Indos (short for Indo-Europeans) are a Eurasian
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The pre-colonial evolution of this hybrid Eurasian community in the East Indies commenced during the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century and continued with the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
At the break of the 19th century official colonisation of the East Indies started and the territorial claims of the VOC expanded into a fully fledged colony named 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....
. The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complimented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies. These European settlers, who were government officials, business men, planters and particularly military men without wives, engaged into relations with native women. Their offspring was considered Indo-European and if acknowledged by the father belonged to the European legal class in the colony.
In 1860 there were less than 1,000 European females against over 22,000 European males. It was only by the end of the 19th century that a sizeable number of Dutch women started to arrive in the colony. This increasingly hastened the growing pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture.
At the end of the colonial era a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When in the second half of the 20th century the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one sided identification with their paternal lineage, were expelled from the country.
There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution. Over time the Indo mix culture was forced to adopt more and more Dutch trades and customs. To describe the colonial era it is diligent to differentiate between each distinctive time period in the 19th and 20th century.
The colonial position of Indos
Formal colonisation commenced at the dawn of the 19th century when the Netherlands took possession of all VOC assets. Before that time the VOC was in principle just another trading power among many, establishing trading posts and settlements in strategic places around the archipelago. The Dutch gradually extended their small nation’s sovereignty over most of the islands in the East Indies. The existing VOC trading posts and its European and Eurasian settlements were developed into Dutch ruled enclaves, with its own administration governing both its indigenous and expatriate populations.The Dutch East Indies were not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from the mother countries (such as the USA or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders. Neither was it a plantation colony build on the import of slaves (such as Haiti or Jamaica) or a pure trade post colony (such as Singapore or Macau). It was more of an expansion of the existing chain of VOC trading posts. In stead of mass emigration from the homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations, were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force. Servitude of the indigenous masses was enabled through a structure of indirect governance, keeping existing indigenous rulers in place and using the Indo Eurasian population as an intermediary buffer. Being one of the smallest nations in the world it was in fact impossible for the Netherlands to even attempt to establish a typical settler colony.
In 1869 British anthropologist Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
described the colonial governing structure in his book "The Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago is a book by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace that chronicles his scientific exploration, during the eight year period 1854 to 1862, of the southern portion of the Malay Archipelago including Malaysia, Singapore, the islands of Indonesia, then known as the Dutch...
":
"The mode of government now adopted in Java is to retain the whole series of native rulers, from the village chief up to princes, who, under the name of Regents, are the heads of districts about the size of a small English county. With each Regent is placed a Dutch Resident, or Assistant Resident, who is considered to be his "elder brother," and whose "orders" take the form of "recommendations," which are, however, implicitly obeyed. Along with each Assistant Resident is a Controller, a kind of inspector of all the lower native rulers, who periodically visits every village in the district, examines the proceedings of the native courts, hears complaints against the head-men or other native chiefs, and superintends the Government plantations."
The need for a sizeable European population to administer the vast region of the East Indies did however initially steer colonial policies to stimulate inter-marriage of European men with native women. Up to the 19th century Indos often occupied the role of 'Resident', 'Assistant Resident' or 'Controleur'. Colonial legislation allowed for assimilation of the relatively large racially mixed Indo population into the European stratosphere of the colonial hierarchy. The official judicial (and racial) division had three layers where the top layer of Europeans in fact included a majority of Indo Europeans. Subsequently these Eurasians were not registered as a separate ethnic group, but were included in the European headcount Unlike other colonies such as South Africa which had a strict policy of ‘Apartheid’ (i.e. stringent racial segregation) and mixed race people were put in the separate legal class of Coloured
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
s.
In comparison to the British Indies and overall colonialism worldwide, strictly speaking the Dutch version of colonial policies and legislation did not maintain a so called colour line. In comparison to Catholic colonial powers there was a lesser degree of missionary zealotry. However it cannot be maintained that the actual expatriate colonists did not share similarly racist values and beliefs along the line of pseudo scientific theories based on proto-social Darwinism, placing the white Caucasian race at the top of society i.e. 'naturally' in charge of dominating and civilizing non white populations. Also in the Dutch East Indies colonial practice was based on these typical values leading to cultural hegemony and chauvinism as seen in colonies around the world. So even though there was in fact no official ‘colour line’ excluding Indo Eurasians, there certainly has always been a ‘shade bar’. What in comparison to other colonial powers of the time sometimes looked like a liberal and even modern attitude towards race mixing, was basically grounded in Dutch pragmatism and opportunism.
The process of colonisation imposed Dutch economical and cultural domination over the resources, labor and markets of the East Indies. It dominated to a high degree its organisational and socio-cultural structures and to a lesser degree its religious and linguistic structures. The pragmatic and opportunistic colonial policy and cultural perception regarding the Indo Eurasians varied throughout history. But towards the end of the colonial period the Indo-Eurasian mix culture came under exceeding pressure to assimilate completely into Dutch imposed culture.
