"I am the Rajah of the Sea/the ruler of Kuching's navy/whose praise Sa-ra-wak will surely chant/ (he runs it with his nephew and his cousin and his aunt!)"
Of Rajahs and Hornbills: A timeline of Brooke Sarawak
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At any point will the Brooks drop the Title "Rajah" ? It really is more akin to a powerful prince/duke or 'petty' king than a ruler of the territories that Charles holds. Even more so since Sarawak now holds nearly all of the previous Brunei possessions. Calling yourself the equivalent of petty king when you've so thoroughly established yourself at least a middle power in the region seems 'meager' to me. Also just for clarification just how big is Brunei in relation to Sarawak, OTL but without the split going down the middle? Or is there really only what looks like a mile long strip of jungle connecting the two sides of Sarawak so deep in the Jungle? Also here's an Idea, if Indonesia forms again like OTL have the Dutch just give the flood-lands to Sarawak out of spite, it would be hilarious.
Maharajah? They aren't Muslim so they probably wouldn't go for "Sultan".
*Search up the song lyrics*
*Search up Gilbert and Sullivan*
*Search up the original songs on YouTube*
Ooooooh....
I must confess, despite my undying love of Les Mis and the Phantom of the Opera, I haven't once seen or heard any of the Great Duo's musicals until now. The "I am the very model of a modern Major-General~" is unbelievably catchy!
I stand corrected; Gilbert and Sullivan could make a musical piece out of Sarawak and its relationship with Britain, especially with the bigger presence of the Brookes ITTL. The fact that their golden era corresponds roughly to the Orchidmania of the Victorian age, and that Sarawak is a land so full of peculiarities in itself ("Why, my lord Rajah! Would you like some grub stew?") would add to the comedy of it all!*
It was a surprise to me when I first found out about it; some of the most peculiar tidbits of Nusantara tend to be the ones that are overlooked IOTL.
It's the 'White' before the term that makes all the difference. At this point, the compound word has become something of an international symbol for the Brooke monarchy, and their past adventurism and Anglo origins have elevated the title far above its original meaning, especially when compared with their fellow users in India. Add to this the Western association of the 'White Rajahs' with exoticism, plus with their eclectic court that has accreted under their rule, and you've got a family that is far more elevated than their title suggests.
For now, they are happy with the term, not least because most Sarawakians understand 'Rajah' better than any other notion of supreme kingship. 'Sultan' is inappropriate since, aside from religion, the term has political baggage due to the association with Brunei. Someone's bound to point out the incongruity of their title and position, soon enough.
Brunei is much larger and is a (much reduced) contiguous state ITTL due to the sultanate retaining the Limbang River basin. However, its headwaters do not extend all the way into the interior, which gave the Sarawak government access to its inland corridor that connects the mainland south to the Sabahan north. For now, the corridor is only inhabited by small upriver tribes such as the Lun Bawang and Bario, though there are eyes in both Kuching and Sandakan that seek to change that.
And nice to see that Sentarum is not being forgotten! As for that place... you'll see.
Thailand and her northern diplomacy coming soon, followed by either East Asia or New Guinea before heading off to the west.
*Though the Melanau and the Kadazan-Dusun would have a word or two about that phrase. Sago grub delicacies are as much cultural markers as local art and language.
Yeah I figured that 'Sultan' would be inappropriate. I thought that maybe Maharajah would be appropriate considering he controlled as much territory as many Indian princes whom bore similar titles. I thought It might be appropriate to call himself king but wondered if maybe being within the grey area of Britain had something to do with that.
Oh, I had no Idea that that was the offical title, I always thought that was just the 'nickname' as it were to distinguish them from various other Indian rulers, It makes much more sense now. Is it official or just the defacto title? It's going to be interesting to see how people react in the future as I'm sure many people will try to hold such a title to be a marker of western Imperialism.
Sarawak Gazette FrontPage Feb 2,2016
Sarawak guilty of being a "victim" of Imperialism?
