# Dutch Malacca

Dutch Malacca (1641–1825) was the longest period that Malacca was under foreign control. The Dutch ruled for almost 183 years with intermittent British occupation during the French Revolutionary and later the Napoleonic Wars (1795–1815). This era saw relative peace with little serious interruption from the Malay sultanates due to the understanding forged between the Dutch and the Sultanate of Johor in 1606. This period also marked the decline of Malacca's importance. The Dutch preferred Batavia (present-day Jakarta) as their economic and administrative centre in the region and their hold in Malacca was to prevent the loss of the city to other European powers and, subsequently, the competition that would come with it. Thus, in the 17th century, with Malacca ceasing to be an important port, the Johor Sultanate became the dominant local power in the region due to the opening of its ports and the alliance with the Dutch.

## History
### Dutch conquest of Portuguese Malacca

In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) began a campaign to usurp Portuguese power in the East. At that time, the Portuguese had transformed Malacca into an impregnable fortress (the Fortaleza de Malaca), controlling access to the sea lanes of the Strait of Malacca and the spice trade there. The Dutch started by launching small incursions and skirmishes against the Portuguese. The first serious attempt was the siege of Malacca in 1606 by the third VOC fleet from the Dutch Republic with eleven ships, under Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge that led to the naval battle of Cape Rachado. Although the Dutch were routed, the Portuguese fleet of Martim Afonso de Castro, the Viceroy of Goa, suffered heavier casualties and the battle rallied the forces of the Sultanate of Johor in an alliance with the Dutch and later on with the Acehnese.
The Dutch along with their local Javanese allies numbered around 700 men, assaulted and wrested Malacca from the Portuguese in January 1641. Assistance was also provided to the Dutch from the Johor Sultanate who provided around 500–600 additional men. The Dutch also received supplies and rations from nearby and their recently-captured base of Batavia. The campaign effectively destroyed the last bastion of Portuguese power, removing their influence in the Malay Archipelago. As per the agreement with Johor in 1606, the Dutch took control of Malacca and agreed not to seek territories or wage war with the Malay kingdoms.

### Decline in trade

After the conquest of Malacca, the town yielded great profits in the 17th century, mostly due to the tin trade coming from Perak.$^{:104}$ But by 1700, the Dutch struggled to revive trade in Malacca. In that year, the town was rarely able to meet its tin quotas sent to Batavia. There were several attempts to revive trade by the governor, but VOC officials in Batavia was unwilling to improve tin trading prospects there and instead made policies to divert trade to Batavia. An Englishman described the town in 1711 "a healthful place, but of no great trade". The start of Bugis rule under the Johor Sultanate encouraged trade to Riau and served to reduce trade activity in Malacca.$^{:102–105}$
Roger de Laver, the governor of Malacca in 1743, commented that despite his efforts to encourage the tin trade, it still did not see any improvement and attributed it from intense competition as Indian traders mainly traded in Aceh, Kedah and Perak.$^{:107}$

### Transfer of control to the British

In January 1795, Dutch stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange, seeking refuge in Great Britain, issued the Kew Letters, directing Dutch governors in the colonies to temporarily transfer authority to the United Kingdom and to cooperate with the British in the war against the French, so long as the "mother country" was under threat of invasion. Malacca was thus surrendered to British control, and would be under British occupation until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Malacca remained under nominal Dutch sovereignty throughout the nearly two decades of British governance.
Under British administration, the Portuguese-era fortress of Malacca was demolished in stages beginning in 1807, as the British feared that the Dutch would use it against them in any future regional conflict. Only the Porta de Santiago (A Famosa) was spared destruction after the belated intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles.
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 restored Malacca to Dutch rule; however, the Dutch did not regain full control until 1818. Sovereignty over Malacca was permanently ceded to the British under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824.