Indo ethnicity
All Indo families are rooted in the original coalescence between a European forefather and a native born primordial mother. The Indo community as a whole is made out of many different ethnic European and Indonesian combinations and various degrees of racial blending. These combinations include mixes of diverse European peoples such as for example Portuguese, Dutch, Belgian, German, French and British people, with equally diverse Indonesian peoples such as for example Javanese, Sumatran, Moluccan and Minahassa people. But also to a lesser degree Chinese, Indian, Sri-lankan and African people that had settled in the East Indies.Due to the above described diversity the ethnic features of each Indo family (member) may vary considerably. Notwithstanding their European legal status and even though all family names were uniformly European, their ethnic features made most Indos in colonial times quite easily distinguishable from the full blooded (totok) Dutch expatriate or settler and often physically indistinguishable from indigenous islanders. This ethnic diversity also meant that each Indo family (member) may have had an individual perception of identity and racial affiliation. It was only in the last phases of colonisation a Dutch cultural identity was forced onto all Indo-Europeans.
"No longer quietly incorporated into the Mestizo (Indo) sociability of the eclectic (pre-colonial) Indies world, right wing 'totoks' began to view Indos as a fuzzy and troubling social category." Professor Dr. Frances Gouda.
Indo legal and social status
The Dutch East Indies colonial hierarchy initially only had 2 legal classes of citizens: First the European class; second the Indigenous (Dutch: Inlander, Malay: BumiputraBumiputra
Bumiputera or Bumiputra is a Malay term widely used in Malaysia, embracing indigenous people of the Malay Archipelago. The term comes from the Sanskrit word bhumiputra, which can be translated literally as "son of land"...
) class. Unlike for instance Singapore no Eurasian sub-class was ever used to register citizens in the Dutch East Indies and Indos were per definition included in the European census.
The authoritative census of 1930 shows 240,162 people belonging to the European legal class of which 208,269 (86,7%) were Dutch nationals. Only 25,8% of the Dutch nationals were expatriate (totok) Dutchmen, leaving a vast majority of native born Indo-Europeans.
Still the European population of the Dutch East Indies was no more than 0.4% of the total population.
| Rank | Group | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indigenous islanders | 59,138,067 | 97.4% |
| 2 | Chinese | 1,233,214 | 2.0% |
| 3 | Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... an |
240,417 | 0.4% |
| 4 | Others (foreign easterners) | 115,535 | 0.2% |
| Total | 60,727,233 | 100% |
Indos (short for Indo-Europeans) are a Eurasian
Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The pre-colonial evolution of this hybrid Eurasian community in the East Indies commenced during the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century and continued with the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
At the break of the 19th century official colonisation of the East Indies started and the territorial claims of the VOC expanded into a fully fledged colony named 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....
. The existing pre-colonial Indo-European communities were considerably complimented with Indos descending from European males settling in the Dutch East Indies. These European settlers, who were government officials, business men, planters and particularly military men without wives, engaged into relations with native women. Their offspring was considered Indo-European and if acknowledged by the father belonged to the European legal class in the colony.
In 1860 there were less than 1,000 European females against over 22,000 European males. It was only by the end of the 19th century that a sizeable number of Dutch women started to arrive in the colony. This increasingly hastened the growing pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture.
At the end of the colonial era a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When in the second half of the 20th century the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one sided identification with their paternal lineage, were expelled from the country.
There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of the Dutch East Indies key cultural elements such as language, clothing and lifestyle have a different emphasis in each phase of its evolution. Over time the Indo mix culture was forced to adopt more and more Dutch trades and customs. To describe the colonial era it is diligent to differentiate between each distinctive time period in the 19th and 20th century.
The colonial position of Indos
Formal colonisation commenced at the dawn of the 19th century when the Netherlands took possession of all VOC assets. Before that time the VOC was in principle just another trading power among many, establishing trading posts and settlements in strategic places around the archipelago. The Dutch gradually extended their small nation’s sovereignty over most of the islands in the East Indies. The existing VOC trading posts and its European and Eurasian settlements were developed into Dutch ruled enclaves, with its own administration governing both its indigenous and expatriate populations.The Dutch East Indies were not the typical settler colony founded through massive emigration from the mother countries (such as the USA or Australia) and hardly involved displacement of the indigenous islanders. Neither was it a plantation colony build on the import of slaves (such as Haiti or Jamaica) or a pure trade post colony (such as Singapore or Macau). It was more of an expansion of the existing chain of VOC trading posts. In stead of mass emigration from the homeland, the sizeable indigenous populations, were controlled through effective political manipulation supported by military force. Servitude of the indigenous masses was enabled through a structure of indirect governance, keeping existing indigenous rulers in place and using the Indo Eurasian population as an intermediary buffer. Being one of the smallest nations in the world it was in fact impossible for the Netherlands to even attempt to establish a typical settler colony.
