Trained as a doctor, John Crawfurd (1783–1868) went on to have a distinguished career in colonial administration with the East India Company. He held senior posts in Java from 1811 to 1816, including that of resident at the court of Yogyakarta. A talented linguist and ethnologist, Crawfurd acquired a sound knowledge of ancient Kawi and contemporary Javanese. Upon his return to Britain in 1817, he became a fellow of the Royal Society and published this three-volume work on the Indonesian islands, principally Java, to great acclaim. Following further service abroad, he published accounts of his various missions in south-east Asia and an encyclopaedic sequel to the present work (all of which are reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). Volume 3 examines political institutions and commerce, covering major exports and imports along with demographics, public revenue and laws.
Contents
Part VIII. Political Institutions: 1. Government; 2. Classification and distribution of the people; 3. Public revenue; 4. Laws; Part IX. Commerce: 1. Domestic and internal commerce of the archipelago; 2. Commerce with Asiatic nations; 3. Commerce with European nations; 4. Intercolonial commerce; 5. Description of articles of exportation; 6. Description of articles of importation; Appendix; Index.
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