The States General grants the VOC its charter

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 expedition returned after more than two years, with only a fraction of its original crew. It brought back pepper and other commodities and demonstrated that Dutch ships could reach Asian ports,...

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....

A Dutch reconnaissance and landing party attempting to find a beachhead on Lontor came under fire and was pushed back. The defense demonstrates that Bandanese communities were active military...