The Mardijkers in Jakarta

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