Shipping and Trade in Java, c.

1775: A Quantitative Analysis

Author(s): Gerrit Knaap
Source: Modern Asian Studies , May, 1999, Vol. 33, No. 2 (May, 1999), pp. 405-420
Published by: Cambridge University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/313173

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Modern Asian Studies 33, 2 (1999), PP. 405-420. ? 1999 Cambridge University Press
Printed in the United Kingdom

Shipping and Trade in Java, c. 1775.

A Quantitative Analysis
GERRIT KNAAP

Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkund

Since the 1930s shipping and trade in Southeast As

early modern period have attracted much attention fro
The pioneer in this field was the Dutch scholar, J. C. van
original work was translated into English during th
Leur 1955). Van Leur's interest was heavily weighted
he labelled 'old Asian trade,' and as such he was one of
called for an Asia-centric perspective. He drew attenti
that the maritime sector of Southeast Asia had its own
the 196os, M. A. P. Meilink-Roelofsz carried on the work o
the indigenous maritime sector as well as the effects o
uese and Dutch onslaughts on it up to the 1630os (Mei
1962). Limiting our perspective to the Malayo-Indone
lago, in the last decade several regional case studies h
enhanced our knowledge of the subject, such as t
(Warren 1981), Batavia (Bluss6 1986), Amboina (Kn
Central and East Java (Nagtegaal 1988), and the Strait
(Vos 1993). Furthermore, Anthony Reid has recently t
a synthesis for the entire region of Southeast Asia up
1993).
Besides the scholars who focus on the indigenous role in Southeast
Asian trade and shipping, there are also historians studying Euro-
pean colonial activities in this field. Very useful, indeed indispens-
able, work has been done in this respect by Glamann (1958), Magel-
haes-Godinho (1969), and, recently, by Gaastra (1989). These
Euro-centric studies are able to draw on fairly rich archival sources,
in particular on the correspondence and financial administration of
the Portuguese Estado da India and the Dutch Vereenigde Oost-
Indische Compagnie, hereafter abbreviated to VOC. Unfortunately,
their Asia-centric colleagues usually have to make do with sources
which are less profuse in information. This is especially true of the
sources on the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. For this
OO26-749X/99/$7.5o+$o. o
405

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406 GERRIT KNAAP
period, our knowledge relies heavily on a r
ments. Documents, moreover, which tend t
vations for a limited number of years. Qua
of these observations are often problemat
seventeenth century, the information on
trade for those areas which were occupied
more promising. The most well-known exam
mary of incoming and outgoing non-VOC
register of Batavia, which so far have bee
These summaries have recently been the su
by G. Rantroado (1988).
The Batavian monthly summaries are tak
records of the syahbandar, i.e. the harbormas
records themselves have been lost. Howeve
not the only place where such records we
inspired by Heather Sutherland and car
author in 1986, brought to light that there w
records hidden in the archives. However,
analysis and interpretation of these record
and time-consuming. On the basis of th
decided to give priority to the analysis of
Java. Eighteenth-century Macassar was one
for which a day-to-day registration was still
long period, more than 50 years in fact. Th
not chosen because a day-to-day registrat
long period of time, as in fact the reverse
area only being still extant for a few yea
1770s. The choice of Java was mainly insp
was the only area for which there were so
one port. Hence, it would be possible to study
ization, and hierarchy between a numbe
together. The results of the Java research are
published monograph (Knaap 1996). Some
discussed in this article.

Sources and Analysis

The Java research is basically a statistical, computerized, in-depth

analysis of the so-called VOC harbormasters' specifications for the
period between September 1774 and September 1777. Most of the

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 SHIPPING AND TRADE IN JAVA, C. 1775 407

ports, in fact twelve out of fourteen, for which such sources

able were located in the VOC province ofJava's northeast c
province consisted of the northern part of Central and E
including the island of Madura. The ports concerned are:

Banyuwangi Pasuruan Sumenep

Bangkalan Surabaya Gresik
Rembang Juwana Jepara
Semarang Pekalongan Tegal
Besides these twelve, there are harbormasters' specifications for the
main ports of two smaller political entities under VOC control in
West Java: Cirebon and Banten.
A harbormaster's specification gives information on every indi-
vidual incoming and outgoing shipmove in the private sector. The
VOC's own shipping along the coast is not included. The information
generally consists of the following elements:

- The date of arrival or departure

- The port of departure or the port of destination
- The name, ethnicity, and place of residence of the skipper
- The type of vessel and, occasionally, its tonnage
- The number of the crew and, occasionally, their ethnicity
- The armaments carried on board
- The cargo specified according to product and quantity.

