Part 1

• Affirming rights over land and resources: evolution in the legal culture of the Malay Peninsula in the 19th century Elsa Clavé University of Hamburg

  The progressive establishment of the British Straits Settlements in the Malay Peninsula between 1786 and 1914 led to a multiplication of diplomatic relations and economic transactions. Besides treaties of friendship and diplomatic letters, different grants of authority (surat kuasa, surat izin membuka kebun, surat sungai) form a type of historical document often overlooked when it comes to understanding the socio-political changes in the region.

• Imperial Expansion and Intercultural Diplomacy: Treaty-making in Southeast Asia, c.1700?1920 Stefan Amirell Linnaeus University

  Despite a renewed interest in treaty-making in recent years, treaties are often still overlooked by historians of imperialism, not least in Southeast Asia after the turn of the eighteenth century. This paper presents a new research project that systematically analyzes all of the around 600 bilateral treaties concluded between a European, American or Japanese imperial power and a Southeast Asian polity between c.1700 and c.1920. In doing so, the project aims to develop new middle-range theories for understanding modern imperialism in Southeast Asia and beyond.

• Indigenous alliances and rivalries in Mindanao and Sulawesi in the face of European-led intervention Ariel Lopez University of the Philippines

  This presentation compares the practices of treaty-making in Mindanao and Sulawesi between various indigenous rulers and Europeans (Spanish and Dutch respectively) from around1700 to 1900. It focuses on two themes: first, the differing yet evolving interests and strategies of the Dutch and Spanish in these regions and second, the crucial role of indigenous alliances and rivalries that predated European presence. It argues that these treaties and the negotiations
  that preceded them often resulted from a mutual accommodation of interests that satisfy the demands of the colonial metropole while acknowledging the political realities of these distant frontiers.

Part 2

• Caught in Contracts?: Treaty-making, Diplomacy and Political Negotiation in 19th Century Colonial Indonesia Maarten Manse Leiden University

  I will discuss how in 1879 the Sultan of the small Sumatran polity of Pelalawan accepted the terms of a Dutch imperial treaty, but only in the context of overarching political gameplay, negotiation and intrigue. This demonstrates how in the 19th century flexible, ad-hoc strategies of diplomacy, personal interests, opportunism and negotiation strategies were still at the core of colonial expansion and rule.

• Indigenous diplomacy? Pampangan negotiations with colonial authorities in Manila and Madrid Birgit Tremml-Werner Linnaeus University

  In the year 1622, an indigenous village chief from the Province of Pampanga in central Luzon was received in audience with the Council of the Indies in Madrid. His mission was to negotiate the terms and conditions under which the Pampangan nation would provide support to the Spanish colony in the Philippines. For that purpose, the young nobleman set out to first acquire a license from the governor general to board a ship to New Spain for an audience with the king in Spain. During his visit in Manila was showed that he was skilled in bargaining. The story of Diego Marocot and his family illuminates our understanding of regional identities and negotiations in early modern Southeast Asia. It highlights how colonial power was negotiated and negotiable and thus dependent on diplomatic skills. More importantly, it raises new questions about negotiating power of the indigenous population, showing that their political participation went far beyond passive resistance or violent revolts. The fact that the colonial archive frames the encounter with Pampangan military elite as part of its diverse foreign relations with Chinese, Malukan and Dutch, suggests that indigenous diplomacy was multi-facetted and integrated in the international relations of the time.

Abstract

Keywords

• Diplomacy
• Europe
• History
• Insular Southeast Asia
• International Relations