Citadelle de Batavia. Batavia

Title

Citadelle de Batavia. Batavia

Description

Map shows on two views of Jakarta: the fort of Jakarta, total view of Jakarta

dated 1683

Artist

Mallet (1630-1706)

Alain Manesson Mallet (1630- 1706 ) was a French cartographer and engineer. He started his career as a soldier in the army of Louis XIV, became a Sergeant-Major in the artillery and an Inspector of Fortifications. He also served under the King of Portugal, before returning to France, and his appointment to the court of Louis XIV. His military engineering and mathematical background led to his position teaching mathematics at court. His major publications were Description de L'Univers (1683) in 5 volumes, and Les Travaux de Mars ou l'Art de la Guerre (1684) in 3 volumes. His Description de L'Universe contains a wide variety of information, including star maps, maps of the ancient and modern world, and a synopsis of the customs, religion and government of the many nations included in his text. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to his being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in the charming harbor scenes and rural landscapes that he included beneath his description of astronomical concepts and diagrams. Mallet himself drew most of the figures that were engraved for this book.

Historical Description

The island's exceptional fertility and rainfall allowed the development of wet-field rice cultivation, which required sophisticated levels of cooperation between villages. Out of these village alliances, small kingdoms developed. The chain of volcanic mountains and associated highlands running the length of Java kept its interior regions and peoples separate and relatively isolated. Java's contact with the European colonial powers began in 1522 with a treaty between the Sunda kingdom and the Portuguese in Malacca. After its failure, the Portuguese presence was confined to Malacca, and to the eastern islands. In 1596, a four-ship expedition led by Cornelis de Houtman was the first Dutch contact with Indonesia. In June 1619 the Dutch moved to Jakarta, which influenced them under the name Batavia to the center of the colonial empire in Asia. Realization of colonial rule also spread to Java. He was particularly significant because he was heard by many as a counterweight to the culture of European perception. On the other hand, the Dutch hardly attempted Christian missionary work. The Dutch use Chinese as traders and tax collectors, they concern each other incredibly in the social relationship. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Eligible State owned control of the colony. Since the administration was proclaimed, Java has been the center of the Republic of Indonesia with the state capital Jakarta.