Sultanate of Mataram, Java / Australian colonies

1625, Sualtanate of Mataram, Java

Minister Suleyman stared at the report. Though Suleyman hoped to duplicate the Spanish experience of civlian colonization and wealth extraction of the new world, it was becoming clear that Australia would have far fewer immediate rewards. Even still, he was committed to the plan.

His eyes returned to the report:

....Contact with natives has been disappointing. There are no worked metals of any kind, no planted fields, only some clever throwing sticks. The XXXXX (Suleyamn was incesensed by the use of the racial slur) manage only the most primitive existance. The heat is overwhelming and the crocodiles....

Scanning downward in the report:

... The missionaries have learned the language of the local area. One band of natives is now properly clothed, armed, thanks be to Allah, Islamacized. They are serving as guides for marching expeditions deeper into the interior. Areas suitable for anchorge and agriculture have been found....

Suleyman closed his eyes in thought. Summoning an aid, he gave the following orders:

-Initial settlement of small groups of civilian colonizers (landless tenant farmers) and the establishment of basic infrastructure will start ASAP.

- Further military expeditions down the coast and into the interior will be mounted (literally). If there are riches in the interior, they must be found...

Can the colonies survive and will North West Australia become an Islamic colony of the Mataram Sultanate?
 
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1630, Javanese Settlements, Australia

Suleyman reflects,

One thing had become very obvious, Australia was not golden Mexico. There were no cities to capture, no large populations to convert and effectively, no sources of native labor for agricultural plantations.

A few bands converted to Islam (some nominally, some sincererly), while the more recaltrant simply moved deeper into the bush. With the exception of the scholar Imam Abdurraham Slamet, who was making a diligent effort to learn and write aboriginal languages - some say he had gone native himself and was participating in pagan ceremonies in the bush, most missionaries departed due to a lack of potential converts.

Thankfully, most of the mercenary "security contractors" also drifted away. There was little local revenue to pay them, and once pacified, the aboriginal population posed little threat unless they were individually provoked. Suleyman was ambivalant about the missionaries, but pleased to see the security contractors depart. Not only had they abused some aboriginal groups, and thereby caused avoidable conflicts (of course, the official cause of all conflicts were the aborigenes), but in boredom, they had made demands on the settlers for "temporary wives" and extortion payments lest the "natives" attack.

A land with out Gold...

Suleyman looked to the future, a future with out gold. Expeditions of several weeks duration into the interior had failed to find any cities, towns, nor gold, nor any kind of wealth for that matter. What were found was seeming impenitrable deserts and small bands of natives for Abdurahham Slamet to waste his time with. There was, however, hope: Some land beyond the swamps was suitable for cattle and sheep. Current agricultureal production made the settlements self sufficient for food - well self sufficient for those wanting a monotonous diet of small portions of rice and chicken.

New lives...

More importantly, the settlers attracted to the colonies, though small in number were "hungry" in the sense that as landless peasants, they were accustomed to physical hardship, and also had a strong desire to start new lives. As a result, they embraced the risks assosciated with the settlements. The settlements also attracted a small number of entrepeneurs who had found the more closed Javanese society to be suffocating... .
 
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katchen

Banned
The place to plant that all important first colony would probably be at the mouth of the Fitzroy River. At least there'd be year round water for some irrigated rice. And the seas off the area have oysters with pearls.
The colonists are going to have to dam those rivers , especially for settlements further north along the Kimgberly Coast. The Drysdale dosen[t run year round. Neither do a lot of other streams.
Get to know the geogprahy and the hydroogy and the climate of Northern Australia well and get some maps going., would be my advice. A bit of knowledge of the soils would be helpful too. As well as which Aboriginal tribes are likely to be reasonably peaceful and which will give trouble *the Yolngu will be trouble, as might be the Tiwi). And find out where trepang is to be found. The Sultan is going to want to corner the trepang (sea cucumber market against the Sultan of Makassar (Buinese). Trepang and pearls are the cash crops of these colonies, and it's the pearls that the Dutch will like.
 
Interesting and well written. Subscribed.
Thanks for the compliment. I will do my best.

1635, Some Javanese colonies falter, another gains...

Suleyman went over the justifications in his mind. Even partial failure was not palatable:

-The outlying colonies to the west of Dar es Salaam (Darwin), though they allowed the Javanese to "control" vast territory simply were not viable.

-As a result, they should be abandoned and most, if not all resources concentrated in the Dar es Salaam area where water and land conducive to rice growing was more easily accessible. (Aside from Abdurahim, nobody really knew nor cared what the natives called it).

Overall, the aborigines of the Dar es Salaam / Darwin area had been relatively accepting of the Javanese presence - of course, they never had any real choice in the matter. This acceptance had been made easier by some prior contact with traders from the Indonesian islands. There had been some rough times – mainly Lakarrian women assaulted by “security contractors” and native men killed when they intervened. Fortunately, Abdurahims’s language skills and Suleyman’s skillfully distributed gifts (replete with carrot and stick psychological pressure) and the timely removal of the “contractors” eased tensions.

A military review in Dar Es Salam / Darwin....

Suleyman smothered a grin as the Capitan Reshan endlessly extolled the warrior virtues of the company of assembled Larrakian warriors. Contrary to the captain proclamations the Larrakia were no more war like than average. Suleyman, though only nominally interested in military affairs, knew that a step towards making an elite unit was to tell them that they were one.

To their credit. the Larrakia and the other assembled companies on parade looked sharp. The sun glinted off their steel weapons, the occasional musket, and the unbearably hot metal breast plates. Things that the tropical sun did not shine on were any muskets, bows, and metal armor in the native company. Arming friendly aborigines was a good thing. Aborigines armed as well as Javanese? - Maybe not such a good thing.

A splendid little campaign is planned....

In contrast to the Larrakia, the Tiwi of Melville Island had been hostile since day one. Javanese survey parties had been attacked, the surveyors killed and their gifts stolen.

The need was imminent - Melville Island was to the north of the Dar Es Salam. A Dutch, Sumatran- or any other presence on the islands could strangle the flagship colony. The plan was simple - The company of native auxiliaries would serve as guides, interpreters and scouts. Two companies of Javanese militia plus another smaller company of Javanese professionals would supply the muscle. A final round of gifts would be offered; the Tiwi would either accept a foreign presence on the Islands or suffer the consequences.


Some misgivings

The garrison Imam had already described the campaign as a short and easy campaign to enlighten the ignorant. “Yeah right”, thought Mohammad Badarin, the commander of the 215 men of the expedition. Mohammad, like many of the Spanish, French and British colonial officers, Badarin was a skilled officer who mixed small unit proficiency with personal courage and shrewd diplomacy. He was very leery of placing a small force on a large island to face an enemy of unknown strength. Draining his "medicinal" rice wine in a gulp, Badarin called an assembly of company commanders... .
 
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Are there any readily accessible minerals in northernmost and northwesternmost Australia? Precious metals, gems, or something less glamorous that would still capture Suleyman's attention? That would be one way to get settlement moving more rapidly.
 
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