Two men were arrested six days ago for aggravated assault concerning an attack on a Pakistani tourist. The victim 'Dr. Muhammad Ahluwalia' is in critical condition due to severe trauma to the head, and has several fractured bones. According to sources at the scene Dr. Ahluwalia was making 'inappropriate' remarks connecting the royal family to European imperialism, but was attacked after he was heard by the detainees calling Sarawakians "dogs of the west" and "race traitors" and joking to his wife that the reason his majesty is referred to as the "White" Rajah is to remind the people of their conquerors and that they were to stupid to realize it. Needless to say this has sparked some controversy with twitter battles, and various other social media forums connected to the issue exploding with everything from petty arguments, to long drawn out conversations between intellectuals. Dr. Engku Chik a historian at the prestigious Ranee Margret ladies Academy furiously took to twitter saying...
"History is riddled with cases of peoples of one ethnic group being ruled by peoples of another, sometimes it is subtle, sometimes it is not. However it is ridiculous that we should cry imperialism by mere association of his highness' skin color being pale. In fact it's down right racist that people should use that false reasoning at all. After all did the British not invite Germans to wear their crown, was the first paternal ancestor of all Rurikids of Russia not a Swede, even the Greeks invited Danes to rule over them after achieving independence. Yet we must now suffer to have our Royals criticized for being to pale of skin and "not of the region," and they accuse others of racism?!?! James Brooke was an adventurer yes, but he was also a soldier, and could trace his decent to the Stuart kings through the female line, and proved himself capable to the Job 'we' invited him and his descendants to do. Those ignorant should not speak."
His Majesty James II has not given extensive commentary on the incident but the Astana has released a press briefing saying "The indecent is regrettable and his Highness The White Rajah expresses his remorse and intention to visit the family of Mr. Ahluwalia at the Hospital. Furthermore his majesty will be paying all medical bills until Mr. Ahluwalia makes a full recovery, and intends to host the Ahluwalia family at the Astana in state at their earliest convenience." It has also been confirmed that the Kuching third district court has been denied the right to use the death penalty by the Astana.
or something like all that
When one has the largest, wealthiest and most powerful empire but still call oneself king or queen, one can call oneself a duke while holding a kingdom.
Also, hopefully The Merovingian post is inaccurate in that this timeline does not devolve into such nonsense where royals feel the need to give a damn about some random yobbo getting a deserved beating.
Also, hopefully The Merovingian post is inaccurate in that this timeline does not devolve into such nonsense where royals feel the need to give a damn about some random yobbo getting a deserved beating.
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International snippets of the 1890's: 1/?
Somsak Jeamteerasakul, Siam’s Constant Struggle, (Nakhon Si Thammarat University Press, 1989)
By the end of 1893, Siam stood at an unwelcome position.
Once a regional power, it was now surrounded on three sides by the two global superpowers of the day: The French Third Republic and the British Empire. Upper Burma was being gnawed off from Calcutta while French influence in the east was at its highest level yet. Worse, a succession of diplomatic crises had resulted in Bangkok losing the tributary states of Luang Prabang, Vientianne, and Champasak, from which France would cobble together the modern state now known as Laos. Most damning of all, the Siamese provinces of Chantaburi and Trat were themselves occupied by the Troupes de Marine, providing the Power with a bargaining chip from which they could (and would) ask for even more territory.
Perhaps the most stinging of these capitulations was how the Siamese’s supposed ally, Great Britain, stood by while the French navy blockaded Bangkok and pointed their guns at the royal palace. Defeating a small squadron of Siamese vessels, the French threatened to blow up the complex unless the demands of Paris were accepted. In all this, the most that London did was to deliver a few worded complaints, several gunboats from Singapore to protect her own citizens, and a request to further influence the Shan hill states of the northwest. Not surprisingly, the Siamese government was less than happy.
Which was probably why King Chulalongkorn and his ministers began searching for a third Power that could guarantee his kingdom’s independence. The fact that the Anglo-French rivalry overtook past agreements of friendship was not lost on him, and he decided to focus on making friends with a Power that could command the respect of both nations – and reign Paris in: Russia.
