Dutch India

Dutch India consisted of the settlements and trading posts of the Dutch East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. It is only used as a geographical definition, as there was never a political authority ruling all Dutch India. Instead, Dutch India was divided into the governorates Dutch Ceylon and Dutch Coromandel, the commandment Dutch Malabar, and the directorates Dutch Bengal and Dutch Suratte.

Colonial India
Imperial entities of India
Dutch India1605–1825
Danish India1620–1869
French India1668–1954

Portuguese India
(1505–1961)
Casa da Índia1434–1833
Portuguese East India Company1628–1633

British India
(1612–1947)
East India Company1612–1757
Company rule in India1757–1858
British Raj1858–1947
British rule in Burma1824–1948
Princely states1721–1949
Partition of India
1947

A View of Chinsura the Dutch Settlement in Bengal (1787).

The Dutch Indies, on the other hand, were the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and the Dutch West Indies (present-day Suriname and the former Netherlands Antilles).

History

Dutch presence on the Indian subcontinent lasted from 1605 to 1825. Merchants of the Dutch East India Company first established themselves in Dutch Coromandel, notably Pulicat, as they were looking for textiles to exchange with the spices they traded in the East Indies.[1] Dutch Suratte and Dutch Bengal were established in 1616 and 1627 respectively.[2][3] After the Dutch conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese in 1656, they took the Portuguese forts on the Malabar coast five years later as well, to secure Ceylon from Portuguese invasion.[4][5]

Apart from textiles, the items traded in Dutch India include precious stones, indigo, and silk across the Indian Peninsula, saltpetre and opium in Dutch Bengal, and pepper in Dutch Malabar. Indian slaves were imported on the Spice Islands and in the Cape Colony.

In the second half of the eighteenth century the Dutch lost their influence more and more. The Kew Letters relinquished all Dutch colonies to the British, to prevent them from being overrun by the French. In the famous Battle of Colachel (1741), Travancore king Marthanda Varma's army defeated the Dutch East India Company, resulting in the complete eclipse of Dutch power in Malabar. Although Dutch Coromandel and Dutch Bengal were restored to Dutch rule by virtue of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, they returned to British rule owing to the provisions of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Under the terms of the treaty, all transfers of property and establishments were to take place on 1 March 1825. By the middle of 1825, therefore, the Dutch had lost their last trading posts in India.

Coinage

Gold pagoda with an image of Lord Venkateswara, a form of the Hindu god Vishnu, issued at the Dutch mint at Pulicat, c. 17th or 18th century.

During the days when the Dutch were commercially active in India, they operated several mints, at Cochin, Masulipatnam, Nagapatam (or Negapatam), Pondicherry (for the five years 1693-98 when the Dutch had gained control from the French), and Pulicat. The coins were all modelled on the local coinages.

Map

Poppacamal
Pulicat
Masulipatnam
Nizapatnam
Tenganapatnam
Golkonda
Bheemunipatnam
Kakinada
Draksharama
Palakol
Nagulavancha
Sadras
Thiruppapuliyur
Parangippettai
Cochin
Quilon
Cannanore
Kayamkulam
Cranganore
Pallipuram
Purakkad
Vengurla
Barselor
Hugli-Chuchura
Patna
Cossimbazar
Dhaka
Murshidabad
Pipely
Balasore
Suratte
Ahmedabad
Agra
Kanpur
Burhanpur
Bharuch
Khambhat
Vadodara
Mrohaung
Syriam
Martaban
Ava
Colombo
Tuticorin
Calpentijn
Caraas
Mannar
Trincomalee
Batticaloa
Galle
Matara
Cape Comorin
Cotatte
  Dutch Ceylon   Dutch Coromandel   Dutch Malabar   Dutch Suratte   Dutch Bengal   Dutch Myanmar

See also

References

  1. "De VOCsite : handelsposten; Coromandel". De VOCsite. Jaap van Overbeek te Wageningen. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  2. "De VOCsite : handelsposten; Suratte". De VOCsite. Jaap van Overbeek te Wageningen. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  3. "De VOCsite : handelsposten; Bengalen". De VOCsite. Jaap van Overbeek te Wageningen. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  4. "De VOCsite : handelsposten; Ceylon". De VOCsite. Jaap van Overbeek te Wageningen. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  5. "De VOCsite : handelsposten; Malabar". De VOCsite. Jaap van Overbeek te Wageningen. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
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