Chronology of the East-Indies 1513 - 1942

*) Events in Europe, Japan and other part of the world.

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1513    The Portuguese came to Java as the first Europeans, and were allowed to build a fort at Sunda Kelapa by the King of Padjadjaran.

1522    Padjadjaran allied with the Portuguese against the Islamic power.

1527    Sunda Kelapa was taken by Fatahillah of Bantam, while Portuguese were absent; and was renamed as Jayakerta.

1568*  The Eighty-Year War started (the Dutch against the Spanish for independence, →1648).

1576    Portuguese built a fort at Ambon.

1579    Padjadjaran Kingdom extinguished.

1596    Dutch under De Houtman arrived at Banten.

1600*  Dutch ship arrived, wrecked ashore, in Japan for the first time. William Adams and Jan Joosten were made retainers by Ieyasu Tokugawa.

1600    Ieyasu won the final civil war in Japan (Established the Shogunate government in 1603).

1600*  English East India Company was chartered.

1601    VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) was formed.

1603    Dutch and English each built trading posts at Bantam.

1605    Portuguese surrendered to VOC at Ambon.

1611    Dutch set up trading post at Jayakerta.

1613*  Christianity was forbidden in Japan. Dutch-contract emigration started (banned in 1621).

1613    Sultan Agung succeeded the Kingdom of Mataram.

1615    English built trading post at Jayakerta.

1619    Bantam and English force Dutch surrender at Jayakerta. The Dutch recovered under Jan Pieterszoon Coen, established presence and renamed the place Batavia.

1623    In Ambon, VOC arrested, executed and expelled the English.

1628    Sultan Agung of Mataram sent an army against VOC in Batavia; but failed to take the fort.

1629    Mataram attacked Batavia again but was defeated, although Coen died during the siege.

1636*  Japanese wives and children of Portuguese fathers were deported to Manila or Macao.

1639*  Japan was finally closed to foreign countries, except for Holland and China; Japanese wives and children of Dutch and English fathers were deported to Batavia.

1641    Dutch attacked and took Malacca from the Portuguese.

1722    Pieter Erberveld’s unsuccessful uprising to kill Europeans.

1740    Anti-Chinese riots in Batavia, killed more than 10,000 Chinese.

1755    The Kingdom of Mataram was divided after the Third Javan Succession war by the Treaty of Gijanti; Hamengkubuwono was made the Sultan at Jogjakarta, while Pakubuwono stayed at Solo as Susuhunan.

1775*  America’s war of independence (→1783).

1778    The Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen was founded.

1789*  The French Revolution began.

1795    Netherlands were occupied by Napoleon.

1798*  Napoleonic Dutch government took over VOC and assumed its debts and assets.

1807   Daendels was appointed as Governor-General, arrived in Java in 1808.

1811    Daendels was replaced. British under Load Minto occupied Java; Stamford Raffles became the Lieutenant Governor (until 1815).

1815*  The Peace of Vienna (from 1814) ended. The restoration of the Netherlands as a Kingdom was decided.

1815*  Willem I’s Coronation in the Netherlands.

1816    Dutch returned to the East-Indies (according to the Peace of Vienna, 1815).

1817    Buitenzorg Botanic Garden opened.

1819*  Stanford Raffles acquired Singapore from Johor.

1824    Treaty of London (between Britain and the Netherlands).

1825    The Java War (Diponegoro War →30) occurred.

1825    Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij founded.

1829    Van den Bosch was appointed as Governor-General.

1830    Culture System started.

1830*  Belgium became independent from the Netherlands.

1839*  The first railway in the Netherlands (Amsterdam-Haarlem).

1843    Famine in Central Java (→1848).

1845*  Willem II’s Coronation in the Netherlands.

1851    Medical School Batavia and Teaching School Solo were opened.

1852    Billiton Company (tin mining) founded.

1854*  Japan was opened to the world.

1856    Constitutional Regulation set up to entrust the power from the Netherlands to the Governor-General.

1856    Telegraph service was started (Batavia-Buitenzorg).

1856    Gutta-percha production started (for cable insulation).

1858    Dutch move forward to Sumatra (after Siak Treaty with Britain).

1860    Max Havelaar published.

1860    High-school opened in Batavia.

1861*  American Civil War (→1864).

1863    Tobacco plantation started in Deli, North Sumatra.

1863*  Middle-education Law enforced in the Netherlands.

