Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands

The Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands , was a military clash between the armies of the Dutch Company of the Eastern Indies and the Republic of the seven United Provinces and the Bandanese warriors supported by the Kingdom of England and the East India Company . The series of clashes took place between May 1609 and the end of 1621 at the Banda Islands, in Sudoriental Asia.

The Dutch, having established a highly lucrative monopoly of the production of nutmeg in the band islands, were affected by the resistance of the local Bandanese who wanted to have the exclusive one. The death of Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff, Dutch officer, by Bandanese hand, offered the case of war For a forced conquest of the islands. The islands were strongly depopulated by the war, hunger and massacres as well as by forced deportations at the hands of the Dutch.

The Dutch company of the Eastern Indies (Voc), founded in 1602 by mixing 12 pre -competitions Previous, he had a considerable economic interest in the seas of Southeast Asia, a source for the lucrative trade in spices of which there was a significant request in Europe. A Dutch expedition had taken the first contacts with the islands in 1599, signing several contracts with the local Bandanese leaders. The high profit taken from the spice trade was also due to the fact that they grew solely in those places and it was therefore extremely important to control them. When the Dutch tried to create their monopoly in the area, preventing the Bandanese from selling these products to other groups, the latter opposed resistance and the Dutch decided to conquer the group of islands with force. With the help of Japanese mercenaries, the Dutch launched several military shipments against the Bandanese.

The conquest culminated with the band massacre where 2800 Bandanesi and 1700 slaves were killed by the Dutch. Among the hunger and constant struggles, the Bandandesi finally decided to surrender in 1621. Jan Pieterszoon Coen, commander of the Dutch troops, expelled the remaining 1000 Bandanesi from Batavia. With the end of the Bandanese resistance, the Dutch ensured the monopoly of the spices in Sudoriental Asia.

The first Dutch expedition to explore the Banda islands and sultanates of Banten, Ternate and Ambon was launched by one pre -company on May 1, 1598. A fleet commanded by Jacob Corneliszoon Van Neck, Jacob Van Heemskerck and Wybrand van Warwijck sailed and contact the inhabitants of the Banda Islands in 1599. Heemskerck sicheed several contracts with the Bandanese heads and built a survey for trade spices. ^[3] The Banda islands, of a volcanic nature, were among the few places in the world where nutmeg was growing easily, which therefore had a very important economic value. ^[4]

The battle of Banda Neira [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The VOC unique to know 12 another pre -competitions Previous, with the exclusive right of all navigations and trade in Asia and in the Eastern Indies, including the right to conclude treaties, declare war or make peace, found fortresses and commercial outposts. ^[5] In April 1609, a Dutch fleet commanded by Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff arrived in Banda Neira and was intended to found a fortress. The Bandanesi instead preferred free trade as they had the opportunity to resell their goods also to other European merchants at an even higher price. ^[6] The Dutch, on the contrary, wanted the exclusive of the sale of products to their market. ^[4] The negotiations were complex and at a certain point, at the end of May 1609, the leaders attracted Verhoeff and two other commanders to negotiate, but these were killed treacherously. ^[4] Their guard was also massacred by the Bandanesi, for a total of 46 deaths. ^[7] As a retaliation, the Dutch soldiers looted several Bandanese villages and destroyed the boats of the natives. ^[4] In August, a peace agreement was reached: the Bandanesi would recognize Dutch authority and the spice trade monopoly. ^[4] In that same year, Fort Nassau was built on the island of Banda Neira to control the walnut trade. ^{[8] [9]}

The shipments against Lontor, Run and Ai [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Piet Hein replaced Verhoeff as a shipment commander. Having concluded the construction of Fort Nassau, the fleet sailed to Ternate, whose sultan had allowed the Dutch to reconstruct at their expense an ancient Fort Malaysian who was renamed Fort Oranje in 1609. ^[4] The site had become in fact The capital of the Dutch Company of the Eastern Indies until the foundation of the city of Batavia (current Jerus) in 1619, on the island of Java. The Dutch were involved in a short war with the sultanate of Terni and with the nearby kingdom of Tidore. ^[4] In March 1610, Hein arrived in Ambon and, after long commercial negotiations on the purchase of cloves with the Ambonesi from March to November 1610, ^[4] He led two punitive military shipments at the beginning of 1611 against the Bandanesi islands of Lonor (also known as distant or Besar band) and Pulo Run. ^[4] In Banda Neira it was possible to build Fort Belgica which became the third Dutch fortress on the band islands. ^[4] An attack in 1610 on the island of Ai by the Dutch, in any case, proved to be a failure. ^[7]

