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The Straits Settlements ((マレー語:Negeri-negeri Selat, نݢري٢ سلت); 〔When writing in Chinese script, modern historians often refer to the Crown colony as '海峽殖民地' or '海峡殖民地', a literal translation of the Crown colony's English name, rather than the official Chinese name of '叻嶼呷' adopted by the Government of the Straits Settlements.〕) were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a Crown colony on 1 April 1867. The colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War. The Straits Settlements consisted of the four individual settlements of Malacca, Dinding, Penang (also known as Prince of Wales Island) and Singapore (with Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands). The island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, was also incorporated into the colony with effect from 1 January 1907, becoming a separate settlement within it in 1912. Most of the territories now form part of Malaysia, from which Singapore gained independence in 1965. Meanwhile, the Cocos (or Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island were transferred to Australian control in 1955 viz. 1958, combined in 1996 to form the Australian Indian Ocean Territories. == History and government == The establishment of the Straits Settlements followed the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, by which the Malay archipelago was divided into a British zone in the north and a Dutch zone in the south. This resulted in the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen (on Sumatra) for the Dutch colony of Malacca and undisputed control of Singapore. The Settlements were largely Chinese in population, with a tiny but important European minority.〔Singapore Free Press, 3 January 1861〕 Their capital was moved from Penang to Singapore in 1832. Their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the Company lost its monopoly in the china trade in 1833, expensive to administer.〔Turnbull, CM (1972) The Straits Settlements, 1826–1867: Indian Presidency to Crown Colony, Athlone Press, London. P3〕 During their control by the East India Company, the Settlements were used as penal settlements for Indian civilian and military prisoners,〔Anderson, C (2007) The Indian Uprising of 1857–8: prisons, prisoners, and rebellion, Anthem Press. P14〕 earning them the title of the 'Botany Bays of India'.〔S. Nicholas and P. R. Shergold, 'Transportation as Global Migration', in S. Nicholas (ed.) (1988) Convict Workers: Reinterpreting Australia's past, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, P29.〕 The years 1852 and 1853 saw minor uprisings by convicts in Singapore and Penang.〔Turnbull, CM ‘Convicts in the Straits Settlements 1826–1867’ in Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1970, 43, 1, P91〕 Upset with East India Company rule, in 1857 the European population of the Settlements sent a petition to the British Parliament〔Petition reprinted in Straits Times, 13 October 1857〕 asking for direct rule; but the idea was overtaken by events – the Indian Rebellion of 1857. When a 'Gagging Act' was imposed to prevent the uprising in India spreading, the Settlements' press reacted with anger, classing it as something that subverted 'every principle of liberty and free discussion'.〔Straits Times, 28 July 1857〕 As there was little or no vernacular press in the Settlements, such an act seemed irrelevant: it was rarely enforced and ended in less than a year.〔Seow, FT (1998) The media enthralled: Singapore revisited, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Singapore. P6.〕 On 1 April 1867 the Settlements became a British Crown colony, making the Settlements answerable directly to the Colonial Office in London instead of the government of British India based in Calcutta, British India. Earlier, on 4 February 1867, Letters Patent had granted the Settlements a colonial constitution. This allocated much power to the Settlements' Governor, who administered the colony of the Straits Settlements with the aid of an Executive Council, composed wholly of official (i.e. ex-officio) members, and a Legislative Council, composed partly of official and partly of nominated members, of which the former had a narrow permanent majority. The work of administration, both in the colony and in the Federated Malay States, was carried on by means of a civil service whose members were recruited by competitive examination held annually in London. Penang and Malacca were administered, directly under the governor, by resident councillors. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Straits Settlements」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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