Company rule in the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies Nederlandsch-Indië (Dutch) | |||||||||
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| 1610–1800 | |||||||||
Flag of the Dutch East India Company after 1630
Corporate logo
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The territorial evolution of Dutch control in the Malay Archipelago from 1603 to 1800. | |||||||||
| Status | Governorates of the Dutch East India Company | ||||||||
| Capital | |||||||||
| Common languages | Dutch, Malay, Javanese, Chinese, Indigenous languages | ||||||||
| Government | Colonial government | ||||||||
| Governor-general | |||||||||
• 1610–1614 | Pieter Both | ||||||||
• 1796–1801 | Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern | ||||||||
• Established | 1610 | ||||||||
| 30 May 1619 | |||||||||
• Dissolution and nationalization | 1800 | ||||||||
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| Dutch East India Company rule in the East Indies | |||
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| 1610–1800 | |||
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Batavia built in what is now Jakarta, 1682 | |||
| Location | East Indies | ||
| Including | First Dutch Expedition to East Indies | ||
| Leader(s) | Pieter Both (1610–1614) Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten (1796–1801) | ||
Company rule in the Dutch East Indies began when the Dutch East India Company appointed the first governor-general of the Dutch East Indies in 1610, and ended in 1800 when the bankrupt company was dissolved and its possessions were nationalized as the Dutch East Indies. By then it exerted territorial control over much of the archipelago, most notably on Java.
In 1603, the first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia was established in Banten, northwest Java. The official East Indies government, however, was not created until Pieter Both was made governor-general in 1610. In that same year, Ambon Island was made headquarters of the VOC's East Indies. Batavia was made the capital from 1619 onward.
Corruption, war, smuggling, and mismanagement resulted in the company's bankruptcy by the end of the 18th century. The company was formally dissolved in 1800 and its colonial possessions were nationalized by the Batavian Republic as the Dutch East Indies.