The empire of the north has a long history of involvement in the region, dating all the way back to 1863. Russian vessels regularly docked at Bangkok, the Tsarevich Nicholas paid a visit in 1891, and a Russian composer even wrote the Siamese royal anthem [1]. More recently, the Russian navy has also taken an eye to Sundaland, with its rich resources and strategic position making the benefits clear. Discussions of acquiring a coaling station were laid as far back as 1883, and imperial cruisers were scouting the Siamese coast as early as 1889 [2]. Nevertheless, such plans were always laid at the backburner, not least because the imperial government of Alexander III wanted to maintain peace with Europe.
The Peacemaker of Europe, though not to non-Europeans (or Jews).
That changed after Siam’s episode with France. Bangkok began courting the Russian government, hoping to add a third column to guarantee its freedom. Talks were held, and among the issues of discussion was a base for the imperial fleet from which they could resupply along the Crimea – China route. Held in secret for fear of attracting unwanted attention, the discussions culminated with Chulalongkorn’s official European Tour of 1897, from which his entourage’s first destination was the Russian Empire. The conferences that were held at the Anichkov Palace were still held in secret, but their result would prove to be the opposite of that. Upon his return to Siam six months later, the king accepted a proposal to lease Phuket Island to St. Petersburg.
Britain was aghast. The government had not interfered with the 1893 crisis because, apart from French rivalry, the Colonial Office favoured a weak Siam that could not challenge British interests over Burma and the hill states. That their non-involvement could result in a diplomatic backfire was a consequence that was out of their minds. It also raised the ire of Singapore, which knew very well just how island leases could become vital naval bases firsthand. A Russian Phuket could not only influence the resource-rich Malay Peninsula – which was already seen as a British sphere of influence – but it might open the notion of undercutting oceanic trade through facilitating transport links across the Kra isthumus, and perhaps even dredging a separate canal!
But what no one expected was the reaction of the Malay sultanates themselves. Caught between the Great Game of Powers, the sultans and their royal courts have since learned of the Russo-Turkish War and viewed darkly at the planting of a Russia that might see local Muslims as, if not enemies, then as second-class peoples to be Russianized. Three weeks after Chulalongkorn’s announcement, a group of Malay nobles from Patani arrived in Singapore, emulating the past delegations of Johor, Aceh, and Sulu. Their demands were simple: Seek the protection of Germany or the Ottoman Empire against Russo-Siamese intrigue [3].
Now, the local British administration was horrified. The Malay Peninsula had been their playground, and now they are facing a real prospect of a divided land. An alarmist communiqué to London in early 1898 highlighted the situation, stating “…If the land of Malaya is not ours, then we could very well see the loss of British power.”
The resulting negotiations, talks, and diplomatic discourse between the sultanates, Siam, and Europe are enough to fill many more chapters, but by the end of March, a new paradigm has emerged on the land. Siam would cede every Malay sultanate it has as tributaries to Great Britain, along with the Malay-majority regions of Perlis, Songkhla, Satun, Trang, and Phatthalung. In all, the lease of Phuket to Russia was acknowledged so long as the northern ‘neck’ of Malaya lay under British control.
To say that the agreement was glumly accepted by everyone was far from inaccurate. The Siamese government was rankled at the cession of so much land, though a few noticed that the kingdom’s south was more religiously and ethnically homogenised as a result. British opinion was raucous, with many officials openly calling for British India to simply annex the entire Peninsula – Thai monthons and Malay states and all – to avoid another Power seeking to do what Russia did. The fact that such an action would only drive the Siamese court closer to St. Petersburg prevailed, but it was a very close thing. Conversely, there were many in Russia whom wanted the government to be more proactive and gain greater influence around the Kra isthmus, though this was quickly shot down by Tsar Alexander. For him, enough trouble has been done already for the island.
Intriguingly, the new uptick in regional interest did set the Royal Navy to be more active in the local seas, which would indirectly precipitate to the Oil Policy of September 1898 between the Admiralty, the Kriegsmarine, and the Kingdom of Sarawak. In fact, some have speculated that it was the diplomatic game around Russian Phuket that compelled Franz Ferdinand to tour around the region, though this has never been confirmed from hearsay…
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The full version of the map is here.
