Editing Stamford Raffles (section)

===Rule===

During the relatively brief period of British rule in Java, Raffles negotiated several peace treaties along with ordering several military expeditions against local rulers. Rumours of plans by the [[Yogyakarta Sultanate]] to launch an attack against the British led to uneasiness among Britons in Java. On 20 June 1812, Raffles led a 1,200-strong British force to capture the [[Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat|Royal Palace of Yogyakarta]]. Yogyakarta forces, surprised by the attack, were easily defeated; the palace fell in one day, and was [[Sack of Yogyakarta|subsequently sacked and burnt]]. Raffles ordered much of the palace's archives to be removed, taking them back with him. The attack was unprecedented in Javanese history, as it was the first time an indigenous palace had been captured by a European army, humiliating the Yogyakarta Sultanate.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ricklefs|first=M. C.|author-link=M. C. Ricklefs|year=2008|title=A History of Modern Indonesia Since C. 1200|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|edition=4th}}</ref>

Although peace returned to [[Central Java]] in the immediate aftermath of the attack, it may have fuelled the deep-seated instability and hostility to European involvement in the region that ultimately gave rise to the [[Java War]] during the 1820s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carey|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Carey (historian)|year=2008|title=The Power of Prophecy: Prince Dipanagara and the End of an Old Order in Java, 1785–1855}}</ref> Raffles also ordered an expedition to [[Palembang]], [[Sumatra]] to depose local sultan [[Mahmud Badaruddin II]]. The expedition was also ordered to occupy the nearby [[Bangka Island]] in order to establish a permanent British presence in the area, in case Java returned to Dutch rule after the end of the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]] in Europe.{{fact|date=November 2024}}

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Gedenksteen van T.S. Raffles de oprichter van 's Lands Plantentuin voor zijn vrouw O.M. Raffles langs de Kanarielaan in 's Lands Plantentuin te Buitenzorg West-Java TMnr 10016615.jpg|thumb|The memorial to [[Olivia Mariamne Raffles]], Raffles's first wife, erected by him along the [[Kanarielaan]] in the National Botanical Gardens (now the [[Bogor Botanical Gardens]]). Raffles re-landscaped these gardens, which were established in 1744 in Buitenzorg (now [[Bogor]]), [[West Java]].]]

During his lieutenant-governorship, Raffles placed some restrictions on the local [[History of slavery|slave trade]] in line with wider British policy across its Asian territories, although slavery remained widespread and Raffles himself was served by a large retinue of slaves at his official residences in Java.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hahn|first=Emily|author-link=Emily Hahn|year=1946|title=Raffles of Singapore|url=https://Archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.60280}}</ref> Raffles also attempted a replacement of the Dutch system of forced agricultural deliveries-in-kind with a cash-based [[land tenure]] system of land management, probably influenced by the earlier anti-feudal critiques of [[Dirk van Hogendorp (1761–1822)|Dirk van Hogendorp]] He was advised by a holdover from the previous Dutch regime on Java, the president of the High Court of Java, [[Herman Warner Muntinghe]], especially in the matter of the reform of the public finances of the colony, and its system of taxation.<ref name=wright>{{cite journal|author=Wright, H.R.C.|title=Muntinghe's advice to Raffles on the land question in Java|journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde|volume=108|issue=3|year=1952|pages=220–247|doi=10.1163/22134379-90002430 |jstor=27859777 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Under Raffles's aegis, a large number of ancient monuments in Java were systematically catalogued for the first time. The first detailed English-language account of [[Prambanan]] was prepared by [[Colin Mackenzie]], while the [[Buddhist temple]] of [[Borobudur]] was surveyed and cleared of vegetation by H. C. Cornelius.<ref>{{Cite book|author1-link=John N. Miksic|last=Miksic|first=John|date=1990|title=Borobudur: Golden Tales of the Buddhas}}</ref>

When his wife, Olivia, died on 26 November 1814, Raffles was devastated. In 1815, he left again for England shortly before the island of Java was returned to control of the Netherlands following the [[Napoleonic Wars]], under the terms of the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814]]. Raffles had been removed from his post by the [[East India Company]] ahead of the handover, and officially replaced by [[John Fendall Jr.]] on account of the poor financial performance of the colony during his administration, and allegations of financial impropriety on his own part. He sailed to England in early 1816 to clear his name and, ''en route'', visited [[Napoleon]], who was in exile at [[St. Helena]], but found him unpleasant and unimpressive.