The VOC: how the Dutch East India Company became the most powerful trading company in the world
PublicThe First Voyage to the East Indies
A Dutch expedition led by Cornelis de Houtman is the first to reach Indonesia directly, laying the foundation for later Dutch trade in Asia.
Founding of the VOC
The States General grant a charter merging numerous competing trading companies into the Dutch East India Company, with a monopoly on trade between Asia and the Republic.
Founding of Batavia
Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen conquers Jayakarta and founds the city of Batavia on its ruins, which grows into the central administrative and military headquarters of the VOC in Asia.
The conquest of the Banda Islands
Under the command of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the VOC carries out a violent campaign of conquest on the Banda Islands to secure the monopoly on nutmeg, resulting in the near-total extermination of the original population.
Founding of Fort Zeelandia on Formosa
The VOC builds a fort on the island of Formosa (present-day Taiwan) to promote trade with China.
Siege of Batavia by the Sultanate of Mataram
Sultan Agung of Mataram launches a large-scale attack on the VOC capital of Batavia on Java, which is ultimately repelled.
Capture of Galle from the Portuguese
The VOC captures the important port city of Galle on Ceylon, a crucial step in the struggle for the cinnamon trade.
Trading post Deshima in Japan
After the expulsion of Portuguese traders, the VOC is granted sole permission among European powers to trade with Japan, from the artificial island of Deshima near Nagasaki.
the peak of the Golden Age
By the mid-seventeenth century, the VOC controls a worldwide trading network with dozens of trading posts from South Africa to Japan, and the company pays out enormous profits and dividends to its shareholders.
Expansion of the Cape Colony
The VOC settlement at the Cape of Good Hope grows into a full-fledged refreshment station with agriculture and livestock farming.
Strengthened monopoly on the cinnamon trade in Ceylon
The VOC further expands its control over cinnamon production on Ceylon and drives out the last competitors from the island.
The Bantam War of Succession
The VOC intervenes in a succession struggle in the sultanate of Bantam on Java and thereby gains a complete monopoly on the pepper market.
wars and competition with England
A series of Anglo-Dutch naval wars brings fierce sea battles in which the VOC and its English counterpart, the English East India Company, fight for overseas trade routes and colonial power.
The Chinese Massacre in Batavia
A bloody massacre of the Chinese community in Batavia resulting from economic tensions and mistrust.
Reorganisation under William IV
The VOC comes under stronger control of the stadtholder following political reforms in the Republic.
Consequences of the Seven Years' War for Asian trade
European conflicts disrupt global trade routes and weaken the VOC's position in Asia.
Increasing corruption and smuggling among VOC personnel
Officials and officers of the Company increasingly enrich themselves through illegal side trade, at the expense of the VOC itself.
The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
A devastating naval conflict with England that severely affected the VOC's trading fleet and possessions.
Financial decline and corruption
By the end of the eighteenth century, the VOC struggles with heavy debts, outdated business practices, widespread corruption among administrators and growing competition, plunging the company ever deeper into trouble.
Dissolution of the VOC
With a towering debt burden and trade that barely still functioned, the VOC's charter is not renewed and the company collapses, after which its possessions are taken over by the Batavian Republic in 1800.
Lasting traces in present-day Netherlands
The legacy of the VOC remains visible to this day in Dutch museums, architecture, language and prosperity, while at the same time a growing societal debate is taking place about the colonial atrocities and the history of slavery of the company.
Founding of Batavia
Coen deliberately chooses a strongly defensible position on the coast of Java, laid out according to the Dutch model with canals and warehouses. From Batavia, the VOC's extensive trading network is governed, stretching from Persia to Japan. The city becomes a symbol of both the company's commercial power and its harsh colonial oppression.