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Some Information on the Recent Activities with

Regard to the Sources of Dutch-Indonesian History

Yulianti Parani and Mona Lohanda

Itinerario / Volume 3 / Issue 01 / March 1979, pp 42 - 46

DOI: 10.1017/S0165115300017253, Published online: 22 April 2010

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0165115300017253

How to cite this article:

Yulianti Parani and Mona Lohanda (1979). Some Information on the Recent Activities with
Regard to the Sources of Dutch-Indonesian History. Itinerario, 3, pp 42-46 doi:10.1017/
S0165115300017253

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 42

SOME INFORMATION ON THE RECENT ACTIVITIES WITH

REGARD TO THE SOURCES OF DUTCH-INDONESIAN HISTORY

This article was written at the request of the editors of 'Itinerario'

to provide information on a subject which might be of interest to its
readership. Providing access to the archival collection in the form of
lists, guides, and inventories has been a continuous task of the staff on
which we could not give regular information. That is why we are very
grateful to scholars like Peter Carey, who recently wrote a description
of one of our collections in Cornell's Indonesia vol. 25, April 1978 (on
Jogja's regional archives). Besides Peter Carey, we are thankful to M.G.H.
A. de Graaf and F.G.P. Jaquet, Dutch archivists, who have been helping
us in making one of our archive repositories accessible. This repository,
known as 'Pasar Ikan', had been the responsibility of our institution long
before our independence in 1945. The collection consists of administra-
tive paperwork from the Dutch colonial period, mostly concerning finan-
cial matters in the 19th century.
According to Mr. Soendoyo, the oldest staff member of the
Arsip Nasional, this repository had come under the responsibility of our
institution before he joined in 1935. This contained the regional archives
from Batavia and some sub-units from the financial organisation of
Dutch colonial government, like the 'Directie der Cultures en Landelijke
Inkomsten','Directie der Middelen en Domeinen','Directie der Producten
en Civiele Magazijnen', which had been disbanded in the 19th century.
In 1948 Mr. Coolhaas as 'Landsarchivaris' received the older
'Financien' archives from the 'Departement van Financien' and stored
them in the Pasar Ikan repository, apart from the main repository in
Jalan Gajah Mada. These 'Financien' archives mostly contained the
papers of financial departments on nineteenth century Dutch colonial
rule and of certain social institutions, such as the Church or the Wees en
Boedelkamer. This messy grouping of archival collections of the Finan-
cien archives received by the Landsarchief during that period can be
understood by reference to the scope of financial tasks at the time.
Before the 'Indische Comptabiliteitswet' in 1864, which resulted
in a reorganization of the colonial rule, general civilian government {alge-
meen burgerlijk bestuur) was mainly a financial management (1). So the
financial paperwork before 1864 concerns a variety of colonial govern-
ment functions in algemeen burgerlijk bestuur. The regional archives
from Batavia in this Pasar Ikan repository date from 1816 up till the end
of the 19th century (2). This 19th century Batavia archives can be divid-
ed into administrative and functional archives, consists of algemene ver-
slagen, verbalen, judicial and police papers, and financial papers relating
to taxes, revenues, etc.
 43

Wees en Boedels archives were the administrative paperwork of

the Chamber that had a task in those functions, centralized in Batavia
with branches in some important towns, like Semarang. This Chamber
had existed since the time of the VOC. The Wees en Boedelkamers col-
lection consists of archives relating to orphanage, widow-funds, and
other budgeting of other social subjects of the same nature, like hospi-
tals (Chinese hospitals), etc.
The most interesting collection of this Pasar Ikan repository is
the archives from the Directie der Cultures, which is of 40 metres length.
The Directie der Cultures en Landelijke Inkomsten existed from 1832-
1866. Before 1855 it was a sub-organization under the Generale Directie
der Financien. Between 1855-1866 it became an autonomous body and
was disbanded with the Cultuurstelsel. The archives were divided into
case and subject groupings of the tasks and functions of the Directie der
Cultures. The subjects cover verbalen relating to products for the Euro-
pean markets consisting of coffee, sugar, indigo, tea, cinnamon, silk,
cotton, tobacco, pepper and spices, to other matters relating to other
agricultural products such as rice, timber, cattle, and to forced labour.
Besides the verbalen this series consists of different kind of reports,
letters, statistic data and memoranda.
The preliminary inventories for these collections are in prepara-
tion and will be open for public use within a short time.
The other activity which has just begun (in August 1978) and
will produce results in one year's time is the guide to the long Ambon
archives (148 metres). This guide is prepared with the help from R.Z.
Leirissa, a specialized historian in Moluccan history and has been ar-
ranged in the framework of the Dutch-Indonesian Program in Indonesian
studies. The Ambon archives are one of the biggest collections in the
custody of the Arsip Nasional as a result of regional colonial administra-
tion. The oldest archive from this collection dates back to 1605 and con-
tains reports relating to Dutch East India Company's rights in the Moluc-
cas. The latest one is an educational list from 1904. The Ambon collec-
tion is a very valuable source for the history of Ambon, because the con-
tents vary from pure administrative matters to demographic, criminal,
political, economic, ethnographical subjects. What could also be of inte-
rest are several reports on expeditions to 'Nieuw Guinea' made several
times in the second half of the 19th century. We hope that in one year's
time with the valuable help of Mr. Leirissa, this rich source will be
available for public use and contribute to the solving of the modern
problems of the Ambon people.
Yulianti Parani
1. PhiQeinrjes, Staatsinstellingen van Nederlandsch-Indie. le deel, 1923.
2. Arsip Nasional has also in its custody the Batavia archives from the VOC
period which is stored in the main repository.
44

