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Armed Incidents and Unpaid Bills: Anglo—Dutch Rivalry in the Banda Islands in the Seventeenth Century

1995; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 29; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0026749x00016152

1469-8099

Vincent C. Loth,

Asian Studies and History

The purpose of this study is to shed light on an aspect of seventeenth century Anglo-Dutch relations that has hitherto been virtually neglected: the rivalry over the Banda Islands. I will point out how economic antagonism between England and the Dutch Republic, a topic that as a rule is mainly regarded in a European context, also erupted in the East-Indian sphere of expansion, even in remote areas such as Banda. Unlike in Europe, in Asia conflicting economic interests immediately and repeatedly resulted in open violence. This was stopped in 1619 by a treaty of cooperation that paradoxically enabled the Dutch to establish themselves even more firmly in these islands, and in the Indonesian Archipelago as a whole, in a way detrimental to the English.