Anthony Reid

Almost one hundred years ago Dutch colonialism stumbled into one of its lengthiest, bloodiest, and most costly struggles: the subjection of north Sumatra, Atjeh in particular. The two books under review (both published in 1969) throw new light on this important encounter and in many ways complement each other. Anthony Reid's work (based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to Cambridge in 1965) focusses on the Atjeh war and surrounding diplomatic events during 1870-1898. Reid precedes this with a brief survey of the contest about the East Coast of Sumatra which culminated in the Siak Treaty of 1858. Although Dutch control as a result of this treaty was extended as far north as Atjeh's southeastern dependencies, the Dutch were able to pacify British opposition (vigorously expressed by the merchants of Penang) by introducing a nondifferential tariff in the whole region (p. 29). North Sumatra was a different matter. Its people were warlike, more unified, and marked with religious zeal. Its trade at this time was almost entirely with Britain's Penang entrepot. At the same time the Treaty of London of 1824 denied both Britain and the Netherlands political control.… (meer)

“Verandah of Violence – The Background to the Aceh Problem” (2006) is a series of papers from different authors, collected by Anthony Reid, an authority on South East Asian history in general and Indonesia and Aceh in particular. The various papers describe Aceh’s history from the 16th and 17th Century, when Islam was firmly establishes through treaties with various Arab polities, via the various conflicts, first with the Dutch colonial powers and then with what many Acehnese consider the Indonesian occupation, to the dramatic impact of the 2004 tsunami and the many aspects of the peace process. Only if you are really interested in Aceh.… (meer)

This book contains 9 essays by various authors advocating that Southeast Asia in the Early Modern Era was not lapsing into indolence, but was basically as dynamic as ever. Geography is often destiny in the studies of Anthony Reid, and you find that here as well. The basic conclusion of the book would be that Islam was important in some areas of Southeast Asia (mainly those where Islam later became the majority religion), and that the arrival of the Europeans was overall of limited importance. Their main contribution at first was an increase in markets (plus they diverted away from China) and the introduction of new weapons. This would later change when the Dutch presence grew more important.

One of my reasons for reading this book is an interest in why so much of the southern half of Southeast Asia converted to Islam. This is a subject in some of the essays, e.g. on the influence of a more successful religion on animists the Philippines and eastern Indonesia, and in a separate essay on Ternate. Islamisation was a top-down process, where Islam had certain unique selling points like a code of trade law, and the fact that Islamic traders from the Middle East and India preferred doing business in Muslim areas. There is also one essay on the impact of Christianity and Islam in general.

Additional interesting issues where the interference of outside forces in Jambi (Sumatra), the organisation of trade Portuguese Malacca, and trade and politics in Ayuthaya (Thailand) before the conflict with the Burmese. There are also some rather remarkable continuities in Southeast Asia, e.g. the leading role of foreigners (Chinese, Arabs, Indians) in trade in principalities with authoritarian rulers.

Recommmended if the area interests you.… (meer)