The conquest of Ai [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The Bandanesi were affected by the strong obligations imposed on them for the exclusive trade with the Dutch and therefore they violated the subscribed treaty, trading secretly with the British (who offered them a better price), as well as with the Malaysian, with the Giavanese and the Makassarese (who also sold spices to the Portuguese, with whom the Dutch had been in war for some time). ^[ten] Unable to further tolerate other commercial intrusions, the Dutch Company of the Eastern Indies concluded in 1614 that it was necessary to conquer the entire Bandanese archipelago, even if this would have meant the destruction of the entire local population and would have led to a significant weight for the company’s finances . ^[7] For this purpose, the Governor General Gerard Reynst decided to take weapons against Banda Neira on March 21, 1615, and therefore launched a punitive expedition against the island of Ai (or Pulu Ay) on May 14 of that same year. The fortresses of the natives were initially attached successfully, but the Dutch troops resolved to plunder the area too early. ^[ten] The British, who had treated with Run, grouped and launched a surprise attack that on that same night managed to kill 200 Dutch. ^[11] Reynst decided to retire from AI, proposing to conquer the island subsequently and placing themselves as a new first goal to prevent the British from being able to obtain the trade in cloves with Ambon, but he could not fulfill his purpose as he died of illness in December 1615. ^[ten]

The Bandanesi turned to the British looking for protection from the Dutch, sending an emissary to the British commercial invamping to Banten with a letter that reported: ^[11]

… So we want all to reach an agreement with the king of England, because now the Dutch are doing everything to conquer our nation and destroy our religion to the point that the entire population of the Banda islands hates the only view of the Dutch, children of dog, because they exceed falsehood and villanìa and in their desire to conquer us by force … if therefore the king of England in his benevolence wanted to take care of our country and our religion, we will help him with Ground dust and artillery to regain the Castello di Nera, where we will be able to battle with the Dutch and with the help of God, recover all the spices that we will then only sell to the King of England.

In April 1616, Jan Dirkszoon Lam took 263 men with him and, against the fair resistance of the premises, he was able to conquer the island of Ai. Lam decided that this would act as a scapegoat for all the other islands, and therefore decided to kill all the natives who opposed him, while another 400 (including several women and children) drowned in an attempt to escape to the island of Run , to the west, controlled by the British. ^{[7] [twelfth]} This once again forced the local inhabitants to sign a contract in favor of the Dutch. Lam ordered the construction of Fort Der Wrake (nicknamed Fort Revenge , “strong revenge”, by the British) on the island of Ai to emphasize the brutal revenge that the Bandanesi should have expected if they had tried once again to break the agreement with the Dutch. In any case, even these actions were unable to allow the Dutch to build a real monopoly on the walnut trade in the area. ^[twelfth] Even if initially intimidated, the Lonterians soon resumed trade with their former commercial partners, including England, who had now taken over to occupy outposts on the islands of Run and Nailaka. ^[13]

The siege of Run [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

On December 25, 1616, the English merchant and adventurer Nathaniel Courthope landed on the island of Run with 39 men and built a fortress there. These persuaded the inhabitants to sign a contract in which they accepted the sovereignty of Giacomo I of England on the island and undertook to trade nutmeg with the British. The Dutch began a siege shortly after to the English fortress, who with the assistance of local natives resisted for four years at periodic attacks, but finally fell into the hands of the Dutch after Coutingope was killed in a skirmish, which led the British to leave The island. ^{[11] [14]} Finally, obtained the possession of the island of Run, the Dutch proceeds to kill or slave all adult men, exiliating women and children and cutting every nutmeg tree on the island in the event that the British had attempted to restore their control over the ‘island. ^{[first] [11]} The Dutch allowed the free grazing on the island of Rum, so as to provide food also for the other surrounding islands that had less space. ^[15] It had to be expected until 1638 for the British to visit Run again, which is why the Dutch annually made inspections to make sure that there were no other settlements by England, until the English government formally renounced the sovereign of the place in the 1667. ^[15]

