Knowledge-Making Endeavours of the Dutch East India Company in Malabar, 1663-1795
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Knowledge-making Endeavours of the Dutch East India Company in Malabar, 1663-1795 Meera Gopurapillil Muralidharan A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History. Victoria University of Wellington 2021 Faculty of Graduate Research January 2021 Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Abbreviations Measurements and Currency Glossary Map List of Maps and Figures Abstract Introduction 1 1. Trade, Culture and Polity in the Dutch Republic, 1600-1700 20 2. Fashioning Flora: The Hortus Malabaricus and Indigenous Knowledge in Malabar, 1678-1693 44 3. Making Botany: The Hortus Malabaricus in the Republic, 1680-1775 74 4. Dutch Mapmaking: Visual creation of Power in Malabar, 1700-1795 100 5. From Pepper to Property: The Company Gardens in Malabar in the Eighteenth Century, 1750-95 123 Conclusion 149 Appendix I 159 Appendix II 161 Appendix III 163 Appendix IV 165 Appendix V 166 Bibliography 177 Acknowledgements I have spent days imagining on how I would write my acknowledgement. But now that the task needs to be accomplished, I do not know if I can do justice to the people who have made this dissertation possible. I must start with my supervisor, Prof. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, who I don’t know how to thank enough for believing in me and guiding me through this journey every step of the way. His office has been my first stop to share any news, good or bad, related to my work and life in Wellington. I hope to achieve at least a fraction of what Bandyopadhyay has done for South Asian history. I was thrilled when my second supervisor, Associate Professor, James Beattie, joined the project in the second year; he has since been decisive in shaping my ideas into words. I hope to achieve the precision and detail with which Beattie approaches his work. I am thankful to both my supervisors for giving me the freedom to mould the thesis on my own. They have both instilled in me further discipline and passion for history. I could not have written this dissertation without the support of Emeritus Prof. Hugo s’Jacob. His knowledge and interest in Dutch history of Cochin are unmatchable. I spent a few but very enriching evenings in his house in Leiden discussing Dutch history where his wife, Nanda, offered me few cups of tea and food. I thank Dr Sebastian Joseph, the first person who noticed my passion for history and teaching and nurtured the interest ever since. He also gave me the opportunity to present my work at Kerala History Congress. The lectures on early modern science by Dr. Catherine Abou-Nemeh have enriched and inspired me to broaden my understanding of early modern European history. I am grateful to her for giving me the opportunity to deliver a guest lecture for her course in my second year and her comments on my seminars and presentations since then. The History Centre at VUW has been my home for the past three and a half years (minus the time I spent away for data collection). As I always say, my office at the Old Kirk building is my first home, and my flat is my second home. I thank Teresa Durham for her fun conversations and help with various matters since my arrival. I thank Jonette Crysell, my other go to person, for helping me to straddle the way through the university bureaucracy and paper works. I would like to thank Justin Cargill, librarian, for checking on me and offering me lunches at Milk and Honey since my first year. Prof. Rohan D Souza whom I met in Brazil needs a special mention here because without him I would have been stuck in Brazil (a fine thread for a story). I have thoroughly enjoyed the conversations with History staff and postgraduate community at our History seminars since the time I joined Victoria. I thank Prof. Steve Behrendt and his wife Linda, for inviting me to their beautiful home for Christmas every year. I also thank Courtney Martin and Nayanthara for giving me the opportunity to deliver a guest lecture at the Centre for Science in Society, VUW. If not for the constant support and cheerful faces of my PhD colleagues, I would have immersed myself in books and grief. I want to thank my dear friends, Edward (for his support since day one), Mark and his partner Catherine (without whose generous help I would be in deep trouble at one stage), Anton (my conference travel companion within and outside NZ), Nadya, Gillian (who checks on me every week) and Dean (for bringing me muffins and giving company in the History building in the weekends). These people have gone beyond their limits to make sure that I am well, and I can’t thank them enough for their generosity in different capacities. I thank other postgraduates and colleagues, Sarah, Hayden, Sian, Will, Josh, Rachel, Ross and many others at Vic for interesting