The De Haai flag visit of 1855 — in Kreemer’s history, the first of a series of Dutch naval vlagvertoon (flag-showing) visits to Atjèh — was undertaken by the Dutch war-brig De Haai, whose commander was “door den Soeltan zeer vijandig ontvangen” — “received very hostilely by the Sultan.” The visit marked the Dutch government’s turn, after a series of plundering incidents, from passive acquiescence to a cautious assertion of naval presence in Atjèhnese waters.
The visit
Kreemer situates the De Haai visit in the Dutch response to the recurrence of Atjèhnese plundering — 1831 at Koeala Batèë, 1836 the schooner Dolphijn, 1844 two British vessels at Koeala Batèë and Koeala Meureudoe, 1851 a Napolitaansch vessel, 1852 an Engelsche schooner. The Dutch government, having in 1852 admitted “dat zij dergelijke daden der Atjèhers niet beletten kon” — “that she could not prevent such deeds of the Atjèhnese” — decided to send a warship to Atjèh from time to time for flag-showing, “zonder briefwisseling met den Soeltan te openen, zoolang niet van de zijde van dien vorst naar vriendschappelijke betrekkingen gestreefd werd” — “without opening correspondence with the Sultan, as long as no effort towards friendly relations was made from the side of that prince.” “De eerste tocht had plaats in 1855 met de oorlogsbrik De Haai, waarbij de commandant door den Soeltan zeer vijandig werd ontvangen” — “The first voyage took place in 1855 with the war-brig De Haai, in which the commander was received very hostilely by the Sultan.”
The 1856 follow-up
The hostile reception of De Haai prompted a more carefully prepared second visit in 1856. “In het volgend jaar zond de Indische Regeering een grooter schip en ter voorkoming van gelijke bejegening als in het vorige jaar, kreeg dat schip wèl een brief mede van den gouverneur van Soematra’s Westkust Van Swieten. De ontvangst was nu gepast. De Soeltan nam den schijn aan, alsof hij toenadering wenschte, echter schreef hij tegelijk aan den Engelschen gouverneur van Singapore in een jegens ons vijandigen geest!” — “In the following year the Indian Government sent a larger ship, and to prevent the same treatment as in the previous year, that ship was given a letter from the governor of Sumatra’s West Coast Van Swieten. The reception was now proper. The Sultan took on the appearance of wishing to draw near; however, he wrote at the same time to the English governor of Singapore in a spirit hostile towards us!”
Significance
The De Haai visit of 1855 is, in Kreemer’s narrative, the first Dutch assertion of naval presence at Atjèh since the 1824 treaty — a cautious departure from the pure acquiescence of the 1831–1852 period. The hostile reception, and the Sultan’s double-dealing in 1856 (friendly to the Dutch face, hostile to the British in writing), confirmed that no progress could be made by naval visits alone, and led directly to the treaty-negotiation of 1857.
See Also
- Acheh
- Generaal van Swieten
- Treaty of 1857 with the Sultan of Atjèh
- Causes of the Atjèh-oorlog (Kreemer’s account)
- Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
- Sumatra’s West Coast
- Singapore
- 1855
- 1856
- 1857
Source
Atjèh. Algemeen samenvattend overzicht van land en volk van Atjèh en onderhoorigheden, door J. Kreemer, Archivaris van het Atjèh Instituut. Eerste Deel. Leiden: N.V. Boekhandel en Drukkerij voorheen E.J. Brill, 1922. Hoofdstuk I, B (“Periode 1824—1873. Oorzaken van den Atjèh-oorlog”), blz. 11.