JAKARTA - The beginning of the Dutch trading airline's power, the VOC was full of stories. The Dutch people in the center of the Batavian VOC government had a shortage of European women's population. Only high-ranking officials and rich people are allowed to bring their European wives. The ranks of the soldiers and ships will not be able to afford it.
Most Dutch also chose a local woman to be a concubine. Nyai, his name. The presence for the sexual desire of the Dutch is channeled. The trend of illicit relations is widely known as a kebo gathering.
Jan Pieterszoon Coen was once dizzy during his tenure as the number one VOC person in Batavia. The man who served as Governor General of the VOC twice, 1619-1623 and 1627-1629, was worried about the behavior of his subordinates who had started far from religion. This is because most of the Dutch in Batavia perpetuate immoral activities.
They like prostitution to satisfy sexual desire. Coen, who is known as a'moral police', is furious. He also took firm action against immoral actors. Even threatened with the death penalty. However, he immediately realized the root of the problem. The absence of European women is the estuary. The population of European women in Batavia is a little if you don't want to say less.
Coen took the initiative to submit his complaint to the head of the VOC center, Heren Zeventien. The founder of colonialism in the archipelago revealed that the colony was in women's shortage. He asked the owner of power to immediately send a good woman to Batavia. So that the morale of his subordinates in Batavia is maintained.
Coen was upset. He then emphatically peppered his letter by writing that everyone knew that humans could not live without a good woman. Even then, the Heinen Zeventien wants to create settlements that exist in the colony. The Zeventien Heren did not heed it. European women who came were only a handful.
Because European women's supplies were limited, VOC employees and European male residents of Batavia City had to look for a partner from local women. However, again the VOC law intervened with the aim of ensuring the stability of the colony. For example, no VOC employees should be allowed to return to Europe before staying for five years is calculated from the date of their wedding.
After 1633, the regulation was added by a husband not allowing him to go to Europe without leaving him enough money for his wife. No one, who is married or single, is allowed to return to his country without written permission from the governor general. Furthermore, the city's residents must stay at least three years in settlements and pay in advance for the cost of returning home, said Jean Gelman Taylor in the book Social Life in Batavia (2009).
After Coen did not take office, local employees took shortcuts. They understand very well that Coen's legacy prohibits marriage between Europeans and local women. Therefore, the Dutch chose to have an illicit relationship with local women, especially those with slave status. Alias gathers kebo.
Many Dutch people use young or middle-aged women as individuals. People call the woman who works for the Dutch a claim. A person admits that he has many tasks. All kinds of house affairs are his responsibility.
Another important responsibility is to satisfy my friend about bed matters. However, most of them are not married to the Dutch. They are only two lovebirds who live together without a marriage bond.
Kebo gathering activities have become a popular trend. The church can't even break the chain of community gatherings. Whereas Coen during his lifetime had warned many times that gambling was the origin of moral destruction. Because, stunting can lead to negative things. From abortion to child neglect.
Moreover, the child who is the result of the plantation is not religiously recognized. Even in life, the resulting from an illicit relationship is considered a disgrace. However, the fate of a person who admits it is not completely gloomy. Many of them are trusted by my mother to have several young slaves to support life. In a sense, his life is full of time. Even without the status of marriage.
Niti, if we mention this word during colonial times, people's reactions will vary. Maybe there are scathing smiles, putting on a cynical face, or laughing loudly. Of course, at that time, it could not be separated from the affairs of kitchens and mattresses, aka sleeping companions for European men who were lonely in this paradise. Namely, during colonial times, it was addressed to young, middle-aged women, who became concubines, safe women, foreigners, especially Europeans.
This mention is in the opinion of Europeans at that time on par with concubine, bijwijf, or concubines who imitate the habits of the kings who have many concubines. Although actually the term nyai at that time was euphemism for parabediende or baboe who was appointed as the black wife of the colonial masters. In order not to embarrass the master, the women were dressed. They were taught to be ethical and speak Dutch, to enjoy European culture, said Achmad Sunjayadi in the book [Not] Tabu di Nusantara (2018).
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