The Johor-VOC Alliance and the Twelve Years Truce: Factionalism, Intrigue and International Diplomacy, C.1606-1613

International Law and Justice Workiing Paper 2009/8

67 Pages Posted: 26 Dec 2009

See all articles by Peter Borschberg

Peter Borschberg

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Department of History

Date Written: December 17, 2009

Abstract

Using published and unpublished documents of Dutch, Portuguese and Malay provenance, the present study explores how news of the Twelve Years Truce in December 1609 negatively impacted politics and commerce at the court of the Kingdom of Johor. Since 1603, Johor had emerged as one of the principal allies of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the region of the Singapore and Melaka Straits, and after 1606 it had proven itself as a worthy ally in the company’s war on the Iberian powers across Southeast Asia. It will be argued that confusion resulting from the news of the truce on the ground in Asia exacerbated factionalism at the court. The Johor ruler, Ala’udin Ri’ayat Shah III, and especially his younger sibling Raja Bongsu, were incensed and evidently felt they had been left to carry on the struggle against Portuguese Melaka on their own. Unable to continue the war effort without Dutch funds, subsidies and ammunition, the pro-Portuguese faction at the Johor court brokered a peace with the Estado da Índia in October 1610. This deal led to the fall of Raja Bongsu and his pro-Dutch faction at the court. This essay provides the political and historical backdrop to the writing and revision of the Sejarah Melayu, or Malay Annals, in or around 1612.

Keywords: VOC, Johor, Twelve Years Truce, Spain, Dutch Republic, Treaties, Alliances, Sovereignty, Malay Annals

Suggested Citation

Borschberg, Peter, The Johor-VOC Alliance and the Twelve Years Truce: Factionalism, Intrigue and International Diplomacy, C.1606-1613 (December 17, 2009). International Law and Justice Workiing Paper 2009/8, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1526382 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1526382

Peter Borschberg (Contact Author)

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Department of History ( email )

11 Arts Link
AS1-05-27
AS1-05-27
Singapore

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
172
Abstract Views
1,059
Rank
314,422
PlumX Metrics