VOC Governor General Cornelis Speelman Dies In History Today, 11 January 1684

The portrait of the VOC pride fighter, Governor General Cornelis Speelman. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA History today, 339 years ago, January 11, 1684, Governor General of the VOC, Cornelis Speelman passed away. His departure brought grief to the whole of Batavia. He was considered a figure who contributed to the growth and development of the Dutch trading airline.

Previously, Speelman was the ruler of the VOC who had great services for the lasting colonialism in the archipelago. He was able to carry out the strategy of divide at impera (political fighting against each other) on a regular basis. Therefore, the Company easily controlled Makassar, Banten, and Mataram.

It could be that Speelman's name is one of the most memorable VOC Governor General. His services to the Company are so great. Even if his family is included in the ordinary people in the Netherlands. His dedication and hard work can bring him to a classy position in the Company.

He is an important actor who is able to expand the power of the Company everywhere. Moreover, Speelman has minimal funds to perpetuate the power of the Dutch trading airline, the VOC. Foreign at Impera, his name.

The fighting for each other is his mainstay. The Company also made a profit because there was no need to spend big funds, let alone lose a lot of lives to conquer the archipelago kingdom. The results were satisfactory. Speelman was able to control Makassar, Banten, and Mataram.

The large dedication made him famous among VOC officials. He was able to become the Board of Indies, the deputy governor general, then slowly became the Governor General of the VOC. leadership from 1681 to 1684-- invites praise.

He is known to be capable when leading, especially political and military affairs. However, that does not mean that the Speelman government in the archipelago is smooth without controversy. He is the same as other VOC Governor-Generals who like corruption.

Both Mataram and Banten are now under the supervision of the Company. In both countries, the Company obtained a trade monopoly for several products. His kings, which Batavia soldiers put on the throne, owed the Company a lot of money to return war fees.

Even though the government was proven willing not to ask for payment of the debts during the Sultan-Sultan faithfully implementing the newly agreed commercial agreement, the two Javanese countries are now in the same state as the nutmeg farmers who went bankrupt in Maluku half a century earlier. The Banten and Mataram regions are now separated by the Batavia region, which extends south to sea, covering the areas of Mount Priangan, "said Bernard HM Vlekke in the book Nusantara (2008).

Corruption was rampant during his government. However, this practice was only able to be ended by his death on January 11, 1684. The complications of kidney and liver disease were behind it. At that time, Speelman was still the Governor General of the VOC.

News of Speelman's death was heard throughout Batavia. All Dutch people mourned. The power of attorney then prepared the Speelman funeral ceremony so luxuriously. The luxurious ceremony became proof of the corruptness of the VOC officials in the past.

Speelman died on January 11, 1684 in Kasteel Batavia. The burial ceremony alone costs 131,400 riksdalders. But this marks the beginning of administrative irregularities and the VOC government in Batavia. Speelman rules at his own will, without seeking advice or slowing down with the Indian Council.

He ordered to arrest hundreds of people without clear mistakes, sell people as slaves even though the person concerned is a free person. Not to mention the way he manipulated money with orders to pay the soldiers who in fact did not exist, or paid for the work made. The supply of pepper from bumiputra traders was also paid cheaply, "explained historian Mona Lohanda in the book History of the lecturers Regulating Batavia (2007).