In 1869 British anthropologist Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
described the colonial governing structure in his book "The Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago is a book by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace that chronicles his scientific exploration, during the eight year period 1854 to 1862, of the southern portion of the Malay Archipelago including Malaysia, Singapore, the islands of Indonesia, then known as the Dutch...
":
"The mode of government now adopted in Java is to retain the whole series of native rulers, from the village chief up to princes, who, under the name of Regents, are the heads of districts about the size of a small English county. With each Regent is placed a Dutch Resident, or Assistant Resident, who is considered to be his "elder brother," and whose "orders" take the form of "recommendations," which are, however, implicitly obeyed. Along with each Assistant Resident is a Controller, a kind of inspector of all the lower native rulers, who periodically visits every village in the district, examines the proceedings of the native courts, hears complaints against the head-men or other native chiefs, and superintends the Government plantations."
The need for a sizeable European population to administer the vast region of the East Indies did however initially steer colonial policies to stimulate inter-marriage of European men with native women. Up to the 19th century Indos often occupied the role of 'Resident', 'Assistant Resident' or 'Controleur'. Colonial legislation allowed for assimilation of the relatively large racially mixed Indo population into the European stratosphere of the colonial hierarchy. The official judicial (and racial) division had three layers where the top layer of Europeans in fact included a majority of Indo Europeans. Subsequently these Eurasians were not registered as a separate ethnic group, but were included in the European headcount Unlike other colonies such as South Africa which had a strict policy of ‘Apartheid’ (i.e. stringent racial segregation) and mixed race people were put in the separate legal class of Coloured
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured refers to an heterogenous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique,...
s.
In comparison to the British Indies and overall colonialism worldwide, strictly speaking the Dutch version of colonial policies and legislation did not maintain a so called colour line. In comparison to Catholic colonial powers there was a lesser degree of missionary zealotry. However it cannot be maintained that the actual expatriate colonists did not share similarly racist values and beliefs along the line of pseudo scientific theories based on proto-social Darwinism, placing the white Caucasian race at the top of society i.e. 'naturally' in charge of dominating and civilizing non white populations. Also in the Dutch East Indies colonial practice was based on these typical values leading to cultural hegemony and chauvinism as seen in colonies around the world. So even though there was in fact no official ‘colour line’ excluding Indo Eurasians, there certainly has always been a ‘shade bar’. What in comparison to other colonial powers of the time sometimes looked like a liberal and even modern attitude towards race mixing, was basically grounded in Dutch pragmatism and opportunism.
The process of colonisation imposed Dutch economical and cultural domination over the resources, labor and markets of the East Indies. It dominated to a high degree its organisational and socio-cultural structures and to a lesser degree its religious and linguistic structures. The pragmatic and opportunistic colonial policy and cultural perception regarding the Indo Eurasians varied throughout history. But towards the end of the colonial period the Indo-Eurasian mix culture came under exceeding pressure to assimilate completely into Dutch imposed culture.
Indo ethnicity
All Indo families are rooted in the original coalescence between a European forefather and a native born primordial mother. The Indo community as a whole is made out of many different ethnic European and Indonesian combinations and various degrees of racial blending. These combinations include mixes of diverse European peoples such as for example Portuguese, Dutch, Belgian, German, French and British people, with equally diverse Indonesian peoples such as for example Javanese, Sumatran, Moluccan and Minahassa people. But also to a lesser degree Chinese, Indian, Sri-lankan and African people that had settled in the East Indies.Due to the above described diversity the ethnic features of each Indo family (member) may vary considerably. Notwithstanding their European legal status and even though all family names were uniformly European, their ethnic features made most Indos in colonial times quite easily distinguishable from the full blooded (totok) Dutch expatriate or settler and often physically indistinguishable from indigenous islanders. This ethnic diversity also meant that each Indo family (member) may have had an individual perception of identity and racial affiliation. It was only in the last phases of colonisation a Dutch cultural identity was forced onto all Indo-Europeans.
"No longer quietly incorporated into the Mestizo (Indo) sociability of the eclectic (pre-colonial) Indies world, right wing 'totoks' began to view Indos as a fuzzy and troubling social category." Professor Dr. Frances Gouda.
Indo legal and social status
The Dutch East Indies colonial hierarchy initially only had 2 legal classes of citizens: First the European class; second the Indigenous (Dutch: Inlander, Malay: BumiputraBumiputra
Bumiputera or Bumiputra is a Malay term widely used in Malaysia, embracing indigenous people of the Malay Archipelago. The term comes from the Sanskrit word bhumiputra, which can be translated literally as "son of land"...
) class. Unlike for instance Singapore no Eurasian sub-class was ever used to register citizens in the Dutch East Indies and Indos were per definition included in the European census.
The authoritative census of 1930 shows 240,162 people belonging to the European legal class of which 208,269 (86,7%) were Dutch nationals. Only 25,8% of the Dutch nationals were expatriate (totok) Dutchmen, leaving a vast majority of native born Indo-Europeans.
