That the line of thought pursued in the CCHP is only faintly echoed in these
recommendations is not surprising. After all, the CCHP is a document drafted
by Dutch policy makers while the recommendations had to be endorsed by the
representatives of nine countries who were prudent enough not to give in to
any claim before having read the fine print. What I find very interesting though
is that in spite of the cautious assertion that the MCH archives only may be
significant for other countries, it is recommended to create a 'single worldwide
digital MCH collection that is linked together and searchable in its entirety'
to enable the study of 'the history of mutual relations'. It is almost as if the
participants, after carefully counting out their steps, suddenly are tripping over
themselves, tempted by the promises of digitization. Also interesting is that
the articles relating to accessibility do not mention exchanging copies or the
disclosure of documents by either Dutch language training or translating. This
is remarkable, as the minutes of the conference show that these wishes were
expressed by several MCH partners, showing their desire for equal access.34
Maybe not Mutual
The more the merrier, they say, but it might be easier to find common ground
when less parties are involved. Therefore, I will now examine the level of
mutuality in a bilateral project. The project in question, the Dutch Records
Project at the Tamil Nadu Archives (TNA) in Chennai, India, was inherited from
the period of TANAP. The archives described as Dutch Records date from 1664
until 1825 and were created by the VOC trade factories in Malabar, Coromandel,
Surat and Bengal and its successors. When the Dutch left India, the archives of
the four VOC establishments were handed over to the British. Created in India,
at a relatively low level of the VOC administration, they are distinctly different
from the materials drawn up or received in the Dutch Republic or Batavia.
In total there are 1763 volumes or 64 metres of which 37 metres can be
considered unique.35
To get the full picture of the efforts of both TNA and Nationaal Archief with
regard to these archives I will give a short summary of what happened since the
project started in 1999. At first there was a request of the director of the TNA
to the Nationaal Archief for assistance with the Dutch Records in his holdings.
The Nationaal Archief sent a VOC specialist to Chennai to describe the records
and to assess their physical condition. The Nationaal Archief then advised to
properly pack all documents and to restore the damaged volumes. As the TNA
lacked resources and knowledge, the Nationaal Archief sent acid-free wrappers
and boxes, leaf casting machines, drying racks and other materials needed for
preservation. Conservation experts of the Nationaal Archief trained their Indian
colleagues on the spot and the first volumes were properly packed and restored.
After a few weeks the Dutch specialists returned to The Hague, hoping that the
trainees in Chennai would keep up the good work. In the meantime, the next
step, microfilming of the documents, was planned. What followed, however,
was a period of stagnation which took more than ten years. For this there were
COLONIAL LEGACY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA -
THE DUTCH ARCHIVES
34 Approved Minutes of Meeting. Mutual Cultural Heritage Conference.
35 Bes, 'Hundreds of Rosetta Stones, 93-112; doi:10.1017/S0165115300020313; Bes, Provisional Inventory,
(accessed March 4, 2012).
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