Batavia as seen through a photographer's lens

Batavia in Nineteenth Century Photographs

By Scott Merrillees

Archipelago Press, Singapore, 2000

Rp 630,000

JAKARTA (JP): Given the growing interest in the country's colonial heritage, any new addition to the literature of the capital's history is welcome.

Scott Merrillees, a collector researching the 19th century topography of major cities, presents us with a new book with rare photographs of 19th century Batavia.

It offers us no less than 155 of the earliest photographs of Batavia, including the city's topographical and architectural landscape, not to mention some fine engravings and beautiful drawings of Batavia from the 1850s to the mid-1890s.

Its contents are divided into four chapters according to the districts (sectors) existing at the time: downtown Batavia, the Molenvliet (Gajah Mada/Hayam Wuruk) area, Uptown Batavia (Weltevreden) and the Tanjung Priok Port area.

Each specific place, building and organization appearing in the photographs has been meticulously researched and provided with enough data to make it possible for the reader to have a "feel" for its cultural background. The economic, political and social factors that are provided are important in evaluating the pictures and bringing them to life.

The fact that these early photographs were taken by Europeans unavoidably paints 19th century Batavia in a European perspective, although it cannot be denied that this does not diminish the book's value as a source of information and delight.

The opening part focuses on the old city of downtown Batavia, starting with fine topographical pictures and photos of the Old Port as a main point of entry to Batavia. It then takes us strolling inside the walls of the old city; most parts of the walls, though, were demolished in 1808 to 1809, more than half a century before the photos were taken.

The reason for presenting these photographs in terms of "inside" and "outside" the old city wall, even after most of it was demolished, must be because it is relevant to understanding the way Batavia developed.

From 1619 until 1808 to 1809, most administrative, commercial and judicial activities of the city were concentrated inside those walls, originally built as a means of defense for the Dutch. Its demolition, then, marked an era of greater security, which made the development possible.

Other photographs show Kali Besar (meaning Great River), a straight stretch of the Ciliwung River. During almost the entire Dutch colonial area, Kali Besar played a central role in facilitating shipping activities along the river. In these pictures, though, we can enjoy the tranquility of the vast open spaces that existed alongside the river and streets.

The area outside the walls was for those who wanted to escape the unhealthy conditions of Batavia's walled city and could afford to do so.

These pages tell us mainly about the lives of the Chinese population of Batavia, who were free to live anywhere they wanted until what is known as the Chinese Massacre in October 1740. Growing out of a combination of events, it was one of the blackest incidents in Batavia's history. It took many years for Batavia's economy to recover after the Chinese, who controlled much of Batavia's trade and industry, fled in terror to other areas of Java. After their return they settled in a then new Chinatown in what is now the Glodok area.

Molenvliet, which means Mill Stream and is pictured in the second part of the book, was the main link between Batavia's old and new city, one of the key topographical features in 19th century Batavia. The straight three-kilometer-long manmade canal facilitated the supply of wood taken from forests around Tanah Abang and brought by boat into Batavia's walled city. The photographs show an ambiance of almost rural tranquility.

The third part shows Rijswijk (Jl. Veteran) and Noordwijk (Jl. Juanda) as the social heart of Uptown Batavia. An elite shopping and business district, the area was also among the most fashionable residential districts in the second half of the 19th century, though it remained sparsely populated until the beginning of the 19th century.

Rijwijkstraat, the French neighborhood of Batavia, had a large number of French shopkeepers. Some of the photos picture Koningsplein (King's Square); today called Medan Merdeka, it was named Champ de Mars by Governor-General Herman Willem Daendels and was used for military exercises (only in 1818 was it renamed Koningsplein). After the middle of the 19th century grand residences began to dominate the four sides of Koningsplein, making it the most fashionable address in Batavia.

In later years, Batavia's newest elite residential neighborhood, Weltevreden and the southern environs (Menteng and surroundings in Central Jakarta) became the most exclusive residential area of Batavia, with high lots of considerable value even then. It is interesting to note that land in the area is still of immense value today.

Tanjung Priok, the city's new port built in later years, is located nine kilometers east of Sunda Kelapa, the original port of Batavia. Considered a suitable location for a modern deep- water harbor, this relocation of Batavia's port was essential for the Dutch to help them compete with British Singapore.

The appendix informs about the history of photography in Batavia, specifically about the topography of the city as it was, as well as about the photographers.

Claiming to be the most comprehensive photographic record ever published of Batavia, this is indeed a book of magnificent photographs and fine drawings. It also provides thorough information on topographical conditions in the past.

With this book we are invited to retrace an almost vanished part of Jakarta's history and return to old times as if watching a movie. As the writer says: " .... the photographs became my personal time machine or window into the Jakarta of another age, spanning the period from the late 1850s to the mid 1890s".

If any criticism has to be made of such an excellent work, it is that the book is almost purely an architectural record of 19th century Batavia. Readers seeking a look, however fleeting, into the daily lives of its ordinary residents will be disappointed. But then that is not its aim.

-- M. Paramita/H. Pratiknyo