Still the European population of the Dutch East Indies was no more than 0.4% of the total population.
| Rank | Group | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indigenous islanders | 59,138,067 | 97.4% |
| 2 | Chinese | 1,233,214 | 2.0% |
| 3 | Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... an |
240,417 | 0.4% |
| 4 | Others (foreign easterners) | 115,535 | 0.2% |
| Total | 60,727,233 | 100% |
Indos lived in a patriarchal social and legal system. As colonial systems are per definition non-egalitarian for Indo children to obtain the legal status of European (i.e. the highest level of colonial hierarchy) the European father was required to officially acknowledge his children with the indigenous mother. If a European male decided to acknowledge his children he would often marry his indigenous partner to legitimise their relationship This did not always happen and a considerable number of Indo children assimilated into their mothers’ indigenous community. The colonial saying to describe this phenomenon was “The (Indo) child would disappear into the kampung (English: native village)”. Only after the introduction of the 1848 civil code it was allowed for a couple belonging to two different religious groups to marry.
Indo family names
Most Indo families will have European family names, as throughout colonial history the Indo-European community mostly followed patriarchal lines to determine its European roots. Family names are mostly Dutch, but also include many English, French, German and Portuguese family names.Once the total numbers of the community allowed for it Indos would usually marry amongst their own social group and the vast majority of Indo children were born from these marriages. Due to the community’s female surplus Indo women would also marry newly arrived European settlers, as well as indigenous men, who were usually educated Christians that had obtained the so called ‘European equality’ status (Dutch: Gelijkgesteld), following a legal ordinance introduced in 1871.
The civil code of 1848 even stipulated that indigenous men would acquire the European status of their Indo-European wives after marriage. With the arrival of more and more Dutch women in the colony this law suddenly became highly contentious. In the juridical congress of 1878 the ruling was heavily debated as Dutch legal experts did not want European women to “marry into the kampung” and by 1898 this statue was reversed. Another sign pressure on the Eurasian nature of Indo culture was increasing.
Indo women who would marry indigenous men would carry their husband’s family name and their children would be registered according to their father’s ethnicity e.g. Moluccan or Menadonese, but retain his legal class of European Equality status. Notable examples are South Mollucan leaders Chris Soumokil
Chris Soumokil
Chris Soumokil was born in Surabaya, East Java, Dutch East Indies, October 13, 1905 - April 12 1966.His father was South Moluccan, and his mother was Indo Eurasian. He studied law at the University of Leiden. He was the President of the self-proclaimed Republik Maluku Selatan until his death by...
(1905–1966) and Johan Manusama
Johan Manusama
Doctor Johannes Alvarez Manusama , a former schoolteacher and freemason, RMS Minister of Education and Minister of Defense , was the third president of the Republic of South Moluccas . His father was South Moluccan, while his mother was Indo Eurasian...
(1910–1995) who both had Indo mothers and were legally classified as European.
Indo society
Notwithstanding Indos officially belonged to the European legal class, colonial society consisted of a very complex structure of many social distinctions. The European segment of society can broadly be divided into the following 3 social layers:- a small upper class layer of colonial and commercial leadership, including governors, directors, ceo's, business managers, generals, etc. Mostly, but not solely consisting of expatriate (totok) Dutchmen;
- a large middle class of mostly Indo civil servants, making up the backbone of all officialdom;
- lower income (to poor) layer, solely consisting of Indos that were legally European, but had a living standard close or similar to the indigenous masses. Indo people in the third layer were affectionately called the Kleine bung, a mixed Dutch-Malay language term translated to 'Little brother'.
Although Indos were legally European and could be found in all layers of society, with the continued arrival of white (totok) Dutch settlers and expatriates, their social status in colonial times increasingly depended on their efforts to blend into the white upper class. Within the legal class of Europeans therefore there was clear social and racial distinction between the ‘Totok’ (full blooded) and ‘Indo’ (mixed race) European or in other words the expatriate and native European. The other 2 common Dutch terms to make a social distinction are: 1) trekkers (English: sojourners) and 2) blijvers (English: stayers). The first term refers to the typical white expatriate colonial, while the second refers to the white colonial settler, but includes native Indo-Europeans.
Indo languages
There have been many Indo languages that developed throughout history. Wherever there was considerable inter mixing between Europeans and indigenous islanders distinctive creole languages evolved. The most spoken creole was Pecok and the oldest one PortugisPortugis language
Portugis, or Ternateño, was a language spoken by Christians of mixed Portuguese and Malay ancestry in the islands of Ambon and Ternate in the Moluccas , from the 16th to the middle of the 20th century....
. But other variations such as Javindo also existed. Most languages have died out due to the loss of its function and loss of its speakers. The Pecok mix language reflects the ethnic origin of Indos. Typified as a mixed marriage language, the grammar of Pecok is based on the maternal Malay language and the lexicon on the paternal Dutch language.
