Souw Beng Kong

Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Souw's patron and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.

A panorama of Batavia in Souw's time by Andries Beeckman

Souw Beng Kong was born in Tong An, Fujian in 1580 during the Ming Dynasty.[1] By the beginning of the seventeenth century, he had established himself as a leading magnate and merchant in the port city of Banten on the north coast of Java.[1] He was appointed by Pangeran Ratu, Sultan of Banten (1596–1647) as the Kapitan Cina, or Chinese headman, of Banten.[1] In the conflict between the Sultan and the Dutch East India Company, however, Souw sided with the Company.[1]

He developed a cordial relationship with Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the fourth Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1587-1629).[4][1] When Coen moved the Dutch headquarters from Banten to the newly conquered city of Jayakarta (later renamed Batavia), the Governor-General asked Souw to relocate to the new Dutch capital.[1] Souw played an important role in consolidating Dutch rule in Batavia by encouraging the settlement of Chinese migrants, starting with 170 Chinese families from Banten.[1] The Company appointed Souw as Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia with political and legal authority over the local Chinese community.[1][5]

This system formed part of the Dutch colonial system of ‘Indirect Rule’.[3] Similar posts were created for leaders of other ethnic groups in Batavia, such as the Bugis, the Balinese, the Makassarese, the Indians and the Papangers.[3] Interethnic relations were close. Kapitein Souw Beng Kong is recorded to have had two Balinese wives who gave birth to two sons.[1]

Beyond his role as Kapitein, Souw Beng Kong was also given the authority to mint coins and print money and the license to tax gambling in Batavia.[1] He also developed trade links between Dutch Formosa (Taiwan) and Batavia towards the end of the Ming Dynasty.[1] Souw resigned his captaincy in 1636 after 17 years in office.[6]

Kapitein Souw Beng Kong died in 1644.[1] As proven by his tomb, which refers to the Ming dynasty, Souw was a lifelong Ming loyalist.[4]

The tomb of Kapitein Souw Beng Kong is one of the oldest historic sites of the colonial period in Jakarta, Indonesia.[7] It is located in Mangga Dua Selatan, Central Jakarta, in what was then the outskirts of the old colonial capital.[7]

The then derelict tomb was first restored during the mayoralty of Souw's last colonial successor, Majoor Khouw Kim An (in office: 1910-1918, 1927-1945), who also added a commemorative plaque.[7][8] After decades of abandonment and neglect, the tomb was restored again between 2006 and 2008 by a group led by MATAKIN (Supreme Council for the Confucian Religion in Indonesia) and Trisakti University.[9]