Great Post Road

The Great Post Road (Indonesian: "Jalan Raya Pos", Dutch: "De Groote Postweg") is a road with a length of approximately 1,000 km across northern Java from Anyer to, at first, Panarukan but then later it was expanded to Banyuwangi.cite conference| author=Peter Nas| title=Java and De Groote Postweg, La Grande Route, the Great Mail Road, Jalan Raya Pos| booktitle= In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |volume=158 |issue=4 |pages=707–725 |year=2002 |url=http://www.leidenuniv.nl/fsw/nas/pdf/NasPratiwoPostweg30-10-2001.pdf |accessdate=2007-10-25|format=PDF] It was built during the reign of governor-general of the Dutch East Indies Herman Willem Daendels (1808–1811).

When Daendels set foot on Java he decided to build a transport route across northern Java in order to protect the island from a British attack. The road had a military objective, to allow for a fast displacement of troops. For this reason, Daendels obliged each indigenous ruler along the planned route to mobilize people to work on the road. Production targets were set. If the production targets were not achieved, the responsible indigenous ruler and his workers were killed. Their heads were hung in the trees along the road. Daendels showed no mercy in this project and it resulted a completed road in just one year (1808), which was an extraordinary achievement for that time.

Although thousands of Javanese forced laborers died during the construction of the road, many contemporary Indonesian historians see the construction of the road as an important step. The Great Post Road had made the transportation on Java became easier which can be traveled in days, instead of weeks.

Construction

"La Grande Route", as Daendels called it, was a military road which was laid down under the order of King Lodewijk Napoleon who ruled Holland at that time. France was at war with England and the road was intended to ease military support, e.g. transfer of soldiers, in order to defend Java. Before the road was constructed, connections existed between Batavia — Semarang and between Semarang — Surabaya in 1750. [cite conference |author=Th. Stevens |title=De Postweg van Daendels: Een vraagstuk |year=1991 |booktitle=In: Herman Willem Daendels 1762-1818: Geldersman - Patriot - Jacobijn - Generaal - Hereboer - Maarschalk - Governeur: Van Hattem naar St. George del Mina |editor=F. Van Anrooy |pages=71—76] North-south connection between Semarang, Surakarta and Yogyakarta was also available at that time. However, these connection paths were not easily passable as heavy tropical rainfall frequently destroyed them.

Daendels faced difficult condition in Dutch East Indies when he was starting the road construction. The financial situation in the colony was so tight that the minister of Colonial Affairs in Holland sent him a letter emphasizing the difficult financial situation and the need to reduce expenditures. English was surely a big threat, there were uprisings in Bantam and Cirebon, and some of Daendels opponents, who were alienated from him, took a negative side against him. Daendels then decided to use most of the heavy works from the Javanese unpaid forced labors which resulted in thousand of deaths due to unhealthiness of the forests, marshes and the labor condition.

Many of Daendels' opponents became historical sources of the harsh condition during the road construction. Major William Thorn wrote that about 12,000 natives have perished during the construction. [cite book |author=William Thorm |title=The Conquest of Java |year=1993 |others=originally 1815 |location=Singapore |publisher=Periplus Editions] Nicolaus Engelhard, who was a governor in large part of Java and had to give up his position to Daendels, stated that 500 workers had died in Megamendung area nearby Buitenzorg (the present-day of Bogor), excluding the number of people who died as the result of illness. Furthermore Engelhard criticized Daendels of the thousand of casualties resulting from the road construction in the woods of Weleri in Pekalongan region. [cite book |author=Nicolaus Engelhard |year=1816 |title=Overzicht van den staat der Nederlandsche Oost-Indische bezittingen, onder het bestuur van Gouverneur-Generaal Herman Willem Daendels enz. enz.; ter betere kennis en waardering van 's mans willekeurig en geweldadig bewind |location='s Gravenhage |publisher=De Gebroeders van Cleef]

Media depiction

In 1996, the Dutch producer Pieter van Huystee produced the film "De Groote Postweg" (The Great Post Road). [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282626/ Jalan raya pos (1996)] from the Internet Movie Database] This film was shown in several cinemas in The Netherlands, Italy and France. The Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer did the narration for this film.

References