Anglo-Dutch conflicts [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

While the siege of Run was proceeding, tensions between the Dutch Company of the Eastern Indies and the British Company of the Eastern Indies, with a series of clashes in 1618, arose. The new Dutch general governor Jan Pieterszoon Coen wrote a letter, known as “appeal of Coen “, to the Dutch government on 29 September 1618, requesting further soldiers, money, ships and other goods to combat the Bandanesi and the British. From Pio Calvinista, he persuaded his superiors that this investment would have been optimal as the god of Christians would support him in the victory, despite the shots suffered previously: “Do not despair, do not spare your enemies, there is nothing in the world that He may harm us or intimidate us if God is with us, and do not take into account the previous failures, because here, in the Indies, there is still a lot and great that awaits us ». ^[16]

The Dutch managed to attack eleven British ships, many of which with the silver on board, while the British abandoned a single Dutch ship. In any case, this unofficial war had been inappropriate to governments in Europe, which in 1619 concluded peace and a mutual defense treaty between the Republic of the seven provinces and England in an anti-spanish and anti-portuguese function. The Dutch government ordered Coen to cease hostilities and cooperate with the British who would receive a third of the spices trade, with the other two thirds to the Dutch. ^[11] Coen was furious for the orders received and tried to expel the British from the entire region to guarantee the Dutch of the spices only to the Dutch, also writing a letter to his superiors

I admit that the owner’s actions must not concern the servant … but the corrections of your honor have been too precipitous. The British have a debt of gratitude with you, because after they had gone from the Indies, your lordship put them back to us … it is incomprehensible that the British is allowed to receive a third of the cloves, Moscate walnuts and Other spices, because they cannot demand a single sand wheat in all Molucche, on both or bandwidth. ^[11]

The Dutch, when they understood that the resistance of the Bandanesi was undermining their commercial interests in the area and that therefore this should be crushed once and for all, Coen wrote a letter to the Dutch government on October 26, 1620, reporting: «To deal with adequately with this subject, it is necessary once and for all to subjugate bandwidth and the population that lives it on ». ^[18] As proposed, he therefore obtained permission to subjugate the Bandanesi and gold heads. ^[11]

The invasion [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

The Dutch fleet from Batavia, sailed at the end of 1620. ^[17] It came to Ambon at first, where he joined the reinforcements of the soldiers and ships before continuing to bandwidth. ^[11] The fleet consisted of 19 ships, 1655 Dutch soldiers and 286 Japanese mercenaries, and was personally led by Coen. ^[15] On February 21, 1621, the fleet arrived in Fort Nassau, where it was reinforced by 250 other garrison soldiers and 35 other native boats. ^[19]

After trying to recruit the British from the nearby islands of Run and to without success, Coen began to send reconnaissance forces on the Lonor coastal line, the island that was the main base of the Bandanesi. The explorers took two days, during which the boats were spotted by the Bandanese defenders. The explorers found fortified positions along the southern coast, but they were unable to find a possible bridge head. On March 7, a group of Dutch landed on the island but was rejected at the price of 1 dead and 4 injured. ^[20]

On March 11, Coen finally ordered a large -scale offensive. He divided his forces into several minor groups that attacked the island from several points. The Dutch managed to capture the main fortresses and for the evening the northern and southern part were insured. The defenders and the population brought to the hinterland of the island while the Dutch chased them. On March 12, the Dutch had occupied the whole island at the cost of 6 deaths and 27 injured ^[21]

Temporary peace [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

After the initial Dutch success, the aristocracy of Lonor (called Orang kaya ) He tried the path of pacification. The nobles offered gifts to Coen and accepted all the requests of the Dutch, including the delivery of weapons, the destruction of the fortifications and the release of the hostages previously captured. They accepted the sovereignty of the Dutch Company of the Eastern Indies and the construction of several Dutch fortresses on the island, promising in exchange for the annual spice harvest and the sale to the Dutch at a fixed price. In return, the Dutch granted the inhabitants of the island personal freedom, government autonomy and the right to practice Islam as a religion. ^{[18] [22] [23]}

