Y3 History

• The Industrial Revolution would be key to why the Europeans would seek out SEA states for the purposes of establishing new markets, ward off other European rivals and as a place to draw resources from in order to fuel the Industrial Revolution in Europe
• The British were initially reluctant to intervene in the Malay states, i.e. massive costs to establish direct colonial control over Malay states- British preferring to keep to trading bases/settlements rather than to get involved in complex and costly administration of colonies
• Tin was discovered in 1848 in Perak, specifically in abundance in the Larut area
• The Sultan (Sultan Ali) who had invited Chinese miners to mine the valuable tin from the rich tin deposits in Perak/Larut would then die, leading to a complicated process of who would succeed him
• The Chinese miners (separated into the Ghee Hin and Hai San secret societies) would earlier on get themselves involved in conflict over territorial rights in mining
• One of the claimants to succeed Sultan Ali, Raja Abdullah, would invite Sir Andrew Clarke to intervene to "show what is good government' and to establish a 'man of sufficient abilities' to live in or near Perak for these purposes
• Raja Abdullah also sought the British help to get to the throne
• Andrew Clarke would mediate the disputes between the secret societies and help Raja Abdullah, who would become Sultan Abdullah
• A British Resident, J.W.W Birch, would be installed as Resident, marking the start of the British Residential System in Malaya, first through Perak
• Duties of Resident


  • Advised Sultan on all matters except Malay customs and religion (Islam)
  • Sultan remains Head of State but must heed advice of Resident
  • Resident was to be paid a salary by the Sultan
• Birch took over tax revenue collection from the Sultan (effectively transferring power from Sultan to the Resident, as taxes were key to a Sultan's authority and wealth)
• Birch instructed the village chiefs to report to the Resident instead of the Sultan, thus eroding the Sultan's control over his people and villages
• Birch harboured slaves who had fled from the Malay elites' household. He had sought to abolish debt-slavery, a rooted practice in Malay customs often associated with power for the elites
• Birch spoke no to very little Malay and had a disdain for local customs
• Low sought out a more diplomatic and gradual approach in dealing with the issues of tax revenue collection and abolishing of debt slavery
• Low compensated the Sultan and his chiefs sufficiently leading to acceptance of the role of Resident to collect taxes (this does not change the fact that the ability of Sultan and chiefs to collect taxes is removed)
• Low was more accustomed to the Malay way of life- the fact that he had 30 years of experience in the region and spoke Malay helped his cause
• Low was able to make it seem that the Sultan did not lose his authority when he established the Perak State Council (in which the Sultan was President) with the Resident, Asst Resident and non-Malay representatives in the State council
• Low was able to divide Perak into districts and then villages, in which the village headman had some authority (but in reality all of these reported to the Resident. The headmen also helped to collect taxes for the Resident. This is a classic British/European divide and rule strategy!)
• Low's commitment not to intervene with role of Sultan in religion and Malay customs and ceremonies
• Low had brought in advanced machinery and tin mining methods to contribute to the growth of the tin industry
• British courts of justice established with Malay magistrates assisting
• Sultan's power and authority eroded, even with compensation, the title of President of the State Council
• Law and Justice came under British control, with the peripheral help of the Malay magistrates operating under British law
• Non-Malays now have a greater say in state affairs than before
• The Resident was still powerful
• Sultan Yusof, who succeeded Sultan Abdullah (who was blamed for Birch's death) was indebted to the British for his position
• The Dutch's Compounding Effect in Indonesia: Culture System - Agriculture (Subsistence farming, Plantation estate = cash crops), Extractive Industries (Oil by the Royal Dutch Shell)
• The Culture System led to local farmers prioritising cash crops to cope with the expenses of food/living costs and pay off their debt
• The Extractive Industries influenced the building of infrastructure (railways, oil refineries) and the use of contract workers (employed locals) who faced poor treatment and high food prices
• The urban centers (where railways end at the port, town centre) led to locals shifting there, causing overcrowding, lack of hygiene, and diseases
• The rich-poor divide: The rich worked closely with the Dutch due to western education, while the old people were left in the middle mainland villages
• Foreign farmers/merchants were brought in (Liberal Policy) to lease land from the elites, running into the same problem as the locals and then moving to the urban centers
• The unhappy contract workers were susceptible to COMMUNISM - formed the Party Komunist Indonesia (PKI). Presence of religious (Muslim) organisations that called for the removal of the Dutch under the guise of 'holy war'
• The Dutch exploitatively benefitted from Indonesia's laborious economy at the expense of the locals' wellbeing
• The rise of a local civil service was to prioritise the priyayi (the people of the elite, upper class who are western-educated) by providing a good, paid salary and favouring family ties over educational ability
• The local aristocrats administering territories created tension between the local poor society and the local elites, as well as between those who prefer the Secular System vs the Religious System
• The Liberal Policies allowed foreign businesses/immigrants, which the locals resented
• Education resulted in a printing press, which inadvertently created a platform for the locals (nationalists, some priyayi that realise the exploitation of the Dutch colonial masters, religious leaders) to publish views that threatened Dutch rule
• Urbanization led to problems like Java being overpopulated and the living areas/conditions declining in the underdeveloped areas/communities in the outer islands of Java