Table of contents
Prologue: The need for forced labour
Intrusion into the hinterland
Retreat of princely authority
Territorial demarcation and hierarchical structuring
The Priangan highlands as a frontier
Clearing the land for cultivation
Source: F. de Haan – Priangan, vl. 1, p. 376
Source: F. de Haan – Priangan, vl. I, p. 368
The composite peasant household
Higher and lower-ranking chiefs
Rendering servitude
Peasants and their lords in the early-colonial era
Source: Perpustakaan Nasional Indonesia Collection, Jakarta
A colonial mode of production
From free trade to forced delivery
The start of coffee cultivation
Source: Perpustakaan Nasional Indonesia Collection, Jakarta
Increasing the tribute
Coercion and desertion
Indigenous management
Source: Perpustakaan Nasional Indonesia Collection, Jakarta
Under the Company’s control
Tardy population growth
Tackling ‘cultivation delinquency’
Clashing interests
Failing management
After the fall of the VOC
A conservative reformer
Strengthening the government apparatus
Social restructuring
Stepping up corvee services
Source: J. Crawfurd, vl. 1, 1820
The land rent system
Source: F. de Haan – Priangan, vl. 1
Source: NA
Source: KITLV Collection
Source: KITLV Collection
Source: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Source: NA
Source: KITLV Collection
Discovery of the village system
Land sale
In search of a new policy
The deregulation of coffee cultivation, except in the Priangan
Patching up leakage and other irregularities
Increasing leverage for private estates
The downfall of the free enterprise lobby
The policy dispute continues
Political turmoil at home
Shifting coffee cultivation to gardens
Mobilizing labour
Source: F. de Haan – Priangan, vl. 1, p. 165
Expansion of forced labour
Source: KITLV Collection
Beyond the reach of the government
The obligation to perform coolie labour and the need for tight surveillance
In search of the hidden labour reserve
Indispensability of the chiefs, for the time being
The Priangan variant as a ‘colonial constant’
Spreading benevolence at home and on Java
A new surge in the colonial tribute
Coffee and more
More and more coffee
Approaching the workfloor
Source: F. de Haan – Priangan, vl. 1, p. 485
The happiness of the innocent
Stagnation
Crisis
Non-compliance
‘A system that is arbitrary, repressive and secretive’
Taxation, resistance and retribution
Source: KITLV Collection
Cultivating coffee and growing food
The welfare of the people
Good governance
Source: KITLV Collection
Source: KITLV Collection
Source: KITLV Collection
From protectors to exploiters
The reform operation
Release from servitude
The dilemmas of political expediency
A turn for the better?
Impact of the reforms on the peasantry
Establishment of the village system
Shifting the onus of servitude
Source: KITLV Collection
Source: KITLV Collection
The contours of a new economic policy
Source: KITLV Collection
The agrarian underclasses
Epilogue: Servitude as the road to progress
Glossary
List of abbreviations
Color plates
Other illustrations
Archival sources
Index of names