East Kalimantan- The Decline of a Commercial Aristocracy (book review)

Title :- East Kalimantan- The Decline of a Commercial Aristocracy

By :- Burhan Djabier Magenda

Published :- Equinox Publishing, Jakarta & Kuala Lumpur. 2010 Paperback (150 pages).

Outline :-The early Dutch traders sought forest products that came down the Mahakam river and followed the protocol of the day to acknowledge the Samarinda Port Captain as the central figure of local authority. Thus began the rise of the Samarinda aristocracy. Fear of Pirates meant the city was moved upstream to its present site. The royalties that followed the discovery of oil and timber saw the Samarinda nobility achieve great wealth and influence. The oil town of Balikpapan was developed and a rivalry grew. Samarinda had traditional royalty and the source of administrative wealth that was in the hands of the Sultans extended family, where only lower class administrators needed education to function. However Balikpapan saw the influx of educated people from Java, and workers from Sulawesi etc. The military commanders assigned to Samarinda also played a vital roll.  In 1964 Soeharto purged the Bulungan aristocrats, centralized power (royalties & issuance of permits) in Java, plus the rise of educated administrators saw the beginning of the end for the Samarinda aristocrats. This history is reflected in the different political outlook of each city.