Although the information mentioned above was already very copious,

more than 2o0,00ooo one-way journeys for fourteen ports, it was felt
that a true insight into the conditions of private shipping and tra
in Java could not be realized for two reasons. The first was that
information about the biggest port in Java, i.e. Batavia, was not avail
able. This shortcoming was tackled in the following way. To get a
idea about the performance of the private sector in the VOC capit
it was decided to use the monthly summaries of the as yet unpu
lished Batavia Daghregister. This presented a problem because the
summaries were rather imperfect. For instance, one group of private
ships which was not registered in the Daghregister were those o
the so-called 'foreign Europeans'. Fortunately, there was yet anoth
specific registration on the basis of individual one-way journeys f
these English, Portuguese, and Spanish ships available. The secon
reason which handicapped our insight was that it was absolute
necessary to know what the VOC itself was doing in the field of
shipping and trade at that time. After all, the VOC itself wa

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 408 GERRIT KNAAP
trader. This indispensable reconstruction of
built up from a number of sources: the sour
Asiatic shipping (Bruijn et al. 1979-87), th
outgoing VOC ships in Batavia, the admin
keeper-General in Batavia, and, finally, the
the headquarters of the VOC in Batavia and i
on Java.
All this produced a great wealth in statistical data, which in itself
already has an intrinsic information value. Nevertheless, it must be
remembered that there was still one specific category of maritime
activity which was not registered: short-distance shipping. Short-
distance shipping is used to refer to the shipping inside the home
district or region of a port. For instance, in Batavia all ships coming
in or heading for nearby Karawang were not registered. The same
is true for the contacts of Rembang with Paradesi or those of Semar-
ang with Demak. Moreover, a closer examination of the material
revealed that the registrations of several ports had their own short-
comings, resulting in varying degrees of under-registration, in par-
ticular as far as incoming traffic was concerned. In the case of the
shipping, it was more or less possible to correct the figures of each
port for under-registration, but this proved impossible in the case of
trade, i.e. the circulation of commodities. Hence, figures about the
volume of trade have to be used very carefully. At best they should
be seen as a lower limit of trade. In the case of shipping it was
possible to arrive at a certain standardization of the data, in particu-
lar with reference to tonnage. When dealing with cargo, the stand-
ardization of the units of measurement was much more complicated.
In the end it proved impossible to find a common standard for the
three remaining sub-standards: dry commodities measured by
weight, liquid materials measured by volume, and individual piece-
goods. Information about prices of products was so scarce that it
was impossible to work with the alternative of money values for the
cargoes.

Ports and Politics

The ports of Java in the early modern period were very di

from what we call a 'port' today. Except for a few jetties, the
no 'harborworks' or 'docks.' A port was actually the mouth of
and/or an open roadstead. Bigger vessels were obliged to an

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 SHIPPING AND TRADE IN JAVA, C. 1775 409

the roadstead and their passengers and cargoes had

ashore on small barges or tenders. In Java this situation
ated by the fact that the coastal zone was an area of sh
In addition to this, it seems that most of the ports und
were constantly confronted with problems of the silting u
The port-cities which lay on this shallow coast were usu
of unwalled village-like settlements. Many of these settl
reserved exclusively for non-Javanese communities of s
traders, such as Chinese, Indians, Malays, Sulawesians, a
Most of the ports had a relatively small population: less
In the 1700oos Batavia, Semarang, and Surabaya were th
which had populations of between 10,000 and 30,000
cities were usually the hub of the economy in their reg
they functioned as an inlet for imports or an outlet for
remote hinterlands, to which they were connected by n
small roads and/or rivers.
In 1619 the VOC conquered Jayakarta and on the rui
its own capital: Batavia. From about 168o onwards the
to expand its grip on the areas along the north coast o
1750, it had taken over sovereignty from Java's indig
(Ricklefs 1981:91-4, lol-2). Consequently, our skipp
177os had to contend with two sorts of bureaucrats whe
about to set sail from or to berth at a port: the European h
ter and the, usually non-European, guardian of the cu
former was in charge of controlling and of issuing the
safe conducts as well as the collection of some harbor-dues. He also
had to ensure that there were no forbidden products either imported
or exported. The latter was the representative of the tax-farmer who
had leased the right to collect the customs duties from the VOC. At
the time the VOC assumed sovereignty in the area, most of the
tax-farms were leased to the Javanese rulers of the regencies, who
used to sub-lease them to a local Chinese. However, during the
177os most of these tax-farms came directly into the hands of a few
conglomerates of very wealthy Chinese businessmen from the big
ports. One subject which is difficult to elucidate is whether or not
individual skippers were the victims of bureaucratic procedures and
exhorbitant payments. The general impression is that the nominal
tariffs were not excessive, but we do not know to what extent the
skippers were liable to 'unofficial' taxation.
One factor which affected activities in the private sector more
drastically was the general economic policy of the VOC. In Java, the

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410 GERRIT KNAAP

VOC was simultaneously both a

might say that it was a state-cap
element in the VOC economic po
of the right to trade in certain p
order to maximize its profit, in
from Europe-oriented exports. C
Java was not allowed to play any ro
spices. The VOC also held mono
certain valuable commodities. A second element of VOC economic
policy was that for the convenience of the monopolies the freed
of movement allowed to private maritime traffic was curtailed, l
ing to a certain restructuring of trade networks. The principal instr
ment for implementing this policy was restrictive issuing of s
passes. For instance, in most of the fifteen ports under consideratio
one could only obtain a pass to a destination in Java. There wer
only four places-Surabaya, Gresik, Semarang, and Cirebon-whe
one could obtain passes for overseas destinations located roug
between the Straits of Malacca and the island of Sulawesi. If a sk
per wanted a pass to sail to a much more distant location, he c
only obtain such a pass in Batavia, which brings us to the third
ment in the VOC's economic policy: the protection of the intere
of its capital. As the well-being of Batavia very much depended
its relations with the rest of Java, in particular where its suppli
rice and timber were concerned, the VOC demanded a certain qu
of these products from Central and East Java as tribute. Furth
more, the VOC tended to protect Batavia's cane-sugar and arrac
industries against competition from other areas in Java.

Vessels and Arms

The basic unit of analysis chosen is the one-way journey of a sh

the period of our study there appear to have been a great variet
types of ships, which can be classified according to the area or r
in which they were supposed to operate. Four categories can be
tinguished: global, intra-Asian, interinsular, and local shipping.
latter, i.e. local shipping, did not venture beyond the coastal wa
of North Java. Interinsular refers to those journeys which trav
the Java Sea but did not leave the confines of the Malayo-Indon
Archipelago. Intra-Asian and global shipping are the labels app

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 SHIPPING AND TRADE IN JAVA, C. 1775 411

to Asian connections outside the Archipelago and to connection

Europe, respectively. The main types in these categories were

Global Spiegelschip (square-stern ship)

Intra-Asian Scheepje (small ship), Wangkang (junk)
Interinsular Brigantijn (brigantine), Chialoup (shallop), Gonting
Local Pencalang, Cunea, Mayang.
There was a great deal of overlap between these categories in view
of the fact that the bigger ships were also used on the shorter haul
The square-stern ships which sailed to Java were all owned by the
VOC, their average capacity was about 1,ooo tons. The small ships
were sailed by English country-traders from India and the junks b
Chinese skippers from Fukien Province. Their average size varied
from between 2oo and 6oo tons. The interinsular connections were
served by vessels under the command of a multitude of private skip-
pers with various backgrounds. The European-style brigantine and
shallop shared these routes with indigenous Southeast Asian types,
such as the Javanese gonting. The interinsular ships varied in size
from between 2o and 2oo tons. Whether or not these ships were
constructed in European or Southeast Asian style, they were all pro-
duced in Java, usually in the area of Rembang, where the greatest
teak forest reserves of the island were located. Local shipping con-
tacts were carried out by fairly small vessels varying between 8 and
20o tons. Because the latter had to operate in fairly shallow waters,
quite a few flat-bottomed ships were active here, the most common
of all being the indigenous Javanese mayang, actually a type of fishing
boat.
Almost all ships were armed. The biggest vessels, the square-stern
ships, carried the heaviest armament: 22 iron cannon, 8 to lo swivel-
guns, and about 40 snaphaunces. Shallops were armed on average
with 4 cannon, 1 swivel-gun, and 7 snaphaunces. The mayang carried
no cannon, but had 1 swivel-gun and 2 snaphaunces on board. It is
estimated that the total number of fire-arms on board vessels in the
private sector in Java must have amounted to about 5,000 cannon
and 2o,ooo snaphaunces, which is quite astonishing. Although there
is evidence that a part of these arms were manufactured locally, it
is also known that the inhabitants of the Archipelago bought sub-
stantial supplies of fire-arms from English country-traders. The
research has also revealed that even the VOC used to sell significant
numbers of fire-arms to private persons.

