Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company, or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), was formed in 1602. VOC consisted of sixty companies aimed at monopolizing the spice trade, expanding Dutch colonial influence, and reducing competition from other commercial powers. The government of the Netherlands supported VOC financially, as well as giving it immense powers, including the right to trade, maintain military forces, take possession of territories, declare war, and make peace. At the height of its power, the company had roughly 150 trading vessels, 40 warships, and 10,000 soldiers.
With such power and authority, VOC dominated the spice industry, especially the cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg trade in the East Indies during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The company's Asian base was in Batavia (modern Jakarta), which came under Dutch control in 1619. In 1650, VOC merchants became the first Europeans settlers in South Africa on the Cape of Good Hope; in 1652, the Cape of Good Hope became a Dutch colony, remaining so until taken over by Great Britain in 1814. The company's influence extended to Cape Town, which emerged asa key supply point for provisioning Dutch ships with food, water, and other goods. By 1670, VOC was the richest company in the world, controlling trade from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan.
The insignia of the Dutch East India Company on a building in the Netherlands in 1997. (DAVE BARTRUFF/CORBIS)In the Malay archipelago, VOC controlled the spice trade in Banda, Ternate, Grisek, Patani, Aceh, Johore, and Bantam. After its capture in 1605, Amboina (now Ambon) became the first Dutch possession in the East. Subsequently, VOC controlled and colonized local rulers, and drove the British and Portuguese from the Malay archipelago and Ceylon. The Anglo Dutch Treaty of 1824, which divided the Malay archipelago into British and Dutch spheres of influence, further enabled VOC to establish Dutch rule in Indonesia.
Throughout its existence, however, VOC had trouble maintaining its monopoly, as strong competition came from other European powers; the English, Portuguese, and Spanish challenged the Dutch whenever possible, as they too wanted a share of the spice trade. By the late eighteenth century, Chinese tea and textiles were more in demand than spices, and in 1789 VOC was disbanded, due in part to corruption, rising debts, and competition from other traders. VOC was not merely a company that monopolized world trade, but was also the sole representative of Dutch political power in the East Indies for nearly 200 years.
Further Reading
Boxer, Charles Ralph. (1979) Jan Compagnie in War and Peace, 1602–1799: A Short History of the Dutch East India Company. Hong Kong: Heinemann Asia.
Lewis, Dianne. (1995) Jan Compagnie in the Straits of Malacca 1641–1795. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies.
Lohuizen, Jan van. (1961) The Dutch East India Company and Mysore. The Hague, Netherlands: M. Nifhoff.
Prakash, Om. (1985) Dutch East India Company and the Economy of Bengal 1630–1720. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Vos, Rentouit. (1993) Gentle Janus, Merchant Prince: the VOC and the Tightrope of Diplomacy in the Malay World. Leiden, Netherlands: KITLV Press.
This is the complete article, containing 505 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
