Dutch East India Company in Indonesia

The Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, "United East India Company"; VOC) had a presence in the Indonesian archipelago from 1603, when the first trading post was established, to 1800, when the bankrupt company was dissolved, and its possessions nationalised as the Dutch East Indies.

A 1596 Dutch expedition lost half its crew, killed a Javanese prince and lost a ship but returned to the Dutch Republic with a load of spices, the profit from which encouraged other expeditions.

Recognising the potential of the East Indies spice trade, and to prevent competition eating into Dutch profits, the Dutch Government amalgamated the competing merchant companies into the United East India Company (VOC). In 1602, the States General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly in the spice trade in Asia. It was awarded quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies.

In 1603, the first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia was established in Banten, northwest Java and in 1611, another was established at Jayakarta (later renamed 'Batavia' and then 'Jakarta').

VOC headquarters were in Ambon from 1610 to 1619, and although it was located centrally in the spice production areas, it was far from the Asian trade routes and other VOC activity ranging from Africa to Japan. A location in the west of the archipelago was thus sought; while the Straits of Malacca were strategic, the Portuguese conquest had made them dangerous, and the first permanent VOC settlement in Banten was difficult due to control by a powerful local ruler and competition from Chinese and English traders.

In 1604, a second British East India Company voyage to Maluku, and subsequent establishments of trading posts between 1611 and 1617 across the archipelago began Anglo-Dutch competition for access to spices as the Dutch monopolistic ambitions were threatened. Diplomatic agreements and co-operation between the Dutch and the English over the spice trade ended with the Amboyna massacre where ten Englishmen were tortured and killed for conspiracy against the Dutch government, following which the English withdrew from their Indonesian activities (except in Banten).

...
Wikipedia