[1] "Atmospheric Dust Observations from various parts of the World,"
_Quart. Journ. Roy. Met. Soc._ (July 1896).
[2] _La Condensation de la vapeur d'eau dans l'atmosphere_
(Helsingfors, 1897).
DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY, THE (_Oostindische Vereenigde Maatschappij_),
a body founded by a charter from the Netherlands states-general on the
20th of March 1602. It had a double purpose: first to regulate and
protect the already considerable trade carried on by the Dutch in the
Indian Ocean, and then to help in prosecuting the long war of
independence against Spain and Portugal. Before the union between
Portugal and Spain in 1580-81, the Dutch had been the chief carriers of
eastern produce from Lisbon to northern Europe. When they were shut out
from the Portuguese trade by the Spanish king they were driven to sail
to the East in order to make good their loss. Unsuccessful attempts were
made to find a route to the East by the north of Europe and Asia, which
would have been free from interference from the Spaniards and
Portuguese. It was only when these failed that the Dutch decided to
intrude on the already well-known route by the Cape of Good Hope, and to
fight their way to the Spice Islands of the Malay Archipelago. A first
expedition, commanded by Cornelius Houtman, a merchant long resident at
Lisbon, sailed on the 2nd of April 1595. It was provided with an
itinerary or book of sailing instructions drawn up by Jan Huyghen van
Linschoten,[1] a Dutchman who had visited Goa. The voyage was marked by
many disasters and losses, but the survivors who reached the Texel on
their return on the 20th of August 1597 brought back some valuable
cargo, and a treaty made with the sultan of Bantam in Java.
These results were sufficient to encourage a great outburst of
commercial adventure. Companies described as "Van Ferne"--that is, of
the distant seas--were formed, and by 1602 from sixty to seventy Dutch
vessels had sailed to Hindustan and the Indian Archipelago. On those
distant seas the traders could neither be controlled nor protected by
their native government. They fought among themselves as well as with
the natives and the Portuguese, and their competition sent up prices in
the eastern markets and brought them down at home. Largely at the
suggestion of Jan van Oldenbarneveldt, and in full accordance with the
economic principles of the time, the states-general decided to combine
the existing separate companies into one united Dutch East India
Company, which could discharge the functions of a government in those
remote seas, prosecute the war with Spain and Portugal, and regulate the
trade. A capital estimated variously at a little above and a little
under 6,500,000 florins, was raised by national subscription in shares
of 3000 florins. The independence of the states which constituted the
United Netherlands was recognized by the creation of local boards at
Amsterdam, in Zealand, at Delft and Rotterdam, Hoorn and Enkhuizen. The
boards directed the trade of their own districts, and were responsible
to one another, but not for one another as towards the public. A general
directorate of 60 members was chosen by the local boards. Amsterdam was
represented by 20 directors, Zealand by 12, Delft and Rotterdam by 14,
and Hoorn and Enkhuizen also by 14. The real governing authority was the
"Collegium," or board of control of 17 members, of whom 16 were chosen
from the general directorate in proportion to the share which each local
branch had contributed to the capital or joint stock. Amsterdam, which
subscribed a half, had eight representatives; Zealand, which found a
quarter, had four; Delft and Rotterdam, Hoorn and Enkhuizen had two
respectively, since each of the pairs had subscribed an eighth. The
seventeenth member was nominated in succession by the other members of
the United Netherlands. A committee of ten was established at the Hague
to transact the business of the company with the states-general. The
"collegium" of seventeen nominated the governors-general who were
appointed after 1608. The charter, which was granted for twenty-one
years, conferred great powers on the company. It was endowed with a
monopoly of the trade with the East Indies, was allowed to import free
from all custom dues, though required to pay 3% on exports, and charged
with a rent to the states. It was authorized to maintain armed forces by
sea and land, to erect forts and plant colonies, to make war or peace,
to arrange treaties in the name of the stadtholder, since eastern
potentates could not be expected to understand what was meant by the
states-general, and to coin money. It had full administrative, judicial
and legislative authority over the whole of the sphere of operations,
which extended from the west of the Straits of Magellan westward to the
Cape of Good Hope.
