Page 235 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol Two

584 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

governors, build forts, maintain armies and fleets, and enjoyed trade as an outcome of its “own conquest.” A sec-
conclude treaties with or wage war against indigenous ond category contained those regions, such as the “com-
rulers. mandments” of Malabar and the West Coast of Sumatra,
A central Asian rendezvous and trade emporium was where the company conducted trade “by virtue of exclu-
established at Jakarta, renamed Batavia, on the island of sive contracts.” The third category consisted of economi-
Java in 1619. Batavia was the seat of the High Govern- cally important establishments under a director, including
ment, the Governor General and the Council of the Bengal, Surat, and Persia, parts of powerful indigenous
Indies, coordinating activities of the company settle- empires such as Mughal India or Safavid Persia, and
ments in the East. The V.O.C. divided its trading opera- peripheral establishments under a resident, head, or
tions in Asia into three categories, with their relative chief, such as Banjarmasin, Ligor, or Tonkin, where trade
significance indicated by their respective designation. was merely conducted alongside other merchants “by
The core consisted of spice-producing areas or trade virtue of treaties.”
emporia, such as the “governments” of Ambon, Banda, Before the industrial revolution, trade between Europe
Cape of Good Hope, Coromandel, Makassar, Northeast and Asia was characterized by a structural trade imbal-
Coast of Java, Taiwan, and Ternate, where the company ance, following a “bullion for goods” model. (See table 1.)

Table 1.
Sources of Precious Metals Available to the Dutch East India Company in Asia from 1602 to 1795

(annu al averages, in thousands of guilders)
Years Shipped from Europe Assignaties* From Japan From Persia From Gujarat Total
1602–1609 521 N.A. 0 0 0 521
1610–1619 1,019 N.A. 0 0 0 1,019
1620–1629 1,236 N.A. 395 0 0 1,635
1630–1639 850 N.A. 2,338 0 0 3,188
1640–1649 920 377 1,519 427 0 3,243
1650–1659 840 451 1,315 661 120 3,387
1660–1669 1,210 249 1,455 400–700 211 3,400–3,800
1670–1679 1,130 430 1,154 400–700 637 3,700–4,000
1680–1689 1,972 802 298 400–700 358 3,800–4,100
1690–1699 2,861 756 229 400–700 170 4,400–4,700
1700–1709 3,928 639 0 c. 600 N.A. 5,100–5,200
1710–1719 3,883 1,122 0 >300 N.A. 5,300–5,400
1720–1729 6,603 796 0 >300 N.A. 7,700–7,800
1730–1739 4,012 1,680 0 N.A. N.A. N.A.
1740–1749 3,827 1,390 0 N.A. N.A. N.A.
1750–1759 5,839 2,360 0 N.A. N.A. N.A.
1760–1769 5,354 3,790 0 0 N.A. 9,200
1770–1779 4,831 3,590 0 0 N.A. 8,400
1780–1789 4,789 4,000 0 0 N.A. 8,800
1790–1795 1,697 1,340 0 0 N.A. 3,100
*Assignaties were bills of exchange issued in Asia upon deposit of gold or silver coin, payable at company offices in the Dutch Republic.
Sources: De Vries (2003, 76). (Data on Europe) Bruijn, Gaastra, and Schöffer (1987,Vol. 1, 187). (Assignaties) Gaastra (1976, 249–272); Nachod (1987, ccvii–
ccviii); Glamann (1981, 58). (Data on Persia) Gaastra (1983, 474–475). (Data on Gujarat) Prakash (1998, 185).