A full text searchable index of the so called 'Plakaatboeken' has been created by the Corts Foundation and ANRI. For the first time this is published online. The index contains over ten thousand entries referring to the seventeen volumes that were published in print in the 19th century by the Bataviaasch Genootschap.
Many of the decrees or ‘plakaten’ (placards) were issued in public and nailed to the door of the Town Hall (Stadhuis) or other such visible public places in the 17th and 18th century. Most of the placards were meant to regulate the markets, public leases, institutions, population (most notably the Chinese) and public civil behaviour of Batavia. A number of other placards concern regulations for VOC personnel, trade, maritime matters, repatriation and salaries.
