A multinational and its labor force: The dutch East India company, 1595-1795

International Labor and Working-Class History

Volumn , Issue 66, 2004, Pages 12-39

  Lucassen, Jan ^a  

^a International Institute for Social History   (Netherlands)

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EID: 12344326745     PISSN: 01475479     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0147547904000158     Document Type: Review

References (143)

1. I am grateful to Ulbe Bosma, Marcel van der Linden, and especially Femme Gaastra, who provided valuable feedback on a previous version of this article. I also wish to thank Jan Luiten van Zanden (supervisor) and Christiaan J. Van Bochove (who conducted the research) for showing me a research report from 2002 about employee arrangements in Asia.
2. An excellent reference to countless aspects of this operation, including archive files and bibliographies, appears in over 250 VOC sites accessible via the website www.londoh.com.
3. Sidney Pollard, The Genesis of Modern Management: A Study of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain (London, 1965), 9; Robert C. Davis, Shipbuilders of the Venetian Arsenal: Workers and Workplace in the Preindustrial City (Baltimore, 1991).
4. Sidney Pollard, The Genesis of Modern Management: A Study of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain (London, 1965), 9; Robert C. Davis, Shipbuilders of the Venetian Arsenal: Workers and Workplace in the Preindustrial City (Baltimore, 1991).
5. Bruijn and Gaastra, 178-184. Since then the following additional publications have appeared about Dutch-Portuguese: Ernst van Veen, "De Portugees-Nederlandse concurrence op de vaart naar Indië: 1596-1640," Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 22 [2003] 3-16, and Dutch-English competition: P. Marshall, "The Place of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) in the changing balance between Britain and the Netherlands in Asia" TVZ 20 (2001), 15-23. On Prussia, see D. de Graaf, "De Koninklijke Compagnie. De Pruisische Aziatische Compagnie von Emden nach China: 1751-1765" TVZ 20 (2001), 143-162.
6. Bruijn and Gaastra, 178-184. Since then the following additional publications have appeared about Dutch-Portuguese: Ernst van Veen, "De Portugees-Nederlandse concurrence op de vaart naar Indië: 1596-1640," Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 22 [2003] 3-16, and Dutch-English competition: P. Marshall, "The Place of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) in the changing balance between Britain and the Netherlands in Asia" TVZ 20 (2001), 15-23. On Prussia, see D. de Graaf, "De Koninklijke Compagnie. De Pruisische Aziatische Compagnie von Emden nach China: 1751-1765" TVZ 20 (2001), 143-162.
7. Bruijn and Gaastra, 178-184. Since then the following additional publications have appeared about Dutch-Portuguese: Ernst van Veen, "De Portugees-Nederlandse concurrence op de vaart naar Indië: 1596-1640," Tijdschrift voor Zeegeschiedenis 22 [2003] 3-16, and Dutch-English competition: P. Marshall, "The Place of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) in the changing balance between Britain and the Netherlands in Asia" TVZ 20 (2001), 15-23. On Prussia, see D. de Graaf, "De Koninklijke Compagnie. De Pruisische Aziatische Compagnie von Emden nach China: 1751-1765" TVZ 20 (2001), 143-162.
8. The TANAP program (Towards a New Age of Partnership. A Dutch-Asia-South African Heritage Programme) activities are important in this respect. The website for this programme provides the following information: at present the archives cover 1.33 kilometers of shelf space in the National Archives of the Netherlands (The Hague), 2.5 kilometers are kept at the National Archives of Indonesia (Jakarta) under less satisfactory conditions, 322 meters are in the Cape Town Archives Repository, 310 meters are at the National Archives of Sri Lanka (Colombo), and smaller but nonetheless interesting collections are at the Tamil Nadu Archives (Chennai, India) and the Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library (London) and elsewhere. Worldwide, all these papers are considered so important that they appear in their entirety on a provisional list of the UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
