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135-663: The Dutch East India Company ( Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) in Dutch ) had been formed in the Dutch Republic in 1602, and the Dutch entered into competition for commerce in Southeast Asia. The end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 saw European soldiers and refugees widely dispersed across Europe. Immigrants from Germany , Scandinavia , and Switzerland journeyed to Holland in

270-564: A fleet of eight ships under Jacob van Neck had been the first Dutch fleet to reach the 'Spice Islands' of Maluku (also known as the Moluccas), cutting out the Javanese middlemen. The ships returned to Europe in 1599 and 1600 and the expedition made a 400 percent profit. In 1600, the Dutch joined forces with the Muslim Hituese on Ambon Island in an anti-Portuguese alliance, in return for which

405-575: A pound sterling (3 shillings and 4 pence) becoming 19.2 g fine silver in 1551. The pace of depreciation of the Gulden quickened in the second half of the 16th century amidst the huge influx of precious metals from Germany & Spanish America arriving through the Habsburg Netherlands . The loss in silver content of local Dutch coins in the form of stuivers , schellings (6 stuivers) and daalders ( 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 gulden or 30 stuivers)

540-638: A Dutch ship. The Cambodians defeated the VOC in the Cambodian–Dutch War from 1643 to 1644 on the Mekong River. In 1640, the VOC obtained the port of Galle , Ceylon , from the Portuguese and broke the latter's monopoly of the cinnamon trade. In 1658, Gerard Pietersz Hulft laid siege to Colombo , which was captured with the help of King Rajasinghe II of Kandy . By 1659, the Portuguese had been expelled from

675-572: A Portuguese slaver on the Brazilian coast. The vessel arrived on 28 March 1658 at Table Bay. The settlers assisted the people on board of the ship with refreshments. The tedious journey at sea had its toll on the crew and slaves as the Amersfoort arrived with 323 men whereof 29 dead and 30 sick. Jan van Riebeeck decided to start a school for the enslaved children, making sure they got a Christian Dutch education until they were old and strong enough to work for

810-568: A burgher, enslaved and Khoisan children were taught free of charge or Pro Deo. During a visit from the commissioner Rijcklof van Goens in 1657, several regulations concerning the burghers were drawn up as well as copious instructions on general guidance of the government. The following restrictions were placed on servants of the Company, which greatly benefited the burghers since they were no longer regarded as servants. The free burghers nominated persons among them who could serve as representatives at

945-462: A capital of 6,440,200 guilders , the new company's charter empowered it to build forts, maintain armies, and conclude treaties with Asian rulers. It provided for a venture that would continue for 21 years, with a financial accounting only at the end of each decade. In February 1603, the company seized the Santa Catarina , a 1500-ton Portuguese merchant carrack , off the coast of Singapore. She

1080-402: A fleet of fifteen ships. After deliberation about the general functioning of the settlement, the high ranking officers issued several important written instructions which revealed the Company's position towards the free burghers. Commissioner Van der Broeck's visit reached the following conclusion. Over the years the burghers became successful in farming to an extent that in 1695 the directors of

1215-433: A large capital 'V' with an O on the left and a C on the right half and was possibly the first globally recognised corporate logo . It appeared on various corporate items, such as cannons and coins. The first letter of the hometown of the chamber conducting the operation was placed on top. The monogram, versatility, flexibility, clarity, simplicity, symmetry, timelessness, and symbolism are considered notable characteristics of

1350-539: A large share of its profits to this end in the period up to 1630. The VOC traded throughout Asia, benefiting mainly from Bengal . Ships coming into Batavia from the Netherlands carried supplies for VOC settlements in Asia. Silver and copper from Japan were used to trade with the world's wealthiest empires, Mughal India and Qing China , for silk, cotton, porcelain, and textiles. These products were either traded within Asia for

1485-528: A layered silhouette profile of the Queen as opposed to the more formal designs of the previous generation of coins. Production of these coins ceased after 2001. At the time of withdrawal, the following denominations of coins were circulating: All the coins carried a profile image of the Queen on the obverse and a simple grid on the other side. The 1-guilder , 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder, and five guilder coins had God zij met ons ('God be with us') inscribed on

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1620-689: A monopoly on East Indies trade. In 1620, diplomatic agreements in Europe ushered in a period of collaboration between the Dutch and English spice trades. This ended with the notorious Amboyna massacre , where ten Englishmen were arrested, tried and beheaded for conspiracy against the Dutch government. Although this caused outrage in Europe and a diplomatic crisis, the English quietly withdrew from most of their Indonesian activities (except trading in Banten) and focused on other Asian interests. In 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen

1755-463: A new era of an abundant supply of capital at low interest rates suddenly opened around this time. The second factor enabled the company easily to finance its expansion in the new areas of commerce. Between the 1680s and 1720s, the VOC was therefore able to equip and man an appreciable expansion of its fleet, and acquire a large amount of precious metals to finance the purchase of large amounts of Asian commodities, for shipment to Europe. The overall effect

1890-428: A portion of their food from their gardens, as well as sell their vegetables to the Company and passing ships to obtain an income. The opportunities to become a successful entrepreneur were abundant and many skilled Europeans applied for free burgher status. The VOC had built a corn mill which was operated by the use of horses, but after a short time it was decided to make use of river water as a motive power. The tender for

2025-421: A quarter of the initial shareholders were Zuid-Nederlanders (people from an area that includes modern Belgium and Luxembourg ), and there were also a few dozen Germans. The VOC had two types of shareholders: the participanten , who could be seen as non-managing members, and the 76 bewindhebbers (later reduced to 60) who acted as managing directors. This was the usual set-up for Dutch joint-stock companies at

2160-456: A single voyage and to be liquidated upon the return of the fleet. Investment in these expeditions was a very high-risk venture, not only because of the usual dangers of piracy, disease and shipwreck, but also because the interplay of inelastic demand and relatively elastic supply of spices could make prices tumble, thereby ruining prospects of profitability. To manage such risk, the forming of a cartel to control supply would seem logical. In 1600,

2295-469: A small piece of forest where he could make a living as a wagon and plough maker. Martin Vlockaart, Pieter Jacobs and Jan Adriansen maintained themselves as fishermen, while Pieter Kley, Dirk Vreem, and Pieter Heynse made a living by sawing and selling yellow wood plank as well as to work their occupation as carpenters. The merchant vessel named Amersfoort had captured 250 Angolan slaves, mostly children, from

