Orang Belanda Hitam

Goodmorning! Here’s some interesting Dutch historical knowledge you don’t get to learn in school;

Isaac Israëls portrait of wounded KNIL soldier Kees Pop (1882), collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Johan Coenraad Leich Portrait of the West African Corporal Jan Kooi Netherlands (1882)

Kees Pop by Isaac Israëls and Jan Kooi by Johan Coenraad Leich (1882)

“Belanda Hitam (from Indonesian meaning “Black Dutchmen”, known in Javanese as Londo Ireng), were a group of African recruits in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army during the colonial period. Between 1831 and 1872, over three thousand Africans were recruited from the Dutch Gold Coast for service as colonial troops in the Dutch East Indies. This recruitment was in fact an emergency measure, as the Dutch army lost thousands of European soldiers and a much larger number of “native” KNIL soldiers in the Java War against Prince Diponegoro.” (read more en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belanda_Hitam )

More interesting reads;
The black Dutchmen : African soldiers in the Netherlands East Indies, Kessel,W.M.J.van
Novel by Arthur Japin; The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi (1997).