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412 GERRIT KNAAP

A glance at the types of arms re

Southeast Asian skipper had a
weapons. The snaphaunce, a flintl
pean introduction, but, as already
only evidence of the diffusion of E
and seventeenth-century private
Asian trade routes in ajung. Duri
ship type vanished from the seas
role had been taken over by the
the brigantine. It is still difficult t
age of the new European-style ve
cessor. Rigging was certainly an
indications that stern rudders and the construction of the hull had
an impact as well. Finally, it seems as if the European types provided
a better ratio of burthen to crew.

Crews and Skippers

The VOC's square-stern ships usually carried a European crew of a

little over loo men on board. The average number of the crew mus-
tered on board vessels active in the intra-Asian networks was about
80, while that in the interinsular category varied between to and
40. The types of ships which were exclusively employed for local
journeys had crews of between 4 and 10. The ethnicity of the major-
ity of the sailors on the intra-Asian routes was either Indian or
Chinese. In the case of the interinsular and local routes, the great
majority of the ordinary sailors was Javanese. Only in the vicinity of
Batavia or on some other specific interinsular routes did quite a
number of other Southeast Asian ethnicities appear to be involved,
including Malays, Sulawesians, and Balinese. There is a distinct
impression that in order to man their vessels the shipowners could
draw on a considerable 'itinerant,' almost 'vagabond-like,' labour
force in or around the ports of Java. Furthermore, there must have
been quite an overlap between the sectors of maritime transport and
of fishing. In fact, the sheer prominence of the mayang as a cargo-
carrier-cum-fishing-boat already provides proof of this. Another,
albeit less obvious, indication for such an overlap may be adduced
from the fairly low frequency of trips in the cargo-carrying sector.
The estimated total number of persons involved in the private
maritime sector of Java was at least 65,000 to 70,000. The number

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 SHIPPING AND TRADE IN JAVA, C. 1775 413

of skippers has been established at some 8,ooo. These skipp

learned their profession through the daily routine experie
sailor's life. This was somewhat different from their colle
the VOC, who had learned both through practical seama
well as through theoretical instruction. There is no lack of
tion about the ethnic background of the private sector skip
the ports under consideration, Batavia excluded. About 45%
skippers were Javanese, 30% Chinese, and almost lo% M
Batavia, most of the skippers active in interinsular contac
have been Chinese. On the other hand, Batavian skippers a
the shorter haul, for instance to Banten, were quite often
ians or Balinese, who may have been former slaves. Gener
might say that the role of the Chinese and of the non-
Southeast Asian ethnicities, like Malays, tended to becom
important in a port whenever interinsular contacts were i
Turning to the skippers' places of residence one can distingu
sorts of concentrations. First, not unsurprisingly, many of the
in the ports with interinsular or wider networks, such as
Semarang, and Surabaya. The second and the third concent
were to be found in relatively infertile coastal areas, like th
part of Central Java and the island of Madura. Both these a
a strong boat-building and seafaring tradition. In the form
communities of skippers were found inJuwana and Remban
latter in Sumenep and Bangkalan.
Relating the ethnicity of the skippers in the private secto
types of ships they sailed produces the following picture. No et
was exclusively bound to the use of the type(s) of ship of it
country. This is not only true for the non-Javanese migran
cities but also, to a certain extent, for the Javanese the
because one-seventh of them sailed on non-Javanese types of
The most numerous ethnicities, i.e. the Javanese and the C
had a more than average score in sailing on the mayang. The
ship's tonnage for the entire private sector, Batavia exclud
21 tons. However, Javanese skippers appeared to have had a
erably lower average tonnage, just over 12 tons. By contra
Malays and Chinese had a score of between 25 and 30 to
the Chinese and the Malays proved to be more active on inte
routes than the Javanese, which explains their relative pr
for bigger types, such as gonting and shallop. Consequently
the Chinese skippers who took the biggest share in the tota
of shipping in the private sector, a fact which coincided wi

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414 GERRIT KNAAP
TABLE 1
Annual Average Volume of Shipping (m

Banyuwangi 2,200 Pasuruan 2,400 Sumenep 13,600

Bangkalan 7,200 Surabaya 35,800 Gresik 35,800
Rembang 38,800 Juwana 30,400 Jepara 19,000
Semarang lo8,8oo Pekalongan 19,200 Tegal 14,400
Cirebon 2o,8oo Batavia > 254,800 Banten 19,400

dominant role in the economy of Java. They wer

handling about 40% of all volume of shipping, wh
handled only some 30o%, and the Malays a little o

