Souw Beng Kong
| Kapitein Souw Beng Kong 蘇鳴崗甲 |
|
|---|---|
| Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia | |
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In office 1619–1636 |
|
| Preceded by | New creation |
| Succeeded by | Kapitein Lim Lak Ko |
| Constituency | Batavia |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Tong An, Fujian, Ming Empire |
| Died | 1580 (aged -65–-64) Batavia, Dutch East Indies |
| Occupation | Kapitein der Chinezen |
Souw Beng Kong, Kapitein der Chinezen (simplified Chinese: 苏鸣岗甲; traditional Chinese: 蘇鳴崗甲; pinyin: Sū míng-gǎng Jia; 1580-1644), called Bencon in older Dutch sources, was an ally of the Dutch East India Company and the first Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia, capital of colonial Indonesia. This was the most senior Chinese position in the colonial civil bureaucracy with legal and political jurisdiction over the local Chinese community in the colony.
Souw Beng Kong was born in Tong An, Fujian in 1580 during the Ming Dynasty. 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. He was appointed by Pangeran Ratu, Sultan of Banten (1596–1647) as the Kapitan Cina, or Chinese headman, of Banten. In the conflict between the Sultan and the Dutch East India Company, however, Souw sided with the Company.
When Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (1587-1629) moved the Dutch headquarters from Banten to the newly conquered city of Jayakarta (later renamed Batavia), Coen asked Souw to relocate to the new Dutch capital. 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. The Company appointed Souw as Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia with political and legal authority over the local Chinese community.
This system formed part of the Dutch colonial system of ‘Indirect Rule’. 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. Interethnic relations were close. Kapitein Souw Beng Koen is recorded to have had two Balinese wives who gave birth to two sons.
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Wikipedia