Thomas Matulessy
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Thomas Matulessy (8 June 178316 December 1817), also known as Kapitan Pattimura or simply Pattimura, was a famous Ambonese soldier who became a symbol of both the Maluku and Indonesian struggle for independence, praised by President Sukarno and declared a national hero by President Suharto. He has several namesakes in both the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and in the
Indonesian archipelago The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. History ...
. Born on the island of
Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...
, Pattimura joined the
British Colonial Auxiliary Forces The British Colonial Auxiliary Forces referred to the various military units of Britain's colonial empire which were not considered part of the British military proper. Though the first colonial units established in the British Empire were milit ...
after they took the Maluku islands from the French. When the islands were returned to the Dutch in 1816, he was dismissed. The return of the Dutch in 1816 marked a change in the colonial system. After the bankruptcy of the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
, the Indonesian archipelago came under the control of the newly founded
Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...
. This was accompanied by, among other things, the establishment of a colonial army:
KNIL The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...
. Christian Moluccans in particular were wanted as ethnic soldiers in the KNIL. Despite Pattimura's revolt, the myth of a centuries-long loyalty of Moluccans to the Netherlands and the royal family began. Pattimura and his followers feared harsher colonial oppression than the English under whom he had served. On 16 May 1817 Pattimura led an armed rebellion that captured Fort Duurstede, killing the inhabitants of the fortress and fighting off Dutch reinforcements, on 29 May he was declared the leader of the Moluccan people. After being betrayed by the King of Booi Pati Akoon, he was captured by Dutch forces on 11 November and hanged the next month.


Biography

Pattimura was born Thomas Matulessy on 8 June 1783 in Seram selatan, Maluku; the name Pattimura was his pseudonym. His parents were Frans Matulessia and Fransina Tilahoi, and he had a little brother named Yohanis. In 1810, the Maluku islands were taken over from the
Napoleonic France The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eu ...
by the British. Mattulessi received military training from their army and reached the rank of sergeant major. After the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty on 13 August 1814, in 1816 the Maluku islands were returned to the Dutch; Pattimura attended the ceremony. Afterwards, in violation of the treaty, he and his fellow soldiers were discharged to their hometowns. However, Pattimura refused to accept the restoration of Dutch power. He felt that they would stop paying native Christian teachers, as the French had done in 1810, and was concerned that a proposed switch to paper currency would leave the Maluku people unable to give alms — only coins were considered valid — and thus lead to churches being unable to help the poor.


Ambon revolt of 1817

He was appointed as ''Kapitan'' by the people of Saparua to rebel against the Dutch on 14 May 1817. The assault began on the 15th, with Pattimura and his lieutenants Said Perintah, Anthony Reebhok, Paulus Tiahahu and Tiahahu's daughter Martha Christina Tiahahu leading the way. On 16 May 1817, they seized Fort Duurstede and killed the 19 Dutch soldiers, Resident Johannes Rudolph van den Berg (who had arrived just two months earlier), his wife, three of his children and their governess.Peter van Zonneveld (199
Pattimura en het kind van Saparua. De Molukken-opstand van 1817 in de Indisch-Nederlandse literatuur
''Indische Letteren'', 10:41-54.
The only Dutch survivor was Van den Berg's five-year-old son Jean Lubbert. After the seizure, Pattimura's forces defended the fort and on May 20 defeated Major Beetjes, Second Lieutenant E. S. de Haas, and their nearly 200 troops, leaving only 30 survivors. On 29 May, Pattimura and other Maluku leaders made the Haria Proclamation, which outlined their grievances against the Dutch government and declared Pattimura to be the leader of the Maluku people. In response, Governor-General Van der Cappellen immediately fired the governor of Ambon, Jacobus A. van Middelkoop, and his right hand, Nicolaus Engelhard, for their abuses of the local people. On June 1, Pattimura led an unsuccessful attack on Fort Zeelandia in Haruku. Two months later, on August 3, Fort Duurstede was finally retaken by the Dutch, but the revolt had spread and was not subdued for another few months. Due to betrayal from Booi's king, Pati Akoon, and Tuwanakotta, Pattimura was arrested on 11 November 1817 while he was in Siri Sori. He and his fellows were sentenced to death. On 16 December 1817, Pattimura together with Anthony Reebhok, Philip Latumahina, and Said Parintah were hanged in front of in
Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...
.


Legacy

Pattimura and his war have been used as symbols for both Maluku independence, such as with the short-lived
Republic of South Maluku South Maluku, also South Moluccas, officially the Republic of South Maluku, was an unrecognised secessionist republic that claimed the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram, which make up the Indonesian province of Maluku. Dutch conquest exer ...
, and Indonesian patriotism. The first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, considered Pattimura a great patriot. In 1954, Sapija, an officer of the TNI, the Indonesian Army (Tentara Nasional Indonesia), published the book ''Sedjarah Perdjuangan Pattimura'' (History of the Battle of Pattimura). He had researched Matulessy's ancestry and discovered that his grandfather had carried the title Pattimura (patih: prince; murah: magnanimous). That is why this ancestral title also belonged to his grandson. On the authority of
Johannes Latuharhary Johannes Latuharhary (6 July 1900 – 8 November 1959) was an Indonesian politician and nationalist of Moluccan descent, who served as the first Indonesian governor of Maluku from 1945 until 1955, though he did not assume office in Maluku unt ...
, Sapija and other nationalist historians, Matulessy was declared a pahlawan nasional (national hero) in 1973 not under his name, but under the authoritative title ''Kapitan Pattimura''. The name has since become common in both Indonesia and the Netherlands. When Pattimura was awarded the title
National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia ( id, Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia) is the highest-level title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual deeds which can b ...
by President Suharto in 1973 through Presidential Decree number 87/TK, very little was written in independent Indonesia on this subject and he was virtually unknown outside Moluccan circles.https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35468348.pdf How widely this interpretation can vary is perhaps most clearly indicated by the fact that both the Republik Maluku Selatan and the Republic of Indonesia put forward Pattimura as their Freedom Hero. In Ambon, he is commemorated in the names of the
University of Pattimura University of Pattimura ( id, Universitas Pattimura) is a public university in Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. ...
,
Pattimura Airport Pattimura International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional Pattimura) is an airport in Ambon, Maluku. The airport is located 38 kilometers west of the city of Ambon. The airport was named after Pattimura (1783–1817), an Indonesian na ...
, and a street, as well as a statue; there are also streets named after him throughout the archipelago. In Wierden, the Netherlands, a street in the Moluccan neighborhood is named after Pattimura. 15 May is celebrated as Pattimura Day in the Netherlands and Indonesia. A similar, smaller holiday is held on 2 January to commemorate the younger Tiahahu. He is also featured on the 2000s series of the 1,000 Indonesian rupiah banknote.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Authority control 19th-century Dutch East Indies people 1783 births 1817 deaths People from Maluku (province) People from Saparua Executed Indonesian people Guerrillas People executed by the Netherlands by hanging Indonesian Roman Catholics National Heroes of Indonesia Indonesian Christians