Isaac de l'Ostal de Saint-Martin

Isaac de l'Ostal de Saint-Martin (* approx. 1629 ; † April 14, 1696 in Batavia , today Jakarta) brought it into the military service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to the Council of India ( Raad van Indië ) and left behind his name also as a promoter of botany and early European collector of Malay texts.

Isaac de l'Ostal de Saint-Martin. Portrait attributed to the painter Jan de Baen .

Life

The roots of the Saint-Martin family lie in Béarn , an old French province at the foot of the Pyrenees . Isaac's childhood and adolescence are not yet cleared up. In 1657 he was employed by the Dutch East India Company and moved as an ensign with Jo (h) to Bax van Herenthals (approx. 1637–1678) and Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede dead Draakenstein to Batavia , the company's main base in East Asia. All three had a common aristocratic origin, they shared some stages of their later life in the East Indies and made a remarkable career. Van Rheede made it to the command of the Malabar Coast , Joan Bax was most recently governor of the branch at the Cape of Good Hope .

Saint-Martin was initially deployed on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ), where the East India Company prevailed against the Portuguese and brought large parts of the coastal region under their control. In 1662 he was a lieutenant in Batavia. From 1663 he served together with van Rheede in Cochin (today Kochi) on the Malabar Coast ("Pepper Coast"), which was also under the Dutch sphere of influence for a long time before the English rose to dominate power. In 1664 we find him as a provisional captain ( provisioneel kapitein ) in Colombo (Ceylon). When the Franco-Dutch War broke out in 1672 , he went to Batavia in November and was subordinated to Christian Pohlman from Berlin (in documents of the VOC Poleman, Poolman) in the fortress ( kasteel ). In the summer of 1676 he helped to resolve a conflict between the residents of Jappara (Central Java) and the Sultan of Bantam (now the province of Banten). The Württemberger soldier Christoph Schweitzer took part in this undertaking, who reports about it in detail in his travel book.

From 1677 to 79, Saint-Martin took part in the battles for the Sultanate of Mataram , during which the Dutch helped put down the Raden Trunojoyo uprising. This had seized Madura in 1674 and had moved against Mataram. With the entire north coast of Java in his hands, Amangkurat II, the cornered young king of Mataram, asked the Dutch for help. At the end of December 1679 Trunojoyo was captured and handed over to Amangkurat II, who had him executed shortly afterwards. Saint-Martin's work in this profitable enterprise brought him on November 8, 1679 promotion to Sergeant Major, the highest military rank in the East India Company. The company in turn received a large area in West Java, plus the monopoly over the import of textiles and opium, the export of sugar from Central Java, the right of first refusal for rice in Java and later even the right to impose customs duties in the ports of North Java. Elevate Javas.

The island world of Indonesia

In 1680, Saint-Martin moved to the spice island of Ternate , where Sultan Kaicil Sibori Amsterdam, who had ruled since 1675, rebelled against the Dutch in a rebellion. After his defeat, the Sultan was transferred to Fort Oranje and then to Batavia. Here he had to sign a contract in which he placed the sultanate under the auspices of the East India Company.

In 1682 Saint-Martin was given another assignment in the Sultanate of Bantam. In 1619, after a conflict in the pepper trade, the Dutch took possession of the Jakarta port belonging to Bantam and established their base in Batavia there. The immediate neighborhood and the economic-political rivalries repeatedly led to interventions by the company in the following decades. In the early 1980s disputes broke out between Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa and his son and co-regent Haji / Hadji (Abu Nasr Abdul Kahhar). While the father sought free trade with all European powers, the son sought closer ties to the Dutch. When Ageng declared war on the company in 1680, Haji turned against him, but was unable to win over the Muslim elite. The Dutch, who were called for assistance, only intervened after a series of promises. With 12 ships and a troop of German soldiers, Saint-Martin moved to the port city where there was an English base at the time. They managed to master nine domestic ships and two English ships. He achieved the withdrawal of the English to Benkulu and Haji ascended the throne. This brought the company control of Cirebon, the Priangan region and the monopoly of trade in bantam. The decline of the sultanate was theatrically processed in 1769 by Onno Zwier van Haren under the title Agon, Sulthan van Bantam, treurspel in 5 bedrijven. Saint-Martin plays a major role as “Generaal van de Nederlandsche Krygsmacht” in this tragedy.