Notes:
1. IOTL, there is notion that a Russian composer wrote Thailand’s royal anthem (Sansoen Phra Barami) but this is mostly apocryphal, with other sources claiming that the composers were local men whom were educated in Western music.
2. This is based IOTL. Russia was interested in obtaining some Siamese lands for a coaling station, but failed due to combined pressure from Britain, France, and the Japanese on the Siamese side.
3. Also based IOTL. The sultan of Pattani threatened to Britain that he would seek German protection if the British do not guarantee their relative freedom from Siam. IOTL, this lead to the 1909 Anglo-Siamese Treaty, where Patani was kicked under the bus and remained Siamese.
EDIT: 'Gulf of Thailand' my arse. Also, added links and brushed up some words at some places.
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Ottomans, Italians, Russians, Austria-Hungary ...
PS: I think you forgot Sweden and Denmark... and why not Switzerland.
Anyway, that TL will always surprize me.
PS: I think you forgot Sweden and Denmark
... and why not Switzerland.Anyway, that TL will always surprize me.
I am not sure if this will be better or worse for Siam in the long run.
Still the Siamese Malay tension shows an anti colonial coalition is not too likely right now.
Still the Siamese Malay tension shows an anti colonial coalition is not too likely right now.
Well, Queen Victoria also got the title "Empress of India", so she wasn't technically a queen in the empire's biggest money pit.
By all accounts, the "White Rajahs" are both a nickname and a de facto title given by Westerners. Locally, most Sarawakian papers call Charles Brooke simply as "Rajah of Sarawak", and his actual royal title –"Sri Paduka Duli Yang Maha Mulia Rajah dan Yang di-Pertuan Negara Sarawak" (His Royal Highness the Rajah and Head of State of Sarawak) – is bandied about only in the most important ceremonies, such as during a peace deal with a Dayak subgroup.
As for how people will react across time... well, we still have a long way to go before that.
Thanks! Took me almost a week, but I felt it's time to see just how much Malaya and Sumatra has changed since we've last seen them.
Ottomans, Italians, Russians, Austria-Hungary ...
[gif]
PS: I think you forgot Sweden and Denmark
Anyway, that TL will always surprize me.
Sweden-Norway for the Pacific!
More's the pity, Russia shall be the second-last European nation to have a foothold in Sundaland, after Austria-Hungary. The region is getting a little crowded now and most of the Great and even Middle Powers are getting a little antsy at the influx of newcomers, and how much has changed. At this point, the big question is whether regional peace could be held altogether.
Though the tales from this era would probably influence at lot of Scandinavians to visit the region in the future. What better place to soak up exotic cultures and get away from the cold?
It's going to be a mixed bag for the Siamese government. In effect, they are facing a ramped-up form of the bullying they faced IOTL. On the one hand, their appeal for a third guarantor has cost them their Malay tributaries. On the other, future colonial plans shall now be greatly opposed by international counterweights, which was probably what Chulalongkorn and his government had in mind all along (albeit with less ceding-of-territories than expected).
International snippets of the 1890's: 2/?
Robert Whitlam, The Farthest Colonies: New Guinea (Queensland Bowen Press; 1989)
…Following New Guinea’s partition, nearly all the respective nations that now hold the land faced a new question: what to do now?
Before this, the polities of Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and the Dutch East Indies all staked control over the island primarily on the basis of territorial influence (or in Britain’s case, due to Queensland’s case of territorial anxiety). But that did not answer the actual subject of governing them. Of all the respective stakeholders, only Rome had a definite plan as to the future of her Papuan lands and how it shall be achieved: namely, to create a Italian colony through transplanting desperate citizens from the Peninsula to begin a new life abroad. For the three others, the policy of administration was something that entered their minds only after the dust had settled.
