Dutch East India Company (VOC)

Dutch East India Company (VOC) was a colony in Java and Eastern Indonesia (Southeast Asia) that lasted from 1605 to 1799 CE, about 194 years. Its people spoke Germanic languages (Gothic, Frankish, English, German, Dutch, Norse).

The VOC seized Ambon in 1605 and founded Batavia in 1619, monopolising nutmeg, cloves and mace by force, including the massacre of the Banda islanders in 1621. It went bankrupt and was dissolved in 1799.

See Dutch East India Company (VOC) on the interactive timeline

Facts

Dates

1605 to 1799 CE

Duration

194 years

Type

Colony

Region

Java and Eastern Indonesia, Southeast Asia

Language family

Germanic

Capital

Batavia

Became

• Dutch East Indies 1800 to 1949 CE

Events in Southeast Asia during its time

• 1619 Batavia founded
• 1767 Fall of Ayutthaya

Neighbours in Southeast Asia

• Ayutthaya Kingdom 1351 to 1767 CE
• Champa c. 192 to 1832 CE
• Bruneian Sultanate c. 1368 to 1888 CE
• Sultanate of Sulu c. 1405 to 1915 CE
• Lan Na 1292 to 1775 CE
• Aceh Sultanate 1496 to 1903 CE
• Later Le dynasty 1428 to 1789 CE
• Lan Xang 1353 to 1707 CE
• Spanish Philippines 1565 to 1898 CE
• Johor Sultanate 1528 to 1824 CE

Elsewhere in the world at the same time

• Republic of Venice c. 697 to 1797 CE, Europe
• Swahili city-states c. 800 to 1700 CE, Central and Southern Africa
• Holy Roman Empire 962 to 1806 CE, Europe
• Ethiopian Empire (Solomonic dynasty) 1270 to 1974 CE, North and West Africa
• Ottoman Empire 1299 to 1922 CE, Europe
• Ottoman Empire 1299 to 1922 CE, Middle East
• Portuguese Empire 1415 to 1999 CE, Europe
• Kingdom of Kongo c. 1390 to 1914 CE, Central and Southern Africa
• Mali Empire c. 1235 to 1670 CE, North and West Africa
• Mughal Empire 1526 to 1857 CE, South Asia

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