ORANG TIONGHOA, PERKEBUNAN GAMBIR, LADA DAN KONTESTASI DI TANJUNGPINANG ABAD KE-19

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between Chinese people, pepper and gambier plantations and contestation in the context of the expansion of Chinese people in Tanjungpinang during the Dutch colonial period. This study reveals the transformation of the Chinese immigrants, originally brought as laborers on plantations owned by Bugis nobles, into plantation owners under Dutch colonial intervention. The research was conducted using historical methods whose analysis was based on primary sources: Koloniaal Verslag, Memorie van Overgave (MvO) and Regeering Almanac voor Nederlandsch-Indie (RAN). The primary sources were carefully analyzed. This research concludes that, in Tanjungpinang, the Chinese had been on Bintan Island since the 15th century together with Zheng He’s expedition. However, the arrival of the Chinese on a large scale occurred in 1740. They came as laborers on the pepper and gambier plantations belonging to the Bugis aristocrats. Political internal and external changes, as well as land and territorial tenure between the Hokkien in Tanjungpinang and Teochiu in Senggarang, added a new narrative to their role as intermediaries, landowners, and coolies in the pepper and gambier plantations. Even though there had been open conflicts between Teochiu and Hokkien in the past caused by Dutch colonial alignments and different interests. However, this conflict can be solved and not affect their important position as the driving force of the economy in Tanjungpinang.