Barracks-Concubinage in the Indies, 1887-1920*
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BARRACKS-CONCUBINAGE IN THE INDIES, 1887-1920* Hanneke Ming The Indies Army In 1830 a situation unique for a colonial territory developed in the Nether lands Indies. Up to that time the Netherlands Army, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, had supplied the troops assigned to serve in the Netherlands In dies, supplementing them on the spot with native soldiers. After 1830, the army in the Netherlands Indies became a separate organization, called the East Indies Army, and was placed administratively under the Minister of the Colonies. Only in 1933 did it assume the name KNIL--a name still so famous in the Netherlands.* 1 In 1890 the Colonial Reserve was established, because it was believed that the quality of the forces going to the Netherlands Indies needed to be improved. That same year began the dismantling (completed in 1907) of the Colonial Recruiting Depot at Harderwijk, which, up to that time, tried by every available means to maintain the proportion of Europeans in the East Indies Army. 2 Up to 1909 the Minister of War was responsible for this organization; after that it too came under the authority of the Minister of the Colonies. The general opinion of the quality of the soldiers sent out is strikingly illustrated by the name given to the Harderwijk depot: "The sink-hole of Europe."3 4 After the transfer of sovereign ty to the Republic of Indonesia there was no longer any place for the KNIL, and the army was abolished on July 26, 1950. Some Netherlanders, however, still think fondly of "that good old KNIL. " “ * This article was originally prepared as a seminar paper at the Vrije University in Amsterdam and is based exclusively on materials available in the Netherlands, par ticularly the archives of the former Ministry of the Colonies in The Hague. The author has not had the opportunity to supplement this with Indonesian source mate rials and the major focus is thus on Dutch attitudes and policies. The article, which was written in Dutch, has been translated by the Editors, who wish to thank Professor Heather Sutherland both for bringing the text to their attention and for her help in the translation. 1. In 1944 the "I" came to stand for "Indonesian" rather than "Indies." H. L. Zwitzer and C. A. Heshusius, Het Koninklijk Netherlands-lndisch Leger 1830-1950: Een Terugblik (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij, 1977), p. 10. 2. Ib id ., p. 84. 3. Verbaal 20-1-1902, no. 4, p. 6, Archives of the Former Ministerie van Kolonien, Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague [henceforth MvK]. 4. Zwitzer and Heshusius, KNIL 1830-1950, p. 77. 65 66 Organization and Place within Society The Dutch colonial army was distinguished from others of its ilk in that the in digenous peoples were posted and housed together with Europeans. This did not mean that there was no racial segregation, but that this was practiced at the regi ment, battalion, and sometimes the company level. The army leadership saw this style of organization as organic, and hoped thereby to compensate for the generally deprecated martial valor of the Javanese by the supposedly superior fighting capaci ties of the European. Moreover, by 1913 at least, there were certainly doubts as to the reliability of the Javanese as soldiers. 5 Despite the close cooperation among the various ethnic groups within the army, its inner structure was markedly hierarchical. The categories European, African, Ambonese, and Native corresponded to progressively limited privileges. The "eth nic" status of the man colored that of his wife and any children they had, as is demonstrated by the differing educations that the boys received.6 The status dis tinctions between the women were also revealed in their transportation. Moreover, there were differences in salaries, food supplies, and equipment. Shoes were a luxury that the indigenous soldiers were first allowed in 1908. 7 Until 1895 European soldiers made up more than half the male Europeans in the Netherlands Indies.8 This high percentage did not give rise to proportionate pres tige. "Certainly in the nineteenth century, the European soldier in the Indies Army was a figure whose place on the fringe of colonial society resulted from the simple fact that he was a military man. While his bravery was rewarded with the highest honors, he was socially a pariah, rejected by the Europeans in the colony and treated as a leper. Only officers were received in society, and then merely to increase the marriage opportunities for the young daughters of the Europeans. But even an officer could often not guarantee himself a bride, in view of the exorbitant demands made on his financial resources."9 The lower