2430-573: A spear topped by a hat in her right hand, resting with her left forearm on Gospels set on an ornate basis, with a small shield in the legend. Following the collapse of the Bank of Amsterdam in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars , in 1817 the United Kingdom of the Netherlands redefined the Gulden as either 9.613 g silver or 0.60561 g gold. It was decimally divided into 100 cents, and the 1-Gulden coin

2565-448: A trade surplus with other European countries. Coen discovered the obvious solution for the problem: to start an intra-Asiatic trade system, whose profits could be used to finance the spice trade with Europe. In the long run this obviated the need for exports of precious metals from Europe, though at first it required the formation of a large trading-capital fund in the Indies. The VOC reinvested

2700-414: A trading post in the area and eventually to monopolise the trade there, especially the gold trade. By 1669, the VOC was the richest private company the world had ever seen, with over 150 merchant ships, 40 warships, 50,000 employees, a private army of 10,000 soldiers, and a dividend payment of 40% on the original investment. Many of the VOC employees inter-mixed with the indigenous peoples and expanded

2835-702: A treaty of 1684 with the Sultan. Also, on the Coromandel Coast , it moved its chief stronghold from Pulicat to Nagapattinam , so as to secure a monopoly on the pepper trade to the detriment of the French and the Danes. However, the importance of these traditional commodities in the Asian-European trade was diminishing rapidly at the time. The military outlays that the VOC needed to make to enhance its monopoly were not justified by

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2970-443: Is exchangeable. Refer Banknotes of the Dutch guilder for a full list of guilder Banknotes and their last valid exchange date. In the 18th century, coins were issued by the various provinces. There were copper 1 duit, silver 1, 2, 6 and 10 stuivers, 1 and 3 guilders, 1 ⁄ 2 and 1 silver ducat rijksdaalder and 1 ⁄ 2 and 1 silver rider ducaton. Gold 1 and 2 ducat trade coins were also minted. Between 1795 and 1806,

3105-553: Is used to make a distinction from the [British] East India Company (EIC) and other East Indian companies (such as the Danish East India Company , French East India Company , Portuguese East India Company , and the Swedish East India Company ). The company's alternative names that have been used include the 'Dutch East Indies Company', 'United East India Company', 'Jan Company', or 'Jan Compagnie'. Before

3240-585: The Amsterdam Stock Exchange ). The company possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins , and establish colonies. Also, because it traded across multiple colonies and countries from both the East and the West, the VOC is sometimes considered to have been the world's first multinational corporation . Statistically,

3375-620: The Batavian Republic issued coins in similar denominations to the earlier provincial issues. The Kingdom of Holland minted silver 10 stuivers, 1 florin and 1 guilder (equivalent), 50 stuivers and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder (also equivalent) and 1 rijksdaalder, along with gold 10 and 20 guilders. Before decimalization, the Kingdom of the Netherlands briefly issued some 1 rijksdaalder coins. The gold 1 and 2 ducat and silver ducat (rijksdaalder) are still minted today as bullion coins. In 1817,

3510-678: The Dutch East India Company , was a chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies , it was granted a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be purchased by any citizen of the United Provinces (Dutch Republic) and subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became

3645-493: The Dutch Republic was at war. The Portuguese Empire thus became an appropriate target for Dutch military incursions. These factors motivated Dutch merchants to enter the intercontinental spice trade themselves. Further, a number of Dutch merchants and explorers, such as Jan Huyghen van Linschoten and Cornelis de Houtman , went on to obtain firsthand knowledge of the "secret" Portuguese trade routes and practices that were already in place, thereby providing further opportunity for

3780-581: The Dutch Revolt , which began in 1566/68, the Flemish city of Antwerp had played an important role as a distribution center in northern Europe. After 1591, the Portuguese used an international syndicate of the German Fugger family and Welser family , as well as Spanish and Italian firms, which operated out of Hamburg as the northern staple port to distribute their goods, thereby cutting Dutch merchants out of

3915-555: The Fort de Goede Hoop on the other side of the Liesbeek River . They were allowed to select a piece of land as long and broad as they wished, on condition that they were to remain on the other side of the river. The area of land which they occupied were named Amstel, or the Groene veld. Another party of four selected a spot nearer to the fort next to the Liesbeek River at Rondebosch opposite

4050-606: The Heeren XVII (the Lords Seventeen). They were selected from the bewindhebber -class of shareholders. Of the Heeren XVII , eight delegates were from the Chamber of Amsterdam (one short of a majority on its own), four from the Chamber of Zeeland, and one from each of the smaller Chambers, while the seventeenth seat was alternatively from the Chamber of Middelburg-Zeeland or rotated among the five small Chambers. Amsterdam had thereby

4185-655: The Malabar and Coromandel coasts in India. Direct access to mainland China came in 1729 when a factory was established in Canton . In 1662, however, Koxinga expelled the Dutch from Taiwan ( see History of Taiwan ). In 1663, the VOC signed the "Painan Treaty" with several local lords in the Painan area that were revolting against the Aceh Sultanate . The treaty allowed the VOC to build

Free Burghers in the Dutch Cape Colony - Misplaced Pages Continue

4320-705: The Netherlands Antillean guilder (still in use in Curaçao and Sint Maarten ) and the Surinamese guilder (replaced in 2004 by the Surinamese dollar ). The gulden emerged as the official currency of the Burgundian Netherlands after the 1434 monetary reform done under Philip the Good . This table summarizes the gulden's value in terms of silver until the gold standard was introduced in 1875. Prior to 1434

4455-545: The currency of the Netherlands from 1434 until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro . The Dutch name gulden was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning 'golden', and reflects the fact that, when first introduced in 1434, its value was about equal to (i.e., it was on par with) the Italian gold florin . The Dutch guilder was a de facto reserve currency in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Between 1999 and 2002,

4590-420: The guilder was officially a "national subunit" of the euro. However, physical payments could only be made in guilders, as no euro coins or banknotes were available. The exact exchange rate, still relevant for old contracts and for exchange of the old currency for euros at the central bank, is 2.20371 Dutch guilders for 1 euro. Inverted, this gives 0.453780 euros for 1 guilder. Derived from the Dutch guilder are

4725-645: The interwar period (after the British Pound Sterling and the Irish pound , which, at this time, were pegged to each other at par). Following the German occupation , on 10 May 1940, the guilder was pegged to the Reichsmark at a rate of 1 guilder = 1.5 Reichsmark. This rate was reduced to 1.327 on 17 July of the same year. The liberating Allied forces set an exchange rate of 2.652 guilders = 1 U.S. dollar , which became

