III.5 Co-operations, Relations and Diplomacy

This Western policy of ‘contractual obligation’ not only secured trading monopolies, it also saved numerous small kingdoms and island villages from being overwhelmed by their neighbours. Inter-village violence, piracy and raiding, feudal relations between rulers and vassals, clashes between kingdoms and succession conflicts all contributed to a situation in which a Western power could gradually gain a foothold in the Asian scene.

Batavia was one of the main centres of diplomacy. Envoys from the Nusantara sultans, kings and princes were all received with honour and the appropriate protocol which usually involved a pleasant ride through the city in a horse-drawn carriage. Letters were exchanged on a silver salver covered with yellow silk cloth. Thousands of diplomatic letters were read aloud in the presence of the Supreme Government and after translation inserted in the Daily Journals of Batavia Castle. One of the most important series of hitherto hidden diplomatic letters are those from the kings of Siam and the prhaklang, the Minister of Foreign Relations. The Daily Journals also include several letters of the Susuhunans of Surakarta in south-central Java.