“Treasures from the the 17th and 18th VOC archive” by Sophie Hénon (Les Carnets du CASE)

Treasures from the the 17th and 18th VOC archive, Sejarah Nusantara, Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia

The paper archives created by the Dutch East India Company (VOC, 1602-1799) and dealing with its commercial operations in Asian waters are preserved in the national archives of Indonesia, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, South Africa and India. In particular, the archives in Jakarta contain thousands of documents originating from Asian persons, including many local rulers from around the Indonesian archipelago. The most voluminous collections spanning 2,000 metres are in the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (ANRI). On 9 March 2004, the archives of the VOC were included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

The 2.000 metres of archives in ANRI can be roughly divided into two sections:
1) The archives created in and formerly kept at Batavia Castle, the former headquarters of the VOC in Asia. This is the archive of the Supreme Government (the Governor-General and the ordinary Councillors of Dutch Asia).
2) The archives of local private and public institutions in Batavia.

For this digitalization and public access project, a selection had to be made. The Daily Journals of Batavia Castle which can be found in the archives of the Supreme Government were digitalized and published first. This series reflects the principle concerns of the Supreme Government.  Prominent here were internal Company affairs in matters as diverse as the general management of trade, personnel and financial affairs, shipping and logistics. The Supreme Government also dealt with all political and diplomatic affairs, the administration of justice and correspondence with other VOC factories in Asia as well as the VOC Chambers and their Governing Board, theso-called Gentlemen Seventeen (Heren XVII) or Directors of the VOC  in the Dutch Republic. The Daily Journals were created to maintain an ongoing overview of such activities.

During the course of the eighteenth century, the Resolution Books of the Supreme Government became more and more important and voluminous while the registration of correspondence in the Daily Journals gradually declined. In particular, the handling of all matters to do with the regional establishments of the Company were included in the General Resolution Books. In 1743, such matters were recorded in a separate yearbook, giving birth to a separate series: the General (Foreign) Affairs Books (Net-Generale Besogneboeken).

Another, hitherto unresearched and historically unique series are the Appendices to the General Resolution Books. These total together some 742 volumes numbering some 550,000 folio pages. This series contain a variety of documents which may gradually become accessible via a special database. The first document descriptions for this database were started in 2013 by ANRI’s Content Team (see organisation).

Liste des archives consultables moyennant une inscription sur le site:

  • General Resolutions of Batavia Castle 1613-1810
  • Realia 1610-1808
  • Appendices to General Resolutions 1686-1811
  • The Placards of Batavia Castle 1602-1808
  • Daily Journals of Batavia Castle 1624-1806
  • Marginalia to the Daily Journals 1659-1807
  • Diplomatic Letters 1625-1812
  • Corpus Diplomaticum 1595-1799

Plus d’informations sur : https://sejarah-nusantara.anri.go.id/archive/

source: Sophie Hénon (30 octobre 2017). Treasures from the the 17th and 18th VOC archive. Les carnets du CASE. Consulté le 31 mars 2026 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/m8fb

“What the Europeans did to Sri Lanka” by Lost in Context

From their first arrival in 1505 to Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948, European empires shaped the island, and the rest of Asia.
 
This video looks at Sri Lanka’s colonial experience, how it was transformed and what stayed the same.
 
Sources:
-A History of Sri Lanka, K. M. de Silva -Elephant Complex; Travels in Sri Lanka, John Gimlette
-The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers, Gordon Weiss
-The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History, Sanjeev Sanyal
-This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War, Samanth Subramanian
  • Various news sources, especially The Economist
00:00 Intro
01:00 Portuguese arrival
02:23 Portuguese Ceylon
04:12 Dutch Ceylon
07:00 Colombo to Hikkaduwa
11:00 British arrival
12:14 ‘Indian’ Tamils
13:15 British Ceylon
16:33 Independence
17:27 Hikkaduwa to Galle
18:37 Galle Protest
21:39 The President resigns
23:21 Next video
 
 

 

 

“The Portuguese Burghers of Sri Lanka” by Earl Barthelot (Ceylon Digest)

Sketch of baila dancers from frescoes at the Purvarama Vihara, Kataluwa (1886)

We would like to share a link to read an article written by “The Portuguese Burghers of Sri Lanka” by Earl Barthelot for Ceylon Digest.

Sri Lanka is well known for its diversity with over 22 numerically small communities and majority communities such as Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. Burgher community is one of the numerically small communities. Large proportions of the Burghers do live in the Batticaloa District and a small proportion live both in Trincomalee and Ampara District. At the same time there are Portuguese Burghers living in all parts of the country in small numbers.

 

“A slice of Africa in Puttalam” by Dishan Joseph (Daily News)

We would like to share a link to read an article written by Dishan Joseph for Daily News on “A slice of Africa in Puttalam: The culture of African–Sri Lankan people is on the verge of vanishing”

Most Sri Lankans in Colombo city would have caught a glimpse of robust women, of African descent dancing to pulsating drumbeats. We have applauded the performances of the African Manja group. But have we truly understood their origins, displacement and hardships hidden behind their smiles. I firmly believe that after their generations have lived here for 500 years, they too are very much Sri Lankan

source: Daily News