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- Title
Places of misery: mapping slavery of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), 1602-1799.
- Authors
Bos, Jeroen
- Abstract
Slavery under the Dutch in the so-called East Indies has - until very recently - been a marginalized topic in the historiography of the long-distance trading company: the Dutch East India Company, or VOC (abbreviated from Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie). Due to several circumstances the study of the Asian perspective in Dutch global slavery has picked up momentum, leading to a boost in scientific and popular literature (among others: Van Rossum 2015). The dedicated exhibition Slavernij (Slavery) in the national history museum Rijksmuseum (May-August 2021) further stimulated public interest, and raised awareness for the topic of Dutch involvement in slavery and slave trade, not excluding the Asian perspective. Several years of research went into preparing the exhibition, also leading to carefully curated publications in Dutch and English (Sint Nicolaas 2021). Another huge incentive for research were the commissions by the authorities of some large Dutch cities who wished thorough investigation into their city's role and involvement in Dutch global slavery (Brandon 2020, Van Stipriaan 2020, Jouwe 2021). Finally, scientific and public interest for the topic is fuelled by the global Black Lives Matter movement, which also took root in The Netherlands. However, this interest has not yet led to the serious study of maps, plans and topographical views for traces and evidences of slavery and slave trade in the Dutch settlements and occupied territories under the VOC. Other than using them for illustrations to visualise slavery and slave trade in several publications, the sources have barely been used as base for research. This contribution wants to serve as starting point by offering a database (see appendix) in which maps, plans and topographical views are mentioned on which slavery, slave trade, enslaved people (both visualised in literal or allegorical sense), or infrastructure connected to slavery can be observed. The database is intended as helpful tool for all those researching VOC settlements in the broadest sense, and slavery in particular. The data to fill this database came from the seven volume spanning series Comprehensive atlas of the United Dutch East India Company (Van Diessen 2006-2010). It is a facsimile publication of all known manuscript maps, plans, and topographical views of the Dutch overseas settlements. The data is presented by volume/page number, inventory number of the work, geographical region, city or town, year of production, mapmaker(s) (if known), type (infrastructure or depiction), followed by the original description that can be found on the work. The Comprehensive atlas will be made available in open access by the National Archives of the Netherlands in the near future. Four small case studies will be presented as examples of how maps, plans and topographical views can be used as base for research The first will handle the depiction of infrastructure in the Dutch mining facilities at the island of Sumatra (Silida). The second case study will dive into the topic of gender, focussing on references of housing for enslaved women (the Dutch word for an enslaved woman is 'slavin') and looking for reasons why mapmakers mentioned this specifically. The third case study is about stereotyping. The work of artist Johannes Rach (1720-1783) was popular among contemporaries. A set of city views of Batavia will be discussed for the depiction of enslaved people, with special attention to followers and copyists of Rach. Unlike Rach, who travelled the Dutch empire in Asia, these copyists worked in the Dutch Republic and stereotyped enslaved people, even adding elements (like a typical black servant boy wearing orientalised dress) not present on the original drawings by Rach. In the fourth case study "remoteness" will be examined by looking at smaller Dutch settlements in Asia (Vengurla, Bimilipatnam), refuting traditional notions that Dutch slavery in Asia was to be found exclusively at the metropoles. Finally, for the advancement of the study of slavery in general it is important to collect contemporaries' views and opinions on the topic. Remarkably enough the testimony of a VOC mapmaker has survived the ages in the archival records of the Company at the National Archives of the Netherlands (NA). The Prussian-born Carl Friedrich Reimer (c.1740-1796) became the most productive in-situ mapmaker for the VOC (Bos 2020). In his records can be found his personal opinion about slavery on the island of Java. It offers a unique view on the matter, laced with late 18th century Enlightenment ideas. Testimonies like the one by Reimer are rare, and found mainly by serendipity. The ongoing investment from the NA in artificial intelligence in handwritten text recognition (HTR) software means that the VOC handwritten records can be made searchable for keywords. This is important to reconstruct the link between many VOC maps and the original accompanying reports in the collections of the NA. In the 19th century archivist P.A. Leupe decided to separate maps and plans of the former VOC and WIC from the original records and store them separately. A decision that made sense in the late 19th century, but regretted nowadays. Only with painstakingly archival research the broken link between map and report can be reconstructed. It is expected that HTR will ease this reconstruction. Likewise, anticipation is high that artificial intelligence will reveal many hidden stories, like Reimers testimony on slavery, from obscurity. A very promising future indeed.
- Subjects
SLAVERY; NEDERLANDSCHE Oost-Indische Cie.; BLACK Lives Matter movement; CARTOGRAPHY; GEOGRAPHIC information systems; DATA visualization
- Publication
Abstracts of the ICA, 2021, Vol 3, p1
- ISSN
2570-2106
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.5194/ica-abs-3-34-2021