9. Alex van Stipriaanand Ellen Bal, "De VOC is een geloof: Kanttekeningen bij een populair Nederlands imago," Manon van der Heijden and Paul van de Laar, eds., Rotterdammers en de VOC. Handelscompagnie, stad en burgers: 1600-1800 (Amsterdam, 2002). 213-243. For responses see Marion Peters. In steen geschreven. Leven en sterven van VOC-dienaren op de kust van Commandel in India (Amsterdam, 2002), 27-28; and Femme S. Gaastra, The Dutch East India Company: Expansion and Decline (Zutphen, 2003), 11-12.
10. Alex van Stipriaanand Ellen Bal, "De VOC is een geloof: Kanttekeningen bij een populair Nederlands imago," Manon van der Heijden and Paul van de Laar, eds., Rotterdammers en de VOC. Handelscompagnie, stad en burgers: 1600-1800 (Amsterdam, 2002). 213-243. For responses see Marion Peters. In steen geschreven. Leven en sterven van VOC-dienaren op de kust van Commandel in India (Amsterdam, 2002), 27-28; and Femme S. Gaastra, The Dutch East India Company: Expansion and Decline (Zutphen, 2003), 11-12.
11. Alex van Stipriaanand Ellen Bal, "De VOC is een geloof: Kanttekeningen bij een populair Nederlands imago," Manon van der Heijden and Paul van de Laar, eds., Rotterdammers en de VOC. Handelscompagnie, stad en burgers: 1600-1800 (Amsterdam, 2002). 213-243. For responses see Marion Peters. In steen geschreven. Leven en sterven van VOC-dienaren op de kust van Commandel in India (Amsterdam, 2002), 27-28; and Femme S. Gaastra, The Dutch East India Company: Expansion and Decline (Zutphen, 2003), 11-12.
12. This article is based only on secondary sources: no new archival research has been conducted.
13. The V in VOC stands for the Dutch word verenigd (united). On the history of the VOC, see Gaastra, 2003: a translation as well as an edited version of previous Dutch editions.
14. Els van Eyck van Heslinga, Van compagnie naar koopvaardij. De scheepvaartver-bindingen van de Bataafse Republiek met de koloniën in Azië 1795-1806 (Amsterdam, 1988).
15. In addition to the sample data in Table 1, the non-European workers are likely to have been in far better health than the European ones, as will be explained below. Turnover was therefore probably lower among the Asian workers than among the European ones.
16. See Herman Ketting, Leven, werk en rebellie aan boord van Oost-Indiëvaarders (1595-1650) (Amsterdam, 2002), 219, for the seventeenth and Femme Gaastra, "Sware continuerende lasten en groten ommeslagh. Kosten en oorlogsvoering van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie" in Gerrit Knaap and Ger Teitler, eds., De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie tussen oorlog en diplomatie (Leiden, 2002), 99-100, and Ibid. 2003, 164, for the eighteenth centuries.
17. See Herman Ketting, Leven, werk en rebellie aan boord van Oost-Indiëvaarders (1595-1650) (Amsterdam, 2002), 219, for the seventeenth and Femme Gaastra, "Sware continuerende lasten en groten ommeslagh. Kosten en oorlogsvoering van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie" in Gerrit Knaap and Ger Teitler, eds., De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie tussen oorlog en diplomatie (Leiden, 2002), 99-100, and Ibid. 2003, 164, for the eighteenth centuries.
18. See Herman Ketting, Leven, werk en rebellie aan boord van Oost-Indiëvaarders (1595-1650) (Amsterdam, 2002), 219, for the seventeenth and Femme Gaastra, "Sware continuerende lasten en groten ommeslagh. Kosten en oorlogsvoering van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie" in Gerrit Knaap and Ger Teitler, eds., De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie tussen oorlog en diplomatie (Leiden, 2002), 99-100, and Ibid. 2003, 164, for the eighteenth centuries.
19. Below these categories of workers are discussed at various points. I have not provided a systematic review of those employed indirectly, both for lack of sources and especially because the VOC did not set their terms of employment.
