Tiger44444f4 at 21:13, 9 January 2026

2026-01-09T21:13:12Z

New page

{{short description|Ethnic group in Indonesia}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = '''Mardijker people'''
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = [[File:Mardijker detail churchill 1704.jpg|250px]]
| image_caption = A Mardijker family
| image_alt =
| pop =
| regions = {{flag|Indonesia}} ([[Jakarta]])
| languages = '''Predominantly''' [[Betawi language|Betawi]]{{•}}[[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]{{•}} [[Mardijker Creole]] (historical) '''Also''' [[Malay language|Malay]]{{•}}[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
| religions = [[Christianity]]
| related_groups = [[Belanda Hitam]]{{•}}[[Klingalese]]{{•}}[[Betawi people|Betawi]]{{•}}[[Indo people|Indo]]{{•}}[[African Indonesians|African Indonesian]]{{•}}[[Indian Indonesians|Indian Indonesian]]{{•}}[[Portuguese Indonesians|Portuguese Indonesian]]
| footnotes =
}}

The '''Mardijker people''' refer to an ethnic community in the [[Dutch East Indies]] (present-day [[Indonesia]]) made up of descendants of freed slaves who spoke or were culturally Portuguese. They could be found at all major trading posts in the [[East Indies]]. They were mostly Christian, of various ethnicities from conquered Portuguese and Spanish territories, Some are of European ethnicity, while some others are natives from various Portuguese controlled territories. They spoke [[Mardijker Creole]], a [[Portuguese-based creole languages|Portuguese-based creole]], which has influenced the modern [[Indonesian language]].{{Cn|date=April 2025}}

== Origin ==
The ancestors of the Mardijkers had been mostly made up of slaves of the Portuguese in India, Africa, and the Malay Peninsula, with a minority being European (usually Portuguese) prisoners of war that were brought to Indonesia by the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC), especially after the 1641 Dutch [[Battle of Malacca (1641)|conquest of Malacca]], whereby Portuguese speakers in the city were taken as captive. Some were also Christian slaves captured by [[History of slavery in the Muslim world#Slavery in the sultanates of Southeast Asia|Moro raiders]] from the [[Philippines]] and sold in slave markets in [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] during the height of the [[Spanish–Moro conflict]] and the [[Piracy in the Sulu Sea|Sulu Sea piracy]].<ref name="Choudhury">{{cite journal |last1=Choudhury |first1=Manilata |title=The Mardijkers of Batavia: Construction of a Colonial Identity (1619-1650) |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2014 |volume=75 |issue=Platinum Jubilee |pages=901–910 |jstor=44158475 }}</ref><ref name="Jarnagin">{{cite book |last1=Jarnagin |first1=Laura |title=Portuguese and Luso-Asian Legacies in Southeast Asia, 1511-2011: The making of the Luso-Asian world, intricacies of engagement |date=2011 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |isbn=9789814345255 |pages=136–137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kloBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136}}</ref> In the [[Spanish Philippines]], they were called "Mardica", as recorded in the [[Velarde map|Murillo Velarde Map]].

The term Mardijker is a Dutch corruption of the Malay word Merdeka, which originates from the [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] Maharddhika meaning "rich, prosperous, and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term had acquired the meaning of a freed slave, and now means "independent".

The Mardijkers mostly held on to their Catholic faith and continued to attend Batavia's Portuguese church, although many were eventually baptised by the [[Dutch Reformed Church]]. They were legally recognized by the VOC as a separate ethnic group and kept themselves apart from the native [[Javanese people|Javanese]].{{sfn|Taylor|1983|p=47}}{{sfn|Bosma|Raben|2008|pp=46–47}}

During the VOC era, there was already considerable intermarriage with the [[Indos in pre-colonial history]], who were often also of [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] descent. During the colonial era, the Mardijkers eventually assimilated completely into the Eurasian [[Indo people|Indo community]] and were no longer registered as a separate ethnic group.

== Transition ==
Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the Mardijkers exchanged [[Mardijker language|their Portuguese-based creole]] for [[Betawi language|the Betawi language]].

A part of Jakarta is called "[[Kampung Tugu]]" an area where Mardijker people had been allowed to settle for after their freedom, the neighborhood retains its Portuguese distinctiveness. Historically these people also settled in Old Batavia's Roa Malacca district near Kali Besar; however, little historic buildings remain of what had been the historic quarter.

Common Mardijker family names are De Fretes, Ferrera, De Mello, Gomes, Gonsalvo, Cordero, De Dias, De Costa, Soares, Rodrigo, De Pinto, Perreira, and De Silva. Some Mardijker families also took Dutch names such as Willems, Michiels, Bastiaans, Pieters, Jansz, Fransz, and Davidts.

When the Indonesians fought for independence from the Dutch they used the slogan [[Merdeka]] ("freedom"), which has the same root as Mardijker. This word had considerable political significance also in [[Malaysia]] and [[Singapore]]. The term Mardijkers is also used for the so-called [[Belanda Hitam]], soldiers recruited in the [[Dutch Gold Coast]] who served in the [[Dutch East Indies Army]] and gained their freedom afterward.

==See also==
{{Portal|Indonesia}}
*[[Kampung Tugu]]
*[[Mardijker Creole|Mardijker Creole language]]
*[[African Indonesians]]
*[[Betawi people]]
*[[Belanda Hitam]]
*[[Indian Indonesians]]
*[[Indo people]]
*[[Klingalese]]
*[[Portuguese Indonesians]]

==References==

=== Footnotes ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last1 = Bosma|first1 = U.|last2 = Raben|first2 = R.|date = 2008|title = Being "Dutch" in the Indies: a history of creolisation and empire, 1500–1920|location = Singapore|publisher = [[NUS Press]]|isbn = 9789971693732}}
* {{cite book|last = Taylor|first = J. G.|date = 1983|title = The social world of Batavia: Europeans and Eurasians in colonial Indonesia|location = Madison|publisher = [[University of Wisconsin Press]]|isbn = 9780299232139}}
{{refend}}

{{Ethnic groups in Indonesia}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Indians in Indonesia}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Indonesia]]
[[Category:African diaspora in Indonesia]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in Indonesia]]
[[Category:Indonesian people of Portuguese descent]]
[[Category:Portuguese diaspora in Asia]]
[[Category:Betawi people]]

Mardijker people - Revision history

Tiger44444f4 at 21:13, 9 January 2026