Chapter One. The Voc In Maluku: Imposing The Spice Monopoly

Abstract

The Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), or Dutch United East India Company, was officially inaugurated on 20 March 1602. As fine spices and pepper were the primary reason for the Dutch to sail to Asia, they concentrated their attention on the Indonesian Archipelago where most of the spices originated. The spice monopoly was the overriding reason for the Dutch presence in Maluku. It was the engine which had driven local dynamics and change ever since the sixteenth century. The extermination and forced evacuation of Bandanese society, the subjection of Ambon to the direct rule of the Dutch VOC, and the long-drawn-out process of imposing VOC policy on the Ternate and Tidore Sultanates evolved in the context of the establishment and maintenance of the spice monopoly in Maluku.Keywords: Ambon Islands; Bandanese society; Maluku; spice monopoly; Ternate Sultanate; Tidore Sultanate; Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC)