queens dowager, Ratu Amangkurat (Amangkurat IV's wife) and Ratu Pakubuwana (Pakubuwana I's wife), much to the confusion of the Dutch. The king tried to break the dominance of this Danureja by asking the help of the Dutch to banish him, but Danureja's successor, Natakusuma, was influenced heavily by the Queen's brother, Arya Purbaya, son of the rebel Pangeran Purbaya, who was also Natakusuma's brother-in-law. Arya Purbaya's erratic behaviour in court, his alleged homosexuality which was abhorred by the pious king and rumours of his planning a rebellion against the "heathen" (the Dutch) caused unrest in Kartasura and hatred from the nobles. After his sister, the Queen, died of miscarriage in 1738, the king asked the Dutch to banish him, to which the Dutch complied gladly. Despite these faction struggles, the situation in general did not show any signs of developing into full-scale war. Eastern Java was quiet: though Cakraningrat IV refused to pay homage to the court with various excuses, Madura was held under firm control by the VOC and Surabaya did not stir. But dark clouds were forming. This time, the explosion came from the west: Batavia itself. Chinese War 1741–1743 In the meantime, the Dutch were contending with other problems. The excessive use of land for sugar cane plantation in the interior of West Java reduced the flow of water in Ciliwung River (which flows through the city of Batavia) and made the city canals an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, resulting in a series of malaria outbreaks in 1733–1795. This was aggravated by the fall of sugar price in European market, bringing bankruptcy to sugar factories in the areas around Batavia (the Ommelanden), which were mostly operated by Chinese labour. The unrest prompted the VOC authorities to reduce the number of unlicensed Chinese settlers, who had been smuggled into Batavia by Chinese sugar factory owners. These labourers were loaded onto ships out of Batavia but the rumour that these people were thrown into the sea as soon as the ship was beyond the horizon caused panic among the remaining Chinese. On 7 October 1740, several Chinese mobs attacked Europeans outside the city and incited the Dutch to order a massacre two days later. The Chinese settlement in Batavia was looted for several days, in which 10,000 Chinese were killed. The Chinese ran away and captured Bekasi, which was dislodged by the VOC in June 1741. In 1741,