The Banda-Islands
Mountain Gunung Api
A visit to the Banda-Islands (one hour flying from Ambon/Maluku) is more and more a part of touristic trips to Indonesia. The islands surrounding the vulcano "Gunung Api" are small but they are of great historic importance and very beautiful. There are several fortresses at Banda build by the V.O.C. , graves of old Dutch East Indies families and several old "perkeniers-"buildings .
The 'perk' Great Waling at Lonthor Island
At the isle Lonthor lived my cousin Paulus van den Broeke, the latest "perkenier" of Banda. ( A perkenier is a manager of a nutmegplantation). In april 21th 5 members of the familiy Van den Broeke where murdered. Paulus and two of his children are still alive. But it's not certain Paulus will continue his management of the nutmegplantion Groot Waling. See my special pageabout the masacre at Groot Waling at april 20th 1999.
Banda is small. It counts fifteenthousand inhabitants . When you arrive at Banda the plane is landing on the island Banda-Neira, the centre-island. Totaly there are seven islands and a few rocks. Next to the island of Banda-Neira lies the vulcano Gunung Api and opposite there is the island Lonthor, where in earlier times several nutmegplantations of the V.O.C. existed.
Fort Belgica at Banda-Neira
The nutmeg of Banda was in the 17e and 18e century a very good commercial product for Europe. In 1621 Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the governor-general of the V.O.C. in the Dutch East-Indies, gave order to kill all the Bandanese people on the Banda-Islands because they were not willing to allow the Dutch getting a trademonopoly for nutmegproduction on Banda. An enormous tragedy. 15.000 Bandanese people were killed by the Dutch . After the year 1621 pieces on the Islands called "perken" where hired to Dutch people by the V.O.C. ; they became managers of the nutmegplantations. Slaves were set in at the plantations. Those Dutch people where called : "perkeniers" .
The son of Pieter van den Broecke was one of the earliest "perkeniers" on the island of Poeloe Ay, one of the Banda-islands. Later the family also started plantations on the island of Lonthor . Much of the things you see at Banda referres to the V.O.C. -period. At several moments on Banda you can see rituals in which the battle between de Dutch V.O.C. and the original Bandanees people is performed . Freedomfighters Mohammed Hatta and Soetan Sjahrir where exiled to Banda from 1636 until 1942 by the Dutch .
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