Early on 

According to Chinese chronicles, Batam was already inhabited as early as 231 A.D. when Singapore was still called Pulau Ujung. It came under control of the Malacca kingdom from the 13th century. The larger islands to the south is Pulau Lingga,  ND this was the center of the Malay World for quite some time before relocating to Johore, Malaysia by the Sultan of Johor who ruled until the 18th century. The coastal villages that face Singapore are said to have been a hideout for pirates who hijacked ships in the strait. In 1824 the Treaty of London led to the division of the region between the Dutch and the British. Batam and the surrounding islands later became part of the Riau Lingga Kingdom, a situation that lasted until 1911, when the Dutch East Indies colonial administration took over.

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Fascinating  

In 1747 the ``Geldermalsen'' which was built for the  VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or United East India Company of Holland.and was the most important vessel in the fleet.

 

In 1750 she set sail from Canton with over 100,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain and a group of 125 pure gold ingots only to arrive in Amsterdam in 1985! The intervening 235 years were spent at the bottom of the South China Sea from where it was recovered by British-born salvage expert, Michael Hatcher.

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With a value well exceeding 30 million Euro, this was one of the greatest hauls in modern treasure hunting. That it was discovered in international waters just north of Batam is even more astounding. THese are some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and for the ``Geldermalsen' to lie there undiscovered is quite something.

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The Riau Archipelago was a major trading route for vessels coming from Batavia and the Spice Islands to ports further north and west. If not speedy, the monsoon winds provided reliable passages to all the major trading ports. Those who controlled the Straits held power and priracy was one of the ways to gain military power. Added to that, the strong currents that inhabit all of the Riau Province made for tricky navigation for any of the masters. A powerful combination of forces saw a large amount of trading vessels  "lost". Even with todays sophisticted equipment, safe passage through the islands requires vigilance at all times. But even until today, many of Indonesia's traditional trading Phinisi Schooners still ply these waters with not even a compass onboard. The skills of navigation are simply honed to perfection over time and handed down from father to son. That the seas around Riau have become littered with wrecks is no surprise then. Unfortunately most of these have been uncovered but legend has it that  there are still more to be discovered.

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The Lingga-Riau Sultanate, existed from 1824 to 1911, before being dissolved due to Dutch intervention. The sultanate separated Peninsular Johor, the island of Singapore from the Riau archipelago. The maritime kingdom was recognised by both the British and the Dutch following the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824.

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The Sultanate of Jambi was a region ruled by a sultan in northern Sumatra. The Dutch conquered the sultanate and killed the sultan in 1904. The original sultanate was centered in the modern-day province of Jambi in Indonesia. Late in the 19th century, the sultanate was slowly annexed by the Dutch with the sultan degraded to a puppet ruler and by 1907, the last vestiges of indigenous rule had been abolished.

 

The Riau Archipelago was a part of the Malaccan Empire since the expansion byTun Perak in the 15th century, following the earlier regression of the Srivijaya Empire in the region. The axis of regional power then inherited the Johor Sultanate after the fall of Malacca under the hands of Portuguese conquistadors. During the golden age of Johor, the kingdom stretched across half of the Malay Peninsular, eastern Sumatra, Singapore, Bangka, Jambi and the Riau Islands.

 

In September 1673 the Laksamana (admiral) of Johor, was ordered to open a settlement on Bintan Island. The settlement in Sungai Carang was later known as Riau Lama. Initially a fortress to protect the Johor Empire, the area then prospered into a regional trade center that gained prominence in the Strait of Malacca. Ulu Riau became the capital of Johor during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim when he relocated the capital to Riau Lama after the old capital was sacked by the Jambi forces on 4 October 1722. Riau Lama then became the capital of the empire for 65 years from 1722 to 1787.

 

The importance of Lingga began during the crowning of Sultan Mahmud III in 1761. He relocated the capital from Bintan to Daik, Lingga in 1788. The relocation was made as the Sultan believed that he was being reduced to a mere figurehead under the Dutch. He then requested aid from his distant relative, Raja Ismail, a local ruler of to organise a systematic campaign against the Dutch. The campaign proved to be successful. The sultan thanked the perpetrators and rewarded them with gifts.

