East India trade (Oost-Indievaart)

[Anatol]

The Dutch East India Company, or in modern spelling Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, abbreviated VOC (1602–1800), was a privately owned Dutch trading company with a monopoly, granted by the States General, on foreign trade between the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and the territory east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Strait of Magellan. Throughout its existence, the VOC retained the exclusive right to conclude treaties, wage war, capture and build forts and trading posts (factories), and appoint administrators. The VOC gradually became a territorial power through the conquest of the Banda Islands (1609–1621), coastal Ceylon (1640–1656), and especially all of Java during the Javanese Wars of Succession (1703–1755). The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was founded in 1602 as the Generale Vereenichde Geoctroieerde Compagnie. At the time, it was the first limited liability company with publicly traded shares, and it grew to become the largest trading company in the world. The VOC is often cited as the first company to have branches in multiple countries. The VOC established a trade network between various trading posts in the Asian region. This intra-Asian trade generated considerable profits over the years. To this end, the VOC entered into contracts with local rulers at its discretion. Within the Asian trading posts and the territory under its control, the company managed the administrative and judicial systems. The Dutch East India Company encouraged exploratory expeditions in the hopes of faster connections, new trade contacts, and more profitable goods. In the Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company had approximately 3,000 employees, many of whom were indirectly dependent on it economically through the supply chain. Everyone, from senior management to the rank and file, engaged in smuggling to supplement their meager salaries. VOC ships: During its nearly 200-year existence, approximately 4,700 ships were built for voyages to Asia, of which nearly 1,700 were built in the 17th century and over 3,000 in the 18th century.
VOC SHIPS: The most common type of vessel was the "mirror-stern" ship. These were three-masted vessels with an average length of 40 meters. Their carrying capacity averaged eight hundred tons. Their service life was approximately fifteen years.
The mirror-stern return ship (also called simply a return ship) was the most important type of transport vessel of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), a sailing vessel used to transport goods and people to and from Batavia and other destinations. The term "mirror" refers to the flat part above the rudder, which was richly decorated. Because this was such an important vessel type, it was often not even mentioned in primary sources; instead, it was simply referred to as a ship. The ships returned to the Republic as part of a convoy carrying goods purchased in Asia: the return fleet. The mirror-stern return ships were little different in appearance from the Republic's warships and were armed with the same types of guns, albeit in smaller numbers. During the war, mirror-stern return ships were also used for military operations. Several of these historic ships were reconstructed at the Batavia shipyard.
Groenewegen's engraving depicts a ship similar to the Amsterdam, a famous East India Company ship.
As interest in the history of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and its role in Dutch history grew in the late 20th century, plans were made to restore VOC ships. One such ship was the Amsterdam. Between 1982 and 1990, a replica was built by 400 volunteers. Since 1990, the replica has been moored at the pier of the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, the former Lands Zeemagazijn building. During the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784), the Dutch East India Company suffered enormous losses when the British captured several trading posts and confiscated fully laden merchant ships. Damages are estimated at sixty million guilders. Under the Batavian Republic, the company, a symbol of the power of the "old regime," was nationalized in March 1795.
Nederland 2025; 1,0.
Sources: 1. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vereenigd ... _Compagnie.
2. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiegelretourschip.