The History of Java, v. 1-2

by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE POPULATION AND CULTIVATION OF THE PRIANGEN REGENCIES, INCLUDING KRAWANG AND INDRAMAYU.

Names of the Re​­gen​­cies and Di​­vi​­sions.	Num​­ber of Vil​­lages.	Cul​­ti​­va​­tors.				Not Cul​­ti​­va​­tors.				Gen​­er​­al Pop​­u​­la​­tion.	Buf​­fa​­loes.	Cows.	Hor​­ses.	Plo​­ughs.	Sawahs.			Tipar or Tegal.			Cof​­fee Gro​­unds.	Mai​­ze in Cha​­ins.	Teak For​­ests.	To​­tal of Land in Cul​­ti​­va​­tion.	To​­tal Pro​­duce		Val​­ue of To​­tal Pro​­duce		Co​­coa-nut Tre​­es.
		Men.	Wom​­en.	Boys.	Girls.	Men.	Wom​­en.	Boys.	Girls.						First Sort.	Sec​­ond Sort.	Third Sort.	First Sort.	Sec​­ond Sort.	Third Sort.					Pari.	Mai​­ze.	Pari.	Mai​­ze.
															Ju​­ngs.	Ju​­ngs.	Ju​­ngs.	Ju​­ngs.	Ju​­ngs.	Ju​­ngs.					Tja​­ins.	Tja​­ins.	Sh. Dols.	Sh. Dols.
Chi​­an​­jur	522	6138	6196	7158	8154	1504	1543	2226	2315	35234	3493	​—	717	2011	1006	3608	565	59	1181	1	15757	92	​—	22242	22898	​—	68596	​—	19256
Ban​­dung	721	10804	10814	10869	11176	2597	2615	3537	3710	56122	10897	1043	932	6277	370	1818	956	512	448	90	24371	​—	​—	31571	26083	​—	78249	​—	12616
Su​­me​­dang	650	8573	8664	7987	8932	97	104	97	140	34594	10086	538	1176	6738	338	3478	1971	292	210	122	10397	​—	88	16897	32718	​—	98154	​—	9000
Lim​­bang'​an	168	2163	982	2812	2916	571	588	595	647	12270	2966	439	486	973	244	295	245	95	75	68	13789	​—	​—	14821	6152	​—	21258	​—	6410
Su​­ka​­pu​­ra	456	8500	8082	4995	6026	458	380	216	473	29130	3783	48	953	1101	194	625	214	197	549	529	663	701	20	3718	5020	​—	14819	1401	7446
Kra​­wang	94	4240	4340	1780	1680	300	270	320	220	13150	6073	​—	565	​—	1761	6083	1043	537	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	4260
Cha​­sem and Pa​­ma​­nu​­kan	124	5394	6000	3651	2985	150	175	120	160	18475	3613	36	467	​—	3428	334	6237	25	​—	40032	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	2596
Kan​­dan​­ga​­ur and Ind​­ra​­ma​­yu	59	4885	5155	3710	2575	500	470	360	300	17955	2606	60	153	​—	482	381	537	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	7486
Gun​­ung Par​­ang	590	3569	3600	2547	2664	1053	1203	918	849	16403	2289	233	269	1942	486	474	523	16	347	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	11183	​—	33549	​—	2662
Chi​­put​­ri	24	291	289	401	383	93	95	101	98	1751	452	​—	84	290	210	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	1265	​—	3795	​—	170
Chi​­ka​­long	50	800	856	526	625	210	244	219	280	3760	620	​—	132	279	83	67	9	33	59	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	1804	​—	5412	​—	1204
Uj​­ung Br​­um	61	751	746	960	781	233	240	310	239	4260	793	557	179	113	75	73	79	28	13	​—	​—	​—	​—	​—	809	​—	2427	​—	44
To​­tals	3519	56118	55724	47396	48897	7766	7927	9019	9431	243104	47671	2954	6113	19724	8677	17236	12379	1794	2882	40842	64977	793	108	80249	107932	​—	326259	1401	73150

CHERIBON.

