Controlling Quinine: Trade Monopoly and Colonial Power in Kediri, c. 1800–1942

Abstract

This study examines the development of cinchona cultivation and the monopoly of cinchona trade in Kediri, East Java, from 1830 to 1942, focusing on colonial economic policies, private investment, and plantation labour. Using the historical method of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography, the study draws on primary and secondary sources from archives, libraries, historical newspapers, and digital repositories. The findings show that Kediri’s geographical and environmental conditions supported cinchona cultivation to meet growing European demand for quinine as a malaria treatment. During the Cultuurstelsel, the Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij (NHM) controlled cinchona exports. The Agrarian Law and Sugar Law of 1870 subsequently encouraged private investment, expanding plantations and attracting European and Chinese investors. This expansion increased labour demand, initially met through coercive arrangements and later through wage-based employment. Nevertheless, plantation workers, known as koeli, remained vulnerable within the colonial economic structure. Women also contributed to cinchona processing, performing demanding tasks comparable to those undertaken by men. By examining the relationship between colonial trade policies, private enterprise, and plantation labour, this study contributes to the historiography of colonial economic and social history in East Java.