'Vervloekte goudzugt'. De VOC, slavenhandel en slavernij in Azië

Abstract

The Dutch history of slavery is often perceived from an Atlantic perspective. The study of slavery and slave trade in Asia, especially also in and around the territories controlled by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) has increasingly received attention, indicating the widespread nature of slavery and slave trade in and to (Dutch) Asia. This article assesses available data on the slave trade to VOC-territories in Asia, providing new estimates and indicating the crucial role of VOC-personnel in the (private) slave trade. This has profound implications, showing that the system of market slavery was more important than previously supposed and challenging dominant perspectives that portray slavery in Asia as a local phenomenon based mainly on debt bondage and slaves as mere status objects