Chéribon fell under the European influence in the year 1666, and has now been subject to it one hundred and fifty years. It was among the first cessions made to the Dutch by the princes of Matárem.

This province had, like Bantam, been in a state of continued insurrection for many years preceding the arrival of the English. The importance of the town of Chéribon has considerably declined, partly in consequence of these commotions, and partly of epidemic fevers which prevailed some years ago.

The extensive and fertile province of Chéribon did not, under the administration of the Dutch Company, yield those profits which were expected from its great natural resources; especially of indigo, coffee, and teak timber. The Sultans of Chéribon, descended from one of the founders of the Mahomedan religion on Java, and on that account objects of religious veneration among the more orthodox Mahomedans, were always left in the entire management of the native administration. The coffee and other produce exacted from the people, was delivered by the Sultan, and paid for to him. Under this system, the residents of Chéribon enjoyed an annual income of from eighty to one hundred thousand dollars (£23,000), while the Sultans were every year more and more impoverished. At length an insurrection broke out in 1800, the ostensible reason of which was the unjust removal of Sultan Kanóman, who had been banished by the Dutch to Amboina, and the real cause probably the great oppression of the common inhabitants, occasioned by the distress of the Sultans, and the indiscriminate admission of too many Chinese in the interior of the country. The reinstallation of Sultan Kanóman, in 1808, by Marshal Daendals, did not appease the minds of the people; and the unwillingness or inability of that prince to restore the public tranquillity, led to an entirely new organization of the country.

When the island was conquered by the British troops, the rebel, Bágus Rángen, still maintained himself in the eastern parts of Kráwang, in perfect defiance of the power of government, sternly rejecting the offers of pardon and oblivion which were on that occasion offered to him, and eluding or defeating all attempts to destroy or ensnare him. Such was the veneration in which this man was regarded by the people of these districts, and such the dread in which he was held by the native chiefs (through whose means alone his apprehension was to be accomplished), that he remained in perfect quiet and security, maintained a correspondence with the disaffected throughout the province, secured his regular supplies of ammunition and provisions from all parts, and even from the town of Chéribon, and tranquilly prepared for the ensuing rainy season, to appear again in arms and ravage the country.

In a few months after the establishment of a British resident in the district, the person of Bágus Rángen was secured, and the country reduced to a perfect state of tranquillity, in which it remained during the whole period of the British administration.

The following extracts from the report of the gentleman[279] intrusted with the introduction of the land revenue system into Chéribon, may serve to illustrate the state of this province:​—

"There is, perhaps, with the exception of the environs of Batavia and Bantam, no part of the island of Java which has so severely felt the bad effects of mismanagement as the district of Chéribon. These effects are visible in the character of the people, who, even among the Javans, are remarkable for a careless indifference to the pursuit of gain, for indolence, for want of energy, and for a credulity and ignorance, rendering them perpetually a prey to delusion. Within the last forty years, in particular, a series of mismanagement and oppression is said to have wrought a most unfavourable change in the character of the people, to have destroyed the habits of industry, and consequently to have changed even the aspect of the country, so that it is no longer to be recognized as the fruitful district which it is once represented to have been. Within the last seven years, famine, mortality, and civil commotion, have contributed to aggravate the evils of mismanagement, and in one or other form have desolated some of the finest parts of the district.

"The history of the civil commotions alluded to afford a striking illustration of the character of the inhabitants. It certainly gives no countenance to the representation of those observers who ascribe to the Javans in general a character of the most invincible apathy, stupidity, and indolence, as if these qualities had been irrevocably engrafted upon their very natures. A better knowledge of their real character enables us to draw very different inferences, and to ascribe to them a much larger share of sensibility, than could from reasoning be expected to result from the apparently overwhelming causes which contribute to degrade their faculties and blunt their energies and exertions.