The Beginning of Dutch and English Conflict in Banda and Moluccas in the Early Seventeenth Century

Abstract

Why Christopher Columbus did discovered America the new world, why did Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to reach India. They went and risk their life if search of the Spice Islands. The spices that European was searching were found in Indonesia Archipelago, Bandas famous for nutmeg and mace and Moluccas for its clove. After the formation of the East India Company in the early seventeenth century both the Dutch and English were competing against each other and outmaneuver one another for control of the islands. In the end, it was the Dutch who emerge victories. The Dutch established a monopoly on the spice trade from the Moluccas. They gained control over the clove trade through an alliance with the sultan of Ternate. Dutch occupation of the Banda’s gave them control of the nutmeg trade. Dutch control of the region was fully realized when Malacca was captured from the Portuguese in 1641. The Dutch were quite merciless when it suited their purposes; sometime obliterate the whole native population. By its brutal conquest over the Spice Islands they were able to control over the spice trade. Nevertheless, the English were not left behind whenever there is opportunity they set in to take the advantage of the sour relation between the native and Dutch, as the English played a role of more mercantile communities than occupation. The beginning of the seventeenth century is very important for the two companies as it decide the fate of the spices trade. Both companies were not willing to back out.