Landheer

In the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), a Landheer (Dutch for 'landlord'; plural, Landheeren) was the lord or owner of a particuliere landerij, a private domain in a feudal system of land tenure used in parts of the colony. Dutch jurists described the legal jurisdiction of a Landheer over his domain as ‘sovereign’ and comparable to that of the rulers of indirectly ruled princely states in the Indies. By law, the Landheer possessed landsheerlijke rechten or hak-hak ketuanan [seigniorial jurisdiction] over the inhabitants of his domain — jurisdiction exercised elsewhere by the central government.

The Landheer's country seat on his domain was called a Landhuis or Rumah Kongsi. In this context, 'Kongsi' meant 'Lord' or 'his Lordship', and was a title used by the Chinese Landheeren, who were invariably scions of the Cabang Atas gentry.