Jakarta's Childless Crazy Rich Heir Left Baffled Over Inheritance

Behind the history of 19th-century Batavia lies the figure of a conglomerate known as one of the richest men of his era. He was Jannus Theodorus Bik (1796-1875), a landowner of Dutch descent who possessed immense wealth but faced an unusual problem: he had no children to inherit his fortune. Jannus arrived in Batavia with his elder brother Andrianus Johannes Bik in the early 1810s. He travelled from the Netherlands to the region then known as the Dutch East Indies to seek his fortune. Initially, Jannus worked as a painter for the Dutch East Indies government. Thanks to his skill, Jannus became an important figure among painters of the time. The Indonesian painting maestro, Raden Saleh, studied directly under him. From his profession as a painter, Jannus accumulated wealth. Rather than being extravagant, he was clever in managing his finances by investing the fruits of his labour in land. According to the Almanak van Nederlandsch-Indië (1900), Jannus was recorded as a landowner in various areas of Batavia, such as Tanah Abang, Pondok Gede, Cilebut, and Cisarua. The land was used for rice, coffee, and tea plantations. His coffers grew further after he married Wilhelmina Reynira Martens, the widow of a wealthy businessman named Van Riemswijk, in the 1840s. However, the marriage produced no children. Towards the end of his life, around the 1870s, Jannus decided to divide his assets between two nephews, Bruno and Jan Martinus, the sons of his younger sibling. At the time, both were in their thirties. The inheritance they received was substantial. Bruno and Martinus acquired land in Cisarua covering 17,500 bau, or approximately 14,000 hectares. Bruno managed 9,000 bau, while the remainder was managed by Martinus. Under their management, the inherited land flourished. According to the Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad (14 June 1930), Bruno allowed local farmers to manage the land without pressure, provided the cooperation was mutually beneficial. Moreover, Bruno was known as a generous figure. He chose not to expand the land by clearing forests on a massive scale and was active in social activities, including donating to the construction of a hospital and a mosque. Because of this attitude, the local community highly respected him as a ‘kind-hearted Dutchman’. For 50 years, Bruno and Martinus managed the Cisarua land. Bruno passed away on 31 March 1921, followed by Martinus five years later on 15 March 1926, as recorded in the book Genealogische en Heraldische Gedenkwaardigheden Betreffende Europeanen op Java (1935). After their deaths, the inherited land was managed by their descendants before eventually being sold to various parties.