4860-480: The 1464 issue of the Sint Andries florin containing 2.735 g of fine gold, but this was a mere two years before the resumption of debasements in the stuiver. The stuiver modestly depreciated between 1466 and 1475 before incurring more significant debasements up to the end of the 15th century. From 1469 to 1475 an agreement with England made the English groat (4- pence ; 2.88 g fine silver) mutually exchangeable with

4995-505: The 1640s the bank firmly rejected the advanced values of these coins and upheld its old values of 48 and 60 stuivers. This was the origin of a permanent Gulden Banco valued at 5% more against provincial Gulden currency valuations. In 1659 the Dutch Republic made this duality permanent by issuing its own trade coins, namely: The result was a Gulden Banco unit of 10.15 g silver & a Gulden currency unit of 9.67 g silver as determined from

5130-560: The Burgundian double patard (or 2- stuiver ) minted under Charles the Rash . Follow-up attempts to issue 1-gulden coins resulted in the minting of the gold Karolusgulden of 1.77 g fine gold in 1520, and the silver Karolusgulden of 19.07 grams fine silver in 1541. The bullion content of French and English currencies would eventually approach this value, with the French livre parisis becoming 20.4 g fine silver in 1549, and 1 ⁄ 6 th of

5265-618: The Calvinist work ethic or the Puritan work ethic is a work ethic concept in theology , sociology , economics , and history that emphasizes that hard work, discipline and frugality are a result of a person's subscription to the values espoused by the Protestant faith , particularly Calvinism . One of the causes for the Dutch Golden Age is attributed to the migration of skilled craftsmen to

5400-651: The Cape. The families of the free burghers were then brought from Europe to South Africa. Others after serving their term of service at the VOC also decided to stay at the Cape rather than returning to Europe who also received free burgher status. After the founding of the two free burgher colonies in February 1657, many more requested to be discharged from the service of the VOC. Letters of freedom were not issued to everyone who applied. By 25 September, 20 applications had been received and only five of them were enrolled as freemen. Some of

5535-416: The Chamber of Amsterdam announced that a few families were willing to leave for the Cape and Mauritius during the following December. Among the new names of burghers at this time are found those of Jacob and Dirk van Niekerk, Johannes van As, Francois Villion, Jacob Brouwer, Jan van Eden, Hermanus Potgieter, Albertus Gildenhuis, and Jacobus van den Berg. During 1688–1689, the colony was greatly strengthened by

Free Burghers in the Dutch Cape Colony - Misplaced Pages Continue

5670-508: The Commander of the Cape at the time, Van Riebeeck, to be discharged from the service of the VOC, in order to cultivate the lands. On 20 February, Van Riebeeck accompanied them to mark out their plots and draw up preliminary conditions. Servants of the VOC could return to their homes in Europe after their term of service had been carried out. Yet some workers chose to be discharged from service earlier than their term in order to live permanently at

5805-487: The Company issued instructions that farming and cattle dealing should be given up by the Cape Government and food should be sourced directly from the burgher farmers through a tender process. The commissioner further instructed the Cape authorities to provide assistance to the free burghers not only for the sake of produce but in order to gain favour because of the assistance which they could present in time of war. During

5940-520: The Council meetings at the Cape. The first burgher Councillor (Dutch title: burgherraden), Steven Jansz, was appointed in 1657 by Rijcklof van Goens . The following year he was joined by his colleague Hendrik Boom to serve as burgherraden in the Council. The high ranking commissioner Mattheus van der Broeck of the Dutch East India Company arrived at the settlement in early 1670 accompanied with

6075-625: The Dutch East Indies for the first time in its history. After the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War , the VOC's financial issues worsened considerably. After vain attempts at reorganisation by the provincial States of Holland and Zeeland , the board of directors in the VOC were sacked in 1796 and the company's management was handed over to a Committee for Affairs relating to East India Trade and Possessions (Dutch: Comité tot de zaken van de Oost-Indische handel en bezittingen ). The VOC charter

6210-457: The Dutch Republic of which Protestants were especially well-represented. Economists Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O'Rourke attribute part of the Dutch ascendancy to its Protestant work ethic based on Calvinism , which promoted thrift and education. This contributed to "the lowest interest rates and the highest literacy rates in Europe. The abundance of capital made it possible to maintain an impressive stock of wealth , embodied not only in

6345-488: The Dutch captain's life on condition that he joined his army and trained his soldiers on modern lines. This defeat in the Travancore–Dutch War is considered the earliest example of an organised Asian power overcoming European military technology and tactics; and it signalled the decline of Dutch power in India. The attempt to continue as before as a low volume-high profit business enterprise with its core business in

6480-643: The Dutch issued currency conforming to the Carolingian monetary system , with a pound divided into 20 shillings and a shilling divided into 12 pennies . Dutch versions of the penny first came out in the 9th century, followed by local versions of the one-shilling gros tournois in the 13th century. The most notable version of the latter, the Flemish grote , subsequently depreciated faster than its counterparts in France, from its initial fine silver content of 4.044 g, to around 2.5 g by 1350 AD, and to just 0.815 g before

6615-464: The Dutch settlers. The first school to be built in South Africa was for the purpose of educating the rescued slaves from the Amersfoort . However, the school was later also used to educate the children of the free burghers. At school, the children were taught to read and write and to compile accounts in gulden and stuivers. The school fees were equal to one half shilling per month for each child of

6750-547: The Dutch to enter the trade. The stage was thus set for Dutch expeditions to the Indonesian islands , beginning with James Lancaster in 1591, Cornelis de Houtman in 1595 and again in 1598, Jacob Van Neck in 1598, Lancaster again in 1601, among others. During the four-ship exploratory expedition by Frederick de Houtman in 1595 to Banten , the main pepper port of West Java, the crew clashed with both Portuguese and indigenous Javanese. Houtman's expedition then sailed east along

6885-528: The Dutch were given the sole right to purchase spices from Hitu. Dutch control of Ambon was achieved when the Portuguese surrendered their fort in Ambon to the Dutch-Hituese alliance. In 1613, the Dutch expelled the Portuguese from their Solor fort, but a subsequent Portuguese attack led to a second change of hands; following this second reoccupation, the Dutch once again captured Solor in 1636. East of Solor , on