At the beginning of colonisation Indos were at least bi-lingual and as off the VOC era Indos have always been used as translators and interpreters of indigenous languages. Their first language was often Malay or a creole language. By the end of the 19th century a research project showed that 70% of (Indo)European children in their first year of elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
still spoke little to no Dutch.
To persuade his brother in law, the father of Conrad Théodoor van Deventer (who later became the leading spokesman of the 'Ethical Policy'), not to take the position of principal at the 'Koning Willem III' school in Batavia (the only school for secondary education in the Dutch East Indies), newspaper editor Conrad Busken Huet expressed the following popular opinion among the expatriate Dutch community in 1869:
"...the Indies climate is fatally detrimental to the proper functioning of their [schoolchildren's] brains, even when born out of pure blooded European parents, you can see the liplap [abusive term for Indos] nature in their faces. Simplistic language forms like Malay seem to eliminate parts of their thinking capabilities, so that education [...] is futile. [...] Even the best among them will remain deficient and will end up to be no more than barely tolerable civil servants."
In the next century of the colonial era creole languages were further discredited and Indos were expected to speak Dutch as their first language. To a degree the use of Malay and Pecok has persisted in private conversation and literature. Only through the post colonial work of Indo author Tjalie Robinson
Tjalie Robinson
Tjalie Robinson is the main alias of the Indo intellectual and writer Jan Boon also known as Vincent Mahieu. His father Cornelis Boon, a KNIL sergeant, was Dutch and his Indo-European mother Fela Robinson was part English and Javanese...
the Pecok language regained its cultural status.
19th century
During the first half of formal colonisation many practices the VOC had introduced in the previous centuries remained in place, and the overall levels of independence from the mother country remained equally high. The position of Indos as important trading intermediaries and main local representation of Dutch governance also remained the same. Moreover European society in the East Indies was in fact dominated by Indo culture and customs that determined a.o. the lifestyle, language and dress code of its European population. European new arrivals settling in the East Indies adopted many of the Indo customs.In the 1830s colonial policies steered from the Netherlands (Ministry of colonial affairs) to decrease the autonomous and arbitrary nature of the colony, considerably increased pressure on the Indo population to ‘Dutchify’ its society. Particularly during the implementation of the 'Cultivation System' legislation and regulations discriminatory against Indos were enforced. When the 'Cultivation System' policy was abandoned in 1870 it however also put in place a ban for Indos to own land. Under threat of marginalisation the Indo community was forced to reflect on its position in the Dutch East Indies. For the first time in history Indos began to organise politically in an attempt to emancipate as a group.
Meanwhile the number of Indos in the 19th century also increased as the existing pre-colonial communities were complimented with offspring of European military men and indigenous women. The total number of Europeans on Java and Madura in 1880 was 44,000, 55,000 by 1890 and 72,000 by 1900.
French and British interregnum (1806-1816)
A few years into formal colonisation of the East Indies, in Europe the Dutch RepublicDutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
was occupied by the French forces of Napoleon. This resulted in an influx of French settlers in the East Indies. Notwithstanding the fact that the Dutch government went into exile in England and formally ceded its colonial possessions to Great Britain, the pro-French Governor General of the Dutch East Indies fought the British before surrendering the colony. He was replaced by the British Governor Raffles
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...
, who later founded the city of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The 10 years of the French-British interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
(1806–1816) saw an influx of British settlers in the East Indies. To this day one can still find many French and British family names in the Indo community.
At the time the British took over governmental responsibilities of the Dutch East Indies, the European segment of society was still strongly Eurasian in nature. Even most Dutch governor-generals had married into matriarchal Indo clans and the European segment of society was in fact dominated by Indo culture. The polygot society he encountered spoke Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, Portugis
Portugis language
Portugis, or Ternateño, was a language spoken by Christians of mixed Portuguese and Malay ancestry in the islands of Ambon and Ternate in the Moluccas , from the 16th to the middle of the 20th century....
and other creole languages, as its first language and Dutch or other European languages only as a second or third language. The arts and crafts patronized by the Indo elite were usually indigenous e.g. gamelan
Gamelan
A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included....
, batik
Batik
Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.Javanese traditional batik, especially from...
, various court dances, etc. Women clothing was often indistinguishable from indigenous fancy dress and many practices were rooted in ancient indigenous court culture.
Intending to modernize the colony Raffles, a keen anthropologist and progressive administrator, attempted to westernize the character of the Dutch, Indo and Indigenous colonial elite alike. He was the first European governor to establish western style schooling and institutions and by show of example attempted to introduce western values and morals.
This first all encompassing attack on the existing Indo character of European society also revealed its political and cultural strength and the British were in the end unable to drastically change it. Only in later decennia with the arrival of larger numbers of Dutch expatriates, that included women and families, Indo dominance would be broken.
