tanap and the co-operation between anri and

TANAP and the co-operation between ANRI and Nationaal Archief Pieter Koenders

The compilation of this collective inventory imperative, because a considerable VOC archive has not been random activity; it is part of a is also preserved in Jakarta and the collections far wider association of international activities. in Jakarta and supplement to each The foundation for this framework was laid by other. In October 1997, the directors of ANRI the programme Towards A New Age of Partnership and of the Nationaal Archief signed a letter of intent (TANAP), which ran from 1999 to 2007. Yet to improve the accessibility and the conservation another important contributory factor has been the of the VOC archives. At a later stage, institutes long-lasting co-operation between the Arsip Nasional in other countries which also hold VOC archives Republik Indonesia and the Nationaal Archief in the would also be involved. In this same period, , which is more longstanding than the the Leiden academic Professor Leonard Blussé TANAP framework. This chapter describes the van Oud-Alblas realized that there was scarcely mutual cohesion between the divergent activities. any new generation of researchers in Asia being trained to study the VOC archives. Young The setup of the TANAP Programme scholars were not being equipped with the skills which are essential to be able to read the archival At the end of the twentieth century, various plans documents and therefore did not recognize their linked to the archives of the Verenigde Oostindische great importance to the historiography of their Compagnie (VOC) were developed. Those taking the own regions. VOC archives are preserved not only initiative and their goals were: in the Netherlands (1400 metres) and Indonesia (2500 metres), there are also considerable holdings The University of Leiden: in South Africa (450 metres), Sri Lanka (310 a. carrying out research into the early-modern metres), India (64 metres), and Great Britain (15 economic and social changes in Asia and metres transferred from Malacca). Together, these southern Africa; archives contain approximately 25 million pages of b. training a new generation of historians from information. Asia, Africa, and Europe; thereby building up Following up on the plans of the Nationaal an international network of academics. Archief and the University of Leiden, in 1998 the Dutch National UNESCO Commission proposed The Nationaal Archief: setting in motion a procedure which would a. improving the accessibility of the VOC lead to the VOC archives being included in the archives using digital technology; UNESCO Memory of the World Register. This b. improving the management of the archives. move was prompted by the decision to reform the list so that it would no longer be restricted The National UNESCO Commission: to outstanding individual objects but extend to a. the preservation of the VOC archives as part large archival collections which in their mutual of the heritage of Europe, Asia, and Africa; context were important for the historiography b. promoting awareness of the international of the world. If they were considered eligible for importance of the VOC archives. inclusion in the register, this would generate plenty of publicity, which in its turn would guarantee that The VOC archive is the most frequently consulted the documents would be better looked after in the archive among all those held in the Nationaal future. Archief in The Hague. Lured by the treasure On 10 and 11 December 1998, archivists, trove of information about countries in Asia and historians, and diplomats from Asia and South southern Africa, traditionally many of the users Africa assembled in The Hague for a conference of this archive have been from abroad. Given the in which information about the conditions of enormous size of the collection and the difficulty in the VOC archives could be exchanged and deciphering early Dutch handwriting, this research plans could be made for the improvement of the is very time-consuming. This made co-operation management and study of these archives. These with the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (ANRI) deliberations resulted in the TANAP Programme.

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The Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk The participants in this programme are no Onderzoek (Netherlands Organization for Scientific longer only junior historians, as was the case Research/ NWO) provided the finance for with the TANAP Programme, now these have the training and research programmes of been joined by archivists. One other difference young researchers from Asia and South Africa. is that in Encompass, a choice has been made Supplementary sums were made available by to narrow the area of study geographically by the National UNESCO Commission and the placing more emphasis on historians and archivists University of Leiden itself. The archival work from Indonesia, although several participants was sponsored financially by the Homogene Groep from other Asian countries are also working in Internationale Samenwerking (Homogeneous Group for the programme. The Leiden academic, Professor International Co-operation/HGIS). This is a fund Charles Jeurgens, who teaches the archival run by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and component of Encompass, periodically visits the Ministry of Education. Besides a substantial Jakarta to hold workshops for the staff of ANRI. own contribution from the Nationaal Archief, The reason that in the successor to the the TANAP Programme was given incidental TANAP Programme archivists are also following financial support by several Dutch embassies. the university training is a consequence of the Furthermore, the partner archives were also able discovery that in institutions which hold VOC to contribute by making their personnel and archives, there was insufficient knowledge and facilities available. The present collective inventory experience available to make these holdings of the fifteen archives of the VOC and local properly accessible. The strictures about institutions in Batavia which are kept in Jakarta inadequate mastery of the sources applies not just could be published by Brill in Leiden thanks to to historians, in pursuing their work archivists also the generous contribution of the Philippus Corts find a knowledge of Dutch history and institutions, Stichting. the structure of the VOC, and the ability to read and understand old Dutch texts is indispensable if The University Programme for Training the VOC archives are to be made available to the and Research public.

The University of Leiden formulated a one-year International Archive Projects course in which scores of young historians learned to read Old Dutch texts and were instructed in the The archive projects in the TANAP Programme history and structure of the VOC. In the course commenced in 2000. This co-operation embraced of their introductory year, they wrote a research the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (ANRI), the proposal. The best proposals were honoured with Cape Town archives repository in South Africa, the a scholarship to undertake four-year doctoral National Archive of Sri Lanka in Colombo, and research. The final twenty doctoral candidates the Tamil Nadu Archive in Chennai, South India. selected came from Indonesia, China, Singapore, However, conditions in the partner archives were India, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Africa, Taiwan, so disparate the programme had to be split up Vietnam, Thailand, and the Netherlands. The into scores of sub-projects. One complicating research was carried out under the auspices of fact was that the archives are all Government the Research School for Asian, African, and institutions. This makes international co-operation Amerindian Studies (CNWS). Usually, the nigh on impossible without the consent of the candidates had both a Dutch supervisor and one various ministries. The Nationaal Archief was given from their home country. As well as pursuing the support of Dutch embassies in these sorts of research in the VOC archives in The Hague, as contacts. far as this was possible, the junior researchers also Depending on local wishes and the possibilities carried out supplementary archive research in the available, courses were given in old Dutch. country about which they were writing their thesis. Instruments and materials for conservation were General research leader was Professor Leonard presented, workshops about the restoration and Blussé van Oud-Alblas. Dr Hendrik E. Niemeijer keeping of archives in a tropical climate were was in charge of the day-to-day supervision. arranged, the archival documents were packed Uitgeverij Brill in Leiden publishes the theses in the in durable, acid-free packages. Unique and series: TANAP Monographs in the History of Asian- threatened collections were micro-filmed and European Interaction. inventories were digitalized, and where it was In 2006, the university programme gained a deemed necessary were improved or new copies successor with the launching of the programme: made. In Cape Town a transcription project was Encountering a Common Past in Asia (Encompass). set up for the purpose of copying the resolutions

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