The first Dutch Asian expedition returns to Amsterdam

The Compagnie van Verre sent a four-ship expedition under Cornelis de Houtman toward the Indonesian archipelago. Dutch merchants aimed to enter the Asian spice trade, then dominated by Portuguese...

The fleet reached the port of Banten, where local authorities and merchants controlled access to pepper and other goods. The Dutch were newcomers negotiating entry into an established Asian trade...

The States General merged competing Dutch pre-companies into the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) and gave it a monopoly over Dutch trade in a vast area between the Cape of Good Hope and the...

VOC Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen appealed to the company’s directors for more soldiers, ships, and money to confront Bandanese resistance and English competition. The appeal shows how the...

VOC forces captured the Javanese port town of Jayakarta. The company destroyed much of the settlement and built its fortified administrative centre there, later called Batavia (today Jakarta). This...

In a letter to the VOC directors, Coen argued that Banda should be subjugated and repopulated to secure the company’s nutmeg monopoly. The proposal made the colonial aim explicit: displace the...

A large VOC fleet led by Coen arrived at Fort Nassau with European troops and Asian auxiliaries. The expedition was organized to defeat Bandanese opposition and enforce the company’s spice monopoly....