Beyond the work of these two isolated individuals, it seems that the major
means by which Enlightenment and its interest in the past reached Indonesia
was through the founding of learned societies. Through them the process of
creating a hegemonic discourse on the European colonies of South and
Southeast Asia started in earnest. The earliest association to be created, in
1778, was the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen
(Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences) based in Batavia (present-day
Jakarta). It was theWrst of two in the area, for only six years later, in 1784,
the British would follow suit with the foundation in Calcutta of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal. More than twenty years had to pass before the creation of
more societies dealing with Asia, such as those created in Paris and London in
1822 and 1823 respectively. For most of theirWrst century and a half, until the
First World War, these societies were, with a few exceptions, exclusively
formed by Europeans, who still made up the majority of the membership
when the area was decolonized after the Second World War. A few natives
became members during the second half of the nineteenth century, but the
input of native scholars was rare until well into the twentieth century. In 1927,
Nicolaas Johannes Krom (1883–1945), a Sanskrit philologist, would say that
‘not until quite recently has the Javan learnt to raise his eyes to the memorial
of his great past; fortunately among the few are some who are sensitive to the
devotion which this sacred ediWce arouses’ (in Krom 1927: 2). 4 Concerning
those dealing with monumental antiquities, the initial major weight of indi-
viduals working for the VOC was balanced later in the century with a more
marked presence of philologists. Those interested in prehistoric archaeology
came from a very diVerent background, mainly from the clergy and theWeld
of ethnology/anthropology.
The Batavian Society had its roots in the Hollandsche Maatschappij der
Wetenshappen (HMW), the society of sciences formed in Haarlem, The
Netherlands, in 1752. In 1771 the HMW organized a competition based on
an essay related to Dutch trade in the East Indies and on how the arts and
sciences could promote Christianity in the colonies. As a result of this interest,
a decision was taken to establish a branch in the colony in 1777. However, the
diYculties of operating a branch located so far away quickly became apparent
and led, instead, to the creation of an independent society in 1778 (Djojone-
goro 1998: 14–16). Against all odds, the new learned association formed in the
colony was successful, mainly due to the initiative of a powerful individual:
4 Natives were not the only ones excluded, for women also were: as regards female member-
ship, there are no data on how many women were in the society, but from the names provided
below, it is clear that the colonial knowledge formed during this period was very much the
exclusive province of men.
216 Colonial Archaeology