Dutch India

A View of Chinsura the Dutch Settlement in Bengal

(1787).

Not to be confused with Dutch East Indies.

Dutch India consisted of the settlements and trading posts of the Dutch East India Company on the Indian
subcontinent. It is only used as a geographical definition, as there has never been a political authority ruling
all Dutch India. Instead, Dutch India was divided into the governorates Dutch Ceylon and Dutch
Coromandel, the commandment Dutch Malabar, and the directorates Dutch Bengal and Dutch Suratte.

The Dutch Indies, on the other hand, were the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and the Dutch
West Indies (present-day Suriname and the former Netherlands Antilles).

History

Colonial India

Imperial entities of India

Dutch India 1605–1825

Danish India 1620–1869

 French India 1668–1954

Portuguese India
(1505–1961)

Casa da Índia 1434–1833

Portuguese East India Company 1628–1633

British India
(1612–1947)

East India Company 1612–1757

Company rule in India 1757–1858

British Raj 1858–1947

British rule in Burma 1824–1948

Princely states 1721–1949

Partition of India 1947

v· t· e

Dutch presence on the Indian subcontinent lasted from 1605 to 1825. Merchants of the Dutch East India
Company first established themselves in Dutch Coromandel, notably Pulicat, as they were looking for
textiles to exchange with the spices they traded in the East Indies.[1] Dutch Suratte and Dutch Bengal were
established in 1616 and 1627 respectively.[2][3] After the Dutch conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese in
1656, they took the Portuguese forts on the Malabar coast five years later as well, to secure Ceylon from
Portuguese invasion.[4][5]

Apart from textiles, the items traded in Dutch India include precious stones, indigo, and silk across the Indian
Peninsula, saltpetre and opium in Dutch Bengal, and pepper in Dutch Malabar. Indian slaves were imported
on the Spice Islands and in the Cape Colony.

In the second half of the eighteenth century the Dutch lost their influence more and more. The Kew Letters
relinquished all Dutch colonies to the British, to prevent them from being overrun by the French. In the
famous Battle of Colachel (1741), Travancore king Marthanda Varma's army defeated the Dutch East India
Company, resulting in the complete eclipse of Dutch power in Malabar. Although Dutch Coromandel and
Dutch Bengal were restored to Dutch rule by vitue of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, they returned to British
rule owing to the provisions of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Under the terms of the treaty, all transfers of
property and establishments were to take place on 1 March 1825. By the middle of 1825, therefore, the
Dutch had lost their last trading posts in India.

Coinage

Gold pagoda with an image of Lord

Venkateswara, a form of the Hindu god
Vishnu, issued at the Dutch mint at Pulicat,
c. 17th or 18th century.

During the days when the Dutch were commercially active in India, they operated several mints, at Cochin,
Masulipattam, Nagapatam (or Negapatam), Pondicherry (for the five years 1693-98 when the Dutch had
gained control from the French), and Pulicat. The coins were all modelled on the local coinages.

Map

Agra

Kanpur

Patna
 Murshidabad Cossimbazar
Dhaka
Ahmedabad Hugli-
Chuchura
Khambhat Vadodara
Bharuch Ava
Balasore Pipely
Suratte Burhanpur
Mrohaung

Nagulavanch Bheemunipatnam
Golkonda a
Draksharama Kakinada
Syriam
Palakol
Masulipatnam Martaban
Vengurla Nizapatnam

Barselor
Pulicat

Sadras
Cannanore Thiruppapuliyur Tenganapatnam
Parangippettai

Poppacamal
Pallipuram Cranganore
Cochin
Caraas
Purakkad
Kayamkulam
Quilon Mannar
Tuticorin
Trincomalee
Calpentijn
Cotatte
Cape Batticaloa
Comorin
Colombo

Galle
Matara

Dutch Ceylon Dutch Coromandel Dutch Malabar Dutch Suratte Dutch Bengal Dutch Myanmar

Gallery
 Dutch trading ships in Negapatnam, Dutch Coromandel, circa 1680.

Factory in Hugli-Chuchura, Dutch Bengal. Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665.

The capture of Cochin from the Portuguese by Rijckloff van Goens in 1663. Atlas van der Hagen, 1682.

See also

British India

Danish India

French India

India–Netherlands relations

Portuguese India

References

1. ^ De VOC site - Coromandel

2. ^ De VOC site - Suratte

3. ^ De VOC site - Bengalen

4. ^ De VOC site - Ceylon

5. ^ De VOC site - Malabar

External links

Coins of Dutch India

World Statesmen - India

Cuddalore History

India, shores without end

Last edited 1 month ago by Shellwood

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