Amok and Its Punishment in 17th Century Dutch Batavia through the Eyes of Johann Gottfried Dreyer from Gdańsk

In the years 1685–1687 Gottfried Dreyer from Gdańsk stayed in Batavia (Jakarta) as a soldier in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Back in his native city, Dreyer wrote down memories of his travels. His description of Batavia in the travelogue written in 1706 is opened by an account of public executions of native men guilty of running amok. The analysis of this fragment of the journal will provide insight into the author’s mentality: his perception of public executions, as well as criminal and legitimate violence, his attitude towards the colonial authorities and the indigenous inhabitants of Java. Gottfried Dreyer’s detailed recount of the Batavian spectacle of power and accompanying drawings are shedding light on the details of the proceedings. Moreover, Dreyer recalled beliefs of the Javanese which were underpinning their understanding of the punishment. The text gives a distinctive insight into the workings of the judicial system in Batavia and includes information previously not discussed in the literature on penal practices in seventeenth‑century Java.