Such campaigns were no picnic and quite risky for the company. The Ulm surgeon Christoph Frick was there in Bantam and describes the slaughter on over fifty pages in his travel book. General-Major "Schamartin" is described as a courageous general who could hardly be stopped even by wounds:

"My Herr General was darbey now in front, now in the back, with a bare saber in his hand, and thereby freshened the whole soldier's house to new bravery, ran like an arrow now here, now there, so that none of us could follow him ; In the meantime, however, two fingers on the right hand were shot in two because he then, against his will, had to stand by, that I could only apply a ligature and hemostasis to him. "

Regardless of the successes, there was criticism of Saint-Martin's actions in Batavia, because he had fallen out with a Captain Jonker in the middle of this conflict and, when the fighting was over, tried to persuade his superiors to expel Jonker, whereupon he rebelled and at gunpoint had to be brought to rest. These events probably contributed to the fact that Saint-Martin sailed to Europe in 1683 with the so-called return fleet. Van Rheede had already returned to the Netherlands in 1678 and took Saint-Martin into his home in Utrecht. However, the Directory of the 'Seventeen Lords' ( Heeren XVII ) in the Netherlands was impressed by this capable troop commander and convinced him in June 1684 to take up his old post and a seat on the Council of India. Van Rheede also decided to re-enter the service of the VOC after extremely tempting offers. Both set out on the ship Bantam on December 24th and reached the Cape of Good Hope in April of the following year.

Various problems and conflicts led van Rheede, representing the Seventeen Gentlemen, to inspect the Cape Colony for several months, in which Saint-Martin was also involved. His contribution to viticulture led to a valley in the north of today's Piketberg bearing his name.

In 1688 Saint-Martin was stripped of his seat on the Council of India, but reappointed together with Joan van Hoorn the following year . In this position he had close contact with Japan experts such as Johannes Camphuys and Willem van Outhoorn . At the end of 1690 he moved to Banten to represent the company to witness the accession of Sultan Zain al-Abedin. The four-and-a-half month undertaking (December 20, 1690– May 14, 1691) is handed down in a 358-page report.

Natural history interests

Stimulated by the research of the operator of the company pharmacies in Batavia, Andreas Cleyer, van Rheede made a historical contribution with the exploration of the flora of the Malabar coast and the publication of the Hortus Indicus Malabaricus (1678–1693), which he and Johannes Caesar and Arnoldus Syen promoted . In Ambon, Saint-Martin supported Georg Eberhard Rumpf (Rumphius) from Wölfersheim (Hanau) for years, who continued his natural history exploration of the region despite severe blows of fate up to blindness and was finally able to complete a groundbreaking work. He also sent all kinds of plants for the Botanical Garden (Hortus Botanicus) to Amsterdam.

Saint-Martin became a large estate. The Japanese pavilion that stood on his estate in the Weltevreden (well-satisfied) area was probably stimulated by Camphuys, who after several years as head of the VOC trading branch in Japan had a tea house built and ate Japanese food once a week with chopsticks .

In 1689, Saint-Martin met the doctor and naturalist Engelbert Kaempfer , who, at the suggestion of Camphuys, Cleyer, Outhoorn and other inquisitive personalities of Batavia, was about to move to Japan to explore the country and its people, but especially the flora. Kaemmer's description of the Persian date palm went via Saint-Martin to van Rheede. During his return to Europe, Kaempfer sent a letter to Saint-Martin from which it can be seen that he had commissioned him, a map of the route from Nagasaki to Edo (now Tokyo), a treatise on the manufacture of paper in Japan and a Describe the plant that supplies the raw material.