Volumes and Directions

For the estimated annual average volume of shipping, i.e. of ar

and departures, measured in tons, in the ports under consider
see Table 1. The annual volume of all the ports together was a
over 622,600 tons. Batavia was by far the biggest port with
40% of the total turnover, trailed at a great distance by Sema
The timber exporting port of Rembang was third. The share
VOC in the volume of shipping of all the ports together was 3
tons, or almost 52%, which is very considerable indeed. Nevert
between particular ports there were great fluctuations in the
of the VOC, which usually varied between 25 and 6o%. Excep
to this rule were the two ports on Madura, i.e. Sumenep and B
lan, where the VOC's role was negligible. The reason for this
that the local rulers on Madura were obliged to employ their
vessels for exporting their tribute, whereas in the other port
VOC's square-stern ships themselves came in to collect the qu
On the other hand, there were a few ports where the role o
VOC exceeded the 6o% level. Batavia, the Asian headquarters
Dutch, was the most prominent of them, showing a percent
62.
Between 6o and 90o% of all one-way journeys in the private
in the five ports open for journeys to overseas destinations-B
Cirebon, Semarang, Gresik, and Surabaya-still concerned traf
and from Java. In the private sector of Batavia the most num
interinsular journeys were those with Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggar
Kalimantan. However, none of these areas reached the level of
of the total number of one-way journeys. The most important in

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 SHIPPING AND TRADE IN JAVA, C. 1775 415

sular journeys in the other ports were the area of the Straits
acca, with o10 to 15% of the journeys, and Kalimantan, wit
of 10 to 12%. Yet here again there were variations. Cirebo
no role at all in the Kalimantan connections. In the Straits area
the most frequent contacts were with Palembang and Malacca.
Kalimantan, Banjarmasin was the most prominent destination.
important to note that in the case of the overseas contacts
referred to, Batavia was often outnumbered in frequency of con
as well as in volume by the other four ports. Studying the journ
within Java itself, it is clear that there was a Batavia-centered n
work which stretched as far east as Rembang. However, this netw
did not entirely overshadow the other rival and partly overlapp
networks, like that of Semarang and that of Gresik/Surabaya.
Whether VOC or private shipping, it is clear that on the lon
haul, especially in interinsular, intra-Asian, and global journeys,
rhythm of the shipping was largely decided by the monsoons. H
ever, this 'iron law' did not apply to local shipping along the coas
Java. The difference between the activity in so-called minimum
months and maximum-months was not really significant. This s
ation was caused by the different wind pattern close to the coas
Java. During the day, cool breezes blew from the sea, while at ni
the opposite pattern occurred. Although small vessels had no dif
culty in using these breezes to be able to keep sailing almost th
entire year, this did not mean that the average skipper engaged
local traffic was at sea all the time. As stated earlier, the freque
of trips among the private skippers in Java was fairly low. It is esti
ated that a skipper was only about one-sixth of his time at sea o
trading venture. The rest of the time his vessel was used for fis
or just lay idle in the roadstead or on the beach. However, beca
of the rhythm of the monsoons as well as the long time require
load and unload their huge vessels, the performance of VOC skipp
was not much different.

The Flow of Goods

The VOC capital in Asia, Batavia, was the main emporium on the
coast ofJava. It was a major importer of all kinds of consumer goods.
In this respect the other ports in Java often fulfilled the role of sup
pliers, for instance of rice, salt, and timber. On the other hand
Batavia also added its own products to the local and internationa

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416 GERRIT KNAAP
networks, for instance, fine-grain sugar and
the gateway to the global market for the
Java. Batavia was also a transit port, thro
some of its monopoly commodities, suc
opium, into circulation. Furthermore, it w
most of its bullion and money which was
the Netherlands to pay for the return carg
coffee, tin, and Moluccan spices. It was also
Chinese junks brought their valuable merc
ain, plates, and iron pans, which were then
other islands in the Archipelago. Although
on the decline in the second half of the ei
still an important element in the trade net
The economy of the ports to the east of Bat
terized as mainly export-oriented. As such
ant gateways through which a whole va
shipped. These products generally found th
several overseas interinsular destinations,
Straits of Malacca and in Kalimantan. The
tended to be agricultural in the proper
included rice, tobacco, and fruits. In East
often involved items collected from the natu
sea and forest products. Both Central and
exports of salt and of locally produced clot
to be fairly unspectacular. In eighteenth-ce
were no longer in great demand, while opiu
prominent place it held in the nineteenth
which were imported in bulk were gambe
rattan from Kalimantan. The former was
the latter partly a transit item. Consequen
Java's trade balance must have shown a con
and bullion.
Because of our lack of information about the value of the commod-
ities on board, it is almost impossible to estimate how much of the
trade was actually in the hands of the VOC and how much was still
retained by the private sector. We are dealing here with literally
hundreds of commodities, some of which had a fairly limited turn-
over, while others were traded in bulk. Many of these products, for
instance, rice and salt, had already been traded in Java for a very
long time; while other items, such as coffee and Javanese cloth, had
grown in importance only during the last century. In a few particular