conversations. My two Bengali friends (I stress Bengali because I haven’t followed half of their conversations), Sneha and Diya, sat with me in the final days of submission while I arranged my references and Bibliography. My few very special friends (more like family here), Gabi, Pavi, Abhi, a second Abhi (Chatterjee) and Jay helped me survive challenging days in Wellington. I love Anna-Marie for organising the much-needed writing boot camps where I did most of my writing and a whole lot of eating. I have enjoyed the company of Caitlyn, Jorge, Marian and Rana who made the writing boot camps exciting and fun. Nisha sent me a much-needed material from Auckland library in the final month of submission when Covid affected the arrival of library materials. I wish to remember the good wishes and encouraging words of Neeta Khandpekar from time and again. I have benefitted from the many opportunities to present my work. I have presented parts of my thesis at different conferences, New Historians Conference (VUW), World Environmental History Conference (Brazil), Asia New Zealand Conference (2019), AAHPSS conference (2019), Encounters and Exchanges Conference (2019). I thank everyone who gave me feedback on these presentations. I thank PGSA for Research Excellence Award, Tutor Award Nomination) and other conference committees where I collected awards in November 2019 (that was one hell of a month) which played a significant role in boosting my confidence. The staff at the libraries and archives in India and the Netherlands were crucial for getting me the sources for my work. I wholeheartedly thank Cherai Ramdas, whom I had the pleasure to meet in the Tamil Nadu Archives in Egmore for making sure that I received the Dutch records on time. I thank the team at the Government Guest House, Chennai for making me feel like home. Two of them, Gunapalam and Selvan, made futile attempts to teach me Tamil during my morning v and evening teas in their staff room. My archival work in the Netherlands was possible only because of the generosity of some of my friends. Shahina and Musthafa, my family in the Netherlands since my University days in Leiden, hosted me for three months in the Netherlands. The time I spent with their kids, Ami and Adi were most cherishing. Shahina has been a constant source of inspiration and gave much needed counselling throughout my research. My other Leiden friends Aditya, Mou, Arun and Mahmood cheered me up with during my stay in the Netherlands. The teaching staff at Leiden University, Caroline Stolte, Nira Wickramasinghe and Rene Wezel have supported my academic ambitions since my student days at Leiden. They were generous enough to take time out to meet me while I was collecting data in the Leiden University library. Despite having trouble in accessing Dutch and early modern sources from New Zealand, my love for my time in Leiden, Hortus Malabaricus and anything and everything in South Asian history, history of science and colonial and decolonial histories persisted me to pursue this topic. I am grateful for my friends in India, Akhil and Arun for listening to my rants now and then with patience and supporting me since my bachelor days in Kerala. Dr. Nisha whom I have never met in person sent me sources on Ayurveda. Finally, I owe everything to my family in India. My mother, whose love knows no boundaries, my father who taught me to dream big and my lovely sister, Induja for cheering me always by sending me pictures and videos of my nephew, Shivank, who has brought so much joy into our lives amid COVID. My family has been my biggest strength and weakness at the same time. My PhD journey so far has been a roller-coaster ride caused by the emotional highs and lows in my personal life. Despite personal events that broke my spirits now and then, it is my love for Cochin, Leiden, Indo-Dutch history the work I do that has kept me going. I thank all the people who have supported in this journey and wished to see my PhD completion. I dedicate this work to Padma Shri K. S Manilal who devoted his life to translate the twelve volumes of the Hortus Malabaricus from Latin to English and Malayalam. I hope to meet him one day. vi Abbreviations ANRI Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia (The National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia) EIC English East India Company KSA Kerala State Regional Archives, Ernakulam MvO Memorie van Overgave (Handover Memorandum) NA Nationaal Archief (National Archives), The Hague TSA Tamil Nadu State Archives (Chennai) VEL Verzameling Buitenlandse Kaarten Leupe (Leupe Foreign Maps Collection) (Nationaal Archief, The Hague) VOC Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (United East India Company) WIC West-Indische Compagnie (West India Company) vii Measurements and Currency Dutch (D), English (E), Malayalam (M) Measurements I parra (M) Equals 40 lbs.