MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Social Studies Department of International Relations and European Studies The Dutch Trading Company – VOC In East Indies 1600 – 1800 The Path to Dominance Master Thesis Supervisor: Author: Mgr. et Mgr. Oldřich Krpec, Ph.D Prilo Sekundiari Brno, 2015 0 Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis I submit for assessment is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Date : Signature ………………… 1 Abstract: Since the arrival of the European in Asia, the economic condition in Asia especially in Southeast Asia has changed drastically. The European trading company such the Dutch’s VOC competing with the other traders from Europe, Asia, and local traders for dominance in the trading sphere in East Indies. In 17th century, the Dutch’s VOC gained its golden age with its dominance in East Indies. The purpose of this thesis is to find out what was the cause of the VOC success during its time. Keywords: VOC, Dutch, Company, Politics, Economy, Military, Conflicts, East Indies, Trade, Spices, Dominance Language used: English 2 Acknowledgements: I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. et Mgr. Oldřich Krpec, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Djoko Suryo for all of his advices, matur nuwun... My friends; Tek Jung Mahat, and Weronika Lazurek. Thank you.... Prilo Sekundiari 3 Table of Contents Glossary________________________________________________________6 Introduction_____________________________________________________8 1. Background and Historical Setting 1.1. Geographical Condition___________________________________12 1.1.1. Sumatera ______________________________________________13 1.1.2. Kalimantan____________________________________________ 15 1.1.3. Sulawesi______________________________________________ 16 1.1.4. Moluccas______________________________________________17 1.1.5. Java__________________________________________________18 1.1.6. Tumasik_______________________________________________20 1.1.7. Malacca_______________________________________________20 1.2. Political Situation________________________________________21 1.2.1. The Age of Exploration 1.2.2. The Spanish____________________________________________26 1.2.3. The Portuguese _________________________________________28 1.2.4. The Dutch _____________________________________________33 1.2.5. The British_____________________________________________35 1.2.6. The Rise of Islam _______________________________________36 1.3. Social Economic Condition _______________________________ 39 Conclusion__________________________________________________ 43 2. VOC - Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie 2.1. Reason of Existance _____________________________________45 2.2. Design of Organization ___________________________________47 2.3. System and Mode of Operation_____________________________51 2.4. Military Capability_______________________________________53 2.5. Conflicts 2.5.1. Banda ________________________________________________57 4 2.5.2. Mataram_______________________________________________59 2.5.3. Banten ________________________________________________62 2.5.4. Muara Angke___________________________________________ 65 2.6 Conflicts with Other European 2.6.1 The Portuguese__________________________________________68 2.6.2 The British _____________________________________________70 2.7 The fall of the Company _____________________________________71 Conclusion___________________________________________________73 3. The effectiveness of VOC operations from economic perspective 3.1 Analysis_______________________________________________76 Conclusion___________________________________________________84 4. The impact of VOC activities to Southeast Asia 4.1 Short Term Impact______________________________________ 85 4.2 Long Term Impact ______________________________________89 4.2.1 Infrastructure ____________________________________________91 Conclusion___________________________________________________95 5. Conclusion ___________________________________________________ 97 Bibliography ____________________________________________________100 List of Pictures__________________________________________________ 104 5 Glossary Agrarische Wet Land Constitution Amboina Ambon Andalas Sumatera Banten Bantaam Batavia Jakarta under VOC Bencoolen Bengkulu Bobato Council Borneo Kalimantan Celebes Sulawesi Contingentenstelsel VOC Regulation on Plantation Culturstelsel Cultivation System under Van Den Bosch Devide et Impera Strategy used by VOC EIC East India Company Extirpation Plant Eradication Fala raha Four Clans Generale Missive General's Dispatch Goa Portuguese Port in India Gowa Kingdom in South Sulawesi Heeren XVII the Board of VOC Hongi Tochten Trade supervision on sea Java Island in Indonesia Jayakarta Jakarta Kalimantan Indonesian part of Borneo Keling Indian village Koeli Ordonnantie Slaves Regulation Malaccas Malayan Peninsula Mardjikers Free People 6 Mataram Kingdom in Java Moluccas Spices Island Musketiers Volunteer Octrooi VOC’s special rights Ommeladen Surrounding Lands Pangeran Prince Passenstelsel Travel Regulation Pecinan Chinese village Poenale Sanctie Penal Sanction Prajurit Soldier Pribumi Native people Priangan West Java Rakyat Jelata Common people Staten-Generaal Dutch’s Parliament Subak Balinese irrigation system Sunda Kelapa Jakarta Tumasek Singapore Verlichte leverantie Plantation Tax VOC Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie Vrijburger Out of Contract West Papua Indonesian part of Papua Wijkenstelsel Regulation to form Ethnic-based community 7 Introduction “Whoever is lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice” -Tome Pires - Since the arrival of Europeans in Asia, the economic condition in Asia especially in South and South East Asia has changed drastically. Europeans such as the Dutch, the British, the Portuguese, and the Spanish, joining the race with the other traders from Middle East, China, India and the local traders for goods and items they wanted. At that time, nutmegs, cloves, and other spices, were the treasures being hunted by many people from all around the world, including the Europeans. Malacca and Moluccas became a trophy contested by many sides. The first European to reach South East Asia and East Indies were the Portuguese and they arrived in Malacca in 1511, conquered the peninsula, and then established themselves in Moluccas, the centre of the spices. The next European were the Dutch, following Portuguese’s path, they eventually found the spice island of Moluccas and built a trading company of their own, the VOC. The British and the Spanish were two sides of a coin; the British decided to settle down in India while the Spanish was forced to leave Moluccas for Philippines. The tight competition in trading forced these rivals to work harder, as hard as they can, by all means, with all they got, to conquer their competitors and win the trading competition even if it requires use of military and violence. The Asian traders with their territorial advantages somehow managed to compete with the European traders, but in the end the European were the ones who out competed the Asian traders and claimed the trophy. Among the Europeans, it was the Dutch with its VOC who finally claimed the thrown and gained its glorious age during the 17th century. In the following century, the 8 British took over the thrown from the Dutch. The Portuguese and the Spanish, who started the age of exploration, were easily eliminated from the competition. Several centuries passes by, and at the moment there has been a debate on happened during the 16th – 18th centuries especially regard to success of the Europeans in gaining their triumph in the world of trading. The success of the European during that period of time is being questioned, what was the cause? Was it due to technological gap between European and Asian? Or because of East Indies was so rich of natural resources and commodities? Is it Military factor? Prof. Irfan Habib in one of his essay clearly questioned; whether the success was due to the superiority in weaponry rather than superiority in business organization?1 . Indeed a very interesting and very challenging question that need to be answered by anyone interested in economic history. A question that also applies to the Dutch’s VOC as it was the most successful trading company of its time. This thesis will elaborate further on the spectrum of VOC and its activities and will try to answer the current discourse or at least give description from different perspective and also to contribute to the study of history and economy in general and too much covered study of VOC and world trade in particular. This thesis will analyze the Dutch’s trading company or the VOC which operated during from 1600 – 1800 in East Indies. VOC was chosen because of its reputation as the first multinational company, a pioneer in world trading, and a business institution granted with special political and military capability. Since this special privilege made VOC very different from its counterparts and allowed it to push its agenda in every possible ways. The main research question of this thesis is; “What was the role of military on VOC trading in East Indies?” 1 Prof. Irfan Habib, with the essay “Merchant communities in precolonial India”, on The Rise of Merchant Empires by J.D. Tracy. 9 Previous studies have shown that there were some indications regarding the military role towards the VOC’s activities in the trading world. Some of those indications can be seen