SOUTH EAST ASIA Dutch East India Company

The Netherlands had been part of Spain in 1516 and the Holy Roman Empire in The Dutch gained more autonomy from Spain Holland declared its independence in In 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated by the English. The Dutch worked hard to build a fleet of ships to strengthen their position of independence. The greatest navies were now British and the Dutch.

Dutch East India Company The Dutch now engaged the Spanish and Portuguese on the high seas and at their trading posts. In 1594, Phillip had closed the Portuguese port of Lisbon to Dutch merchant vessels. This had acted as an incentive to the Dutch to develop other markets. They had sent a trading mission to the East Indies the following year under Cornelius Houtman. Houtman had succeeded in forming relations at Bantam, Bali and Sumatra.

Dutch East India Company The East Indian trade became very competitive very quickly Various European companies brought about strong competition Thus the various Dutch interests decided to merge In 1602, the General United East India Company was granted a charter by the government of the Netherlands. Otherwise known as the Dutch East India Company (DEIC)

Dutch East India Company The Dutch East India Company was one of the various European East India Companies DEIC was the premier joint-stock trading company of the Netherlands during the 17th and 18th centuries The company took the Spice Islands (the Moluccas) from the Portuguese In search of even greater riches the company sponsored explorations throughout the Pacific Ocean.

Dutch East India Company DEIC was given broad powers 1. the exclusive right to trade between the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Magellan 2. the right to make war on other European countries 3. to form alliances with the princes of the east 4. to perform various administrative and judicial functions The government reserved the right to revoke privileges if necessary and to share in the profits

Dutch East India Company The Dutch were aided in their trading endeavors by extensive experience as merchants and bankers The Dutch also had goods that could be exchanged for the spices and textiles of the East. These goods included high-ticket items such as porcelain, velvets, and marble work, along with more mundane items such as soaps, oils, and cured herring. Convoys were sent from the Netherlands three times a year, accompanied by heavily armed naval ships.

Dutch East India Company The ascendancy of the Dutch in the Spice Islands, and in Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java to the west, did not come without military action. The Portuguese had spread themselves thin militarily in the East Indies. In 1615, the Dutch drove the Portuguese from Amboina. In 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen conquered Jacatra and founded the city of Batavia in Java (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia) as the headquarters of the company.

Dutch East India Company From Batavia, the DEIC conducted business throughout the East Indies to parts of China, Japan, India, and Iran in Asia The Cape of Good Hope in Africa they founded the first European settlement in South Africa In the 1650s–1660s, the Dutch captured Malacca, Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), and Celebes The English and the British East India Company also were making inroads in the region

Dutch East India Company It was eventually resolved that the Dutch would control the Spice Islands, and the English would dominate India. In the 18th century, Dutch strength in the East Indies began to decline The English had solidified their position in world trade by putting more efforts into colonization The French and the French East India Company had also developed trade in the region

Dutch East India Company Rampant corruption overtook the Dutch East India Company and by 1724, it was unable to pay dividends to investors and survived by taxing the native population. The British successfully attacked Dutch possessions in the Far East in As of 1795, the French were in control of the United Provinces known as the Batavian Republic The Dutch crown dissolved the Dutch East India Company in 1798