A time of traders and soldiers
In the 16th century the Portuguese dominate the trade in luxury spices, such as nutmeg, cloves and pepper. When Portugal becomes inaccessible due to the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648), the Dutch then search for spices themselves in the Moluccas, Java and Sumatra. In 1596 the first contact between the Dutch and Javanese is made in Bantam (West Java), the centre of the pepper trade. Once they know how to get there, many trading companies want to seek their fortunes in the Orient. In 1602 they unite to form the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or Dutch East India Company.
From left to right: clover, nutmeg and black pepper
For two centuries the traders, seamen and soldiers of the VOC make the dangerous voyage to Batavia, the trade and administrative centre in the East. From here Dutch power extends over the important trading ports. By achieving a commercial monopoly all foreign competition is excluded. Internal mismanagement and debt from losses suffered during the 4th Anglo-Dutch Naval war (1780-1784) cause the demise and termination of the company in 1799.
The organisation of the VOC
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) is a 16th century multinational with wealthy stockholders and a vast trading network employing an international workforce. The VOC has 6 departments called Chambers: in Amsterdam, Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Delft, Rotterdam and Middelburg. Each chamber has its own directorate made up of members from local elites.
These 6 chambers are all represented on the board of directors at VOC HQ in Amsterdam. This board of 17 men is therefore called the Heeren Zeventien. They decide policy concerning trade and administration. The VOC is granted sovereign rights by the Dutch government. It may build forts, negotiate foreign policy and hire soldiers. Their principal representative in Asia is the Governor General in Batavia.
This old company sword was found in the East-Javanese region of Pasuruan. It was donated in 1891 by W.L. Homans, a student of the Indische Instituut. The letters VOC can be seen on the blade. The grip is decorated with a stylised human figure.
The transportation of merchandise
Gold and silver are initially the only Dutch commodities that merchants from Java, Sumatra and the Moluccas want in exchange for their own spices, sandalwood and camphor. However, sea-traders would rather avoid shipping such heavy and expensive ballasts.
The Dutch set themselves up in trading ports around South East Asia, India, Sri Lanka and China. They become dominant in the Asiatic sea-trade. By using Indian textiles and Chinese porcelain as payment for spices they can curtail the costly transportation of Dutch silver.
The VOC then expel all foreign competition and negotiate underhand deals with local rulers. They build forts nearby coastal cities and monopolize trade in important merchandise. This weakens the position of the local nobility and their trading towns. As ships returning to Holland are fully laden with valuable cargo, it is imperative that they be well armed and protected. Each crewmember may only take a specific amount of baggage onboard in a ship-trunk.
Batavia 1619-1800
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) chooses the strategic port-city of Jakarta in West Java as its transportation hub. Governor General Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1787-1629) establishes fortified warehouses here in 1629. They are soon besieged by a competing local ruler. Coen then destroys the local noble’s palace and builds the new fortress, Batavia, upon the remnants. The city map of Batavia reveals a layout similar to a normal walled city in Holland. Located within the walls were the military fort or castle and the houses of merchants, seamen and soldiers. A canal system criss-crosses the city.
Jan Pieterszoon Coen
Town plan of Batavia. Coloured engraving. The city around 1750 with the castle above left. Batavia’s layout as seen on this map is like a typical Dutch fortified city. The lion in the corner below right holds the weapon of Batavia.
Interaction with the local population results in relationships between Dutch men and indigenous women. The lifestyle of these Indo-European families is a mixture of east and west as evidenced by their clothing, furniture and eating habits. Because they belong to the upper strata of society they live within the city walls.
Outside these walls are the districts for merchants and artisans from the archipelago, China, India and Arabia. Rice paddies, sugarcane plantations and gardens to provide food are also located here.
Batavia becomes the VOC’s most important administrative and commercial centre in Asia. Bureaucrats stationed here make all decisions concerning the archipelago, even to its farthest reaches. It retains this principal function for the rest of the colonial period. Following the Indonesian declaration of independence in 1945, it becomes the capital city of the new Republic under its original name, Jakarta.
The marketplace and castle of Batavia. Contadyn Cunaeus (1828-1895). Oil painting on canvas, 1864. Copy of a painting by Andries Beekman, 1656. Shown here is the marketplace of Batavia with the castle in the distance. In the foreground various ethnic groups can be seen: Europeans in 17th century costume, an Indo-European lady under a parasol, Chinese and Javanese. The man with a hat, white frock and coloured jacket is a Mardijker, a freed Christian slave of Portuguese-Indian descent.
Delft and the VOC
In 1601 Delft starts a mercantile company for the Orient. One year later it becomes a chamber of the amalgamated Dutch East India Company (VOC) board in Amsterdam. It takes until 1631 for this chamber to gain its own premises in Delft, located on the Oude Delft. The local directorate meet here. A warehouse next door (now the Army Museum) serves as storage area. Due to its inland location Delft has no sea-harbour. So in 1389, the city established its own port, Delfshaven, on the Maas near Rotterdam.
The VOC boosts employment in Delft. Shipbuilding stimulates rope, sail and glassmaking as well as the tar trade. The need for ship-provisions encourages the sale of flour, cheese, meat, vegetables, beer and wine. The VOC is therefore a significant factor in the 17th century economic bloom of Delft. Its first VOC ship, the Eendracht arrives in Bantam, West Java in 1603. Throughout the 17th century, another 81 ships from Delft follow. Approximately 200 people from Delft sail each year to the East.