Indos in the Colonial Army (1817-1900)
After the defeat of Napoleon and the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 was a treaty signed between Great Britain and the Netherlands in London on August 13, 1814...
colonial government of the East Indies was ceded back to the Dutch in 1817. To secure unchallenged dominion over its colony in the East Indies the Dutch started to consolidate its power base through military campaigns ensuring the Dutch tricolor was firmly planted in all corners of the Archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
. These military campaigns included: the Padri War
Padri War
The Padri War was fought from 1803 until 1837 in West Sumatra between two rival muslim factions. The Dutch intervened from 1821 and helped the Adats defeat the Padri faction.-Background:...
(1821–1837), the Java War
Java War
The Java War or Diponegoro War was fought in Java between 1825 and 1830. It started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro. The proximate cause was the Dutch decision to build a road across a piece of his property that contained his parents' tomb...
(1825–1830) and the Aceh War
Aceh War
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War , was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the U.S. in Singapore during early 1873...
(1873–1904). This raised the need for a considerable military build up of the colonial army (KNIL). From all over Europe soldiers were recruited to join the KNIL.
This period started the next significant wave of Indo families complimenting the already existing Indo community. This new wave of Indo Eurasian families compounded to the already plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
nature of the Indo community as this time it specifically concerned soldiers raising families on military compounds. Children born from the European KNIL soldiers and indigenous women were immediately acknowledged as Europeans as it was more cost effective to recruit European soldiers locally than in Europe.
The colonial army became the largest employer in the Dutch East Indies and Indo males born into barrack life, also joined the KNIL. From the age of 7 Indo boys were sent to military school and at the age of 18, with the lack of other career opportunities, joined the KNIL. At large Indos chose to join the non combatant units of the colonial army. The period up to 1870 showed the highest number of professional Indo soldiers.
After 1870 the number of Indos that enlisted in the colonial army strongly declined, as other career opportunities in the emerging agricultural industries presented themselves and the ongoing colonial wars continued. The unwillingness to join the colonial army forced the government to re-focus on military recruitment in Europe, which in turn resulted in a second big wave of Indo families based in KNIL induced migration during the 30 years of the Aceh War
Aceh War
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War , was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the U.S. in Singapore during early 1873...
. In the second half of the Century, of the 85,000 military men who left for the Dutch East Indies from the KNIL recruiting centre in the Netherlands, only about 45,000 were Dutch, the others were mainly German, Belgian, Swiss or French. By now this group of KNIL soldiers made up 50% of all white Totok males in the colony.
Indos and the Cultivation System (1830-1870)
Once the island of Java, the centre of the colony, was ‘pacified’ after the defeat of Prince Diponogoro in 1830, the Dutch implemented a policy called the ‘Cultuurstelsel’ (English: Cultivation system). Along with its implementation Baron Jean Chrétien BaudJean Chrétien Baud
Jean Chrétien baron Baud was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1833 until 1836.He was born in The Hague on 23 October 1789. He was a civil servant and politician who served under William I and William II of the Netherlands...
, Governor-General (1833–1836) and Minister of Colonies (1840–1848), added discrimatory regulations aimed to withhold Indos from key governamental functions. He was of the opinion that full blooded i.e. white Dutch officials were better suited to persuade native nobility to comply to the ‘Cultivation System’. His thinking, influenced by his aristocratic background, was a radical shift from the opinion that Indos were the ideal intermediaries towards the indigenous rulers.
Indo Residents were removed from their positions as liaisons to the Javanese and Madurese Regents, a role they had played since the VOC era. To further complicate the appointment and promotion of Indos, Baud enforced a Royal decree
Decree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
stipulating that governamental functions could only be granted on request of the Governor-General and needed approval by the Dutch King himself. Additionally in 1837 the pensions of Indo civil servants was cut in half. The reasoning behind that was based on the conviction that native born Indo officials should be easily able to adhere to lower living standards than expatriate Dutch officials born in the Netherlands.
Another discrimatory measure stipulated that it was mandatory for colonial government officials to be educated in the Netherlands. Simultaneously the already limited educational opportunities for the native born people of the Dutch East Indies (European, Indo-European and Indigenous alike) further decreased. All these restrictions had a direct impact on the livelihood of the Indo community, which finally resulted in revolutionary tensions.
In 1848 the leading figures of the colonial capital Batavia (Now Jakarta) assembled in protest. In fear of a violent backlash from the populous Indo community in Batavia the Governor-General at the time ordered the army to the highest state of preparedness. Violence was averted, but 1848 was a watershed moment starting the political emancipation of Indos, which in the next century would result in several Indo dominated political parties of which some even advocated independence from the Netherlands.
Cautious not to alianate the largest segment of European society the second half of 19th century saw a change in colonial policy and loosening of the discrimatory measures against Indos. Opportunities for local education also increased a little.
Towards the end of the century the 'Cultivation System' was abandoned however pressure on the Indo community continued with arguments raising the question how native born Indo-Europeans could ever truly represent Western civilisation.