The resumption of hostilities and the massacre [ change | Modifica Wikitesto ]

Even if peace had been formally ended with the members of the Orang kaya , most of the islanders who were still in the hinterland began skirmishes with the Dutch. Coen replied by raiding the villages and forcing the inhabitants captured to work for the Dutch. ^[22]

On April 21, under threat of torture, the Dutch managed to extort the confession to some members of the Orang kaya About a conspiracy project to their damage. ^[24] Coen had taken prisoners 789 Orang kaya Together with their families and had made them deport to Batavia, where many had been enslaved. ^{[first] [25]} Having been accused of conspiracy against the Dutch and the rupture of the treaty signed previously, 24 Orang kaya They were sentenced to death and beheaded by the Japanese mercenaries on May 8. ^[18] The executions, however, did not calm the resistance of the premises ^[18] And therefore Coen ordered his troops to devastate the entire island and destroy every village, killing anyone who met up to the complete surrender of the population. ^[2]

According to Coen, about 2500 “inhabitants died of hunger and misery or spent on the sword”, “most of women and children” were taken prisoner, but more than 300 fled. ^[2] Hans Straver concluded that the population of the Lonterians had to be 4500-5000 people at the time, 50-100 of which they actually died in combat, 1700 were slavered and 2500 died due to hunger and diseases; In particular, a sort of collective madness spread so the natives threw themselves from the cliffs in the sea; Several hundred people fled to the nearby islands such as Kei and Seram, where they were welcomed with joy by the premises. ^[18]

After the military campaign, the Dutch controlled all the band islands in practice. The British had already abandoned Run and their presence on Nailaka was only occasional. By signing Breda’s peace in 1667, the British officially renounced sovereignty on the island. ^[17] The islands were heavily depopulated after the war. American historians Vincent Loth and Charles Corn estimate that before the Dutch conquest the population of all the islands were about 15,000 individuals, of which only 1000 survived the war, still leaving the island and going to live in Ai or Run. ^{[first] [2]} Peter Lape estimates that 90% of the population was killed, slavered or deported during conquest. ^[26]

To maintain the productivity of the archipelago, in any case, the Dutch had to proceed to repopulate the islands, largely with slaves from the Dutch Eastern Indies, from India and China, who worked mainly under the guidance of the owners of plantations Dutch ( parcer ). ^[27] The original slaveized natives had the order to teach new arrivals the foundations of the cultivation of nutmeg and cloves. ^[28] The treatment of slaves was severe, although the Dutch did not strive to Christianize the area as their priorities, instead forcing the Europeans who remained on the islands to join the Dutch reformed church (a form of Calvinism), while Catholicism (introduced on site From the Portuguese Jesuits in the 16th century) it was prohibited and all the Catholics had to forcefully convert. The slave population obtained permission to practice Islam or animist faith, but was also encouraged as far as possible to join the reformed church. ^[29]

• Charles Corn, The Scents of Eden: A Narrative of the Spice Trade , New York City, Kodansha International, 1998, ISBN 978-1-56836-202-1.
• Willard A. Hanna, Indonesian Banda: Colonialism and Its Aftermath in the Nutmeg Islands , Philadelphia, Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1978, ISBN 978-0-915980-91-8.
• Peter V. Lape, Political Dynamics and Religious Change in the Late Pre–Colonial Banda Islands, Eastern Indonesia , in World Archaeology , vol. 32, n. 1, Taylor & Francis, 2000, pp. 138–155, DOI: 10.1080/004382400409934 , JSTOR  125051 .
• Vincent C. Loth, Pioneers and Perkeniers: The Banda Islands in the 17th Century , in Cakalele , Vol. 6, Honolulu, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1995, pp. 10-1 13–3
• J. L. van Zanden, The Rise and Decline of Holland’s Economy: Merchant Capitalism and the Labour Market , Manchester University Press, 1993, ISBN 978-0-7190-3806-8.