Abstract
Unlike the French and English India, the Dutch East India Company did not shift to recruiting predominantly Indian soldier personnel for service in India, sepoys, from the 1740s onwards. Although Dutch Company (VOC) remained much more reliant on European recruitment, it did in fact also recruit sepoys in India. These soldiers remain little noted in the sources and the historical record. This article will explain why the VOC did not follow the French and English lead. The VOC’s late acceptance of sepoys as full-time soldiers meant it could not effectively compete with either French or English companies in India.
Highlights
In the summer of 1768, Captain Sing Alap Alap was worried
Dutch Company (VOC) remained much more reliant on European recruitment, it did recruit sepoys in India
The infantry company he commanded was about to be transferred from its current garrison in Bimilipatnam (Bheemunipatnam) in present-day Andhra Pradesh to Batavia (Jakarta), where the troops would be demobilized from the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC)
Summary
In the summer of 1768, Captain Sing Alap Alap was worried. The infantry company he commanded was about to be transferred from its current garrison in Bimilipatnam (Bheemunipatnam) in present-day Andhra Pradesh to Batavia (Jakarta), where the troops would be demobilized from the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). I will show in this article that there were substantial numbers of ‘native’ troops with the VOC in Asia in this period, making soldiers in India, but these do not appear in the personnel files.[14] These considerations make it logical to focus on the soldiers which the Dutch East India Company recruited in Asia, with a special focus on the eighteenth century and on South Asia in particular. During this period, in this area, the French and later English East India Companies would make the transition to recruiting large numbers of soldiers in India, who were drilled and armed in European fashion. Despite service throughout the war, he was put at half pay after the war. 42 Raven-Hart, The Dutch Wars with Kandy, names several examples. pp. 216, Rodrigo, sepoy ensign privately raises a sepoy company at Cochin. pp. 147, Cochin to Coromandel, 26 October 1765, on recruitment by sepoy captain at Cannanore
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