Opium Consumption in Batavia: On the High Government’s Madat Regulations, 1671-1747

Abstract

This paper examines opium consumption in the colonial city of Batavia (current-day Jakarta) and its hinterland (Ommelanden), focusing on regulations of madat—a mixture of opium and tobacco—imposed by the Batavia High Government (Hoge Regering) of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Analysis of contemporary travel accounts and the initial madat ban in 1671 which prohibited the production, distribution and consumption of madat within the city walls of Batavia and the Ommelanden, reveals that madat consumption spread especially among the Javanese and Chinese. Despite the regulation of 1671, the presence of pubs/dens that provided madat became more apparent in the late 1720s. This emergence resulted in more frequent criminal activities and avoidance of work by both free citizens and slaves composed of multi-ethnic people primarily from the Indonesian Archipelago.

While initially the government uniformly banned the production, distribution and consumption of madat to maintain social order within the city walls of Batavia, after 1747, it allowed the production and sale of madat outside the city walls, that is, in the Ommelanden, with the strict prohibition of madat sales to slaves and the opening of madat pubs/dens. This decision was followed by the establishment in 1745 of the Opium Society (Amfioen Sociëteit), a chartered joint-stock company holding a monopoly on opium sales and operated by European burgers and VOC executives in Batavia. As a result, the opium market became a more critical element of the economy of Batavia. In addition, in the Ommelanden, where the development of the sugar industry was remarkable, the number of potential madat consumers—such as sugar plantation workers—steadily increased due to population growth. The government recognized the spread of madat consumption and aimed at a balance between the maintenance of social order within the city walls and the pursuit of profits through opium sales.

These historical facts show that madat use was relatively common within a range of ethnic groups in and around Batavia but also particularly prevalent among the lower classes, the slaves and plantation workers in Batavia and the Ommelanden. Madat regulations were finally relaxed as the sale of opium became an increasingly important source of revenue for the Dutch East India Company, merchants, and plantation owners due to this spread of madat consumption among the lower classes.