The Sultanate of Banjarmasin in the 19th Century: Expansion of the Dutch East Indies Government in Kalimantan — Book Review Part Two
Banjarmasin thrown into chaos by rebellions, which weakens the sultanate. Easier for Dutch colonial to remove the Sultan and annexed Banjar into their direct rule.
Dutch efforts began to show results when Sultan Adam came to power, the weak character possessed and the dominance of his wife, Nyai Ratu Kamala Sari made the Dutch succeed in overthrowing the sovereignty of the Banjarmasin sultanate and entering it into the part of the Dutch East Indies government, having most of its power, and interfering in the succession of the sultanate so that The chosen sultan was the one who wanted to support the Dutch East Indies government to make profits from Banjarmasin. This weakness of Sultan Adam was also a target for his sons to get the maximum benefit and power. There was a dispute between Prabu Anom, Prince Ismail, and Prince Noch. Prince Ismail was killed and Pangeran Noch was entitled to become Mangkubumi. In 1845, Sultan Adam again renewed the agreement with the Netherlands, and provided more benefits for the Dutch over Banjarmasin.
The beginning of the 17th century was the peak of Banjarmasin trade greatness, where almost every year many traders competed quickly to buy pepper. Chinese traders, for example, each year come and return to load 12 junks full of pepper. The increasing demand and the tighter trade competition made the VOC take bold steps, they encouraged Banjarmasin to allow them to set up a trading office in Tatas. Sultan Sepuh agreed. It did not stop there, the contents of the agreement continued that Banjarmasin was not allowed to sell pepper to parties other than the VOC. The regular VOC offered 6 Spanish rials for each pikul of pepper, while the British could offer up to 8 rials, even Chinese merchants could bid 12.5 rials per pikul. This led the VOC to take a more stringent decision, namely prohibiting Chinese traders from coming more than once a year, and prohibiting loading of pepper on more than one junk. The British did not run out of their minds, they set up trading offices in Pasir and Tabanio which were far from VOC supervision, so that in 1766 and 1770 the British managed to load 3 ships full of pepper to be brought to Bengkulu. The VOC was increasingly exploiting it, they deployed personnel complete with guns and cannons to strengthen their position. Little by little, Banjarmasin land was handed over to the Dutch for the guarantee of protection of the sultanate from outside dangers. In short, Banjarmasin is experiencing a period of decline. The struggle for power began when Sultan Sulaiman’s son, Sultan Adam Al Wasih Billah took the throne. His weak and less assertive temperament made his queen, Nyai Ratu Kamala Sari to dominate the sultanate and do whatever he wants. The struggle to reach the peak began when his son, Pangeran Muda Abdurrahman, married the Chinese Princess who later gave birth to Pangeran Tamjidillah. Not wanting Tamjidillah to take the throne because he was not a royal descendant, Sultan Adam remarried Young Prince Abdurrahman to Ratu Siti who was the son of his own brother, and Prince Hidayatullah was born. The Dutch, who had entered the political sphere of Banjarmasin, tried to raise Tamjidillah to become sultan because he promised to make things easier for the Dutch when he became sultan, in contrast to Sultan Adam’s decision to prefer Hidayatullah. Sultan Adam’s proposal to make Prince Hidayatullah the crown prince and Prabu Anom as mangkubumi were rejected by the Resident and the Governor General. The Dutch actually appointed Tamjidillah as crown prince as well as a mangkubumi official. Urged by the empress, Sultan Adam unilaterally appointed Prabu Anom as crown prince, which then received a reaction from the Dutch. The Dutch sent a letter to Sultan Adam acknowledging Tamjidillah’s position as crown prince, and offered the sultan to propose a new mangkubumi. Sultan Adam proposed Hidayatullah and accepted. Meanwhile, Prabu Anom was detained by the Resident.
The collapse of Banjarmasin began when there was a rebellion in Benua Lima under the leadership of Jalil, the local ruler, Kiai Adipati Danuraja with the sultan’s permission to gather 2000 soldiers to crush Jalil’s group. However, it was stopped by the Dutch, because every rebellion was the duty of the Dutch to crush it. The Dutch ordered the mangkubumi Hidayatullah to clean up the mess, he went to Benua Lima and ordered Jalil to clean up the remaining influence of Danuraja and replace him with Pangeran Aria Kesuma, the son of Tamjidillah. But Danuraja did not accept it, and spread slander to the sultan against mangkubumi. Sultan Tamjidillah unilaterally then raised Danuraja again. This certainly became an insult to mangkubumi, who then began to become hostile to the sultan.
Another rebellion occurred in Muning, a farmer who was blind and elderly said he had received inspiration and appointed himself as an idol with the title Panembahan Muda and claimed to be an incarnation of Prince Suryanata. Prince Antasari, who knew this, then left for Muning, and even married his son, Prince Mohammad Said, to Putri Junjung Buih. Furthermore Panembahan Muda agreed with Pangeran antasari that Tamjidillah should be killed and the Dutch should be expelled from Banjarmasin.
Martapura was led by Pangeran Antasari himself, he prepared around 3000 people to carry out the attack. With this, the attack force was already in two places, in Martapura and in Muning under the leadership of Sultan Kuning, the son of Panembahan Muda. Meanwhile, Sultan Tamjidillah, who was aggressively getting rid of Hidayatullah, made Mangkubumi feel sick and joined the Jalil rebels. The rebellion broke out with four leaders, Jalil, Hidayatullah, Pangeran Antasari and Sultan Kuning. The rebels tried to seize areas that were strategic for the Dutch, but often failed because of modern Dutch weapons.
Pangeran Antasari had occupied Martapura, but then had to withdraw to Amuntai. Tabanio Fortress was also successfully reclaimed by the Dutch. The Dutch deployed their warships from Banjarmasin and succeeded in putting down the rebellion. This rebellion had fatal consequences for Banjarmasin, the sultanate was overthrown by the removal of Sultan Tamjidillah from the position of Sultan. Colonel AJ Anderssen took over the leadership and handed over the Banjarmasin region as the territory directly under the Dutch East Indies administration. With this ended the journey of the Sultanate of Banjarmasin which was last held by Sultan Tamjidillah.
Both of the book review is referenced from “Kesultanan Banjarmasin Abad 19: Perluasan Kekuasaan Pemerintah Hindia Belanda di Kalimantan” by Ita Syamtasiyah Ahyat.
