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Following successful expeditions to the East Indies [Indonesia], the Dutch set up a factory and a fortress in Bantam, which was later moved to the new capital in Jakarta.<br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was set up in 1602 to exploit the East Indies and, in particular, the Moluccas or Spice Islands, which were the world's major provider of nutmeg, mace, cloves and pepper. Until that point, the spice trade had been dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
The First Dutch Expedition to Indonesia was an expedition that took place from 1595 to 1597. It was instrumental in the opening up of the Indonesian spice trade to the merchants that eventually formed the Dutch East India Company, and marked the end of the Portuguese Empire's dominance in the region.
An early map of Southeast Asia showing the extent and limitations of European knowledge of the region. While the larger islands of Indonesia are charted with some accuracy, the southern coast of Java and the Lesser Sundas are charted only in general outline, and New Guinea is particularly incomplete.<br/><br/> In all areas we see coastal features and settlements, but there is little interior detail. The Philippines are well described, and the Mariana Islands (Ladrones) are given undue size and prominence.
The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands and the Spice Islands) are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor.<br/><br/> Most of the islands are mountainous, some with active volcanoes, and enjoy a wet climate. The vegetation of the small and narrow islands, encompassed by the sea, is very luxuriant; including rainforests, sago, rice and the famous spices - nutmeg, cloves and mace, among others.
The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands and the Spice Islands) are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor.<br/><br/> Most of the islands are mountainous, some with active volcanoes, and enjoy a wet climate. The vegetation of the small and narrow islands, encompassed by the sea, is very luxuriant; including rainforests, sago, rice and the famous spices - nutmeg, cloves and mace, among others.
Amboina, or Ambon, would remain the main base of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) from 1605 until its headquarters moved to Batavia, now Jakarta, in 1619.<br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money and establish colonies.<br/><br/> The VOC was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
King William I (r. 1815-40) is pictured here in the ceremonial dress of a general in the Dutch army. Over it he is wearing an ermine lined and trimmed cloak on which is the emblem of the Military Order of William, established by him in 1815. On the table are the sceptre, crown and general's bicorne. Over the edge of the table hangs a map showing part of the Indonesian archipelago with the words: 'Map of the State of Bantam, Batavia and Cheribon', referring to the the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).<br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company had dominated the trade in spices from the East Indies from 1602 until the archipelago became a Dutch colony in 1800. It remained colonized until Indonesia gained independence in 1949.
Herman Willem Daendels (1762 –1818) was a Dutch soldier who became Governor General of the Asian colonies. After heavy criticism of his leadership, he was replaced in 1811, and became an officer in the French army. King William I of the Netherlands then appointed Daendels Governor General of the Dutch Colonies on the west coast of Africa. He died of yellow fever there in 1818.
An oil on canvas painting by Nicolaas Pieneman depicts the events on March 28, 1830, which brought about the end of the Java War (1825-30).<br/><br/> The Javanese prince, Dipo Negoro, descends the stairs at the Dutch residence in Magelang after his surrender to General Baron de Kock. Two forlorn figures throw themselves at the prince’s feet. On the ground, in token of the surrender, lie a number of spears belonging to Dipo Negoro's followers. Gen. de Kock resolutely points to a carriage standing ready to carry Dipo Negoro into exile, contrary to a previous agreement.<br/><br/> The Netherlands would continue to rule over Indonesia until 1949.
This Dutch woodcut depicts Ternate mosque (far left) and the palace of Ternate in the foreground. The illustration was first published in the Dutch journal, Het Tweede Boeck.
'On that day of Sunday I went ashore to see how the cloves grow. The tree is tall and as thick as a man. Its branches in the center spread out widely, but at the top they grow into a kind of peak. The leaf is like that of a laurel, and the bark of the color of brown tan. The cloves come at the tip of branches, ten or twenty together. These trees almost always bear more of them on one side than on the other, according to the season.<br/><br/> When the cloves sprout, they are white; when ripe, red; and when dried, black. They gather them twice a year, at Christmas and again on the feast of St John the Baptist, because at these two seasons the air is most temperate, but more so at Christmas. And when the year is hotter, and there is less rain, they gather three or four hundred bahar of cloves in each of those islands, and they grow only in the mountains. . . .<br/><br/> Nowhere in the world do good cloves grow except on five mountains of those five islands. . . . We saw almost every day a cloud descend and encircle first one of those mountains and then the other, whereby the cloves become more perfect'.<br/><br/> Magellan’s Voyage: A Narrative Account of the First Circumnavigation.
Java (Indonesian: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million (excluding the 3.6 million on the island of Madura which is administered as part of the provinces of Java), Java is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated places in the world. Java is the home of 60 percent of the Indonesian population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is located on western Java.<br/><br/>Much of Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 40s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally.<br/><br/>Formed mostly as the result of volcanic eruptions, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in Indonesia. A chain of volcanic mountains forms an east-west spine along the island. It has three main languages, though Javanese is dominant, and it is the native language of about 60 million people in Indonesia, most of whom live on Java. Most of its residents are bilingual, with Indonesian as their first or second languages. While the majority of the people of Java are Muslim, Java has a diverse mixture of religious beliefs, ethnicities, and cultures.<br/><br/>Java is divided into four provinces, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Banten, and also two special regions, Jakarta and Yogyakarta.
