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PAGE 13 | MOW 01 Exploring Indonesia
Exploring Indonesia
Archives of the Dutch
East Indies Company
(VOC)
Netherland, India,
Indonesia, South Africa,
Sri Lanka
The Dutch East India Company (VOC, Verenigde
Oostindische Compagnie), founded in 1602 was the
largest and most impressive of the early modern
European trading companies operating in Asia. Being
fully equipped with extraordinary authority, ranging
from the right to trade and build fortifications to
appointing its own governors, the VOC became the
largest global trading network of its time.
During the period 1602-1795, the VOC sent nearly one
million Europeans to its territory, operated
thousands of ships, and transported millions of tons
of goods, far surpassing its competitor, the British
East India Company.
The VOC was initially very prosperous due to its
monopoly on spices and the abundant profits from
textiles, coffee, and tea. However, debt burdens, war,
and crisis in its home country caused the company to
collapse at the end of the 18th century and that ended
a story of commercial success that had once shaken
the world.
