Belanda Hitam (from
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
meaning "Black Dutchmen", known in
Javanese as ''Landa (Walanda) Ireng'')
were a group of African (primarily
Ashanti and other
Akan Akan may refer to:
People and languages
*Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire
*Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people
*Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan
*Central Tano languages, a language group w ...
peoples) recruits in the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...
during the
colonial period.
Between 1831 and 1872, over three thousand Africans were recruited from the
Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...
for service as
colonial troops
Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories.
Colonial background
Such colonies may lie overseas or in areas dominated by neighbouring land powers such ...
in 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 ...
. This recruitment was in fact an emergency measure, as the Dutch army lost thousands of European soldiers and a much larger number of "
native
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and entert ...
" soldiers in the
Java War
The Java War ( jv, ꦥꦼꦫꦁꦗꦮ) or Diponegoro War () was fought in central Java from 1825 to 1830, between the colonial Dutch Empire and native Javanese rebels. The war started as a rebellion led by Prince Diponegoro, a leading member ...
against
Prince Diponegoro
Prince Diponegoro ( jv, ꦢꦶꦥꦤꦼꦒꦫ; born Bendara Raden Mas Mustahar, ; later Bendara Raden Mas Antawirya ; 11 November 1785 – 8 January 1855), also known as Dipanegara, was a Javanese people, Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch Colo ...
.
History
Following the
independence of Belgium
The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium.
Th ...
in 1830, the Netherlands’ population was considerably diminished, making colonial combat losses more difficult to replace. Furthermore, the Dutch wanted the number of locally recruited soldiers in the East Indies Army to be limited to roughly half the total strength, to ensure the loyalty of native forces. It was also hoped that Akan soldiers would be more resistant to the tropical climate and tropical diseases of 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 ...
than Dutch soldiers.
The soldiers from the Gold Coast were first recruited in
Elmina
Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante people, Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem Municipal District, Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, Ghana, Centra ...
. Of the 150 that were enlisted, 44 were descendants of Euro-African families in Elmina. They were deployed in 1832 in southern
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 ...
. The West Africans proved less resistant to the climate than had been hoped, but their physique and general appearance as soldiers impressed the Sumatran population. In 1836 a further group of 88 Akan soldiers arrived in the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch government then decided to recruit from the
Ashanti people.
In the autumn of 1836 Major General
Jan Verveer
Jan Verveer (27 August 1775 – 22 August 1838) was a major general of the Royal Netherlands Army.
Biography
Jan Verveer was born in Rotterdam to Johannes Verveer and Anna Maria van Alphen.
Verveer joined the army in 1797. In 1803, he was sent t ...
undertook a mission to the King of Ashanti. On November 1, 1836, after he had arrived in Elmina, General Verveer departed with a retinue of about 900 people (the majority porters carrying provisions and gifts) to the capital of the
Ashanti Empire
The Asante Empire (Asante Twi: ), today commonly called the Ashanti Empire, was an Akan state that lasted between 1701 to 1901, in what is now modern-day Ghana. It expanded from the Ashanti Region to include most of Ghana as well as parts of Iv ...
,
Comassie (Kumasi). After lengthy negotiations, an agreement was concluded with
King Kwaku Dua. In Kumasi, a recruiting branch office was established by
Jacob Huydecoper
Jacob Peter Huydecoper (11 November 1811 – 12 February 1845) was an early 19th-century Elmina Euro-African civil servant and diplomat on the Dutch Gold Coast.
Early life
Jacob Huydecoper was born in Elmina to Willem Huydecoper and a ...
, a Dutch government official from Elmina of mixed Dutch-African descent. Kwaku Dua also sent two princes,
Kwasi Boachi and Kwame Poku Boachi, to Verveer in the Netherlands for training. Their subsequent careers are described by
Arthur Japin
Arthur Valentijn Japin (born 26 July 1956 in Haarlem) is a Dutch novelist.
