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The Mardijker people refer to an ethnic community in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) made up of descendants of freed slaves who spoke or is culturally Portuguese. They could be found at all major trading posts in the East Indies. They were mostly Christian, of various ethnicities from conquered Portuguese and Spanish territories, Some are of European ethnicity, while some others are natives from various Portuguese controlled territories. They spoke Mardijker Creole, a Portuguese-based creole, which has influenced the modern Indonesian language.
The term Mardijker is a Dutch corruption of the Malay word Merdeka, which originates from the Sanskrit Maharddhika meaning "rich, prosperous, and powerful". In the Malay archipelago, this term had acquired the meaning of a freed slave, and now means "independent".
The Mardijkers mostly clung to their Catholic faith and continued to attend Batavia's Portuguese church, although many were eventually baptised by the Dutch Reformed Church. They were legally recognized by the VOC as a separate ethnic group and kept themselves apart from the native Javanese people.
During the VOC era, there was already considerable intermarriage with the Indos in pre-colonial history, who were often also of Portuguese descent. During the colonial era, the Mardijkers eventually assimilated completely into the Eurasian Indo people and were no longer registered as a separate ethnic group.
A part of Jakarta is called "Kampung Tugu" an area where Mardijker people had been allowed to settle for after their freedom, the neighborhood retains its Portuguese distinctiveness. Historically these people also settled in Old Batavia's Roa Malacca district near Kali Besar; however, little historic buildings remain of what had been the historic quarter.
Common Mardijker family names are De Fretes, Ferrera, De Mello, Gomes, Gonsalvo, Cordero, De Dias, De Costa, Soares, Rodrigo, De Pinto, Perreira, and De Silva. Some Mardijker families also took Dutch names such as Willems, Michiels, Bastiaans, Pieters, Jansz, Fransz, and Davidts.
When the Indonesians fought for independence from the Dutch they used the slogan Merdeka ("freedom"), which has the same root as Mardijker. This word had considerable political significance also in Malaysia and Singapore. The term Mardijkers is also used for the so-called Belanda Hitam, soldiers recruited in the Dutch Gold Coast who served in the Dutch East Indies Army and gained their freedom afterward.
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