ranks were seen as the dregs of society, as social irredeemables of low birth and trifling value, fit only to serve as cannon fodder. Military resentment towards the civilian society was nothing unusual. It was sometimes perceptible even in the army leadership, particularly when it felt itself frustrated in pursuing a desired course of action by civilians, who liked to play the moralizer, and yet to whom the principle of the pot calling the kettle black could well on occasion be applied. But also, indeed especially, the lower-ranking soldiers had their complaints. One NCO wrote: "No one concerns himself with our lot. The Europeans here--officers, officials, and merchants with their families-- whom we are supposed to protect from danger, are so ungrateful for our sacrifice that they shun us completely. Clergymen themselves often set the tone. When we greet them (really they should greet us first, knowing that no one else has a friend ly word for us), usually we get either no greeting in return, or at best a very stiff 5. Exhibitum 24-2-1913, no. I ll, p. 24, in Verbaal 8-4-1913, no. 71, MvK. 6. Letter from the Army Commandant to the Governor-General, 1902, p. 2, in Mailrapport [henceforth M r.] no. 91, 1904. It was thus principally natives who at tended the Corps schools, while the other barracks children attended government schools. 7. Zwitzer and Heshusius, KNIL 7830-1950, p. 10. 8. A. van Marie, "De Groep der Europeanen in Nederlands-Indie, iets over ont- staan en groei," Indonesie, 5 (1951/1952), p. 485. 9. Zwitzer and Heshusius, KNIL 1830-1950, p. 11. 67 nod. On the whole, there is no cordiality. The clergymen never appear in the barracks. For us there is no other place than the canteen. They never invite us to their homes. Not just their houses but even their hearts, are closed to u s ."10 Drink and concubinage were, then, sees an solaces for such underprivileged soldiers. The square bottle of jenever and the native woman were as oases in the desert that European society represented for Jan Fuselier. Living Conditions within the Barracks Already in the time of the Company, natives reinforced the Dutch armed forces as auxiliaries. Following that tradition, their wives and children accompanied them wherever they went. The European took over this custom, and, although not every European lived with a native woman, at least by 1836 his right to do so was acknowl edged. 11 The picture one gets of barracks life in the Netherlands Indies is thus not that of a typical all-male society. On the contrary,one gets a diverse picture, in which women and children had their place. In the small warungs within the barracks the soldiers could buy delicacies--although naturally things only got really lively after their daily tasks were done. These daily tasks for the lower ranks were as follows: in the morning from 5 to 11:30, they were on duty. After that there was a rest period, which, however, was to be used for mending clothing and cleaning their weapons. Illiterates took lessons from five to six in the afternoon. By 9:30 they were in bed. Provisioning was not handled everywhere in the same way for each group. The native soldier's wife and children could accompany him to the mess; a European's concu bine could not do the same, unless he was on field duty, in which case all women and children received a rice and salt ration from the government.12 Usually the soldiers got their provisioning in kind. Extras, for example cheese, were paid for from a canteen fund, built up from monetary contributions by the European soldiers themselves. At outlying posts and in small garrisons, canteens were provided only for the non-Europeans.13 14 It seems fair to ask whether all this increased a Euro pean's need for a concubine, i . e . , whether at the very least she guaranteed him good and not too expensive meals. The question, however, is easier to pose than to answer. Housing was characterized by a basic separation between the quarters provided for Europeans and those reserved for non-Europeans, beyond which a soldier's rank played a certain role. European NCOs had separate quarters, either all to themselves or shared with others, whenever there were too many of them for the available space. Bachelors were normally housed together.11* The European lower ranks lived together in a barracks dormitory. In 1889 a regulation was promulgated by Minister Keuchenius that those living with a concubine had to be separated from 10. Een Onderzoek naar den toestand van het Nederlandsch-lndisch Leger, uit een zedelijk oogpunt beschouwd, ter ernstige overweging aangeboden door de Vereeni- gfng tot bevordering der Zedelijkheid in de Nederlandsche Overzeesche Bezittingen en de Nederlandsche Vereeniging tegen de Prostitutie (n.p., n.d.), p. 86. 11. Exhibitum 7-10-1912, no.