Outrage Over Java's Richest Man Having 320 Servants: Here's Who He Is

Owning a super-sized house naturally cannot be managed single-handedly. The owner must inevitably hire others, in this case Domestic Workers (PRT), as done by the richest person in Java in the 1800s, namely Augustijn Michiels. The scale was no longer in the tens, but hundreds of people. Michiels is recorded as having 320 servants, who at the time were called slaves or babu. Historian Djoko Soekiman in Kebudayaan Indis dan Gaya Hidup Masyarakat Pendukungnya di Jawa (2000) reveals that the household of Augustijn Michiels, alias Mayor Jantje, required 320 slaves. Hundreds of people were divided into detailed tasks. Some handled domestic work like sweeping, washing, and cooking. Others worked outside the home, managing gardens and land. The division was even specific. There were 80 people cutting grass, 9 people picking vegetables, and 5 people tending the garden. Some others were assigned for entertainment, dancing and playing gamelan. Even to care for 362 horses, Michiels employed dozens of PRT. Michiels’ own wealth and land were spread across several areas. From Cileungsi, Klapanunggal, Nambo, Cipanas, Ciputri, Cibarusah, to Naggewer, which now fall within Bogor and Bekasi regions. The scale was even said to be equivalent to a province in Europe. According to F. de Haan in De Laatste der Mardijkers (1917), the estimated area of land owned by Michiels was equivalent to the size of Utrecht Province, Netherlands, reaching 1,449 km² or 144,000 hectares. The magnitude of his wealth came from his father’s inheritance, namely Jonathan. In 1776, Jonathan bought land in Cileungsi. That land was later found to be a habitat for swiftlets, whose nests were highly valuable and later became the main source of the family’s wealth. When Jonathan passed away, the wealth was inherited by his children, one of whom was Michiels. From there, Michiels took it further. He, who initially worked as a soldier, then stopped to manage his assets. He then rotated money from his assets through business and investments. Later, Michiels’ ability in managing assets became the key. By expanding land ownership while maintaining its productivity, especially from high-value commodities like swiftlet nests, made his position unrivalled in his time. No wonder his wealth continued to swell and placed him as one of the richest people in Java in his era.