Of course the situation in Indonesia is different,but not really like that as we think it is.I am glad,I live in Holland,where you have very good documentation about it.
India is a different country as Indonesia.Maybe more organised in political matters.The Dutch were indeed more businesslike minded,but not only that.
First they always tried to make contact with the supreme ruler,but if this ruler didn't want to,then they made with the sub-rulers.They never divided the area just as such,but always adapted to the situation existing.The Portugese were more the one's,who divided unwilling principalities;like on Timor.
They Dutch were in W.-Timor,found there several kingdoms,who were already a bit divided then.They wanted to make contacts,but also wanted to be sure,that they had contact with all,so also signed contracts with sub-rulers,which they recognized for a time as rajas.Later the areas were united in bigger principalities.The original drawings of the political things.But you never must forget,that when they arrived,they didn't know much and local rulers could make them convince many things.
They always followed the traditional statestructures.In Indonesia even the areas had fixed boundaries(maybe in a bit other way,as we are used.)I have maps of all the areas,which you can call principalities,of Indonesia.Of course sometimes just maps had to be drawn with the information about possesion of land given by local people.These maps were recognized by the Jaopanese occupation force later and mostly also by the new republican Indonesian government until the present time.
Andeople and royalty/nobility still use it as having rights over certain pieces the state.
I don't know,if the contracts with the rulers have really the status in the global political field.But it just was made like that and when an area was disputed by 2 countries,then the International Court of Justice always accepted,if already contracts were signed between Holland and a local prince,or between another country and a local Prince.
Other information you always can ask me.
There is a book about that written by K.E.M. Bongenaar;but written in Dutch.
Thank you for your interest.
Yours sincerelly:
D.P. Tick gRMK
secretary Documentation Centre of the Indonesian Principalities 'Pusaka"
(Pusat Dokumentasi Kerajaan2 di Indonesia "Pusaka")
Vlaardingen/the Netherlands
www.royaltimor.com
--Previous Message--
: The arrangement of things in the former Dutch
: East Indies was very different from those in
: Malaya or India, of for that matter French
: Indo-China.
:
: The Dutch were very much more business like.
: They didn't have treaties, which have a
: status in international law. Instead, they
: had contracts with the local ruler, regent,
: regency council or other native authority.
:
: The word "contract" tells you
: quite a lot about the purpose. Originally,
: the Dutch East India Company were primarily
: interested in trade, and more specifically,
: ensuring a monopoly over trade with the East
: Indies. The purpose of the original
: contracts were to secure trade and ensure
: that the local rulers did not trade with
: other nations. Each ruler had to sign a new
: contract on his succession, provided his
: succession was recognised or agreed with the
: Governor-General in Batavia. Gradually over
: time each ruler was required to agree to
: more and more conditions, which went beyond
: mere trade.
:
: As contracts, rather than treaties, the
: local rulers were not recognised as
: sovereigns, either by Dutch or international
: law.
:
: Because of the treaty system, the British
: would only ever recognise a single sovereign
: authority within a given polity. Which,
: contrary to the usual nationalist refrain of
: divide and rule, resulted in the
: consolidation and unity of states over time.
:
: The Dutch system, on the other hand, meant a
: willingness to sign contracts with whomever
: was willing to do so and supply the trading
: needs of the company. Often, this would mean
: than in a given polity, contracts would be
: signed with a multiplicity of local regional
: magnates, landlords and noblemen, not just
: the supreme ruler. This led to gradual
: dismemberment of the original polity into
: smaller and smaller entities over.
:
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Did the various monarchs in Indonesia during
: the time of the Netherlands control have the
: same powers as the Princes of India &
: the Sultans of Malaya? Did the various
: states have specific boundaries as the
: states in India did? In other words were
: they sovereign internally over specific
: states?
:
:
: