Invasion of Java (1811): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 14:56, 17 December 2024

Revision as of 18:55, 17 January 2025

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After their capture of the [[French West Indies]] between 1809 and 1810, and a successful [[Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811|campaign against France's possessions in Mauritius]] from 1810 to 1811, British attention turned to the Dutch East Indies. An expedition was dispatched from [[Company rule in India|British India]] in April 1811, while a small squadron of [[Royal Navy]] frigates was ordered to patrol off the island, raiding shipping and launching amphibious assaults against [[Target of opportunity|targets of opportunity]]. British troops landed on 4 August, and by 8 August the undefended city of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] capitulated. The defenders withdrew to a previously prepared fortified position, Fort Cornelis, which the British besieged, capturing it early in the morning of 26 August. The remaining defenders, a mixture of Dutch and French regulars and native militiamen, withdrew, pursued by the British.{{fact|date=December 2024}} A series of amphibious and land assaults captured most of the remaining strongholds, and the city of [[Salatiga]] surrendered on 16 September, followed by the official capitulation of the island to the British on 18 September.

The island remained in British hands for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars, but was returned to Dutch control in 1816, as per the terms of the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wright |first=H.R.C. |date=1950 |title=The Anglo-Dutch Dispute in the East, 1814–1824 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2590770 |journal=The Economic History Review |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=229–239 |doi=10.2307/2590770 |jstor=2590770 |via=JSTOR}}</ref>

==Background==

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==Aftermath==

The Dutch-held islands of [[Ambon Island|Amboyna]], [[Haruku|Harouka]], [[Saparua]], [[Nusa Laut|Nasso-Laut]], [[Buru]], [[Manipa]], [[Manado]], [[Kupang|Copang]], Amenang, Kemar, Twangwoo, and [[Ternate]] had surrendered to a force led by Captain Edward Tucker in 1810, while Captain Christopher Cole captured the [[Banda Islands]], completing the conquest of Dutch possessions in the [[Maluku Islands]].<ref name="Woodman104-6"/> Java became the last major colonial possession in the East not under British control, and its fall marked the effective end of the war in these waters.<ref name="Woodman110"/><ref name="Woodman104-6">{{cite book|last=Woodman|title=The Victory of Seapower|pages=104–6104–106}}</ref> [[Stamford Raffles]] was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Java.<ref>Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor By [[Keat Gin Ooi]] Contributor Keat Gin Ooi Published by ABC-CLIO, 2004; {{ISBN|1-57607-770-5}}, {{ISBN|978-1-57607-770-2}}; p. 937</ref><ref>British India -– From Queen Elizabeth To Lord Reading. By An Indian Mahomedan Contributed by Theodore Morison, 1926 republished by READRead BOOKSBooks, 2007; {{ISBN|1-4067-5148-0}}, {{ISBN|978-1-4067-5148-2}}; pp. 81, 82, 83, 84</ref> He ended Dutch administrative methods, liberalized the system of land tenure, and extended trade.

Britain returned Java and other East Indian possessions to the newly independent [[United Kingdom of the Netherlands]] under the terms of the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814|Convention of London]] in 1814. One enduring legacy of the British occupation was the road rules, as the British had decreed that [[Left- and right-hand traffic|traffic should drive on the left]], and this has endured in [[Indonesia]] to this day.

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The Sunan of Surakarta took an avid interest in the [[Hindus|Hindu]] sepoys, and would attend [[Puja (Hinduism)|Pooja]] with the Bengalis, who prayed to Javanese idols which likely had not seen worship in centuries. He would also allow them to take part in his court, and use his facilities for worship and training.

{{blockquote |text=In Surakarta, however, the Sunan immediately responded to the sepoys’ overtures by lending them Hindu images from the court collections and by providing money for the decoration of the statues and to light up the ghāt (platforms) on which they were placed. He also attended various ceremonies inside the fort, usually alone and dressed as a common Javanese, but sometimes also accompanied by members of his family when he would arrive by carriage (Carey 1977:302). In return, the Sunan welcomed leading sepoy conspirators into his court, sitting with them in the evenings at the Randingan, the place set aside for archery practice in the kraton, where he would interrogate them on the manner and customs of India and watch their gymnastic displays (Carey 1977:303, 317 note 61). The sepoys also told him about the history of Bengal, the strength of the British army in India and their victories there, stressing that the power of the farang (British) was entirely dependant on their British-Indian troops<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/20133619 |title=The Kolkata (Calcutta) Stone and the Bicentennial of the British Interregnum in Java, 1811 – 18161811–1816 |last1=Carey |first1=Peter B. |journal=The Newsletter |number=74 |date=Summer 2016 |via=academia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://brill.com/downloadpdf/book/9789067183031/B9789067183031-s009.pdf |title=Into a new era the British interregnum, 1812-18161812–1816}}</ref>}}

==British order of battle==

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==References==

{{refbegin}}

* {{cite book|last=Fregosi|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Fregosi|title=Dreams of Empire: Napoleon and the First World War 1792-18151792–1815|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1989|isbn=0-09-173926-8}}

* {{cite book |first=William|last=James|author-link=William James (naval historian)|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PN09AAAAcAAJ |title=The Naval History of Great Britain: From the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV|publisher=R. Bentley|___location=London|year=1847|volume=6}}

* {{cite book |first=Richard|last=Woodman|title=The Victory of Seapower: Winning the Napoleonic War 1806–1814|publisher=Mercury Books|___location=London|year=2005|isbn=1-84560-012-6}}

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==Further reading==

{{refbegin}}

* {{cite book|last=Carey|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Carey (historian)|title=The British in Java, 1811-18161811–1816. A Javanese Account|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1992}}

* {{cite book|last=Boulger|first=Demetrius Charles|title=The Life of Sir Stamford Raffles|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.501910/page/n107|chapter=Chapter IV: The Java Expedition|publisher=H. Marshall|year=1897|pages=83–88}}

{{refend}}