The movable estate of Saint-Martin, who died unmarried in 1696 and had no descendants, went to his brother Gratian, a lawyer in Oloron. The land was sold and taken over by Joan van Hoorn . The list of estates reveals a wide range of interests and skills. As a military specialist, he naturally collected all kinds of weapons. But Ambon mussels and snails were also found in large numbers, together with a directory. Many a specimen he had probably collected or received from Rumpf during his years on the island. Since he owned three microscopes, he must have made various observations. The use of the quadrant and two astrolabes require astronomical and metrological knowledge.

Language and country knowledge

Even more impressive was the contents of six boxes with books in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Dutch and French, which the doctor and theologian Dr. Melchior Leijdecker (1645–1701) registered: 286 folios, 428 volumes in quarto format, 323 octave books and 510 in duodecimo format. There were also 89 Arabic, Persian, Malay, Javanese and Macassarian, 5 Sinhala and Malabar and other Portuguese books and manuscripts. Among the Malay texts there were novels, religious writings, chronicles, and histories. Some of the writings come from the possession of the merchant and studied orientalist Herbert de Jager (1634–1694), who shared an interest in native languages ​​with Saint-Martin, but who died a little earlier. These materials remained with the company because, according to a resolution of 1691, the theologian Dr. Melchior Leijdecker compiled a dictionary of the Malay language and made a Bible translation. Which he then did with great success.

Anyone who owned such a library was well versed in the language. In resolution papers ( resolutien ) of the Generalgouvernement there are repeated comments on Sant-Martin's 'perfect language skills and good dealings with this nation' (meaning the native one). His language skills included 'reading and writing'. This should also explain why he led diplomatic missions like those of 1690/91. Relevant research has widely recognized Saint-Martin as the first European to compile a collection of Malay texts.

Remarks

1. ↑ The previous literature only gives the year, but death is registered in the Dagregister of Batavia.
2. ↑ http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/collectie/zoeken/asset.jsp?id=SK-A-4162&lang=nl  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ The will names a brother Gratian de l'Ostal, who lives in Oloron in Béarn , as the universal heir . Haan (1900), p. 304.
4. ↑ Heniger (1986), p. 9.
5. ^ Haan (1900), p. 304.
6. ^ Haan (1900), p. 304.
7. ↑ Kalff (1920), p. 39.
8. ↑ Schweitzer, pp. 22-25.
9. ↑ Cribb / Kahin (2004), p. 439.
10. ^ Haan (1900), p. 304.
11. ^ The Breslau painter Just two years earlier, the Breslau painter Heinrich Muche had made a portrait of the sultan on behalf of the VOC.
12. ↑ Zeeslag voor Bantam. Reinier Adriaens, soldier 1682. In: Vibeke Roeper & Roelof van Gelder. In the service of the company. Leven bij de VOC in honderd getuigenissen [1602-1799], pp. 143-145.
13. ↑ Ricklefs (1994), p. 78f. A contemporary account of the events is given by François Valentijn, 4. Deel, pp. 221–226.
14. ↑ In the Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren (dbnl) there is an electronic edition together with detailed information on the author and text (website http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/hare003agon01_01/ ). A French translation even appeared in 1812. See Lombard (1978).
15. ↑ Christoff Frikens East Indian Räysen and War Services (1692), p. 72. Description of the campaign, p. 60ff.
16. ↑ Jonker was the son of the village chief ( sengadji ) of Manipa in Ambon. He served the East India Company since 1656. Generale Missiven, Deel III, p. 468.
17. ↑ Heniger, p. 67
18. ↑ Heniger, p. 64f.
19. ↑ Port Nolloth: The Making of a South African Seaport By Patrick Carstens [1]
20. ↑ For the enthronement ceremony and the complex ritual at the reception of Saint-Martins see Talens (1993).
21. ↑ Engelbert Kaempfer, Letters 1683-1715, p. 98 (Herbert de Jager to Kaempfer)
22. ↑ Engelbert Kaempfer, Briefe 1683-1715, p. 345. Kaempfer addresses him as “Summo Militiae Illustris Societatis in India Orientali Praefecto Joanni ( sic ) de Saint Martin” and at the end of the letter recommends the young Konrad van Dulren, the seek a military career.
23. ^ Haan (1900), p. 304.
24. ↑ Haan (1900), pp. 304, 307.
25. ↑ Generale Missive, Deel 5, p. 733.
26. ↑ Haan (1900), pp. 304f. The only European in Batavia who enjoyed a similar reputation and was consulted when Saint-Martin got stuck was de Jager. But in his late days he fell into gloom ( kranksinnigheyt ) and could no longer be used.
27. ↑ Jones (1986), p. 304.