As a result, New Guinea became a microcosm of all the different flavours of colonial rule by the Great Powers, almost more so than the African continent. Each portion of the island was governed differently according to the ideologies, practicalities, and above all, the interests of each coloniser. And as such, the territories began to be developed in ways that would make them increasingly divergent from each other…
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British New Guinea
Of all the colonial holders, it was Great Britain that had the most trouble deciding what to do with their new piece of land. In all, British New Guinea was an unplanned protectorate, thrusted upon them due to the anxiety of the Queensland Colony over the goings-on up north following the debacle of the Marquis de Rays’ plan of New France [1]. As such, London was unprepared to govern such a faraway territory and thus installed the most rudimentary form of colonial rule anywhere within the British Empire. A few new trading posts were built across the land, a few offices were set up in Port Moresby to facilitate the minutiae of governance, and a small garrison was set up and staffed with neighbouring Queenslanders to defend the town, but nothing more.
And with that, the interests of the Australian colonies arose, and in particular that of Queensland. The territory always had a perennial fear of invasion from the north, and with the steady trickle of Italian settlers continuing to develop Italian Papua, several officials saw British New Guinea as a useful bulwark. There was also the concern that any development on the island would enable it to compete with Queensland’s agricultural exports, particularly in the sugar business. However, any plans for the protectorate were quickly made complicated by the Colonial Office, whom ruled against any form of interference to the indigenous peoples on the basis of Brisbane’s practice of ‘blackbirding’, and by the other Australian colonies whom couldn’t agree among themselves whether to funnel their money into an experimental venture. [2]
It wasn’t until 1886 that things changed. Following a deputation from the Premiers of Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales, a new arrangement was hammered out in which British New Guinea would be developed through the pooling of resources from the three colonies. Settlements and plantations could be established, so long as the stakeholders obeyed the anti-blackbirding laws from the Colonial Office and have the explicit consent of land usage with the native tribes. And keeping with regional anxieties of non-white migrants, local natives would also be hired for labour.
And so began the colonization of the land and the rise of Australian influence in the local government. However, the strings of power quickly proved to be a hamstrung one. The ‘indigenous protection’ rulings established by the Office, coupled with Queensland’s skittishness for agricultural competition, massively dampened the push for local development; by 1891, there were only around two dozen copra plantations on the territory, all connected to the capital by a coastal dirt road. The following decade saw further disruption as Australia’s export economy imploded and global commodity prices slumped, extinguishing medium-term plans for a New Guinean agricultural sector.
The economic downturn also affected efforts to establish white settlement in the region, with many new migrants preferring to inhabit the more hospitable (and better paid) territories of the Australian continent. Despite a campaign to “spread the labour of the British race”, as Sir Thomas McIlwraith of Queensland declared, only around 2100 white residents were recorded in British New Guinea by 1904, most of whom lived in or around Port Moresby.
With that, it wasn’t surprising that native relations were very ambivalent. Many coastal tribes were unwilling to give up their lands unless compensated handsomely. Most also saw working for the Europeans as beneath them; they had lived well across generations, so why labour under the sun for whole days in plantations for scraps of foreign wealth that they would barely use? Besides, any foreign items needed could easily be obtained through the trading posts. When the local government did turn to coercion – as it did after the land laws were reworked following British New Guinea’s administrative handover to Australia in 1901 – a few tribes simply retreated into the mountainous jungles or further down the coast, openly exposing Port Moresby’s deficiency in enforcing laws on a territorial scale.
But even with that, the development of British New Guinea was not written off as a failure. In fact, the birth of the Federation of Australia in 1901 saw the protectorate’s affairs being handed over from the Colonial Office to the new government. With local governance now fully in Australian hands and the upswing of the commodity markets later that year, new heads began to turn north…
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Kaiser-Wilhelmsland (German New Guinea)
For the German Empire, the islands of the equatorial east were as distant and exotic as the great wildlands of central Africa. But unlike Africa, the region was far from being unknown. Indeed, German companies had already made the Papuan northeast as their mercantile stronghold by the time Kaiser-Wilhelmsland came into being, with some firms controlling up to 70% of commerce between the region and the nearby south Pacific archipelagos.
And as most companies saw the territory as a highway, it made sense to prioritise development on the outlying islands, where vessels are received and sighted, than on the mainland New Guinea, where contact was limited to a few trading posts. This was especially the case of Neupommern Island, where ramshackle wayports had been established since the 1870’s. Missionaries and traders had contact with the local tribes long before the New France affair caught the attention of Berlin, and the establishment of German rule was seen locally, at first, as little more than a continuation of what has been going on since the previous decades.
