Colonial archive on religious policy in Indonesia made accessible
New source publication makes archive material on religious policy in the Dutch East Indies (1814–1942) available online
The Huygens Institute published the digital source Religious Policies in the Netherlands Indies pertaining to Islam, Christianity and other religions 1814–1942. It offers historians and interested parties new access to archive material on the religious policies of the Dutch colonial government in the Indonesian archipelago.
This source is compiled by Gerrit Knaap and Ton Kappelhof and their collection makes documents from the archives of the Ministry of the Colonies available and covers the period from the restoration of Dutch authority in 1814/1816 up to the Japanese occupation in 1942.
The publication demonstrates how religion played a central role within colonial society. Whilst the colonial administrators were largely Protestant or Roman Catholic, the majority of the Indonesian population remained Muslim. The interaction between Islam, Christianity and other religious movements regularly led to tensions, but also to cooperation between Dutch authorities and Indonesian Christian communities.
To maintain the so-called Pax Neerlandica, the colonial administration developed various strategies for religious control and cooperation. The digital resource contains archival descriptions of legislation, decrees, reports, correspondence and files, organised by religious and geographical keywords. Scans of maps of the Indonesian archipelago have also been included. As such, the publication provides an important new resource for the study of religion and colonialism in Indonesia.