The history of the Dutch East India Company from its formation in 1602
until its dissolution in 1798 is filled, until the close of the 17th
century, with wars and diplomatic relations. Its headquarters were early
fixed at Batavia in Java. But it extended its operations far and wide.
It had to deal diplomatically with China and Japan; to conquer its
footing in the Malay Archipelago and in Ceylon; to engage in rivalry
with Portuguese and English; to establish posts and factories at the
Cape, in the Persian Gulf, on the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and
in Bengal. Only the main dates of its progress can be mentioned here. By
1619 it had founded its capital in Batavia in Java on the ruins of the
native town of Jacatra. It expelled the Portuguese from Ceylon between
1638 and 1658, and from Malacca in 1641. Its establishment at the Cape
of Good Hope, which was its only colony in the strict sense, began in
1652. A treaty with the native princes established its power in Sumatra
in 1667. The flourishing age of the company dates from 1605 and lasted
till the closing years of the century. When at the summit of its
prosperity in 1669 it possessed 150 trading ships, 40 ships of war,
10,000 soldiers, and paid a dividend of 40%. In the last years of the
17th century its fortunes began to decline. Its decadence was due to a
variety of causes. The rigid monopoly it enforced wherever it had the
power provoked the anger of rivals. When Pieter Both, the first
governor-general, was sent out in 1608, his instructions from the Board
of Control were to see that Holland had the entire monopoly of the trade
with the East Indies, and that no other nation had any share whatever.
The pursuit of this policy led the company into violent hostility with
the English, who were also opening a trade with the East. Between 1613
and 1632 the Dutch drove the English from the Spice Islands and the
Malay Archipelago almost entirely. The English were reduced to a
precarious footing at Bantam in Java. One incident of this conflict, the
torture and judicial murder of the English factors at Amboyna in 1623,
caused bitter hostility in England. The success of the company in the
Malay Archipelago was counterbalanced by losses elsewhere. It had in all
eight governments: Amboyna, Banda, Ternate, Macassar, Malacca, Ceylon,
Cape of Good Hope and Java. Commissioners were placed in charge of its
factories or trading posts in Bengal, on the Coromandel coast, at Surat,
and at Gambroon (or Bunder Abbas) in the Persian Gulf, and in Siam. Its
trade was divided into the "grand trade" between Europe and the East,
which was conducted in convoys sailing from and returning to Amsterdam;
and the "Indies to Indies" or coasting trade between its possessions and
native ports.
The rivalry and the hostilities of French and English gradually drove
the Dutch from the mainland of Asia and from Ceylon. The company
suffered severely in the War of American Independence. But it extended
and strengthened its hold on the great islands of the Malay Archipelago.
The increase of its political and military burdens destroyed its
profits. In the early 18th century it was already embarrassed, and was
bankrupt when it was dissolved in 1798, though its credit remained
unshaken, largely, if its enemies are to be believed, because it
concealed the truth and published false accounts. In the later stages of
its history its revenue was no longer derived from trade, but from
forced contributions levied on its subjects. At home, the directors, who
were accused of nepotism and corruption, became unpopular at an early
date. The company was subject to increasing demands and ever more severe
regulation on the successive renewals of its charters at intervals of
twenty-one years. The immediate causes of its destruction were the
conquest of Holland by the French revolutionary armies, the fall of the
government of the stadtholder, and the establishment of the Batavian
Republic in 1798.
AUTHORITIES.--The great original work on the history of the Dutch East
India Company is the monumental _Beschryving van oud en niew oost
Indien_ (Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1724), by Francois Valentyn, in 8
vols., folio, profusely illustrated. Two modern works of the highest
value are: J.K.J. de Jonge, _De Opkomst van het Nederlandsch Gezag
in oost Indien_ (The Hague and Amsterdam, 1862-1888), in 13 vols.; J.
J. Meinsma, _Geschiedenis van de Nederlandsche oost-Indische
Bezittingen_ (3 vols., Delft and the Hague, 1872-1875). See also John
Crawford, _History of the Indian Archipelago_ (Edinburgh, 1820); Clive
Day, _The Dutch in Java_ (New York, 1904); Sir W.W. Hunter, _A
History of British India_ (London, 1899); and Pierre Bonnassieux, _Les
Grandes Compagnies de commerce_ (Paris, 1892).