But the German government had other ideas. Based on the success of Dutch East Indies and influenced by Italian migration to the Bird's Head Peninsula, several officials embarked on perhaps the most ambitious plan of all the four Papuan Powers: to turn Kaiser-Wilhelmsland into both a settler state and a plantation colony. That such divergent interests required divergent policies was perhaps not fully understood by the pro-colonial investors, whom set up the German New Guinea Company (Deutsche Neuguinea-Kompagnie) in 1889, hoping to emulate the success of its British and Dutch ancestors. However, the monopolisation of trade caused ill-will towards the other trade firms and the company was never able to balance its budget of appropriating lands, planting cash crops, and subsidising settlers. With the tumble of the global economy in the 1890’s, the company finally broke and was promptly liquidated in 1897.
However, German New Guinea had the one thing neither of her neighbours had: royal prestige. Just as Siam had Chulalongkorn and Sarawak had the White Rajahs, Neupommern Island had the sovereign grace of ‘Queen’ Emma Eliza Cole. Born from mixed-raced parents to a branch of the Samoan Malietoa dynasty, she was educated in both Australia and the United States and quickly found her island home too small for her growing ambitions. Using commerce and coercion, Emma began acquiring large tracks of land from the local tribes to create a plantation colony on Neupommern’s north end in 1881, ultimately possessing over 100,000 hectares to her name across the Bismarck Archipelago, the single largest of any landholder [3].
From this, Emma’s business empire would be a beacon for the German government. Her partial success in the plantation industry – partly due to the over-prioritisation of copra and the unwillingness of local tribes to labour for worthless cash – was immaterial, for her actions spoke enough of the territory’s potential. Advertisements across Imperial Germany expressed Emma’s business acumen and sense of intellect, utilizing her achievements and nicknaming her as, “The Queen of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland”, to entice prospective settlers. In any case, the German government had as much success as Australia’s, with many migrants preferring the Americas or the main southern continent as their new home. Nevertheless, the adverts did attract some interested folk and by 1899, Emma’s palace at modern-day Kokopo was surrounded by a burgeoning port and the offices of the German administration.
The influx of foreign planters also led to some of the most idiosyncratic policies of the territory. As with their British neighbour, many local tribes were hesitant to work in the cash crop industry. However, the German administration did not have a home office that was suspicious of its conduct, nor do they share the differing conflicts of interest that plagued the Australian colonies. As such, they were free to enforce native tribes to work for them, however brutal the methods. Queen Emma was known for importing thousands of men from the Solomon Islands to work her plantations before the Great War – sometimes by force [4]. Another method involved placing armed patrols at every plantation to ensure locals do not escape until the end of the day.
Slowly, these policies and more began to turn Kaiser-Wilhelmsland into what explorer Theodore Roosevelt would famously call, “…an illusory paradise…”
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Italian Papua
By contrast to her neighbours, it could be said that Italy had the most coherent and comprehensive development plan to her Papuan holdings. While many of her territorial neighbours stumbled from one approach to another, Rome viewed Italian Papua as a place of settlement for the poor and destitute of the European Peninsula, especially after their episode with the Marquis de Rays. “Papua shall be a land owned by farmers and smallholders,” voiced Italian politician Francesco Crispi. “The land shall neither be a coffee republic nor a tribal wasteland. Instead, Papua shall belong to all Italians in the same way as the British do with their own territories.”
This was greatly aided by the fact that the land has a significant amount of mountainous regions that lay close to the coast. Unlike Sabah, which had its highlands parcelled out between Sarawak and Dutch Borneo, Italian Papua had the mountainous and sea-fronting Bird's Head Peninsula all to itself, granting a more temperate climate that was absent in other colonial holdings. Advertisements on the region highlighted this, imploring farmers and settlers of the potential of starting a new life.
