Papers

• Unconventional Agents: Bugis Mercenaries and the Reframing of European Colonialism Mohamed Effendy National University of Singapore

  On 22 November 1879, a report was published in the Singapore Daily Times concerning the activities of a “Bugis Sooloowatong” who was said to be a freelance participating in a conflict during the period and “whose services have been at the disposal of anyone who would pay for them”. The report is strange because during the colonial period in Southeast Asia, colonial authorities especially the British and the Dutch, were wary of any militaristic activity, particularly among non-European populations. However, the report seemed to be supportive of the actions of such mercenaries especially in their battles against recalcitrant Malay rulers in colonial Malaya. Further investigations into pre-colonial sources reveal that the Sooloowatong (or Suliwatang in these sources) were regarded as warriors by traditional rulers especially in the Malay-Indonesian realm and played a crucial role for royal courts. Hence, this paper will explore the possible reasons why this important actor during the pre-colonial period was transformed into a mercenary during the colonial period. It also attempts to further understand European colonialism especially the repercussions resulting from the dismantling of traditional power structures which created a vacuum filled by individuals operating outside the law and beyond the reach of European authority. By studying the fate of Bugis mercenaries during the colonial period, we gain a more nuanced understanding of European colonialism especially the emergence of unconventional actors operating outside the established order.

• Sultans in colonial service? Contracted intermediaries and their influence on the Dutch empire in 19th-20th century Indonesia Maarten Manse Linnaeus University

  In the Dutch colonial empire in Indonesia’s, especially in its peripheries, rule and governance were often delegated to local rulers, ranging from powerful Sultans to village chiefs. These rulers signed standardized contracts with the colonial state, guaranteeing them comfortable positions in the colonial administration and handsome salaries but simultaneously forced them to acknowledge Dutch sovereignty. While occasionally portrayed as mere collaborating intermediaries integrated into imperial bureaucracies to enable smooth, efficient governance, this paper argues they were crucial for the empire’s expansion, administration, governance and taxation. Previous scholarship has highlighted indigenous collaboration in binding Southeast Asia’s polities into the colonial framework. Authors have acknowledged these rulers as generally active, astute and globally aware, even if perhaps not always fully conversant with the terms of the treaties used by European powers. However, little is known of these rulers’ own ideas and perspectives on their interactions with foreigners, posing a gap in our understanding of imperial practices and what drove colonization processes on the spot.

• Bangkok, “no place for opportunities”: Swedish capitalists in 1910s Karin Zackari Lund University

  The businessman W.L. Grut (1881–1949), appears in the Swedish consular archives as acting consul in Bangkok in the early 1900s. Later taking the place as the consul general, he was one of only a handful of Swedes living in Siam at the time. Through family and business, the former military commander Mr. Grut was tied to a larger network of successful Danish entrepreneurs and military men who developed their capitalist interests in close relations to the Siamese royal elite. These men circulated the boards and management of companies such as Siam Electric and Siam Cement and were nodes in company share trading. The dominant narrative about their role in Siam during colonial times have been described as amicable, as aides and advisors to the Siamese king’s modernizing project. Contrary to the French and British, their endeavours have not been understood as part of colonial history. This paper accentuates the Siamese royal elite’s project of internal colonialism to understand the role of small-scale actors like the Scandinavians, who came as businessmen to Siam without backing from any imperial state.

Abstract