Willem Arnold Alting

Who was Willem Arnold Alting?

Willem Arnold Alting was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1780 to 1797.

Born in Groningen, Alting studied in his hometown and graduated in law. He left on 18 October 1750 for the East Indies on board the De Middelburg as an onderkoopman for the Dutch East India Company. He spent the rest of his life in the Indies. In 1754 he became koopman and in 1759 First Secretary to the government. In 1763 he became Counsellor-extraordinary and in 1772 full Counsellor. In 1777, he became First Counsellor was named Director-General.

From March 1780 he was acting Governor-General, because of the sickness of his predecessor, Reynier de Klerck. Following the death of De Klerck, on 1 September 1780, he was chosen by the Dutch Council of the Indies as provisional Governor-General. He carried on this function for seventeen years.

De Klerck had wanted to bring the use of Dutch into the educational system, but Alting revoked this in 1786, so that Malay and Portuguese were once again used. Alting's term of office was marked by a steep decline of the Dutch East India Company and its power in the Indies. Three months after he took up post, the Netherlands went to war with Great Britain and a great part of the territory of Dutch East India Company was occupied by the British. The government in Batavia did not, on the whole, offer much resistance. Following the 1784 Peace of Paris, Britain obtained the right to unhindered trade in the East Indies. The Dutch had to cede Negapatam in India to the British. The image of the Dutch in the eyes of the local rulers was thoroughly shattered.