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 SHIPPING AND TRADE IN JAVA, C. 1775 417
TABLE 2
Registered Annual Seaborne Turnover of Export Products

Commodity Quantity Percentage by the VOC

Black pepper 23,000 picol 100

Coffee 43,500 picol 100
Fine-grain sugar 57,000 picol 8o
Rice 472,000 picol 41
Planks 126,000 pieces 40
Arrack 15,000 cellarets 20
Logs 56,000 pieces 10
Salt 142,000 picol 8
Javanese tobacco 17,000 picol o
Javanese cloth 146,000 pieces 0
Palm sugar 22,000 picol 0

but important instances the V

illustrate this I give some exa
borne turnover of export produ
important they may be, do not
total turnover of commoditie
about 52% of the tonnage of
under-registration of trade it
than in the VOC sector, we must assume that the share of the
former in the handling of the trade must have been greater than
50%, possibly even up to 6o%.

Conclusions

The quantitative analysis of the harbormasters' specifications

in the 177os, however complicated it may be, is giving us opp
ities to reach a deeper understanding of the circulation both of m
time traffic and of trade goods in an important part of Sou
Asia in the last stage of the early modern period. A few conc
are clear.
First, there was the widespread adoption by most ethnicities,
including the Javanese, of certain elements of European naval tech-
nology, both in the field of armaments and of types of ships in the
private sector.
Second, although a substantial share of the maritime activities
was in the hands of the Europeans, more in particular the colonial
state-cum-capitalist VOC, with about 50% of the shipping and at

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418 GERRIT KNAAP
least an estimated 40% of the trade, the
entirely wiped out.
Third, within the private sector the role of
community of skippers, although numeric
be overshadowed by the Chinese, a proce
their growing role in the economy of Java.
In 1940 Van Leur refuted the idea that E
were already dominating Asia during the
domination was only realized in the ninetee
achievements of the industrial revolution
Malayo-Indonesian Archipelago was concern
sibility that the VOC was the most domin
Java he could observe a clear growth of D
after the mid-eighteenth century. Yet, Va
himself to speaking of a Javanese society
high opinion of the military capabilities
power ofJavanese society vis-a-vis colonial
between Europe and Asia was not very pro
271-8o). Others have been less optimistic
teenth century, the role of the Javanese
reduced to mere coastal shipping, because
being driven off the path of intense intern
that the 168os had already witnessed the 'f
age of commerce of Southeast Asia. The
nessmen, who were not integrated into loca
over (Meilink-Roelofsz 1962:11; Reid, 199
factors were responsible: naval blockades an
the port-cities, actions of which both the
Mataram in the interior of Java were culp
drawn attention to a third factor: the glob
hence economic conditions (Reid 1993:291
The results of the present research justify c
an optimistic as well as a pessimistic appro
of the shipping and trade ofJava in the eig
questioning the severe crisis Java suffered
teenth century, as well as the tight grip of
economy, it is clear that the private, i.e. no
means dead after the 168os. The idea tha
been entirely eliminated is the product of
long-distance trade items, such as spices, In
Such a focus fails to take into account the f

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 SHIPPING AND TRADE IN JAVA, C. 1775 419

the maritime trader was subject to a tremendous fluctuation

modities. Moreover, it seems to deny the inherent flexibili
non-VOC sector. The innovation in naval technology and,
this is more difficult to sustain, adjustments in the traders' pr
mix on board are proof of such a flexibility. Conversely, an im
element which does not justify an optimistic approach is t
of the Javanese in shipping and trade. Although their role
substantial, it is obvious that they were no longer the prota
the maritime economy of the 177os. As such, they were be
passed by the VOC and the Chinese. Consequently, this ha
happened well before the heyday of European colonialis
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

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