THE BOOKKEEPER AND THE SULTAN. THE FIRST DUTCH VISIT TO PONTIANAK, 1778一七七八年，荷蘭首度派記帳員造訪坤甸蘇丹
The article analyzes the first diplomatic contact between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the sultanate of Pontianak in 1778, taking as a case study the role of Nicolaas Kloek, the "bookkeeper" entrusted with the visit. The central proposal is to demonstrate, through the Pontianak episode, ho...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
October 2008
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40028/3639 |
| Summary: | The article analyzes the first diplomatic contact between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the sultanate of Pontianak in 1778, taking as a case study the role of Nicolaas Kloek, the "bookkeeper" entrusted with the visit. The central proposal is to demonstrate, through the Pontianak episode, how the VOC's political advance in Asia depended on everyday relations, mediated by local intermediaries and shaped by reciprocal expectations, even when the ties between Batavia and peripheral territories were "fragile." The methodology combines a critical reading of VOC archival sources with a reconstruction of the encounter and the political context of the recently founded sultanate, emphasizing the microhistorical dimension of Kloek's work: his incompetence as a representative and his meticulousness as a chronicler make possible a close examination of the daily functioning of local politics. It is concluded that the sultanate's demand for Dutch recognition is not explained by simple commercial interests, but by strategies of legitimation and consolidation of power in an unstable regional scenario; simultaneously, the reliance on limited bureaucratic agents meant that the "lines" between Batavia and Pontianak, although decisive at certain moments, remained unstable and frequently interrupted. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |