This is Ambon in the early 80s of last century. The earth we were going to build houses on Karangpanjang was located just below the provincial parliament. And then the guard in the parliament, is a large statue. An imposing woman, proudly supported right as the spear she holds her hair fanned behind her as she looks at the bay of Ambon and the Banda Sea beyond.
"WHO IS THE STATUE?" I asked during the inspection of the earth. "Martha," was the short answer. "What did she do to deserve a statue?" "She fought with Pattimura you very much ..."
The response came with a broad smile. The night before we had a few beers together and in the process had become familiar. He had told me about his family in Holland who was there only a few months, come to visit. After the exile RSM had promised not to divert trains again and neither occupy Indonesian consulates or other buildings, the restrictions on visits by Dutch-Ambonese the Moluccas have been lifted. And that was also why, as part of the Dutch International Cooperation, the Maluku project was started.
Pattimura I knew. Pattimura, a sergeant major in the British army, was angered by the decision of the Netherlands (reinstated in 1816 after the British interregnum) for him and his comrades to discharge. He refused to accept the restoration of Dutch colonial rule. He feared that, as had been done in 1810, the indigenous Christian teachers are not paid more, and the switch for paper money would starve alms from churches that parts were considered valid.
But Martha Christina Tiahahu was new to me. She and her father, I learned, had joined Pattimura and May 16, 1817, participated in the conquest of the fortress Duurstede on Saparua.
They killed all the Dutch inside the fortress; Only five years old, son of the resident, though severely wounded, survived. After being taken over by Solomon Pattiwaal, a servant of the Van den Berg family, the boy was referred to the authorities and his (distant) family in Holland. In 1875, a royal decree gave the boy the right to change the surname "Van den Berg van Saparoea" in memory of the event 1817.
Martha was born January 4, 1800, and died on January 2, 1818. she was raised by her father, captain Paulus Tiahahu clan Uluputi Soa, her mother died when she was still an infant. It has been described as a strong and tenacious will, according to his father everywhere, even in the planning of an attack. With her father, she joined the guerrilla war against the Dutch colonial government back from the Pattimura backup.
This suggests that the uprising was a religious tinge, and a big reason was the fear that the suffering church. But then, Pattimura, Martha and their revolutionary band can not be regarded as a major general uprising. Their numbers are not very large, and they were also of Saparua. The island's largest and most important of Ambon was represented by only a few chips fighters, and the island of Haruku was even less, its population was predominantly Muslim.
The general lack of support can also be inferred from the fact that Pattimura was betrayed by Pati Akoon, Raja Booi, on Ambon. He was captured by the Dutch November 11th, 1817 with Martha, his father and several of their comrades. Pattimura was sentenced to death and a month later was hanged in Ambon. Martha's father was executed Nusalaut, but because of his age, Martha herself was released and sent home. Perhaps with a pat on the head and cautioned not to play war with adults again.
This derogatory treatment must insulting the revolutionary soldier. She had fought with a gun and, when missed ammunition, had picked up a spear and hurled stones at the enemy. As expected, she continued fighting and was taken over in a short time. Now there was no pat on the head and a warning. She was sentenced to forced labor in the coffee plantations of Java. Interestingly, Raffles biographers have long claimed that the famous founder of Singapore, abolished slavery in the East Indies, but in fact, it was trading in slaves he defended. To convict someone of forced labor was therefore still in legislation.
The girl who, since childhood, had lived in a community of soldiers and had probably dreamed of great achievements and to release the foreign oppressor Islands, was now chained in the brig of the Admiral Evertsen on his way to Batavia. With his freedom taken and broken dreams, she fell ill. Refusing medication and food, she died January 2, 1818 and the same day was given a sea burial.
In commemoration of the day on January 2 was declared Martha Christina Day Tiahahu .
0 Komentar