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7020-695: The East Indies, but implementation of this policy never materialised, mainly because very few Dutch were willing to emigrate to Asia. Another of Coen's ventures was more successful. A major problem in the European trade with Asia at the time was that the Europeans could offer few goods that Asian consumers wanted, except silver and gold. European traders therefore had to pay for spices with the precious metals, which were in short supply in Europe, except for Spain and Portugal. The Dutch and English had to obtain it by creating

7155-519: The English were the first to adopt this approach by bundling their resources into a monopoly enterprise, the English East India Company , thereby threatening their Dutch competitors with ruin. In 1602, the Dutch government followed suit, sponsoring the creation of a single "United East Indies Company" that was also granted monopoly over the Asian trade. For a time in the seventeenth century, it

7290-466: The Groenevelt. The area which was allocated to the freemen of Stephen's Colony were named Hollandsche Tuin ( English: Dutch Garden). On 19 February 1657, Commander Jan van Riebeeck travelled to a spot about 19km to the flats behind Table Mountain to select a spot where a fort could be constructed to protect the lands which were to be cultivated. European workers on several occasions asked permission from

7425-552: The Netherlands (e.g. older rixdollars still valued at 50 stuivers currency), Dutch trade coins like lion dollars, rixdollars and silver ducats were exported and became staple currency for the rest of Europe until the end of the 18th century. The Royal Dutch Mint still mints the famed silver ducat to this day. A silver 1-gulden denomination weighing 10.61 g, 0.91 fine, was minted by the States of Holland and West Friesland in 1680. The gulden design featured Pallas Athena standing, holding

7560-536: The VOC by 1685. Even more importantly, the Third Anglo-Dutch War temporarily interrupted VOC trade with Europe. This caused a spike in the price of pepper, which enticed the English East India Company (EIC) to enter this market aggressively in the years after 1672. Previously, one of the tenets of the VOC pricing policy was to slightly over-supply the pepper market, so as to depress prices below

7695-428: The VOC eclipsed all of its rivals in the Asian trade. Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent nearly a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships and netted for their efforts more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods and slaves. By contrast, the rest of Europe combined sent only 882,412 people from 1500 to 1795, and the fleet of the English (later British) East India Company , the VOC's nearest competitor,

7830-493: The VOC in the Dutch Republic , the VOC made extensive use of local Asian labour markets. As a result, the personnel of the various VOC offices in Asia consisted of European and Asian employees. Asian or Eurasian workers could be employed as sailors, soldiers, writers, carpenters, smiths, or as simple unskilled workers. At the height of its existence, the VOC had 25,000 employees who worked in Asia and 11,000 who were en route. Also, while most of its shareholders were Dutch, about

7965-453: The VOC mainly operated in what later became the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia), the company also had important operations elsewhere. It employed people from different continents and origins in the same functions and working environments. Although it was a Dutch company, its employees included not only people from the Netherlands, but also many from Germany and other countries. Besides the diverse north-west European workforce recruited by

8100-408: The VOC tried to use military force to make Ming dynasty China open up to Dutch trade, the Chinese defeated the Dutch in a war over the Penghu islands from 1623 to 1624, forcing the VOC to abandon Penghu for Taiwan . The Chinese defeated the VOC again at the Battle of Liaoluo Bay in 1633. The Vietnamese Nguyen lords defeated the VOC in a 1643 battle during the Trịnh–Nguyễn War , blowing up

8235-412: The VOC which were beneficial to both the Company and the burgher such as Dr Jan Vetteman, the surgeon of the fort, who arranged for a monopoly of practice in his profession. Applicants received land in accordance to the purposes for which the land was to be used while carefully taking into consideration the set of skills and experiences possessed by each individual. Roelof Zieuwerts, for instance, received

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8370-448: The VOC's professionally designed logo. Those elements ensured its success at a time when the concept of the corporate identity was virtually unknown. An Australian vintner has used the VOC logo since the late 20th century, having re-registered the company's name for the purpose. Around the world, and especially in English-speaking countries, the VOC is widely known as the 'Dutch East India Company'. The name 'Dutch East India Company'

8505-421: The VOC's trade started in the early 1680s, after the temporary collapse of the EIC around 1683 offered an excellent opportunity to enter these markets. The actual cause for the change lies, however, in two structural features of this new era. In the first place, there was a revolutionary change in the tastes affecting European demand for Asian textiles, coffee and tea, around the turn of the 18th century. Secondly,

8640-508: The Zamorin was made to sign a treaty with the VOC undertaking to trade exclusively with the VOC and expel other European traders. For a brief time, this appeared to improve the company's prospects. However, in 1715, with EIC encouragement, the Zamorin renounced the treaty. Though a Dutch army managed to suppress this insurrection temporarily, the Zamorin continued to trade with the English and the French, which led to an appreciable upsurge in English and French traffic. The VOC decided in 1721 that it

8775-420: The arrival of nearly two hundred French Huguenots . Political refugees from the religious wars in France, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes , they were settled at Stellenbosch , Drakenstein , Franschhoek ("French corner") and Paarl . The influence of this small body of immigrants on the character of the Dutch settlers was marked. The Company in 1701 directed that only Dutch should be taught in

8910-652: The cessation of production of the unusual 40, 60 and 300 guilder notes during the 1920s. In 1938, silver notes were reintroduced for 1 and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilders. During World War II , the Dutch Bank continued to issue paper money, although there were some design changes, most notably, the replacement of a portrait of Queen Emma by a Rembrandt portrait on the 10-guilder note. The Allies printed state notes dated 1943 for use following liberation. These were in denominations of 1, 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 , 10, 25, 50 and 100 guilders. More state notes were issued for 1 and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilders in 1945 and 1949. Following

9045-532: The coastal regions, which were then occupied by the VOC, securing for it the monopoly over cinnamon. To prevent the Portuguese or the English from ever recapturing Sri Lanka , the VOC went on to conquer the entire Malabar Coast from the Portuguese, almost entirely driving them from the west coast of India. In 1652, Jan van Riebeeck established a resupply outpost at the Cape of Storms (the southwestern tip of Africa, now Cape Town , South Africa) to service company ships on their journey to and from East Asia. The cape

9180-418: The company at this time therefore were not hopeless, had one of the plans for reform been undertaken successfully. However, the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War intervened. British naval attacks in Europe and Asia reduced the VOC fleet by half; removed valuable cargo from its control; and eroded its remaining power in Asia. The direct losses of the VOC during the war can be calculated at 43 million guilders. Loans to keep

