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The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London, was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 17 March 1824. The treaty was to resolve disputes arising from the execution of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. For the Dutch, it was signed by Hendrik Fagel and Anton Reinhard Falck, and for the British,
George Canning George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...
and Charles Williams-Wynn.H.R.C. Wright, "The Anglo-Dutch Dispute in the East, 1814-1824." ''Economic History Review'' 3.2 (1950): 229-23
online


History

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, designed to solve many of the issues that had arisen by the British occupation of Dutch colonial possessions during the Napoleonic Wars as well as those regarding the rights to trade that existed for hundreds of years in the Spice Islands between the two nations, was a treaty that addressed a wide array of issues and did not clearly describe the limitations of expansion by either side in the Malay world. The British establishment of Singapore on the Malay Peninsula in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles exacerbated the tension between the two nations, especially as the Dutch claimed that the treaty signed between Raffles and the Sultan of Johor was invalid and that the Sultanate of Johor was under the Dutch sphere of influence. The questions surrounding the fate of Dutch trading rights in British India and the formerly Dutch possessions in the area also became a point of contention between Calcutta and Batavia. In 1820, under pressures from British merchants with interests in the Far East, negotiations to clarify the situation in Southeast Asia started. Negotiations between Canning and Fagel started on 20 July 1820. The Dutch were adamant on the British abandonment of Singapore. Indeed, Canning was unsure of the exact circumstances under which Singapore was acquired, and at first, only noncontroversial issues such as free navigation rights and the elimination of piracy were agreed upon. Discussions on the subject were suspended on 5 August 1820, and did not resume until 1823, when the commercial value of Singapore had been well-recognized by the British. The negotiations resumed on 15 December 1823, and the discussions had become centred around the establishment of clear spheres of influence in the region. The Dutch, realising that the growth of Singapore could not be curbed, pressed for an exchange in which they abandoned their claims north of the Strait of Malacca and their Indian colonies in exchange for the confirmation of their claims south of the strait, including the British colony of Bencoolen. The final treaty was signed on 17 March 1824 by Fagel and Canning. The treaty was ratified by the UK on 30 April 1824 and by the Netherlands on 2 June 1824. The ratifications were exchanged at London on 8 June 1824.


Terms

* Subjects of the two nations were permitted to trade in territories of British India,
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and modern-day Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia on the basis of "most favoured nation" but had to obey local regulations. * Fees charged on the subjects and ships of the other nation were limited. * No further treaties with Eastern states that excluded trade with the other nation were to be made. * Civil and military forces were not to be used to hinder trade. * Piracy was to be opposed, no hiding places or protection to pirates were to be provided and the sale of pirated goods was not to be allowed. * Officials were not allowed to open new offices on East Indies islands without permission from their government in Europe. * British subjects to be given trade access with the Maluku Islands, in particular with
Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a co ...
,
Banda Banda may refer to: People *Banda (surname) *Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician *Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor *Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh warr ...
and Ternate. * The Netherlands ceded all establishments on the Indian Subcontinent ( Dutch India from 1609) and any rights associated with them. * The UK ceded its factory of Fort Marlborough in Bencoolen (Bengkulu) and all the British possessions on the island of
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
to the Netherlands and would not establish another office on the island or make any treaty with its rulers. * The Netherlands ceded the city and fort of
Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
and agreed not to open any office on the
Malay peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
or to make any treaty with its rulers. * The British withdrew its opposition to the occupation of the island of Billiton by the Netherlands. * The Netherlands withdrew its opposition to the occupation of the island of Singapore by the British. * The British agreed not to establish any office on the Carimon Islands or on the islands of Batam, Bintan, Lingin, or any of the other islands south of the strait of Singapore, or to make any treaties with the rulers of these places. * All transfers of property and establishments were to take place on 1 March 1825, with the return of Java to the Netherlands, as according to a Convention on Java of 24 June 1817, was settled, apart from a sum of 100,000 pounds sterling, which was to be paid by the Netherlands in London before the end of 1825. * British cannot open new places in Riau Lingga and south of Singapore


Implications

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 officially demarcated two territories:
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
, which was ruled by the United Kingdom, and the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
, which was ruled by the Netherlands. The successor states of Malaya are Malaysia and Singapore and the successor state of the Dutch East Indies is Indonesia. The line that separated the spheres of influence between the British and the Dutch ultimately became the border between Indonesia and Malaysia (with a small segment becoming the border between Indonesia and Singapore). The subsequent colonial influence also affected the Malay language that was commonly spoken as a regional language between these islands diverging into
Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regar ...
and Indonesian variants. The treaty came while the influence of the British East India Company was waning, and the individual merchant was gaining more influence in Britain. The emphasis on territory and sphere of influence was consistent with former EIC policies in India and elsewhere. During the four-year negotiations, the existence of Singapore strongly started to favour the new independent merchants and their houses. As that came at the heels of the termination of the monopoly the EIC had on the area, the subsequent rise of Singapore as a free port and the first example of the new British free-trade imperialism can be seen as a direct result on the confirmation of its status in the treaty.


See also

* Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 * Anglo-Dutch Treaties of 1870–71 * Netherlands–United Kingdom relations *
1824 in Singapore Incumbents * Resident: Dr. John Crawfurd Events March * 17 March - The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 was signed by Great Britain and the Netherlands.H.R.C. Wright, "The Anglo-Dutch Dispute in the East, 1814-1824." ''Economic History Review'' 3.2 ...


References


Text in English
* Webster, Anthony. (1998) ''Gentlemen Capitalists: British Imperialism in Southeast Asia'', Tauris Academic Studies, New York, {{ISBN, 1-86064-171-7. 1824 treaties 1824 in the United Kingdom 1824 in the Netherlands Treaties of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands British Malaya British rule in Singapore Dutch East Indies Netherlands–United Kingdom treaties Treaties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922) Treaties extended to the Dutch East Indies Treaties involving territorial changes Boundary treaties Indonesia–Malaysia border Partition (politics) 1824 in Asia 1824 in British law 1824 in British Malaya 1824 in the Dutch East Indies March 1824 events