Ferdinand Magellan, or Fernão de Magalhães, (c. 1480 – 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, but later obtained Spanish nationality in order to serve King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the ‘Spice Islands’ (modern Maluku Islands in Indonesia).<br/><br/> Magellan's expedition of 1519–22 became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean around Cape Horn and South America into the Pacific Ocean (named "the peaceful sea" by Magellan), the passage being made via what is now called the Strait of Magellan. It was the first voyage across the Pacific. It also completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, although Magellan himself did not complete the entire voyage, being killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. Of the 237 men who set out on five ships, only 18 completed the circumnavigation and managed to return to Spain in 1522.
Ferdinand Magellan, or Fernão de Magalhães, (c. 1480 – 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, but later obtained Spanish nationality in order to serve King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the ‘Spice Islands’ (modern Maluku Islands in Indonesia).<br/><br/> Magellan's expedition of 1519–22 became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean around Cape Horn and South America into the Pacific Ocean (named "the peaceful sea" by Magellan), the passage being made via what is now called the Strait of Magellan. It was the first voyage across the Pacific. It also completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, although Magellan himself did not complete the entire voyage, being killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. Of the 237 men who set out on five ships, only 18 completed the circumnavigation and managed to return to Spain in 1522.
The Dutch East India Company established itself in the East Indies [now Indonesia] in the early 1600s with a view to controlling the lucrative trade in nutmeg, mace, cloves and pepper from a tiny cluster of islands known as the Moluccas [Maluku]. English merchants associated with the British East India Company, however, were also keen to stake a claim in the spice trade, and their interests came into direct conflict with those of the Dutch.<br/><br/> Early in 1623, the Dutch local governor, Herman van Speult, believed that the English merchants, helped by Japanese mercenaries, planned to kill him and overwhelm the Dutch garrison. He ordered the arrest of the alleged plotters. Under torture they admitted their guilt, and were executed on Amboina in February 1623. The British thereafter referred to the incident as the Amboina Massacre.
Following successful expeditions to the East Indies [Indonesia], the Dutch set up a factory and a fortress in Bantam, which was later moved to the new capital in Jakarta.<br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was set up in 1602 to exploit the East Indies and, in particular, the Moluccas or Spice Islands, which were the world's major provider of nutmeg, mace, cloves and pepper. Until that point, the spice trade had been dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
After A Dutch spy, Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, copied Portuguese nautical maps while working as secretary for the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa in the 1580s, his published maps and books enabled the maritime passage to the elusive East Indies to be opened to the English and the Dutch. This allowed the British East India Company and the Dutch East India Company to break the 16th century monopoly enjoyed by the Portuguese on trade with the East Indies (Indonesia) and the Spice Islands (Moluccas), though not without a great deal of bloodshed. The Portuguese East India Company lost its stranglehold on East Indies’ trade and commerce, and was liquidated in 1633.
The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money and establish colonies.<br/><br/> The VOC was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese.<br/><br/> Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
Ternate is the major island of the Maluku Islands (Moluccas), which were known to Europeans as the Spice Islands. Together with neighbor Tidor, Ternate was the single largest producer of cloves in the world. Previously administered by warring Muslims sultans, the Spice Islands were first landed by shipwrecked Portuguese sailors in 1512. The fort was built in 1522, and Portugal fought constant battles with Ottoman-backed sultans, the Spanish, the British, and the Dutch to maintain control of the lucrative clove trade. In the 18th century, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) took governership of the islands. The demand for exotic spices finally waned in the 19th century, and Ternate was abandoned by the colonial Europeans.
The Banda Islands are a group of 10 tiny volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about 2,000 km east of Java, and are part of Indonesia. During the 16th and 17th centuries, these remote islands were European explorers’ most prized colony due to the fact that they were the world’s sole source of nutmeg and mace.<br/><br/> First claimed by the Portuguese in 1512, the Bandas were then seized by the Dutch and British East India Companies who vied for the rare spices, also including cloves and pepper, which could be sold in Europe for 300 times the cost.
Situated some 900 km east of Madagascar, the island of Mauritius was a tantalizingly ideal port for medieval European explorers en route to India and the East Indies. It was also unpopulated but for animals, including the dodo bird. First came the Dutch: Wybrant van Warwijk claimed the island of Mauritius for Holland on Sept. 20, 1598. They abandoned it until 1638 when the Dutch East India Company (VOC) returned to stake their claim on the island; it remained colonized by the Netherlands until 1710. The French East India Company then claimed the island in 1721; it held Mauritius as a colony until the British seized it in 1810. Mauritius finally gained independence in 1968.