9315-458: The company operating reduced its net assets to zero. From 1720 on, the market for sugar from Indonesia declined as the competition from cheap sugar from Brazil increased. European markets became saturated. Dozens of Chinese sugar traders went bankrupt, which led to massive unemployment, which in turn led to gangs of unemployed coolies . The Dutch government in Batavia did not adequately respond to these problems. In 1740, rumours of deportation of

9450-401: The company's overhead rose in step with the growth in trade volume; declining gross margins translated directly into a decline in profitability of the invested capital. The era of expansion was one of "profitless growth". Specifically: "[t]he long-term average annual profit in the VOC's 1630–70 'Golden Age' was 2.1 million guilders, of which just under half was distributed as dividends and

9585-402: The construction of the mill was awarded to free burgher Wouter Mostert and when it was in working order he took charge of it and received income on shares of payments made for grinding. Some of the men who had received land established themselves as farmers while others took service with the farmers as farm workers. Leendert Cornelissen, a ships carpenter, received a grant of a strip of forest at

9720-432: The coveted spices or brought back to Europe. The VOC was also instrumental in introducing European ideas and technology to Asia. The company supported Christian missionaries and traded modern technology with China and Japan. A more peaceful VOC trade post on Dejima , an artificial island off the coast of Nagasaki , was for more than two hundred years the only place where Europeans were permitted to trade with Japan . When

9855-475: The decisive voice. The Zeelanders in particular had misgivings about this arrangement at the beginning. The fear was not unfounded, because in practice it meant Amsterdam stipulated what happened. The six chambers raised the start-up capital of the Dutch East India Company: Dutch gulden The guilder ( Dutch : gulden , pronounced [ˈɣʏldə(n)] ) or florin was

9990-482: The deterioration of revenues. To a large extent the costs of the operation of the VOC had a "fixed" character (military establishments; maintenance of the fleet and such). Profit levels might therefore have been maintained if the increase in the scale of trading operations that in fact took place had resulted in economies of scale . However, though larger ships transported the growing volume of goods, labour productivity did not go up sufficiently to realise these. In general

10125-491: The ducaton. These reforms helped cement the Dutch Republic 's role as Europe's financial center, made the Bank of Amsterdam the world's first modern central bank, and made the bank-stabilized Gulden as Europe's de facto reserve currency until the end of the 18th century. In 1694, a new mint ordinance recognized the gulden as a valid coin for the entire Republic. As the bank was also an active reseller of negotiepenningen , or trade coins that happen to be undervalued in

10260-616: The edge. Between 1814 and 1838, the Dutch Bank issued notes in denominations of 25, 40, 60, 80, 100, 200, 300, 500 and 1000 guilders. These were followed, from 1846 by state notes ( muntbiljetten ) in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 guilders, with the 10 and 50 guilders issued until 1914. In 1904, the Dutch Bank recommenced the issuance of paper money. By 1911, it was issuing notes for 10, 25, 40, 60, 100, 200, 300 and 1000 guilders. In 1914, because of silver shortage for minting,

10395-522: The equivalent of 1 Rijksdaalder ( 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 gulden after 1618) for each 25.40 g fine silver actually received. Combined with rules requiring payments above 600 gulden to be cleared through the bank, it halted incentives for provinces to tamper with the silver content of its coins. In 1626, Pieter Schaghen wrote in Dutch of the purchase of "the Island Manhattes" ( Manhattan ) "from the Indians for

10530-491: The euro at an exchange rate of 2.20371 guilders = 1 Euro . Coins remained exchangeable for euros at branches of the Netherlands Central Bank until 1 January 2007. Most guilder banknotes that were valid at the time of conversion can be exchanged until the deadline of 1 January 2032. There are some exceptions to this, and furthermore no banknote received as payment for commercial goods or services after 27 January 2002

10665-408: The first coins of the decimal currency were issued, the copper 1 cent and silver 3 guilders. The remaining denominations were introduced in 1818. These were copper 1 ⁄ 2 cents, silver 5, 10 and 25 cents, 1 ⁄ 2 and 1 guilder, and gold 10 guilders. In 1826, gold 5-guilder coins were introduced. In 1840, the silver content of the coinage was reduced (see above) and this was marked by

10800-410: The foot of the mountain. His object was to cut timber for sale, all kinds of which prices were fixed by the council while Elbert Dirksen and Hendrik van Surwerden made a living as tailors. Most received their free papers because they possessed a certain useful skill such as Christian Janssen and Peter Cornelissen who had been expert hunters in the Company's service. Most free burghers negotiated deals with

10935-592: The fortunes of the VOC started to decline. Five major contributing factors are attributed to its decay in the 50 years between 1730 and 1780: Despite these problems, the VOC in 1780 remained an enormous operation. Its capital in the Republic, consisting of ships and goods in inventory, totalled 28 million guilders; its capital in Asia, consisting of the liquid trading fund and goods en route to Europe, totalled 46 million guilders. Total capital, net of outstanding debt, stood at 62 million guilders. The prospects of

11070-466: The free coinage of silver into Gulden coins, substituted by the free coinage of gold into 10-Gulden coins containing 6.048 g fine gold. This arrangement continued until the worldwide suspension of the gold standard in 1914 due to the First World War . The gold standard was revived in 1925 but was abandoned in 1936. In 1914 the guilder was traded at a rate of 2.46 guilders = 1 U.S. dollar . As of 1938,

11205-559: The gangs from the Batavia area led to widespread rioting. The Dutch military searched houses of Chinese in Batavia for weapons. When a house accidentally burnt down, military and impoverished citizens started slaughtering and pillaging the Chinese community. This massacre of the Chinese was deemed sufficiently serious for the board of the VOC to start an official investigation into the Government of

11340-556: The gold coinage was ended in 1933. The 1 ⁄ 2 guilder saw discontinuation after 1930. Throughout the Wilhelmina period, a number of infrequent changes were made to the 10 and 25 cent coins as well, with the largest changes being periodic updates of the Queen's effigy and smaller changes to designs on the reverse (back). In 1941, following the German occupation, production of all earlier coin types ceased and zinc coins were introduced by

11475-400: The government introduced silver certificates ( zilverbonnen ) for 1, 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 and 5 guilders. Although the 5 guilder notes were only issued that year, the 1 guilder notes continued until 1920 and the 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder until 1927. In 1926, the Dutch Bank introduced 20 guilder notes, followed by 50 guilder in 1929 and 500 guilder in 1930. These introductions followed