Biography
His parents were Bert Japin, a teacher and writer of detective novels, and Annie Japin-van Arnhem. After a difficult childhood—his father killed himself when ...
in his novel ''
The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi
''The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi'' () is the 1997 debut novel by Dutch author Arthur Japin. The novel tells the story of two Ashanti princes, Kwame Poku and Kwasi Boachi, who were taken from what is today Ghana and given to the Dutch king Will ...
'' (1997).
Because the British had abolished
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, a somewhat cautious approach to recruitment was taken. The Ashanti king offered slaves and prisoners of war from the surrounding regions, for Dutch colonial service. However they nominally put themselves forward as voluntary recruits. As Dutch
military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...
personnel they were entitled to receive pay. However British objections in 1842 led to discontinuation of this relatively successful recruitment. In 1855 enrollment resumed due to the positive experiences of West African soldiers in the Dutch East Indies. This renewed recruitment was now on a strictly voluntary basis.
End of African recruitment
A total of several thousand African soldiers "with a Dutch name", were shipped to the Dutch East Indies. The
Treaty of Sumatra in 1871 gave the Netherlands possessions on the Gold Coast
to the British. This terminated the recruitment of Africans for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. On April 20, 1872, the last ship with African recruits left for
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
. There were however two further attempts to recruit black volunteers for the Colonial Army. Between 1876 and 1879 thirty
American black recruits were hired for the KNIL. In 1890 there was an attempt to obtain recruits from
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
. A total of 189 Liberians went to Java, but this group became almost entirely dissatisfied with failed promises and returned to Liberia in 1892. Even without the recruitment of African soldiers, the KNIL still had soldiers of African origin in its army long after the 1890s. These African and
Indo-African soldiers were the offspring of the Africans that the Dutch shipped from the
Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...
between 1830 and 1872.
[Kessel, Ineke van (Amsterdam 2005). ''Zwarte Hollanders; Afrikaanse soldaten in Nederlands-Indië''. KIT Publishers. p. 213. ]
See also
*
Elmina Java Museum
The Elmina Java Museum is a museum in Elmina, Ghana, dedicated to the history of the so-called Belanda Hitam; soldiers recruited in the 19th century in the Dutch Gold Coast to serve in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. The museum is funded by ...
*
Askari
An askari (from Somali, Swahili and Arabic , , meaning "soldier" or "military", which also means "police" in the Somali language) was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa, particularly in the African G ...
*
Mardijker people
The Mardijker people refers to an ethnic community in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) made up of descendants of freed slaves. They could be found at all major trading posts in the East Indies. They were mostly Christian, of various ...
*
Colonial troops
Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories.
Colonial background
Such colonies may lie overseas or in areas dominated by neighbouring land powers such ...
*''
The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi
''The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi'' () is the 1997 debut novel by Dutch author Arthur Japin. The novel tells the story of two Ashanti princes, Kwame Poku and Kwasi Boachi, who were taken from what is today Ghana and given to the Dutch king Will ...
''
Sources
* Ineke van Kessel, 'The black Dutchmen. African soldiers in the Netherlands East Indies'. In: ''Merchants, missionaries & migrants. 300 years of Dutch-Ghanaian relations''. Amsterdam, KIT Publishers, 2002
Online version* W.M.J. van Kessel ''Zwarte Hollanders; Afrikaanse soldaten in Nederlands-Indië'' (2005; KIT Publishers; )
* J. Verhoog, 'De werving van Westafrikanen voor het Nederlands-Indische leger, 1831-1872', in: ''Mededelingen van de Sectie Militaire Geschiedenis Landmachtstaf'', deel 12 (1989) 5-26.
External links
Stichting Indo-Afrikaans Kontakt
{{Ethnic groups in Indonesia
Dutch East Indies
History of Ghana
Military history of the Netherlands
African diaspora history
African diaspora in Asia
African diaspora in the Netherlands