Willem Ysbrandtszoon Bontekoe (1587—1657) was born in Hoorn in Holland. In 1607, at the age of 20, Bontekoe succeeded his father as captain of the ship Bontekoe. In 1617, the ship was seized by Barbary pirates and Bontekoe ended up at a slave market. He was bought free, but his ship was lost. He became a skipper for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and made just one eventful voyage for the company (1618–25).<br/><br/> After a pleasant nine-day stay on Ile Sainte-Marie near Madagascar, things went badly wrong. A fire, caused by a shipmate accidentally setting fire to a cask of brandy, caused the gunpowder magazine to explode and sink the ship. Of the 119 still on the ship only two survived, including Bontekoe, but he was wounded. There were 70 in two lifeboats, so 72 survived. Sails were made from the shirts of the crew. They were shipwrecked at sea; some drank seawater or urine. Bontekoe did the latter until it became too concentrated. Sometimes there was relief by catching birds and flying fish, and by drinking rainwater. The hunger became so severe again that the crew decided to soon kill the cabin boys. Bontekoe writes that he was against that, so they agreed to wait three more days. Just in time, 13 days after the shipwreck, they reached land where they could eat coconuts. It was an island in the Sunda Strait, 15 miles off Sumatra.<br/><br/> Bontekoe became widely known for a journal of his adventures that was published in 1646 under the delightful title, ‘Journal or Memorable Description of the East Indian Voyage of Willem Bontekoe from Hoorn, Including Many Remarkable and Dangerous Things that Happened to Him There’.
On this map, the boxes ‘A’ indicate the king’s palaces; B is where de Houtman met the king; C is what de Houtman calls the ‘Cape of Pigs’; D is where the Dutch fleet anchored; E where they went ashore.<br/><br/> Cornelis de Houtman (1565—99), brother of Frederick de Houtman, was a Dutch explorer who discovered a new sea route from Europe to Indonesia which helped start the Dutch spice trade. At the time, the Portuguese Empire held a monopoly on the spice trade, and the voyage was a symbolic victory for the Dutch.<br/><br/> However, the voyage itself was a disaster, beset with mutiny, killings and scurvy. De Houtman managed to insult and alienate almost everyone he met on the way. He was refused spices after insulting the Sultan of Banten on Java, then he allowed his men to rape and plunder on Madura. He managed to buy only a few pots of peppercorns on Bali; then in 1599, in Aceh in Sumatra, he insulted the sultan, setting off a sea battle in which he himself was killed.
Cornelis de Houtman (1565—99), brother of Frederick de Houtman, was a Dutch explorer who discovered a new sea route from Europe to Indonesia which helped start the Dutch spice trade. At the time, the Portuguese Empire held a monopoly on the spice trade, and the voyage was a symbolic victory for the Dutch.<br/><br/> However, the voyage itself was a disaster, beset with mutiny, killings and scurvy. De Houtman managed to insult and alienate almost everyone he met on the way. He was refused spices after insulting the Sultan of Banten on Java, then he allowed his men to rape and plunder on Madura. He managed to buy only a few pots of peppercorns on Bali; then in 1599, in Aceh in Sumatra, he insulted the sultan, setting off a sea battle in which he himself was killed.
Supervised by Spanish-born Pope Alexander VI, the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 divided the world in half—into Spanish and Portuguese territories. However, following Portugal’s discovery of the Spice Islands of the Moluccas in 1512, Spain contested the line of demarcation. The issue was never fully settled, but the Treaty of Zaragoza in 1529 attempted to resolve the matter by setting the ‘antemeridian’ as 17 degrees to the east of the Moluccas, thus preventing the Spanish from claiming the Spice Islands. This 1522 map favors the Spanish claim, with the antemeridian cutting through Siam, Malacca and Sumatra, hundreds of miles west of the Moluccas.
This is the first edition, published in Madrid in 1609, of a work that recounts in detail the struggle among Portugal, Spain, and local kings and sultans for control of the Maluku (Moluccan) Islands in the 16th century. Also called the Spice Islands, the Maluku are part of present-day Indonesia. Among the individuals who figure in the story are the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, the English privateer Sir Francis Drake, and King Tabariji of Ternate. The author of this work, Bartolome Leonardo de Argensola (1562-1631), was a priest who served as a royal chaplain and the rector of Villahermosa, Spain. Known for its elegant style, the work includes discussions of the natural history, language, manners, and customs of the native peoples of the islands.
The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands and the Spice Islands) are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. Most of the islands are mountainous, some with active volcanoes, and enjoy a wet climate. The vegetation of the small and narrow islands, encompassed by the sea, is very luxuriant; including rainforests, sago, rice and the famous spices - nutmeg, cloves and mace, among others.
The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands and the Spice Islands) are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor.<br/><br/> Most of the islands are mountainous, some with active volcanoes, and enjoy a wet climate. The vegetation of the small and narrow islands, encompassed by the sea, is very luxuriant; including rainforests, sago, rice and the famous spices - nutmeg, cloves and mace, among others.
The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands and the Spice Islands) are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor.<br/><br/> Most of the islands are mountainous, some with active volcanoes, and enjoy a wet climate. The vegetation of the small and narrow islands, encompassed by the sea, is very luxuriant; including rainforests, sago, rice and the famous spices - nutmeg, cloves and mace, among others.