Page 128 - Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters
P. 128
The above maps and tables show the enormous fluctuation that sometimes occurred during the development stage of the VOC shipping network. Some percentages of growth might seem to be out of proportion, such as in region , the pepper-harbours of southeast Sumatra. However, these figures indicate how extensively shipping was organised after an initial moderate start that frequently had the character of exploration. Changes in the trade or military policy in a given period might also create these enormous fluctuations. Thus China became a destination for the VOC men-of-war in the s after they captured the Spice Islands; in that period ship- ping to China grew by more than .%, while shipping to the Spice Islands dropped. The combination of increasing percentage frequency and the volume of the shipping are interesting indications of the nature of the shipping and the composition of the fleets – subjects that are discussed in detail in chapter . Development to in ten-year intervals In the following section the outcome of the above analysis will be discussed in more detail, as will the most important features of the development of the VOC network in Asia by -year intervals. The expansion of the Dutch presence in the various regions is represented in develop- ment maps for each period. The period to C t s a E Arabia Afrika Region Arabian Sea Region Bay of Bengal Region Sumatra Region Strait of Malacca Region Java Sea Region Route Spice Islands Region Route Far East Bengal China 66 Java 231 Taiwan Philippines Persia h i n a a t s 38 India a o C l e d a m o b a r r A n y o n h t a u B o M S i a n i S fC B e S e h n C a e g a a S l e a l a b a r S t r a i t oM f I o a l a c c a Malaysia Sumatra n S a B v a d a J a S a a i d n O e a e c e a a n Map .: Development of the frequency of the intra-Asian VOC shipping to Sri Lanka 16 Cambodia 46 This period covers the development of the Voor-Compagnieën and the first years of the VOC. In the period up to , arrivals at various destinations have been recorded in the database. Table - clearly shows that, right from the outset, west Java (Area ) was the most frequent destination for Dutch ships with a total of arrivals. For this period, the destination harbour within the area is almost exclusively Bantam. The table does not contain the arrivals from Dutch Ships in Tropical Waters Vietnam Thailand (Siam) 48 Sulawesi 161 Lesser Sunda Island Kalimantan Spice Islands Japan