 

In fear of retaliation by the Dutch, a mass transfer of the populace was organized and  the Sultan left for Lingga with 2000 people. When the Dutch arrived in Riau, there were only a few Chinese planters left, who persuaded the Dutch not to chase the Orang-orang Melayu (Malay people).

 

The Sultan then developed Lingga and welcomed new settlers to the island. He found new unprecedented wealth when tin mines were organised in nearby Singkep Island. Both the British and Dutch then restored his claim on the Riau island. He began to revive maritime trade as a major source of commodities, especially valuable tin, gambier and spices discreetly with the British.

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In 1812, the Johor-Riau Sultanate suffered a succession crisis. The death of the Mahmud Shah III in Lingga left no heir apparent. During the death of Mahmud Shah III, the eldest prince, Tengku Hussein was in Pahang State, Malaysia to celebrate his marriage to the daughter of the Bendahara (governor); however, it was required by royal custom that the successive sultan must be with his predecessor at his deathbed.

 

In the following chaos, it was expected that Tengku Hussein would be the next sultan, because he had been preferred by the late Mahmud Shah. Based on the royal customary observance, the consent of Engku Puteri was crucial as she was holder of the Cogan (Royal Regalia) of Johor-Riau, by which the installation of the sultan would only be ratified by the presence of the regalia. Possession of the regalia was equivalent to the possession of the Johor-Riau Empire.

 

Due to the increased political interest penned against the Dutch in the region, the British began to spread their influence and crowned Tengku Hussein in Singapore, bearing the name Hussein Shah of Johor. The British were actively involved in the Johor-Riau administration between 1812–1818, their intervention in Johor-Riau further strengthened their dominance in the Strait of Malacca. They had earlier gained Malacca from the Dutch. The British then acknowledged Johor-Riau as a sovereign state.

 

Observing the rapid diplomatic control by the British, the Dutch began to follow the British by crowning Tengku Abdul Rahman as the sultan instead. The Dutch then tried to control the domination of the British by entering the Vienna Treaty in 1818. The Congress of Vienna was perceived to be legitimate by the Dutch, and the recognition of the Johor-Riau sovereignty by the British held to be void. 

 

To curtail the British domination, the Dutch entered into an agreement with the Johor-Riau Sultanate in November 1818 that stipulated that the Dutch shall be the paramount leader of the Johor-Riau Sultanate and only Dutchman can engage with trade with the kingdom. A Dutch garrison was then stationed in Riau. 

 

The Dutch, were in fear of losing momentum simply because of an absence of a mere regalia, informed the Dutch Governor of Malacca, to seize Penyengat in October 1822 and removed the Royal Regalia from Tengku Hamidah by force. The regalia was then stored in the Dutch Crown Prince's Fort in Tanjung Pinang. With the Royal Regalia in Dutch hands, Abdul Rahman was proclaimed as the Sultan of Johor, Riau-Lingga and Pahang in 1822. Hence, the legitimacy of the Johor-Riau Empire is now granted to Abdul Rahman, rather than the British-backed Hussin.

 

This led to the partition of Johor-Riau under the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824, by which the region north of the Singapore Strait including the island of Singapore and Johor were to be under British influence, while the south of the strait along with Riau and Lingga were to be controlled by the Dutch. By installing two sultans from the same kingdom, both the British and the Dutch effectively destroyed the Johor-Riau political system and satisfied the respective needs of their colonial ambitions.

 

Under the treaty, Tengku Abdul Rahman was crowned as the Sultan of Riau-Lingga bearing the name of Sultan Abdul Rahman, with the royal seat in Daik, Lingga. While Tengku Hussein who was backed by the British was installed as the Sultan of Johore and ruled over Singapore and the Peninsular Johor, he later ceded Singapore to the British in return for their support during the dispute. Both sultans of Johor and Riau acted mainly as puppet monarchs patronised under the guidance of the colonists.