Unlike Australia or Germany, Rome did not have regional anxieties to exploit or a half-native royal to entice pioneers. However, they did have the ironic advantage of a large poor population, an underclass whom usually chose Dalmatia or the Americas to seek new beginnings. Now, and with the state subsiding the endeavour, a few began to turn their heads to the far southeast. From the trickle of men and women whom settled there in the aftermath of the New France debacle, Italian Papua would see a stream of around 800 settlers per year between 1883 and 1904. By the eve of the Great War, around 12,000 farmers called the territory home, migrating from places as north as Friuli and as south as Catania.
Early life in Papua was far from idyllic. Initially, reaching the high slopes required muscle and grit, clearing rainforests that meant hauling heavy equipment and tools across muddy roads and swift streams. Malaria and other tropical diseases were prevalent, as were attacks by wild cassowaries. Disease alone killed more than 250 colonists in the first half of the 80’s. But by 1888, highland farms were popping up on the hillslopes, growing coffee, spices, and tobacco alongside more temperate crops like strawberries and cabbages. The following year saw the opening of the first mountain railway, connecting the makeshift town of Nuovo Umbria with the regional port city of Manokwari. Two years year, the line was extended to the new colonial capital of Cavour.
Of all the places, the Anggi Lakes grabbed the most attention. With its cool climate and blue waters, the lakes of Anggi Gida and Anggi Giji quickly became the most sought out location for many farmers. However, this was quickly made complicated by the local Manikom and Hatam tribes – whom lived on the surrounding slopes for centuries – and how the local officials sided with them. Unlike the British and Germans, the Italian administration never forgot how the colonists in the Marquis de Rays’ debacle survived their ordeal: namely, through exchanging labour for food with the local natives. This compact was never forgotten, and the officials in Cavour quickly reached out to the indigenous peoples surrounding the lakes, promising to side with them in land disputes and guarantee their inclusion in local affairs if they accept Christianization and five days of paid labour a month.
Partly due to this, the Anggi Lakes remain as one of the most mixed, colourful, and picturesque region of Eastern New Guinea to this day. The proximity of different peoples living together would also give birth to new families, some of whom would play an outsized role in the future of the island…
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Muhammadiyah University of Surabaya
Name: Kakabusan Bauw
Date: 19/1/2003
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AUTO-PLAGRISIM CHECK
ASSIGNMENT (RESEARCH PAPER): Historical Compilation of Islam in New Guinea
SECTION 3: Advances in Dutch Papua
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…by all means, the west-jutting Onin Peninsula could be said as the farthest point of both Dutch and Islamic influence in New Guinea. But this status quo was shattered by the partitioning of the island during the early 1880’s.
At first, the Dutch authorities were confused as to their objectives in such a remote piece of land. Dutch Papua was heavily forested, full of primitive tribes, and far from the main commercial and trade centres of the East Indies. While there was the potential of valuable mineral and ore deposits in the central mountains, the rough and largely unfooted terrain made for a daunting prospect for any geologist or prospector.
But as time went on, and as their colonial neighbours began settling New Guinea with their own settlers, farmers, and planters, there was a sense among Batavian officials that formal rule must be established to enforce their claim on the island. After a land deal was signed with the sultanate of Ternate for the Onin Peninsula in 1890, the Dutch began establishing a trading post that would later become the modern-day city of Fakfak. Reluctant clerks and officers were sent there to set up a rudimentary administration while missionaries were sent far and wide to Christianise the native peoples.
But this was made difficult by the native Islamic village-states [5]. Through it all, the tiny fishing villages that dot the northern and central coasts of Onin had received, through the centuries, enough contact with the Moluccas to reach a religious “critical mass”. Several of these settlements had already converted to Islam before 1880. A few had even enthroned their headman as native rajahs, though their power is often checked by tribal values and were limited to just the very village they ruled, with a few surrounding hamlets, islands, and bays at the most.
But the coastal state of Patipi went further. Situated around the Fatagar Cape, it had the most contact with the archipelagos of the west, and the centuries of Moluccan contact had also accumulated a band of tribal nobles with far-reaching visions. After his enthronement, the new Sultan Fahim Kanumbas quickly set out to transform the land, hoping to retain as much as he could from the Western nations that were planting their roots. Local imams were tasked to preach to the interior peoples of the Onin Peninsula while scholars from the Moluccas were courted to live and work in his new village-capital of Tanisapata.