## Administration of Malacca

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History of Malaysia :
Prehistoric period Paleolithic  Lenggong Valley c. 2,000,0000 BCE  Mansuli Valley235,000 BCE Mesolithic  Niah cultures 65,000–40,000 BCE Neolithic  Bewah man/woman 16,000 BCE  Perak man/woman 11,000–200 BCE  Neolithic Klang 500 – 200 BCE :
Early kingdoms Ancient Kedah <100 BCE Chi Tu 100 BCE–642 CE Langkasuka 100 BCE–1474 CE Gangga Negara c. 100 CE–1025 Pan Pan 424–775 Old Kedah 170–1135 Old Pahang 449–1454 Srivijaya 700s–1025 Majapahit 1300s :
Rise of Muslim states Kedah Sultanate 1136–present Samudera Pasai Sultanate 1267–1521 Brunei Sultanate 1368–present Malacca Sultanate 1402–1511 Sulu Sultanate 1450–1899 Pahang Sultanate 1470–1623 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Pattani Sultanate 1516– 1902 Johor Sultanate 1528–present Sarawak Sultanate 1599–1641 Selangor Sultanate 1766–present Besut Kingdom 1780–1899 Setul Kingdom 1808–1916 Reman Kingdom 1810–1902 Kubang Pasu Kingdom 1839–1864 :
Colonial period Portuguese Malacca 1511–1641 Dutch–Portuguese War 1601–1661 Dutch Malacca 1641–1824 Pahang Kingdom 1770–1881 Straits Settlements 1786–1946 Siamese invasion of Kedah 1821–1826 Anglo-Dutch Treaty1824 Burney Treaty1826 Naning War 1831–1832 Kingdom of Sarawak 1841–1946 Separation of Perlis from Kedah 1843 Crown Colony of Labuan 1848–1946 Pahang Civil War 1857–1863 Larut Wars 1861–1874 Klang War 1867–1874 Pangkor Treaty 1874 Perak War1875–1876 British Malaya / Borneo 1874–1946 Jementah Civil War 1879 North Borneo 1882–1946 Pahang Uprising 1891–1895 Mat Salleh Rebellion 1894–1905 Federated Malay States 1895–1946 Anglo-Siamese Treaty 1909 Unfederated Malay States 1909–1946 Battle of Penang 1914 Kelantan rebellion 1915 :
World War II Japanese occupation of Malaya / Borneo 1941–1945 Malayan campaign 1941–1942 Bornean Campaign 1941–1942 Battle of Muar 1942 Parit Sulong Massacre 1942 Battle of Singapore 1942 Sook Ching 1942 Syburi 1942 Sandakan Death Marches 1942–1945 Si Rat Malai 1943–1945 Jesselton revolt 1943–1944 :
Formative period BMA of Malaya/Borneo 1945–1946 Crown Colony of N. Borneo/Sarawak 1946–1963 Anti-cession movement 1946–1963 Malayan Union 1946–1948 Federation of Malaya 1948–1963 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Baling Talks 1955 :
Independence period Malayan Independence 1957 Singapore self-governance 1959 ISA 1960 1960–2012 Sarawak Insurgency 1962–1990 North Borneo self-governance 1963 Konfrontasi 1963–1966 Sarawak self-governance 1963 Formation of Malaysia 1963 Singapore in Malaysia 1963–1965 ASEAN Declaration 1967 Second communist insurgency 1968–1989 :
Modern period 13 May incident 1969 National Operations Council 1969–1971 Declaration of Rukun Negara 1970 New Economic Policy 1971–1990 Federal Territory of KL 1974 1977 Kelantan Emergency 1977 Pedra Branca dispute 1979–2008 South China Sea dispute (Spratly) 1980–present Dawn Raid 1981 Federal Territory of Labuan 1984 Memali incident 1985 Operation Lalang 1987 Constitutional crisis 1987–1988 Peace Agreement of Hat Yai 1989 Royal Immunity Amendments 1993 Asian financial crisis 1997–1998 Reformasi Movement 1998–2022 2008 Malaysian Opposition Wave 2008 H1N1 flu pandemic 2009–2010 Sedition Dragnet 2014 1MDB scandal 2015–present Pakatan Harapan takeover 2018 COVID-19 pandemic 2020–2022 Political crisis 2020–2022 Bornean Amendment 2021–2023 Green Wave 2022–present :
Incidents Brunei revolt 1962–1966 North Borneo dispute (Philippine militant attacks) 1962–present Singapore race riots 1964 Brunei's Limbang claim 1967–2009 Penang Hartal riot 1967 13 May Incident 1969 Ligitan and Sipadan dispute 1969–2002 Kuala Lumpur flash floods 1971 Malaysian haze crisis 1972–present AIA building hostage crisis 1975 National Monument bombing 1975 Campbell Shopping Complex fire 1976 Sabah Air GAF Nomad crash 1976 Japan Airlines Flight 715 incident 1977 MH653 incident 1977 1985 Lahad Datu ambush 1985 Memali Incident 1985 Sabah Emergency 1986 Ming Court Affair 1987 Penang terminal bridge collapse 1988 Taufiqiah Al-Khairiah madrasa fire 1989 Bright Sparklers disaster 1991 Highland Towers collapse 1993 Genting landslide 1995 MH2133 incident 1995 Pos Dipang mudflow 1996 Tropical Storm Greg 1996 1998–1999 Malaysia Nipah virus outbreak 1998–1999 2000 Sipadan kidnappings 2000 Al-Ma'unah incident 2000 Sauk Siege 2000 2001 Kampung Medan riots 2001 2002 Taman Hillview landslide 2002 Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 2006–2007 Southeast Asian floods 2006–2007 Bukit Gantang bus crash 2007 Bukit Antarabangsa landslide 2008 H1N1 flu pandemic 2009 Attacks against places of worship 2010 Cameron Highlands bus crash 2010 Hulu Langat landslide 2011 Genting Highlands bus crash 2013 MH370 incident 2014 MH17 incident 2014 2014–15 Malaysia floods 2014–2015 Sabah earthquake 2015 2015 Plaza Low Yat riot2015 Movida Bar grenade attack 2016 Kim Jong-nam's Assassination 2017 Darul Quran madrasa fire2017 2018 Subang Temple riot 2018 2020-21 Malaysia floods 2021 LRT train collision 2021 2021-22 Malaysia floods 2021–2022 2022 Batang Kali landslide 2022 2023 Elmina plane crash 2023 2024 Lumut helicopters crash 2024 2024 Ulu Tiram police station attack 2024 :
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Malacca was controlled as a colony of the VOC. All the chief administrators of Malacca were Dutch governors except for the brief period that the city was under British Residents during the Napoleonic Wars. However, focus on the administration of Malacca eventually waned by the Dutch as they preferred to focus on Batavia.

