Editing Stamford Raffles (section)

==Bencoolen and Malaya==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
[[File:Southern Sumatra, De Grote Winkler Prins Encyclopedia 1910.jpg|thumb|Territory of Bencoolen (pink)]]
[[File:StamfordRaffles.jpeg|thumb|upright|right|Stamford Raffles]]
Raffles arrived in Bencoolen on Sumatra on 19 March 1818, where he was appointed as the [[lieutenant-governor of Bencoolen]] on 22 March 1818. Despite the prestige connected with the title of Lieutenant-Governor, [[British Bencoolen|Bencoolen]] was a colonial backwater, whose only real export was [[Black pepper|pepper]], and only the murder of a previous [[Resident (title)|Resident]], [[Thomas Parr (of Bencoolen)|Thomas Parr]], gained it any attention back home in Britain. Raffles found the place wrecked, and set about reforms immediately, mostly similar to what he had done on [[Java]]; abolishing slavery and limiting [[cockfighting]] and such games. To replace the slaves, he used a contingent of [[convict]]s, already sent to him from India.

It was at this point that he realised the importance of a British presence that both challenged the Dutch [[hegemony]] in the area, and could remain consistently profitable, unlike Bencoolen or [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]]. However, the strategic importance of poorly maintained but well-positioned [[British possessions]], such as [[Penang]] or Bencoolen, made it impossible for the British to abandon the unprofitable colonies in such proximity to the Dutch in Java.

The competition in the area, between Raffles and the aggressive Dutch [[Commissioners-General of the Dutch East Indies|commissioner-general]], [[Cornelis Theodorus Elout]], and later Raffles' former advisor on Java, [[Herman Warner Muntinghe|Muntinghe]], now a member of the new High Government of the Dutch East Indies, who Elout had put in power,{{efn|This led to an incident in [[Palembang Sultanate|Palembang]] where Muntinghe had an emissary of Raffles, one captain Salmond, deported to [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]].<ref name=register>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=47FNAAAAcAAJ|journal=The Annual Register|year=1820|title=Ch. XIV Asia. The protest of Sir S. Raffles against the Proceedings of the Dutch in the Malayan Archipelago Treaties formed with the Princes of Sumatra|pages=216–232|access-date=7 April 2023}}</ref>}} certainly led at least in part to the later [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824]]. Raffles looked into alternatives in the area; namely [[Bangka Island|Bangka]], which had been ceded to the Dutch after its conquest by the British during its occupation of Java. [[Bintan]] was also under consideration. Despite the fact that [[Francis Light]] overlooked the island before settling upon Penang in 1786, the [[Riau Archipelago]] was an attractive choice just to the south of the [[Malay Peninsula]], for its proximity to [[Malacca]].

In his correspondences with [[Calcutta]], Raffles also emphasised the need to establish a certain amount of influence with the native chiefs, which had greatly waned since the return of the Dutch. Raffles sent [[Thomas Otho Travers|Thomas Travers]] as an ambassador to the Dutch, to possibly negotiate an expansion of British economic interests. When this failed, and when Raffles's own expeditions into his new dominion found only treacherous terrain and few exportable goods, his desire to establish a better British presence was cemented.

However, the Anglo-Dutch Convention of 1814 was not completely clear, especially on the issue of certain possessions such as [[Padang]]. The Convention of 1814 only returned Dutch territory that was held before 1803, which did not include Padang. Raffles asserted the British claim personally, leading a small expedition to the [[Pagaruyung Kingdom|Kingdom of Pagaruyung]]. Yet, as Raffles confirmed with the sultan regarding the absolute British influence of the area, he realised that the local rulers had only limited power over the well-cultivated and civilised country, and the treaty was largely symbolic, and had little actual force.