Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
Residence	Governor-General's Palace, Batavia
Appointer	VOC (1610–1800) Dutch government (1800–1949)
Precursor	None
Formation	1610
First holder	Pieter Both
Final holder	Tony Lovink
Abolished	1949
Succession	President of Indonesia

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (Dutch: Gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.

The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company (VOC). After the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, the territorial possessions of the VOC were nationalised under the Dutch Government as the Dutch East Indies, a colony of the Netherlands. Governors-General were now appointed by either the Dutch monarch or the Dutch government. During the Dutch East Indies era most Governors-General were expatriate Dutchmen, while during the earlier VOC era most Governors-General became settlers who stayed and died in the East Indies.

Under the period of British control (1811-1816), the equivalent position was the Lieutenant-Governor, of whom the most notable is Thomas Stamford Raffles. Between 1942 and 1945, while Hubertus Johannes van Mook was the nominal Governor-General, the area was under Japanese control, and was governed by a two sequence of governors, in Java and Sumatra. After 1948 in negotiations for independence, the equivalent position was named High Commissioner of the Crown in the Dutch East Indies.

Since the VOC era, the highest Dutch authority in the colonial possessions of the East Indies resided with the Office of the Governor-General. During the Dutch East Indies era the Governor-General functioned as colonial chief executive, president of colonial government, as well as commander-in-chief of the colonial (KNIL) army. Until 1903 all government officials and organisations were formal agents of the Governor-General and entirely dependent on the central administration of the Office of the Governor-General for their budgets.

A Governor-General represented the Dutch Empire and Monarch and was the most influential party in the colony. Until 1815 the Governor-General had the absolute right to ban, censor or restrict any publication in the colony. The so-called Exorbitant powers of the Governor-General allowed him to exile anyone regarded as subversive and dangerous to peace and order, without involving any Court of Law.

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