1864    Entrance of natives to European primary schools was permitted.

1865    Compulsory labour in forests was abolished.

1866    Postal service was started.

1867    First state railway started (between Semarang and Tangung).

1868    Batavia Museum inaugurated.

1868*  Meiji Restoration in Japan - transfer of the power to the Emperor.

1869*  Suez Canal opened.

1870    Agrarian Law and Sugar Law enforced (to demolish the culture system).

1873    Achehnese War started (→1912).

1873    Construction of new harbour was begun (Batavia, Surabaya, Macassar, etc.).

1873*  Primary Education Law was enforced in the Netherlands.

1881    Telephone company was started.

1883    Concession for exploiting oil for the Royal Netherlands Company.

1883    Krakatau eruption.

1884    Treub started a visitor’s laboratory in Buitenzorg Botanical Garden.

1887*  French Indo-China established.

1888    K. P. M. shipping company founded.

1989*  New Primary Education Law in the Netherlands (to support private schools).

1890*  Queen Wilhelmina succeeded as sovereign in the Netherlands.

1891*  Phillips Electric Lamp Company established.

1894*  Sino-Japan War (→1895).

1898    State pawnshops introduced against Chinese and Arab money-lenders.

1898*  The Spain-America War - The Philippines as well as Puerto Rico and Guam ceded to U. S.

1899    Van Deventer's >A debt of honour=, arguing the return of profit to the Indies.

1899*  Den Haag International Peace Conference.

1899    Equal rights with Europeans given to Japanese in the East Indies.

1899    Equality of status with Europeans was granted to Japanese citizens living in the Dutch East Indies.

1899*  Boer War (→1902).

1900    Java Medical School reformed to accept natives.

1901    Queen’s Speech for the introduction of the Ethic Policy.

1902    Paddy Banks was opened for villagers.

1903    Decentralization Law was enforced.

1904*  Russo-Japan War (→1905).

1906    Rubber plantation started in Sumatra.

1906    Analytical Laboratory established at Buitenzorg.

1907    Village schools founded (after Village Regulation1906).

1908    Budi Utomo (the first nationalist association) founded.

1911*  Chinese Revolution - Proclamation of >Republic= (Abdication of Qing Dynasty in 1912).

1914*  First World War (→1918).

1914    Natives’ defense movements, including military service, concerning the Japanese threat (→1917, not realized).

1915    The Central Rubber Station established at Buitenzorg.

1917*  Russian Revolution.

1918    Volksraad (People’s Council) held its first meeting.

1919    General Middle Schools (Western curriculum) founded.

1919*  Versailles Conference.

1919*  Japan took over the German Pacific Islands.

1920    Technical High-School Bandung established.

1920    Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) formed.

1920*  The League of Nations founded.

1922    Constitution Reform (The East Indies, Surinam and Curacao acquired the same status as the Netherlands).

1923    Textile Institute established (Bandung).

1924    Law High School founded.

1925    East Indies Constitutional Law enforced.

1925    Radio Broadcast started.

1925*  Public Peace Keeping Law enforced in Japan to control ideological movements.

1926    Uprising of PKI.

1927    Nationalist Party of Indonesia formed.

1927    Medical School Batavia promoted to High School status.

1927*  The Monetary Crisis started at New York.

1928    Young-men's Oath (Indonesia as common nation, race and language).

1929    The Fourth Pacific Science Congress Java May-June 1929 was held with over 250 overseas members and participants.

1929*  Collapse of the New York Stock Market (24 Oct.) - The economic depression followed.

1933    The Dutch East-Indies Army formed (under the control of the Governor-General).

1933*  Crisis Cabinet in the Netherlands (→1939).

1934    Soekarno jailed. Hatta and Sjahrir jailed.

1937    Ten-Year Plan to bring about self-government for the East Indies drafted.

1937*  Sino-Japan War after the Incident at the Marco Polo Bridge (→1945).

1940*  The Second World War in Europe started. The Netherlands was occupied by Germany -The Dutch Queen exiled in London.

1940*  Japanese army advanced to French Indo-china.

1940    Dutch-Japanese negotiations on the incorporation of the East-Indies into the East-Asia Sphere of Prosperity failed.

1941    University of Batavia formed (with existing colleges plus new Agriculture and Literature Colleges).

1941*  The Second World War in the Pacific - Japan attacked Hawaii and South-East Asia.

1942    Japan invaded Java in March.

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