Primary sources

• Christoff Frikens East Indian Räysen and War Services / Or a detailed description / what time such / namely from A. 1680. bit A. 1685. at sea / as on land / in public meetings and skirmishes / in sieges / storms and conquests of the Heydnische places and cities / in Marchiren and quarters / with him and his accompanying camerades every now and then. Ulm: Wagner, 1692
• Engelbert Kaempfer, letters 1683-1715 . Edited by Detlef Haberland. Munich: Iudicium, 2001.
• Collection of 112 letters to Isaac de Saint Martin. Treasured in the Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Leiden.
• Generale missiven van Gouverneurs-generaal en raden aan Heren XVII of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (given by W. Ph. Coolhaas). Deel 3, 1655-1674, 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1968.
• Generale missiven van Gouverneurs-generaal en raden aan Heren XVII of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (given by W. Ph. Coolhaas). Deel 5, 1686-1697, 's-Gravenhage: M. Nijhoff, 1975.
• Schweitzer, Christoph: Journey to Java and Ceylon 1675 - 1682 . Tübingen, 1682 [SP L'Honore Naber (Hrsg.): Travel descriptions by German officials and soldiers in the service of the Dutch West and East Indian Companies 1602 - 1797 . Volume XI, Hague, 1931.]

literature

• Cribb, Robert B. / Kahin, Audrey (2004): Historical dictionary of Indonesia . Lanham, Md .: Scarecrow Press.
• Haan, F. de (1900): Uit Oude notarispapieren I . In: Tijdschrift voor Indian Taal-, Land- end Volkenkunde, 4, pp. 297–308.
• Haan, F. de (1910): Priangan - de Preanger-Regentschappen onder het Nederlandsch bestuur dead 1811 . Batavia: Kolff. Hageman Jcz., Deel I (1910), pp. 9, 13, 15-21, 24.
• Heniger, J. (1986): Hendrik Adriaan van Reede tot Drakenstein (1636--1691) and Hortus Malabaricus - A contribution to the history of Dutch colonial botany . Rotterdam / Boston: AA Balkema.
• Kalff, S. (1920): Isaac de St. Martin. Een verdienstelijk compagniesdienaar . In: Bijdragen voor Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde (BVGO), 5e reeks, 7e deel (1920), pp. 37–50. ( Digitized version )
• Jones, Russell (1986): The Origins of the Malay Manuscript Tradition. In: Cultural contact and textual interpretation: papers from the Fourth European Colloquium on Malay and Indonesian Studies, held in Leiden in 1983 / ed. By CD Grijns and SO Robson. Dordrecht [u. a.]: Foris Publications.
• Ricklefs, MC (1994): A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1300 . Stanford University Press (2nd ed.).
• Talens, Johan (1993): Ritual Power - The Installation of a King in Banten, West Java, in 1691 . In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 149 (1993), No. 2, pp. 333-355.
• Valentijn, François (1726): Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën, vervattende Een Naaukeurige en Uitvoerige Verhandelinge van Nederlands Mogentheijd . Vierde Deel. Dordrecht-Amsterdam.
• Waard, GC de (eds.): Onno Zwier van Haren, Agon, sulthan van Bantam . The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979.