Colonial authorities respond to Boston Band’s peace letters

One month after the Giyanti settlement, Sultan Hamengkubuwono I announced the name Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat for his half of the former Mataram realm. The new court asserted Javanese political...

Enslaved people at the La Paix timber plantation rose against enslavement. The revolt spread through the Tempati region, with hundreds fleeing plantations and joining Maroon communities. This was an...

The agreement formalized a further division of the Mataram political order. VOC officials mediated and secured influence over Javanese succession, while local princes and courts shaped the...

A report to the Society of Suriname described the revolt and cautioned against alarming investors. The archive exposes how colonial authorities managed information about resistance to protect...

A group of former colonial officials warned the Society of Suriname about the revolt’s scale and the danger to settler property. Their private alarm contrasted with public attempts to reassure...

Crommelin wrote that only peace could prevent the colony’s ruin. His appeal followed decades of failed military campaigns and acknowledged Maroon power. The letter documents the strategic position won...

At a peace negotiation, an unnamed Ndyuka speaker defended Maroon attacks against plantations. The statement reframes the violence as resistance to enslavement and colonial aggression. The surviving...

Boston Band sent a letter to Governor Crommelin about a peace agreement. His role shows Maroon diplomacy, literacy, and leadership in negotiations with the colonial government. The Ndyuka sought...

The treaty recognized the Ndyuka as a political community and established formal relations with the colonial government. Ndyuka resistance compelled the Dutch to negotiate rather than achieve military...

Colonial authorities and residents in Paramaribo celebrated the treaty with the Ndyuka. The celebration recognized a negotiated end to a costly conflict, though the treaty remained shaped by...