The Politieke Contracten (“political contracts”), also called the omstandige politieke contracten (“detailed political contracts”), were the elaborate written agreements that, until 1899, regulated the relationship between the Dutch Gouvernement and the zelfbesturen (self-governing territories) of the Outer Possessions, including the Atjeh and Dependencies residency. The politieke contracten set out “the principles to be observed in the governance of the landschappen, as well as the mutual rights, obligations, and competences” of the Gouvernement and the native rulers. From 1899 onward, the politieke contracten were progressively replaced by the simpler Korte Verklaring — though a small minority of larger sultanates retained the older form.
Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — Politieke Contracten
The Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account of the politieke contracten appears in the chapter on administrative organisation. The Bureau frames the politieke contracten as the older, more elaborate instrument of Dutch-zelfbestuur relations, replaced from 1899 onward by the Korte Verklaring. The Bureau notes that “until that year the regulation of the relationship of the Zelfbesturen to the Gouvernement generally found its expression in the detailed political contracts (omstandige politieke contracten) concluded between the two parties, in which the principles to be observed in the governance of the landschappen, as well as the mutual rights, obligations, and competences, were set out.”
The Bureau notes that the politieke contracten were found to be “misplaced and incomprehensible for many of the less significant zelfbesturen” — that is, too elaborate for the smaller self-governing territories, and too restrictive of the Gouvernement’s freedom to intervene in their internal affairs. The 1899 shift to the Korte Verklaring thus reflected both administrative convenience and the Gouvernement’s desire for deeper intervention in the self-governing territories.
The Bureau notes that, even after 1899, a small and declining minority of larger sultanates retained the older detailed political contracts. As of the 1904–1914 decade, these were: on the East Coast of Sumatra — Asahan, Deli, Koela, Langkat, Pelalawan, Serdang, Siak Sri Indrapoera; in the Western Division of Borneo — Landak, Mampawa, Matan, Pontianak, Sambas, Sanggau, Tajan; in the Southern and Eastern Division of Borneo — Koetei; in Celebes and Dependencies — Laiwoei; and in Timor and Dependencies — Bima, Dompo, Sanggar, Soembawa. The Bureau notes that “the rulers of all other landschappen, in total about 306 in number, signed the Korte Verklaring.” The 1914 Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie codified the rights, competences, and obligations of the Gouvernement and the zelfbesturen under both the politieke contracten and the Korte Verklaring regime.
Significance
The politieke contracten are, in the Encyclopaedisch Bureau’s account, the older, more elaborate instrument of Dutch-zelfbestuur relations — the instrument that the Korte Verklaring of 1899 progressively replaced. The retention of the politieke contracten by a small minority of larger sultanates — and their replacement by the Korte Verklaring for “about 306” other landschappen — marks the administrative asymmetry of the post-pacification order: a small number of larger, more established sultanates retained their older contractual rights, while the great majority of self-governing territories were brought under the simpler and more interventionist Korte Verklaring regime.
See Also
- Korte Verklaring
- Zelfbestuurs-ordonnantie
- Zelfbesturen
- Buitenbezittingen
- Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Oostkust van Sumatra
- Westerafdeeling van Borneo
- Zuider- en Oosterafdeeling van Borneo
- Celebes en Onderhoorigheden
- Timor en Onderhoorigheden
- Pacificatie van Atjeh
- 1899
- 1914
Sources
De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 5–7 (Bestuurs-organisatie).