11610-578: The gulden only set the stage for the next round of depreciations. As a result, the gulden equivalent of different trade coins passing through the Low Countries also rose in value, as follows: The solution which immediately halted the downward spiral of the gulden was the establishment of the Amsterdam Wisselbank (Bank of Amsterdam) in 1609, mandated to accept & assay the bullion content of coins received from its depositors, and then to credit

11745-494: The hope of finding employment at the VOC. Beyond this, the Company filled its ranks with farm labourers, artisans and unskilled workers from both rural and urban areas who spoke a number of variations of French, Dutch, German and Scandinavian languages. Contractors were obliged to remain in the employment of the Company for a minimum of five years excluding the six months that the journey could have taken and were not permitted to return home during this time. The Protestant work ethic,

11880-485: The image of Wilhelmina on the obverse (front) of all coins. In 1980, production of the 1-cent coin ceased and was demonetized three years later. Soon after, it was decided to replace the 5-guilder banknote with a coin of the same value. However, it was not until 1988 that a bronze-coated nickel 5 guilder coin was finally introduced. The 5 guilder banknote remained legal tender until 1995. The 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder coin gradually began losing widespread use shortly after

12015-579: The increased profits of this declining trade. Nevertheless, this lesson was slow to sink in and at first the VOC made the strategic decision to improve its military position on the Malabar Coast (hoping thereby to curtail English influence in the area, and end the drain on its resources from the cost of the Malabar garrisons) by using force to compel the Zamorin of Calicut to submit to Dutch domination. In 1710,

12150-414: The intention of issuing or having them issued as genuine and unaltered shall be punished with a prison sentence of no more than nine years. Eventually, the warning was replaced with a subtle message on the obverse side: "Counterfeiters or falsifiers will be punished", which first appeared inside a small square on the ƒ250 "lighthouse" note while still referencing the aforementioned Article 208. This reference

12285-471: The interim could only do this by selling their share to others on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange . Confusion of confusions , a 1688 dialogue by the Sephardi Jew Joseph de la Vega analysed the workings of this one-stock exchange. The VOC consisted of six Chambers ( Kamers ) in port cities: Amsterdam , Delft , Rotterdam , Enkhuizen , Middelburg and Hoorn . Delegates of these chambers convened as

12420-452: The introduction of the 5 guilder coin, and mintage figures for the denomination declined until the discontinuation of the guilder. 1980 also saw a circulating two coin commemorative series of 1 and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder coins celebrating Queen Beatrix 's ascension to the throne. All circulating coins went through a complete redesign in 1982, a short while after Queen Beatrix's coronation. They depict abstract designs featuring grids and

12555-516: The island of Timor , Dutch advances were halted by an autonomous and powerful group of Portuguese Eurasians called the Topasses . They remained in control of the Sandalwood trade and their resistance lasted throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, causing Portuguese Timor to remain under the Portuguese sphere of control. At the time, it was customary for a company to be funded only for the duration of

12690-456: The large fleet but in the plentiful stocks of an array of commodities that were used to stabilize prices and take advantage of profit opportunities." In 1656, Commander Jan van Riebeeck considered the idea of freemen at the Cape, he was of the opinion that the cost of supplying housing and protection to such free households would be too great. The Directors of the VOC however, were in favour to establish freemen under favourable conditions. By

12825-729: The late 18th century, the company went bankrupt and was formally dissolved in 1799. Its possessions and debt were taken over by the government of the Dutch Batavian Republic . In Dutch, the name of the company was the Vereenigde Nederlandsche Geoctroyeerde Oostindische Compagnie (abbreviated as the VOC), literally the 'United Dutch Chartered East India Company' (the United East India Company). The company's monogram logo consisted of

12960-485: The latter came close to bankruptcy; its share price plummeted from 600 to 250; and its president Josiah Child was temporarily forced from office. However, the writing was on the wall. Other companies, like the French East India Company and the Danish East India Company also started to make inroads on the Dutch system. The VOC therefore closed the theretofore flourishing open pepper emporium of Bantam by

13095-491: The latter period, 3.4 percent." Nevertheless, in the eyes of investors the VOC did not do too badly. The share price hovered consistently around the 400 mark from the mid-1680s (excepting a hiccup around the Glorious Revolution in 1688), and they reached an all-time high of around 642 in the 1720s. VOC shares then yielded a return of 3.5 percent, only slightly less than the yield on Dutch government bonds. After 1730,

13230-451: The level where interlopers were encouraged to enter the market (instead of striving for short-term profit maximisation ). The wisdom of such a policy was illustrated when a fierce price war with the EIC ensued, as that company flooded the market with new supplies from India. In this struggle for market share, the VOC (which had much larger financial resources) could wait out the EIC. Indeed, by 1683,

13365-486: The men received limited free burgher status with conditions favourable to both the VOC and the applicant. Limited in terms of the duration of term which the applicant would be allowed to maintain free burgher status. The duration of the five who were enrolled as free burghers in September 1657 is as follows: The early free burghers were mostly petty officers with families, who drew money instead of rations, and who could derive

13500-432: The next two centuries the company acquired additional ports as trading bases and safeguarded their interests by taking over surrounding territory. It remained an important trading concern and paid annual dividends that averaged to about 18% of the capital for almost 200 years. Much of the labor that built its colonies was from people it had enslaved. Weighed down by smuggling, corruption and growing administrative costs in

13635-538: The north coast of Java , losing twelve crew members to a Javanese attack at Sidayu and killing a local ruler in Madura . Half the crew were lost before the expedition made it back to the Netherlands the following year, but with enough spices to make a considerable profit. In 1598, an increasing number of fleets were sent out by competing merchant groups from around the Netherlands. Some fleets were lost, but most were successful, with some voyages producing high profits. In 1598,

13770-538: The obverse were issued, phasing out previous types. At the same time, new nickel 10 and 25 cent coins were introduced. In 1949, 1 and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder banknotes were introduced. Five years later, the silver 1-guilder coin was reintroduced, followed by the silver 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder coin in 1959. The silver content was replaced with nickel in 1967, although no 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder coins were minted in 1967 and 1968. The silver coins were demonetized in 1973. In 1950, Queen Juliana 's profile replaced