20th century
In the next century Dutch ethnocentric beliefs dominated the administration's politics and policies. In an effort to legitimize and promote the colonial system the so called ‘Ethical Policy’ was developed and implemented (1900–1930), while at the same time the superiority syndrome (i.e. The White Man's BurdenThe White Man's Burden
"The White Man's Burden" is a poem by the English poet Rudyard Kipling. It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands...
) prevailed more than ever. Also on a social level the arrival of larger number of Dutch expatriates, for the first time including many Dutch women and families, continued to affect the nature of Indo-European society. In the end political and social ‘Dutchification’ almost totally eradicated the Eurasian character of Indo culture. The European population on Java and Madura in 1920 was 133,000, 189,000 by 1930 and circa 240,000 by 1940. This was an increase of over 500% from the numbers in the previous century.
The process of political emancipation of Indos, which started in the previous century, continued resulting in various political organisations such as Dekker
Ernest Douwes Dekker
Ernest François Eugène Douwes Dekker was an Indonesian freedom fighter and politician of Indo descent. He was related to the famous Dutch writer, Multatuli, whose real name was Eduard Douwes Dekker. In his youth, he took part in the Second Boer War in South Africa on the Boer side...
‘s ‘Indische Party
Indische Party
The Indische Party or Indies Party was a short lived but influential political organisation founded in 1912 by the Indo-European journalist E.F.E. Douwes Dekker and the Javanese physicians Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo and Soewardi Soerjaningrat...
’ and Zaalberg
Karel Zaalberg
Karel Zaalberg was an Indo journalist and politician in the Dutch East Indies.He was born in Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies, and also died there...
’s 'Indo European Alliance
Indo Europeesch Verbond
The Indo Europeesch Verbond or Indo European Alliance was a social movement and political organisation founded in 1919 by the Indo-European community of the Dutch East Indies that fought for race equality and political say in late colonial Indonesia during the early 20th century.It was one of the...
', but was cut short by WWII and never established a structural connection to the Indonesian independence movement.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1940, while the Dutch East Indies was occupied by Imperial Japan in 1942. All non Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
Europeans, including most Indo-European males, were interned in Japanese prisoner camps
Japanese prisoners of war in World War II
It has been estimated that between 19,500 and 50,000 Japanese military personnel surrendered to Allied forces prior to the end of the Pacific War in August 1945...
until 1945. During this period close to 25% of the POW’s did not survive their imprisonment.
The end of WWII heralded the end of colonialsm worldwide. From 1945 to 1949 the Indonesian National Revolution
Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution or Indonesian War of Independence was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between Indonesia and the Dutch Empire, and an internal social revolution...
turned the former Dutch East Indies into an increasingly hostile environment for Indo-Europeans. Violence aimed towards Indo-Europeans during its early Bersiap
Bersiap
Bersiap is the name given by the Dutch to a violent and chaotic phase of Indonesia's revolutionary period following the end of World War II. The Indonesian word bersiap means 'get ready' or 'be prepared'...
period (1945-1946) accumulated in almost 20,000 deaths.
In 1949 the Dutch recognised the Republic of Indonesia, save the area of Dutch New Guinea. Most Indos that chose Indonesian citizenship retracted their decision due to continued anti-Dutch sentiments and regulations. Many Indo Europeans also hoped for a future in Dutch New Guinea until in 1962-1963 this area too was annexed into present day Indonesia, officially ending the colonial era of the Dutch East Indies.
The Indo diaspora which started in the ‘Bersiap
Bersiap
Bersiap is the name given by the Dutch to a violent and chaotic phase of Indonesia's revolutionary period following the end of World War II. The Indonesian word bersiap means 'get ready' or 'be prepared'...
’ period continued up to 1964 and resulted in the emigration of practically all Indo-Europeans from a turbulent young Indonesian nation.
Indos and the Ethical Policy (1900-1930)
The 3 decades of the Ethical Policy was a time of significant reform and change leading up to a total transformation of the colony. Under the consecutive rule of several 'Ethical' Governors-General a slow process of democratisation and education began.In 1910 the big cities in the colony got town councils and in 1925 mayors. In 1916 an infant form of parliament named the People's Council (Dutch: Volksraad) was provided for, which was opened in 1918 and turned into a semilegislative body in 1925. The social emancipation and politicization of Indos continued in all earnest with the establishment of partys like for example the Indische PartyIndische Party
The Indische Party or Indies Party was a short lived but influential political organisation founded in 1912 by the Indo-European journalist E.F.E. Douwes Dekker and the Javanese physicians Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo and Soewardi Soerjaningrat...
in 1912, Insulinde (Political Party)
Insulinde (Political Party)
Political party Insulinde , a direct successor of the Indische Party and later renamed the Nationale Indische Party , was a political organization that represented efforts by some Indo Eurasians to identify and cooperate with the Indigenous educated élite of the Dutch East Indies in an effort to...
in 1913 and the IEV
Indo Europeesch Verbond
The Indo Europeesch Verbond or Indo European Alliance was a social movement and political organisation founded in 1919 by the Indo-European community of the Dutch East Indies that fought for race equality and political say in late colonial Indonesia during the early 20th century.It was one of the...
and NIP in 1919. Although content with the greater opportunities for schooling in the colony, Indos also felt dubious about the increasing competition on the job market by educated indigenous people. Notwithstanding the obvious awakening of a national consciousness, the speed in which the great catalyst of WWII accelerated the transformation from colony into independent nation was not forseen by anyone.
