The History of Java, v. 1-2

by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

It may not be uninteresting to the reader to possess, in a compressed form, the result of the surveys and inquiries which were then set on foot, as far as the same were completed at the close of the British administration on Java. The Appendix L. contains a copy of the proclamation and of the general instructions issued by the government; the latter will sufficiently explain the principle on which the tables for the eastern districts were compiled.

BANTAM.

Bantam, once rich in its pepper plantations and the emporium of the Archipelago, had, in consequence of the restrictions of the Dutch company and the vicinity of Batavia, lost all its trade and importance, long before the arrival of the British.

The succession of the throne of Bantam was generally disposed of by the influence of the Dutch government: but the administration of the country and the collection of the port duties were till very lately entirely entrusted to him. This European influence, though strongly resisted in the first instance, had been long acquiesced in, till an attempt of the Dutch government, in the year 1808, to draw additional benefit from this province, gave occasion to an insurrection. The successive measures of introducing the cultivation of coffee into that part of the island, of opening the communication by means of new roads, and of constructing a new harbour, first at Mew Bay, and afterwards at Merak Bay, imposed new and unusual burthens on the people; and so many deserted from the public works that an order was issued to the Resident, requiring him to inform the sultan that his first minister should be held responsible for the due execution of the public task assigned to the sultan's subjects. The desertion still continuing, an order still more peremptory was issued to the Resident, requiring him to call upon the sultan to deliver up his first minister immediately. In carrying these orders into execution, the Resident having imprudently risked his person, was murdered. This fatal accident was the occasion of sending a considerable military force to Bantam, by which an immediate and thorough change in the native government was effected. The reigning sultan was removed from the throne and banished to Amboina, and a relative was raised to the sovereign power.

This prince was placed under regulations dictated by the Dutch; for so fallen had the sovereigns of this once flourishing and powerful kingdom now become, that the form and solemnity of a treaty was not deemed necessary. The sultan ceded part of his territories to the westward, adjacent to the environs of Batavia, the bad administration of which had frequently given occasion to disturbances in the Batavian districts. The new sultan was allowed to administer the rest of his dominions under the superior rule of the Dutch government.

The public works to be carried on in Bantam, and the unusual burthens they imposed on the people, continued however to excite, from time to time, disturbances and insurrections. On one occasion a detachment, consisting of a lieutenant and eighteen dragoons, were surprised and murdered by the inhabitants. Several native Pangérans and chiefs fell victims to the same spirit of discontent and revenge, and another change in the person of the sultan was thought advisable; the new sultan was in consequence allured on board a vessel, and conveyed to Batavia, and in his place another chief was installed sultan of the high lands of Bantam, the Dutch reserving to themselves the direct administration of the low lands.

The country, however, remaining still in a disturbed state, the Pangéran Akmet united under his banner the discontented people of all descriptions, in a more regular opposition to the European authority. From this time an extraordinary military force was constantly kept in Bantam: all attempts, however, to arrest the person of Akmet failed. His influence increased so much that proposals were made to him of a cession of part of the country: these, however, not being listened to, it was determined to abandon the interior to his depredations, until the inhabitants themselves, wearied of his arbitrary proceedings, might seek refuge with the European government.

The Dutch force being withdrawn from Bantam, Akmet availed himself of the presence of the British cruizers, during the blockade in 1811, to strengthen his influence by an intercourse with them, which he easily effected by furnishing them with supplies plundered by him from the inhabitants. By the cruizers he was considered as an unfortunate prince, maintaining his independence against the Dutch; and when the British troops landed, the sultan was his prisoner, and all Bantam under his controul.

At the conquest of Java by the British forces the extensive tracts of this fertile province were thus in the hands of a lawless rebel, the inhabitants were in a state of revolt, and universal anarchy and distrust had prevailed for several years. All idea of raising a revenue on account of government had been abandoned; and the general settlement of the country under European controul, was the most that could be hoped for.

In the year 1813 the sultan voluntarily resigned the administration of the country into the hands of the British government, in consideration of an annual pension of ten thousand Spanish dollars. With the detailed system of land revenue introduced into this province, an accurate survey was made of all the northern divisions; and a settlement having been made with each individual cultivator, the extent of population stated in the annexed table, as far as these districts are concerned, may be considered as in general correct. The population of the southern districts is estimated; and it may be observed, that the total population rather exceeds than falls short of what is stated.