|
Een
belangrijk feit uit de geschiedenis van Montrado:
De
veldtocht tegen de Chinese kongsi's op Borneo
13 augustus
1850
In
Zuidwest-Borneo begint het koloniale leger met een veldtocht tegen de
zogenaamde Chinese kongsi's. Dit zijn een soort 'republiekjes' van
Chinese immigranten die zich bezighouden met de gouddelverij en de
landbouw in die streek. Zij leven op gespannen voet met de inheemse
bevolking. De koloniale troepen slagen er zonder veel moeite in de
hoofdstad Montrado te veroveren. De Chinezen steken deze vervolgens in
brand, waarna zij de strijd voortzetten in de vorm van een guerrilla in
het omliggende jungle- en berggebied. Na vier jaar onophoudelijk
patrouilleren weet het KNIL de kongsi's definitief te verslaan. Majoor
A.J. Andresen, de lokale commandant, heeft daar veel toe bijgedragen.
Hij deelt de strijdmacht op in kleine, twintig man tellende eenheden,
die met hun lichte bewapening en bepakking diep in het binnenland kunnen
doordringen en zo de vijand met succes kunnen achtervolgen.
Strijd tegen de Kongsi's
(prent van het Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie)
Literatuur:
REES,W.A.
Montrado. Geschied- en krijgskundige bijdrage betreffende de
onderwerping der Chinezen op Borneo. Naar het dagboek van een indisch
officier.
's'-Hertogenbosch, Muller, 1858. 326 pp.
---
Engelse tekst van de
website www.indahnesia.com:
Diamonds and Gold
Shortly after their arrival in the archipelago the Dutch focussed on the
diamond fields in Western Borneo. They created warehouses ('factorijen')
in Sambas and Sukadana, but they were soon abandoned when the stream of
diamonds decreased and the Dutch refocussed on Jawa and the Moluccan
spice islands.
In 1698, the Dutch forces the Malay ruler of Borneo to recognise the
rule of the sultan of Batam on Jawa, which was under Dutch control. To
settle their position even better, they supported the Arab explorer
Abdul Rahman, which founded a trade post in Pontianak and killed the
local rulers. However trade with the regio (and the demand of taxes)
went through Pontianak, but profits were not high enough for the Dutch
to support troops and offices. In 1917, they retreated, but economical
and political developments would return them very soon.
At the end of the 18th century, a true gold rush emerged along Borneo's
western coast. Thousands of poor Hakka-farmers from China were attracted
by the rich alluvial gold deposits, which eventually produced upto one
seventh of the yearly yield in gold, The Dutch, always looking for more
opportunities for trade, returned right away. But against the time that
they beat the Chinese - which ruled over the gold - the fields were
almost depleted.
Next the Dutch settled in Sintang, far upstream along the Kapuas, which
shortly became one of the two most important governmental locations of
Dutch Borneo. The governmental jump in the inlands, covered by the army,
offered the opportunity for exploration of the vast, still unknown
inlands.
Chinese in West-Kalimantan
The province of West Kalimantan has one of the highest concentrations of
Chinese people in Indonesia. The estimated half a milion
Chinese-Indonesians form more than 10 per cent of the population,
descendants from marriages between Chinese and Dayak counted in.
From 1720 the Chinese came to the archipelago in big numbers to work in
the tin mines on the island of Bangka. Inspired by this, the Malay ruler
of Sambas asked Chinese people to take a job in the goldmines. Migration
started on a small scale in 1750, but got larger around 1790. The
envitation was everything accept a deed of humanity. Chinese were
prohibited from trading and doing agriculture, so they were forced to
buy everything against high prices from the sultan. As soon as they were
strong enough, the Chinese got rid of all demands, and they formed
unities (kongsi), based on the clans they had in China. Betwen 1790 and
1820, in the good times of gold mining, the kongsi flourished. In 1810
the Chinese community already counted 40,000 people.
Most Chinese settled around the neighboring goldfields of Mandor and
Montrado, between Pontianak and Sambas. The kongsi formed two
federations; the one controlled the fields of Mandor, the other the
fields of Montrado. Both had a specific task-devision: farmers grew rice
and other food for the miners, while other groups took care of the
construction of canals. These were used for bringing water to the
sluices in which the clay was washed. The fields in Western Kalimantan
were rich and the gold was very pure (18 to 21 carat), but the success
of the gold mining was mainly due to hard labour and a good usefull
exploitation of water.
When the revenues dropped, violence and arguments broke out in the
Chinese community. Big fights between the federations separated and
devided the Chinese, and faced with a strong Dutch army, Mandor soon
capitulated. The Montrado-Chinese were able to defend themselves because
of their unity. They kept on trading through Singkawang. The big revolt
in Jawa (1825-1830), forced the Dutch to retreat from Borneo. Borneo and
the Chinese were left alone until the empire of raja Brooke in Sarawak
drew attention.
Renewed Dutch force lead to a governmental reorganisation of Western
Borneo and a big military expedition, which broke Chinese stronghold in
Montrado. The arguing kongsi were dissolved, but by that time the big
gold mining activities were already finished. Most Chinese could not
afford a return to China, so they settled in Western Borneo. |
