NederlandsIndische

Nederlands-Indië, often called the Dutch East Indies, was the Dutch colonial empire in Southeast Asia, centered on the Indonesian archipelago. The formal colonial framework existed from 1800, when the Dutch state assumed control after the demise of the Dutch East India Company, until 1949, when sovereignty was transferred to Indonesia. The term also covers the institutions, administration and culture linked to the colony, as well as the people associated with it, including Indische Nederlanders, people of mixed Dutch and Indonesian descent.

Early Dutch presence began with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the 17th century, establishing forts and trading bases, with Batavia (now Jakarta) as the capital from 1619. After the VOC was dissolved in 1799, the Dutch state governed the territory as Nederlands-Indië. The Java War (1825–1830) expanded Dutch control. From around 1830 the Cultivation System compelled peasants to grow export crops for the colonial state, underpinning a plantation-based economy. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the Ethical Policy tried to promote welfare and education in the archipelago. Nationalist movements grew during the 1910s–1930s, and constitutional reforms gradually expanded local participation.

Demographically, the colony consisted of Europeans, Indo-Europeans, and a large indigenous population, with Malay serving as a lingua franca in addition to Dutch in administration. The Dutch built extensive infrastructure, including railways, ports and plantations, shaping the economy around commodities such as coffee, sugar, rubber, tea, tin and oil.

The legacy of Nederlands-Indië includes legal and administrative institutions, architecture, and a significant expatriate and mixed-heritage community. Sovereignty was transferred to Indonesia in 1949 after diplomacy and armed struggle following World War II.