Indos in the Colonial Army (1900-1942)
In the first 10 years of the 20th century there was a last push to dominate all corners of the Dutch East Indies. Military campaigns by the expedient and infamous Van HeutszJ. B. van Heutsz
J. B. van Heutsz , was a Dutch military commander who was appointed governor general of the Dutch East Indies in 1904. He had become famous years before by bringing to an end to the long Aceh War.-Aceh war:Following twenty-five years of protracted warfare, J. B...
, who had been made Governor-General (1904-1909) for his victory in the Aceh War
Aceh War
The Aceh War, also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War , was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh and the U.S. in Singapore during early 1873...
(1904), subdued the last indigenous resistance in Bali (1906 and 1908) and Papua, bringing the whole of the Dutch East Indies under direct colonial rule. Meanwhile the number of Indos signing up to join the colonial army (KNIL) was at an all time low.
Notwithstanding the large numbers of Indo offspring (known as ‘Anak Kolong’) from the 2 main waves of KNIL induced migration in the previous century, the number of professional Indo soldiers kept declining steadily. At the turn of the century all schools for officers in the Dutch East Indies had been liquidated leaving military career opportunities limited to the rank of non-commissioned officers. Officers were now solely educated and recruited in the Netherlands. Meanwhile civilian career opportunities increased and even Indo boys born into barrack life preferred seeking employment outside the army.
In 1910 only 5 Indo-Europeans volunteered for military service, while there was a shortage of 15,310 European soldiers. As a result the KNIL remained dependent on lengthy and costly recruitment in Europe and was forced to re-organise its internal structure. Ethnic Ambonese were considered the most competent and reliable indigenous soldiers and their military status was practically equalised to European status. In the following years slots for Ambonese i.e. South Moluccan KNIL soldiers also greatly increased to compensate for the lack of Indo-Europeans.
Most KNIL soldiers and non commissioned officers now consisted of indigenous people. The vast majority of indigenous soldiers were ethnic Javanese. While a relatively high percentage was from the Minahasa
Minahasa
The Minahasa are an ethnic group located in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes...
and the South Moluccas
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
. To ensure a sizeable European military segment and enforce the return of Indos to the KNIL the colonial government introduced obligatory military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
for the (Indo-)European population of the Dutch East Indies in 1917.
The introduction of mandatory military service for (Indo-) European conscripts successfully boosted the European segment in the colonial army, while simultaneously reducing costly recruitment in Europe. In 1922 a supplemental legal enactment introduced the creation of a ‘Home guard
Home Guard
-Military:*British Home Guard*Combat Groups of the Working Class *Confederate Home Guard, during the American Civil War*Croatian Home Guard and Imperial Croatian Home Guard*Danish Home Guard...
’ (Dutch: Landstorm) for (Indo-)European conscripts older than 32. By 1940 these legal measures had successfully mitigated the strong trend of Indos discarting the colonial armed forces and had once again secured the proportionally high ratio of 1 European soldier for every 3 Indigenous soldiers.
Other Eurasian communities
The development of the Indo European (Eurasian) community was not completely unique in world history. Everywhere where Colonial powers established a consistent and continued presence hybrid communities existed. Notable international examples include the Anglo-Burmese people, Anglo-IndianAnglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
, Burgher people
Burgher people
The Burghers are a Eurasian ethnic group, historically from Sri Lanka, consisting for the most part of male-line descendants of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries and local women, with some minorities of Swedish, Norwegian, French and Irish.Today the mother tongue of the Burghers...
, Eurasian Singaporean
Eurasian Singaporean
The community of Eurasians in Singapore is descended from Europeans who intermarried with local Asians. Their ancestry can be traced to emigrants of countries that span the length and breadth of Europe, although Eurasian migrants to Singapore in the 19th century came largely from other colonies in...
, Filipino mestizo
Filipino mestizo
Filipino mestizo is a term used in the Philippines to describe people of mixed Filipino and foreign ancestry. The word mestizo is of Spanish origin, and was originally used in the Americas to only describe people of mixed European and Native American ancestry.- History :Spanish periodThe Spanish...
, Kristang people
Kristang people
The Kristang are a creole ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. People of this ethnicity have strong Dutch heritage, some British as well as Chinese and Indian heritage due to intermarriage, which was common among the Kristang...
, Macanese people
Macanese people
The Macanese-born Portuguese people or simply the Macanese people refer to an ethnic group which originated in Macau since the 16th century, consisting mostly of people with some Portuguese ancestry.-Culture:...
.
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