Banjarmasin War

Part of Military Campaigns of the Dutch Empire

The steamship Celebes fighting with armed Dayak vessels

Date	1859-1863
Location	Sultanate of Banjarmasin
Result	Dutch victory

Belligerents

Dutch Empire

Sultanate of Banjarmasin

Commanders and leaders

Colonel AJ Andresen
Lieutenant-Colonel GM Verspyck

Demang Lehman
Amin Ullah

The Banjarmasin War (in old spelling Bandjermasin War, Dutch "Expeditie naar de Zuider- en Oosterafdeling van Borneo") (1859–1863) was a colonial war for the restoration of Dutch authority in the eastern and southern section of Borneo.

Since 1606 the East United India Company maintained contacts with the island of Borneo. In 1635 the first contract was signed with the Sultanate of Banjarmasin for the provision of pepper - at the time, a luxury product in Europe and a major reason for the Dutch interest in this region.

In following decades there were several skirmishes and armed clashes, especially related to such pepper contracts being unfulfilled. One of the most serious was the 1638 killing of 64 Dutch and 21 of their Japanese partners, at Kota Waring in Bandjermasin.

In 1809 Herman Willem Daendels, then governor of the Dutch East Indies, decided to abandon Bandjermasin, as maintaining a presence there was considered uneconomical. However, in 1811 the British, who took over the islands in the context of the Napoleonic wars, established a presence there, notably in Alexander Hare who established an independent state of Maluka on the S.Maluka river which runs into the Java Sea not far S.E. of the Barito.

In December 1816, British authority returned to the Dutch, who signed a new contract with the Sultan. Though he continued to reign, in January 1817 the Sultan's flag was replaced by the Dutch one. Effective power in the Sultanate was increasingly taken up by the Dutch Resident.

Following years were marked by multiple small revolts, and by further unequal contracts being signed.

In 1852 the Sultan's heir-apparent died, and the Dutch replaced him by the illegitimate grandson Tamjied Illah.

In vain, and many nobles in 1853 sent an embassy to Batavia, pointing out iniquities perpetrated by the Dutch-designated heir and appealing for the Dutch to recognise instead Hidayatullah - a younger but legitimate son.

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Wikipedia