13905-620: The occupational government for 1 , 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 , 5 , 10 and 25 cents . Large quantities of pre-war type silver 10 and 25 cent and 1 guilder coins were minted in the United States between 1943 and 1945 for use following liberation. Afterwards, the zinc coins were quickly demonetized and melted. In 1948, all half cents and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 cents were taken out of circulation, though no further production of either denomination had continued after 1940 and 1942, respectively. New bronze 1 and 5 cent coins featuring Queen Wilhelmina on

14040-510: The peg for the guilder within the Bretton Woods system . In 1949, the peg was changed to 3.8 guilders = 1 dollar, approximately matching the devaluation of the British pound . In 1961, the guilder was revalued to 3.62 guilders = 1 dollar, a change approximately in line with that of the German mark . After 1967 guilders were made from nickel instead of silver. In 2002, the guilder was replaced by

14175-561: The population of Indos in pre-colonial history . Around 1670, two events caused the growth of VOC trade to stall. In the first place, the highly profitable trade with Japan started to decline. The loss of the outpost on Formosa to Koxinga in the 1662 siege of Fort Zeelandia and related internal turmoil in China (where the Ming dynasty was being replaced with the China's Qing dynasty ) brought an end to

14310-475: The rate was 1.82 guilders = 1 U.S. dollar . One Dutch guilder in 1914 could buy roughly the same amount of goods and services as 10.02 U.S. dollars or 8.17 euros in December 2017. In 1938, the guilder purchasing power would be approximately equal to 9.54 U.S. dollars or 7.78 euros in December 2017. Overall, the guilder remained a very stable currency and was also the third highest-valued currency unit in Europe in

14445-408: The reforms of 1434. Philip the Good devised a monetary system in 1434 relating the new Dutch currency to that of its neighbors: the French livre parisis of 38.25 g silver, and the English pound sterling of 215.8 g. The following units were defined: The stuiver weighed 3.4 g of 23 ⁄ 48 silver fineness and was divided into 8 duiten or 16 penningen . As each stuiver

14580-408: The remainder reinvested. The long-term average annual profit in the 'Expansion Age' (1680–1730) was 2.0 million guilders, of which three-quarters was distributed as dividend and one-quarter reinvested. In the earlier period, profits averaged 18 percent of total revenues; in the latter period, 10 percent. The annual return of invested capital in the earlier period stood at approximately 6 percent; in

14715-611: The replacement of the 3 guilder coin by a 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 guilder piece. The gold coinage was completely suspended in 1853, five years after the suspension of the gold standard. By 1874, production of silver coins greater in value than 10 cents had ceased, to be only fully resumed in the 1890s. Gold 10 guilder coins were struck again from 1875. In 1877, bronze 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 cent coins were introduced. In 1907, silver 5-cent coins were replaced by round, cupro-nickel pieces. These were later replaced in 1913 by square shaped 5 cent pieces. In 1912, gold 5-guilder coins were reintroduced but

14850-495: The risk of despotic governors-general, a Council of the Indies ( Raad van Indië ) was created. The governor-general effectively became the main administrator of the VOC's activities in Asia, although the Heeren XVII , a body of 17 shareholders representing different chambers, continued to officially have overall control. VOC headquarters were located in Ambon during the tenures of the first three governors-general (1610–1619), but it

14985-472: The same colour as the older notes, but with a mostly abstract pattern, featuring a different bird for each denomination. Persons depicted on those older banknotes were: These 1970s "face"-notes and the 1980s ƒ50 (sunflower), ƒ100 (snipe), and ƒ250 (lighthouse) banknotes were designed by Ootje Oxenaar . Eventually, these notes were progressively replaced from 1990 onwards by notes featuring intricate abstract designs made by Jaap Drupsteen , with new designs for

15120-571: The schools. This resulted in the Huguenots assimilating by the middle of the 18th century, with a loss to the community in the use and knowledge of French . The little settlement gradually spread eastwards, and in 1754 the country as far as Algoa Bay was included in the colony. Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( Dutch : Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie [vərˈeːnɪɣdə ʔoːstˈɪndisə kɔmpɑˈɲi] ; abbreviated as VOC [veː(j)oːˈseː] ), commonly known as

15255-420: The silk trade after 1666. Though the VOC substituted Mughal Bengal 's for Chinese silk, other forces affected the supply of Japanese silver and gold. The shogunate enacted a number of measures to limit the export of these precious metals, in the process limiting VOC opportunities for trade, and severely worsening the terms of trade. Therefore, Japan ceased to function as the linchpin of the intra-Asiatic trade of

15390-414: The spice trade had therefore failed. The company had however already (reluctantly) followed the example of its European competitors in diversifying into other Asian commodities, like tea, coffee, cotton, textiles, and sugar. These commodities provided a lower profit margin and therefore required a larger sales volume to generate the same amount of revenue. This structural change in the commodity composition of

15525-487: The time made this difficult to discern for the managers of the company, which may partly explain the mistakes they made from hindsight. This lack of information might have been counteracted (as in earlier times in the VOC's history) by the business acumen of the directors. By this time these were almost exclusively recruited from the political regent class, which had long since lost its close relationship with merchant circles. Low profit margins in themselves do not explain

15660-400: The time van Riebeeck left the Cape in 1662 the population of the colony consisted of 35 free burghers, 180 slaves, 134 VOC officials, 15 women, and 22 children. On 21 February 1657, following an application process where the best applicants were selected, a party of five were allowed to select land which they could occupy and use as freemen. They chose an area about fifteen kilometres away from

15795-513: The time, in 1670, the free burghers constituted a company of militia eighty-nine strong. The authorities of the East India Company had endeavoured to induce gardeners and small farmers to emigrate from Europe to South Africa, but with little success. Now and again they were able to send out to their eastern possessions a few families who were attracted by the tales of wealth. But the Cape had little charm in comparison. In October 1670, however,

15930-420: The time. The innovation in the case of the VOC was that the liability of not just the participanten but also of the bewindhebbers was limited to the paid-in capital (usually, bewindhebbers had unlimited liability). The VOC therefore was a limited liability company . Also, the capital would be permanent during the lifetime of the company. As a consequence, investors that wished to liquidate their interest in

16065-571: The trade. At the same time, the Portuguese trade system was unable to increase supply to satisfy growing demand, in particular the demand for pepper. Demand for spices was relatively inelastic ; therefore, each lag in the supply of pepper caused a sharp rise in pepper prices. In 1580, the Portuguese crown was united in a personal union with the Spanish crown (known as the Iberian Union ), with which

