Effect of Dutch Expansion in Malaya on Local Public Authority System

Abstract

The Dutch expansion in Malaya was associated with the Dutch East India Company, also known as the Dutch VOC. It influenced the development of public authority institutions in Malaya and the Indonesian islands. The VOC had a trade monopoly in the East Indies and adopted state governmental methods and functions in the region. The Charter of 1602 gave the Company rights to maintain a military garrison, build forts, appoint judges, and conclude treaties outside Europe. In the first half of the XVII century, the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in their colonial rivalry for the Indonesian islands and Malaya. As the VOC expanded its boundaries, it used the structure of public authority to manage the colonies. The author analyzed the structure of the VOC public administration, its bodies, and public institutions in Malacca and other colonial cities. The Dutch colonial court system in Malaya and the Indonesian islands included European and traditional courts. However, Batavia had a local authority known as the College van Schepenen while the island of Java had Adat and Islamic courts.