Nederlandsch Indies Numerical Definitives - 1902.

NEDERLANDSCH INDIES (Dutch East Indies, currently Republic of Indonesia) issued a series of definitive stamps with a Numeral of Value in an oval frame like the ones affixed to this postcard. These stamps were in circulation in this Dutch colony in 1902.

The postcard shown here depicts a Karo Batak woman from Medan, on the east coast of Sumatra, circa 1905. The postcard has travelled a lot over the years; initially from Surabaya, it went to Bangoen Purba (North Sumatra), then Port Said (Egypt), then Syria. How it ended up with a stamp/postcard  dealer in Argentina, where I purchased it, is a mystery. To reach me, it travelled from Argentina to Dubai, then Malaysia. In a way, it has finally returned home to South East Asia, although it took over 100 years

The Dutch Indies (Netherlands Indies, Dutch East Indies) was a Dutch colony consisting of Java, Sumatra, Lesser Sundas, Madura, Celebes, Moluccas, Western New Guinea, and two thirds of Borneo. After the Japanese occupation and WWII, and then the Independence movement, modern day Indonesia was formed.

The Dutch East India Companies possessions were nationalised in 1800 as the Dutch East Indies. Products from the Dutch Indies that made the Netherlands a colonial power included nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and the introduction of coffee, tea, cacao, tobacco, rubber and sugar.  The Capital was Batavia (Jakarta), and the population was 60 million in 1930, 240,000 of them European.