16200-629: The value of 60 guilders." Even with the Bank of Amsterdam 's success in halting the depreciation of Dutch currency, attempts to further increase the stuiver equivalent of trade coins continued among the provinces. After the 1630s came moves to raise the Patagon's value from 48 to 50 stuivers (4.17% advance), followed by moves to raise the Ducaton's value from 60 to 63 stuivers (5.0% advance). Fearing damage to its Europe-wide reputation if 50-stuiver deposits in rixdollars were repaid in cheaper 50-stuiver patagons, in

16335-400: The war, the Dutch Bank introduced notes for 10, 20, 25, 50, 100 and 1000 guilders. The last 20 guilder notes were dated 1955, whilst 5 guilder notes were introduced in 1966 (replaced by coins in 1988) and 250 guilder notes in 1985. At the time of withdrawal, the following denominations of banknotes were circulating: All but the 50 and 250 guilder notes had been issued in a new series that was

16470-459: The ƒ10, ƒ25, ƒ100, and ƒ1000 introduced before the discontinuation of the guilder for the euro. An anti-counterfeit warning appeared on the reverse side of all guilder banknotes prior to the final series with the exception of the ƒ250 "lighthouse" note, repeated multiple times in microprint (a technique later used on some banknotes of the Indonesian rupiah ): Criminal Code Article 208: Anyone who counterfeits or falsifies coins or banknotes with

16605-483: Was a distant second to its total traffic with 2,690 ships and a mere one-fifth the tonnage of goods carried by the VOC. The VOC enjoyed huge profits from its spice monopoly and slave trading activities through most of the 17th century. Having been set up in 1602 to profit from the Malukan spice trade, the VOC established a capital in the port city of Jayakarta in 1619 and changed its name to Batavia (now Jakarta ). Over

16740-575: Was able to monopolise the trade in nutmeg, mace, and cloves and to sell these spices across European kingdoms and Emperor Akbar the Great's Mughal Empire at 14–17 times the price it paid in Indonesia ; While Dutch profits soared, the local economy of the Spice Islands was destroyed, because as a monopoly buyer, the VOC forced the prices paid to the local producers in the Spice Islands down to low levels. With

16875-695: Was appointed governor-general of the VOC. He saw the possibility of the VOC becoming an Asian power, both political and economic. On 30 May 1619, Coen, backed by a force of nineteen ships, stormed Jayakarta, driving out the Banten forces; and from the ashes established Batavia as the VOC headquarters. In the 1620s almost the entire native population of the Banda Islands was driven away, starved to death, or killed in an attempt to replace them with Dutch plantations. These plantations were used to grow nutmeg for export. Coen hoped to settle large numbers of Dutch colonists in

17010-505: Was approximately to double the size of the company. The tonnage of the returning ships rose by 125 percent in this period. However, the company's revenues from the sale of goods landed in Europe rose by only 78 percent. This reflects the basic change in the VOC's circumstances that had occurred: it now operated in new markets for goods with an elastic demand, in which it had to compete on an equal footing with other suppliers. This made for low profit margins. The business information systems of

17145-692: Was controlled by a powerful local ruler and subject to stiff competition from Chinese and English traders. In 1604, a second English East India Company voyage commanded by Sir Henry Middleton reached the islands of Ternate , Tidore , Ambon and Banda . In Banda, they encountered severe VOC hostility, sparking Anglo-Dutch competition for access to spices. From 1611 to 1617, the English established trading posts at Sukadana (southwest Kalimantan ), Makassar , Jayakarta and Jepara in Java , and Aceh, Pariaman and Jambi in Sumatra , which threatened Dutch ambitions for

17280-544: Was later renamed Cape of Good Hope in honour of the outpost's presence. Although non-company ships were welcome to use the station, they were charged exorbitantly. This post later became a full-fledged colony, the Cape Colony , when more Dutch and other Europeans started to settle there. Through the seventeenth century VOC trading posts were also established in Persia , Bengal , Malacca , Siam , Formosa (now Taiwan), as well as

17415-478: Was no longer worth the trouble to try to dominate the Malabar pepper and spice trade. A strategic decision was taken to scale down the Dutch military presence and in effect yield the area to EIC influence. In the 1741 Battle of Colachel , warriors of Travancore under Raja Marthanda Varma defeated the Dutch. The Dutch commander Captain Eustachius De Lannoy was captured. Marthanda Varma agreed to spare

17550-407: Was not a satisfactory location. Although it was at the centre of the spice production areas, it was far from the Asian trade routes and other VOC areas of activity ranging from Africa to India to Japan. A location in the west of the archipelago was thus sought. The Straits of Malacca were strategic but became dangerous following the Portuguese conquest, and the first permanent VOC settlement in Banten

17685-456: Was permanently issued. This standard was doomed to fail due to Following Belgium's secession from the Netherlands in 1830, a more permanent solution was implemented in 1840 by reducing the Gulden to 9.45 g fine silver and repealing its fixed equivalence in gold. As a result of the adoption of the Gold Standard by the newly established German Empire in 1873, the Netherlands in 1875 repealed

17820-566: Was renewed several times, but was allowed to expire on 31 December 1799. Most of the possessions of the former VOC were subsequently occupied by Great Britain during the Napoleonic wars , but after the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands was created by the Congress of Vienna , some of these were restored to this successor state of the Dutch Republic by the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 . While

17955-525: Was such a rich prize that her sale proceeds increased the capital of the VOC by more than 50%. Also in 1603, the first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia was established in Banten , West Java , and in 1611, another was established at Jayakarta (later "Batavia" and then "Jakarta"). In 1610, the VOC established the post of governor-general to more firmly control their affairs in Asia. To advise and control

18090-572: Was the result of different provinces continually testing the market with coins of slightly reduced silver, aiming for their acceptance at par with full-bodied coins. As the Northern Dutch Republic just declared its independence from the Spanish crown, there was no central authority powerful enough to penalize the provinces responsible for the deterioration of the quality of Dutch currency. The inevitable official acceptance of new, debased rates for

18225-444: Was worth approximately 2 English pence, Dutch silver denominations of 1 duit and 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 2 , 1 & 2 stuivers neatly matched with English denominations of 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 2 , 1, 2 & 4 pence sterling. French écus , English nobles & Dutch florins comprised the gold currency of the Low Countries and had a variable rate against the stuiver. A denomination worth 1 Gulden did not exist until

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