Cultivation System
Once the island of Java, the centre of the colony, was ‘pacified’ after the defeat of Prince Diponogoro in 1830, the Dutch implemented a policy called the ‘Cultuurstelsel’ (English: Cultivation system). Along with its implementation Baron Jean Chrétien Baud, Governor-General (1833–1836) and Minister of Colonies (1840–1848), added discriminatory regulations aimed at withholding Indos from key governmental functions. He was of the opinion that full blooded i.e. white, Dutch officials were better suited to persuade native nobility to comply with the ‘Cultivation System’. His thinking, influenced by his aristocratic background, was a radical shift from the opinion that Indos were the ideal intermediaries towards the indigenous rulers.