### Governors of Malacca

Governors of Dutch Malacca (1641–1795) :
| Governors | From | Until |
| Johan van Twist | 1641 | 1642 |
| Jeremias van Vliet | 1642 | 1645 |
| Arnout de Vlamingh van Oudtshoorn | 1645 | 1646 |
| Jan Thyszoon Payart | 1646 | 1662 |
| Jan Anthonisz van Riebeeck | 1662 | 1665 |
| Balthasar Bort | 1665 | 1679 |
| Jacob Joriszoon Pits | 1679 | 1680 |
| Cornelis van Quaelberg | 1680 | 1684 |
| Nikolaas Schaghen | 1684 | 1685 |
| François Tack | 1685 | 1686 |
| Dirk Komans (1st time) | 1686 | 1686 |
| Thomas Slicher | 1686 | 1691 |
| Dirk Komans (2nd time) | 1691 | 1692 |
| Gelmer Vosberg | 1692 | 1697 |
| Goevert van Hoorn | 1697 | 1700 |
| Bernhard Phoonsen | 1700 | 1704 |
| Johan Grotenhuys (acting) | 1704 | 1704 |
| Karel Bolner | 1704 | 1707 |
| Pieter Rooselaar | 1707 | 1709 |
| Willem Six | 1709 | 1711 |
| Willem Moerman | 1711 | 1717 |
| Herman van Suchtelen | 1717 | 1726 |
| Johan Frederik Gobius | 1726 | 1730 |
| Pieter Rochus Pasques de Chavonnes | 1730 | 1735 |
| Roger de Laver | 1735 | 1741 |
| Willem Bernard Albinus | 1741 | 1748 |
| Pieter van Heemskerk | 1748 | 1753 |
| Willem Dekker | 1753 | 1758 |
| David Boelen | 1758 | 1764 |
| Thomas Schippers | 1764 | 1771 |
| Jan Crans | 1771 | 1775 |
| Pieter Gerardus de Bruijn | 1775 | 1788 |
| Abraham Couperus | 1788 | 1795 |
British Residents of Malacca (1795–1818) :
| Residents | From | Until |
| Archibald Brown | 1795 | 1795 |
| Thomas Parr | 1795 | 1796 |
| Richard Tolson | 1796 | 1797 |
| David Campbell | 1797 | 1798 |
| Aldwell Taylor | 1798 | 1803 |
| Willem Jacob Cranssen (Dutch Governor) | 1802 | |
| William Farquhar | 1803 | 1818 |
Governors of Dutch Malacca (1818–1825) :
| Governors | From | Until |
| Jan Samuel Timmermann Thijssen | 1818 | 1822 |
| Adriaan Koek (acting) | 1822 | 1824 |
| Hendrik Stephanus van Son | 1824 | 1825 |

## The town and fortress of Malacca

The Dutch improved and expanded the Portuguese fortress as well as renovating the fortress' gate in 1670, they further built walls to protect the harbour and expanded city. During the mid-17th century the city hall or Stadthuys was constructed and served as the administrative center of the Dutch colony, which still stands today.
* The town and fortress of Malacca in 1780
* Dutch graves in the ruined St Paul's Church
* Dutch Graveyard