Sadly, few took up the offer. Western Papua was too tribal, too distant, and too different for many learned men of the west, whom viewed the local tribes with condescension and disdain. The fact that Fahim Kanumbas’ state blended native traditions and rituals to Islamic thought drove off many more whom cared past race.
Regardless, the creeping influence of Patipi in the west and north began to make itself known to the Dutch, whom were busy promoting their own missionaries up and down the coast from Fakfak. While the sultanate acquiesced to Dutch rule in 1893, it continued to promote imams to proselytise in the interior. Throughout the 1890’s, the Peninsula of Onin and larger region of Bomberai formed the scene of an unspoken war, where missionaries and clerics fanned out across forests, mountains, bays, and islands to see how much they can save in indigenous souls…
VERDICT: 37% SENTENCES MATCHED
THERESHOLD EXCEEDED
MARKS: 0/100
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Notes:
Firstly, Neupommern Island = OTL New Britain.
And before you ask, that photo of a lake surrounded by mountains is Anggi Gida, not somewhere in Europe or the Americas. Makes me want to wander around the hills…
1. See post #723.
2. Partly OTL. The Colonial Office had doubts as to Queensland’s intentions towards British New Guinea because of it blackbirding history. The Australian territories were also hesitant on pooling their resources IOTL, though they cleared that up by 1900.
3. Emma Eliza Cole was a real figure who really owned enormous tracts of land across German New Guinea. unfortunately, her business collapsed when she sold her plantations before the territory's takeover by the British and Australians following WWI.
4. Unfortunately, this was also IOTL.
5. Islam really did reach New Guinea IOTL, though conversions were very fragmented and whatever polities that formed were mostly small (think village-level small) and were more akin to lone vassals whom look to the authorities of faraway sultans rather than, say, the Bruneian Empire.
EDIT: cleared a few spelling mistakes and added some links in the notes.
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Fascinating update and love the original presentation of the info about dutch new guinea.
I wouldn't have expected 'how would Italy cope with colonies in the east indies' to be such an interesting question but this timeline really does do interesting things by shaking up the old colonial powers and I like how each of the Italian islands has a very different flavour and relationship between Italy and the natives.
I wouldn't have expected 'how would Italy cope with colonies in the east indies' to be such an interesting question but this timeline really does do interesting things by shaking up the old colonial powers and I like how each of the Italian islands has a very different flavour and relationship between Italy and the natives.
British/Australian rule in New Guinea ITTL resembles Fiji IOTL. I wonder if they'll adopt the same response to the labor shortage and start importing Indian contract workers.
I totally forgot that Italy had Dalmatia ITTL, even though two years ago I commented on that very update
Also this in general is fascinating stuff. German New Guinea is very close to OT and was stuff I was aware of (hooray me having good books on German history!), but I'm fascinated by the Dutch approach and the role of Islam there. So it's a great update as per usual
Also this in general is fascinating stuff. German New Guinea is very close to OT and was stuff I was aware of (hooray me having good books on German history!), but I'm fascinated by the Dutch approach and the role of Islam there. So it's a great update as per usual
Great update, that tidbit about Emma really surprised me, but I suppose that just goes to show there's always still more to learn from history.
I admit I am disappointed Germany is not doing better, just more oppression. Seeing that photo i had for a moment hoped for more divergence. Oh well, such is as it is ITTL.
So, not sure how much the British-Australian colony differs from OTL. But it seems the neglect is giving way to ominous.
Italy surprised me as I was hoping Germany would! 12000 colonists in farmers alone, not counting any urban colonists in the port or Cavour. A railroad. And it seems the state is actually promoting native rights while helping the colonists thrive. I am stunned, and and hooping this good work is not undone by the Great War.
So, not sure how much the British-Australian colony differs from OTL. But it seems the neglect is giving way to ominous.
Italy surprised me as I was hoping Germany would! 12000 colonists in farmers alone, not counting any urban colonists in the port or Cavour. A railroad. And it seems the state is actually promoting native rights while helping the colonists thrive. I am stunned, and and hooping this good work is not undone by the Great War.