Religious Policies in the Netherlands Indies

pertaining to Islam, Christianity and other religions 1814-1942

Compiled by Gerrit Knaap en Ton Kappelhof

Religious Policies makes archival material on the Dutch colonial government’s involvement with the largest religious groups in the Indonesian archipelago online available. Religion was a key aspect of the Dutch colonial influence in Indonesia. Most of the representatives of the colonial authorities and their descendants were Protestant or Roman Catholic. A portion of the Indonesian population converted to Christianity. However, the vast majority of the Indonesian population had been Islamic for a long time and remained as such. These differences forced the colonial administration to make various considerations in their religious policy in order to protect the so-called Pax Neerlandica, which was the basis for the entire colonial structure. The Dutch government interference and religious strategy thus concerned not only Islam, but also other religions, particularly the various branches of Christianity.

This resource consists of archival descriptions that provide insight into the religious policies of the colonial government in the Indonesian archipelago. These date from 1814 (actually 1816), the year when the Dutch colonial authority was restored in the Indonesian archipelago, until 1942, when the Japanese occupation of the Netherlands Indies began. The descriptions are divided into five categories (legislation, decrees, reports, correspondence and files) and are mainly limited to the very extensive archives of the Ministry of Colonies. The information is organized by religious and geographical keywords. The information on Christianity in this source largely complements what is provided in the database Repertorium of Dutch Protestant and Catholic missionary archives, ca. 1800-1960.