National Archives Oral History Project

Those who are involved in research field will certainly realize that
in dealing with this work they should not only rely on one type of mate-
rial. In the field of historical studies, books, papers or other written
sources cannot be the only credible materials on which to depend. Due
to the rapid development of modern technology, the present day archival
world has been also expanding its access by producing the non-paper
collections, i.e.: sound-recording, motion and still pictures. On the other
hand, in the last two decades a new technique of data collecting in the
field of historical study has been applied in many countries. It has been
found that 'oral history' has great significance, especially filling gaps in
written sources discovered by scholars.
Realizing that great losses in the years of revolution 1945-1950
affected the content of its archival custody, Arsip Nasional is now under-
taking a long-term program of oral history work. The priority is given to
recording interviews with prominent leaders or eyewitnesses of a certain
historical event. The other notable priority are the experiences of both
important persons and the common people under the Japanese occupa-
tion in 1942-1945. These life experiences and reminiscences preserved in
the form of tape cassettes are housed in the custody of Proyek Sejarah
Lisan Arsip Nasional R.I.
The collection contains about 250 recorded interviews. Some
have already been transcribed, while the others have only indexes. Some
interviews narrate big events, great activities of a leader; some others
reveal interesting daily life of a village headman, a humble teacher, a
housewife or an artist. Mostly interviews are conducted in our national
language - Bahasa Indonesia - though a number of them set in Dutch,
English or the mother language of the interviewee such as Javanese, Sun-
danese, Bataks or Buginese. Since this oral history collection is not yet
readily open for public, permission must be requested from the Director
of Arsip Nasional R.I.
 45

General information

Arsip Nasional R.I. keeps a tremendous collection of archival

materials which cover the period of 1605-1942, housed in three reposito-
ries: Jalan Gadah Mada, Ragunan (both in Jakarta) and Bogor.
Gajah Mada repository preserves the VOC and the Netherlands-
India archives of 1605-1890 with two series of papers:
a. Government papers, derived from the Algemeene Secretarie
b. regional or local archives from all parts of the Indonesian ar-
chipelago.

Bogor repository has only one series, namely government papers

of 1890-1942, while papers after 1945 are held in Ragunan.
The users may inquire for archival information orally or in writ-
ing to:
Bidang Pelayanan Informasi
Arsip Nasional R.I.
'Jalan Ampera Raya
Cilandak III
Jakarta - Selatan.

Photo-copy, microfiche, positive microfilm can be provided on

request. An approval letter of Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (In-
donesian Council of Sciences) Jakarta, giving official permission to do
research in Indonesia for foreign researchers is required before access to
our archive materials is granted.

Historical Source Publications

1. Surat-surat Perdjandjian antara Keradjaan-keradjaan Bali/Lombok

dengan pemerintah Hindia-Belanda 1841 s/d 1939
(Jakarta, 1964) price Rp. 1.000,-

2. Surat-surat Perdjandjian antara Kesultanan Bandjarmasin dengan

Pemerintahan-pemerintahan VOC, Bataafse Republik, Inggeris
(Jakarta, 1965) price Rp. 1.000,-
46

3. Surat-surat Perdjandjian antara Kesultanan Riau dengan Pemerin-

tahan-pemerintahan VOC, dan Hindia-Belanda 1784-1909
(Jakarta, 1970) price Rp. 1.000,-

4. Laporan Politik Tahun 1837 (Staatkundig Overzicht van Neder-

landsch Indie, 1837)
(Jakarta, 1971) price Rp. 1.250,-
5. Daftar Memorie van Overgave pejabat-pejabat VOC dari abad 18
yang terdapat dalam koleksi Arsip Nasional R.I. Jakarta
(Jakarta, 1972) price Rp. 325,-
6. Ikhtisar Keadaan Politik Hindia-Belanda tahun 1839-1848
(Jakarta, 1973) price Rp. 2.500,-
hard cover Rp. 3.000,-

7. Rapporten atau Laporan-Laporan dari abad 18 dan awal abad 19

yang tersimpan di Arsip Nasional R.I. Jakarta
(Jakarta, 1973) price Rp. 500,-
8. Laporan-Laporan Desa (Desa-Rapporten) kumpulan dari J.W.Meyer
Ranneft
(Jakarta, 1974) price Rp. 500,-
9. Sarekat Islam Lokal
(Jakarta, 1975) price Rp. 2.000,-
10. Memori Serah Jabatan 1921-1930 (Jawa-Barat)
(Jakarta, 1976) price Rp. 2.000,-
11. Memori Serah Jabatan 1921-1930 (Jawa-Tengah)
(Jakarta, 1977) price Rp. 2.000,-

Orders should be addressed to:

Librarian
Arsip Nasional R.I.
Jalan Ampera Raya
Cilandak III
Jakarta-Selatan
Mona Lohanda