Dutch Malacca (1641–1825) was the longest period that
Malacca
Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...
was under foreign control. The
Dutch ruled for almost 183 years with intermittent British occupation during the
French Revolutionary and later the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
(1795–1815). This era saw relative peace with little serious interruption from the Malay sultanates due to the understanding forged between the Dutch and the
Sultanate of Johor
The Johor Sultanate ( or ; also called the Sultanate of Johor, Johor-Pahang-Riau-Lingga, or the Johor Empire) was founded by Sultan of Malacca Mahmud Shah of Malacca, Mahmud Shah's son, Alauddin Riayat Shah II of Johor, Alauddin Riayat Shah ...
in 1606. This period also marked the decline of Malacca's importance. The Dutch preferred Batavia (present-day
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
) as their economic and administrative centre in the region and their hold in Malacca was to prevent the loss of the city to other European powers and, subsequently, the competition that would come with it. Thus, in the 17th century, with Malacca ceasing to be an important port, the Johor Sultanate became the dominant local power in the region due to the opening of its ports and the alliance with the Dutch.
History
Dutch conquest of Portuguese Malacca

In the early 17th century, the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
() began a campaign to usurp
Portuguese power in the East. At that time, the Portuguese had transformed Malacca into an impregnable fortress (the ''
Fortaleza de Malaca''), controlling access to the sea lanes of the
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...
and the
spice trade
The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in t ...
there. The Dutch started by launching small incursions and skirmishes against the Portuguese. The first serious attempt was the
siege of Malacca in 1606 by the third VOC fleet from the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
with eleven ships, under Admiral
Cornelis Matelief de Jonge that led to the
naval battle of Cape Rachado. Although the Dutch were routed, the Portuguese fleet of
Martim Afonso de Castro, the Viceroy of
Goa, suffered heavier casualties and the battle rallied the forces of the Sultanate of Johor in an alliance with the Dutch and later on with the Acehnese.
The Dutch along with their local Javanese allies numbered around 700 men, assaulted and wrested Malacca from the Portuguese in
January 1641. Assistance was also provided to the Dutch from the Johor Sultanate who provided around 500–600 additional men. The Dutch also received supplies and rations from nearby and their recently-captured base of
Batavia.
The campaign effectively destroyed the last bastion of Portuguese power, removing their influence in the
Malay Archipelago
The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...
. As per the agreement with Johor in 1606, the Dutch took control of Malacca and agreed not to seek territories or wage war with the Malay kingdoms.
Decline in trade
After the conquest of Malacca, the town yielded great profits in the 17th century, mostly due to the tin trade coming from Perak.
But by 1700, the Dutch struggled to revive trade in Malacca. In that year, the town was rarely able to meet its tin quotas sent to Batavia. There were several attempts to revive trade by the governor, but VOC officials in
Batavia was unwilling to improve tin trading prospects there and instead made policies to divert trade to Batavia. An Englishman described the town in 1711 "a healthful place, but of no great trade". The start of
Bugis
The Bugis people, also known as Buginese, are an Austronesian ethnic groupthe most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassarese and Torajan), in the south-western province of Sula ...
rule under the
Johor Sultanate
The Johor Sultanate ( or ; also called the Sultanate of Johor, Johor-Pahang-Riau-Lingga, or the Johor Empire) was founded by Sultan of Malacca Mahmud Shah of Malacca, Mahmud Shah's son, Alauddin Riayat Shah II of Johor, Alauddin Riayat Shah ...
encouraged trade to Riau and served to reduce trade activity in Malacca.
Roger de Laver, the governor of Malacca in 1743, commented that despite his efforts to encourage the tin trade, it still did not see any improvement and attributed it from intense competition as Indian traders mainly traded in
Aceh
Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...
,
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...
and Perak.
Transfer of control to the British
In January 1795, Dutch stadtholder
William V, Prince of Orange
William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was Prince of Orange and the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...
, seeking refuge in Great Britain, issued the
Kew Letters, directing Dutch governors in the colonies to temporarily transfer authority to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and to cooperate with the British in the
war against the French, so long as the "mother country" was under threat of invasion. Malacca was thus surrendered to British control, and would be under British occupation until the end of the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. Malacca remained under nominal Dutch sovereignty throughout the nearly two decades of British governance.
Under British administration, the Portuguese-era fortress of Malacca was demolished in stages beginning in 1807, as the British feared that the Dutch would use it against them in any future regional conflict. Only the Porta de Santiago (
A Famosa) was spared destruction after the belated intervention of Sir
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...
.
The
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 restored Malacca to Dutch rule; however, the Dutch did not regain full control until 1818. Sovereignty over Malacca was permanently ceded to the British under the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London (), was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 17 March 1824. The treaty was to resolve disputes arising from the execution of the Angl ...
.
Administration of Malacca

Malacca was controlled as a colony of the VOC. All the chief administrators of Malacca were Dutch governors except for the brief period that the city was under British Residents during the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. However, focus on the administration of Malacca eventually waned by the Dutch as they preferred to focus on Batavia.
Governors of Malacca
The town and fortress of Malacca
The Dutch improved and expanded the
Portuguese fortress as well as renovating the fortress' gate in 1670, they further built walls to protect the harbour and expanded city. During the mid-17th century the city hall or
Stadthuys was constructed and served as the administrative center of the Dutch colony, which still stands today.
File:Stad en Kasteel Malacca.JPG, The town and fortress of Malacca in 1780
File:Melaka-St-Paul-Dutch-graves-2184.jpg, Dutch graves in the ruined St Paul's Church
File:Dutch Graveyard.JPG, Dutch Graveyard
See also
*
Dutch Graveyard
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutch Malacca
.Dutch Malacca
Subdivisions of the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
Malacca, Dutch
Former countries in Malaysian history
Malacca, Dutch
Former trading posts of the Dutch East India Company
Former settlements and colonies of the Dutch East India Company
Malaysia–Netherlands relations
States and territories established in 1641
States and territories disestablished in 1825
1641 establishments in the Dutch Empire
1820s disestablishments in the Dutch Empire
1825 disestablishments
1641 establishments in Asia
1825 disestablishments in Asia