The Mardijkers in Jakarta

I am writing in response to the article Tugu's preservation on paper only published on Nov. 20. I agree with Adolf Heuken that Tugu's people are not Portuguese offspring, but they are descendants of the Mardijkers.

Mardijkers is a corrupt Dutch word which originated from the word Mardika (freedom). Mardijkers came from Portuguese colonies in India, Sri Lanka and Malacca. Mardijkers were then freed slaves. Those who came to Jakarta were from Malacca and were put in the barracks at Roa Malaka. Their complexion was dark. They originally came from Bengal and Coromandel.

Most of these people were sent to South Africa, which was then a Dutch colony. Those who remained in Jakarta worked as guards of offices and storage places. Although they had no Portuguese blood, they retained their Portuguese names, as was the case in Maluku. The difference was that the Mardijkers in Maluku were turned into soldiers of the Dutch East Indies.

Once I went to Malacca in Malaysia and visited a place called Kampung Portugis (Portuguese kampong). The population in that kampong are more like the people in Maluku rather than Portuguese, judging from their complexion and their postures.

In the history of the Dutch East Indies, it was said that the Dutch had sent "free blacks" to South Africa. They were not Moluccan people as it was believed, but they were, in fact, Mardijkers.

SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO

Jakarta