20. Table 1. Key: Row 1: Based on the numbers reported for 1790 (Gaastra, 2003, 163), the other figures are estimates according to the activity on the wharves (Bruijn, Gaaastra, and Schöffer, 1987, 52). See also Van Gelder and Wagenaar, 1988 and Gawronski, 1996, 43-45, 113. Rows 2 and 3: Gaastra 2003, 80-88; Bruijn and Lucassen. 1980, 135 (1687/1688). Row 4: Gaastra 1980a, 201; Gaastra 1980b, 443; Gaastra, 2003, 80-88, less the numbers indicated in the next rows in a few cases; where these figures deviate from Lequin, 1982, Appendix 4, I have used the latter, as they are more detailed. Row 5: my additions (rounded). Row 6: Gaastra, 1980a, 208; Gaastra, 1980b, 443; calculated for the eighteenth century based on Lequin, 1982, Appendix 4. Row 7: see the text and tables 3 and 4 below (these figures are higher than the ones in Lequin 1982, Appendix 4; Generale Missiven XI, 66, 726. Row 8: see the text and Table 5 below (Gaastra, 1980s, 208, Gaastra, 1980b, 443, Lequin, 1982, Appendix 4). Row 9: Raben, 1996, 86 (1,594 company slaves in Batavia alone in 1632); Vink, 2003, 166-167 for 1687/1688 and for other rough estimates see text below, based on which I assume that the figures in the eighteenth century were somewhat but not substantially higher than at the end of the seventeenth century (Van der Brug, 1994, 35, 152); with the ca. 2,000 slaves of the perkeniers (recruited from former officers of the Compagnie) on the Moluccas added in all cases. Row 10: rough estimate for Asians in 1625. Row 11: my additions.
21. Jan Lucassen. "The Netherlands, the Dutch, and Long-Distance Migration in the Late Sixteenth to Early Nineteenth Centuries" in Nicholas Canny, ed., Europeans on the Move. Studies on European Migration 1500-1800 (Oxford, 1994), 159; Roelof van Gelder, Het Oost-In-
22. Jan Lucassen. "The Netherlands, the Dutch, and Long-Distance Migration in the Late Sixteenth to Early Nineteenth Centuries" in Nicholas Canny, ed., Europeans on the Move. Studies on European Migration 1500-1800 (Oxford, 1994), 159; Roelof van Gelder, Het Oost-In-
23. disch avontuur. Duitsers in dienst van de VOC (1600-1800) (Nijmegen, 1997), 49;
24. Ibid. 2003, 490, fn.4. Regarding the cause, especially the spread of malaria after 1733 due to digging fish ponds, see PH.
25. van der Brug, Malaria en malaise. De VOC in Batavia in de achttiende eeuw (Amsterdam, 1994).
26. K.L. Van Schouwenburg, "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de tweede helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 8 (1989) 179-186; "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 7 (1988) 76-93. According to van Schouwenburg's calculations, in the period from 1700 to 1794, 614 of the 2,035 soldiers from Delft returned, whereas 5,050 of the 8,340 seamen from Delft returned. Altogether, 4,711 Delft residents did not return, according to the ships' wage logs. See also Van der Brug, 1994, 186-188; Van der Heijden, 2002, 181.
27. K.L. Van Schouwenburg, "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de tweede helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 8 (1989) 179-186; "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 7 (1988) 76-93. According to van Schouwenburg's calculations, in the period from 1700 to 1794, 614 of the 2,035 soldiers from Delft returned, whereas 5,050 of the 8,340 seamen from Delft returned. Altogether, 4,711 Delft residents did not return, according to the ships' wage logs. See also Van der Brug, 1994, 186-188; Van der Heijden, 2002, 181.
28. K.L. Van Schouwenburg, "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de tweede helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 8 (1989) 179-186; "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 7 (1988) 76-93. According to van Schouwenburg's calculations, in the period from 1700 to 1794, 614 of the 2,035 soldiers from Delft returned, whereas 5,050 of the 8,340 seamen from Delft returned. Altogether, 4,711 Delft residents did not return, according to the ships' wage logs. See also Van der Brug, 1994, 186-188; Van der Heijden, 2002, 181.
29. K.L. Van Schouwenburg, "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de tweede helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 8 (1989) 179-186; "Het personeel op de schepen van de Kamer Delft van de VOC in de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw" TVZ 7 (1988) 76-93. According to van Schouwenburg's calculations, in the period from 1700 to 1794, 614 of the 2,035 soldiers from Delft returned, whereas 5,050 of the 8,340 seamen from Delft returned. Altogether, 4,711 Delft residents did not return, according to the ships' wage logs. See also Van der Brug, 1994, 186-188; Van der Heijden, 2002, 181.
30. Table 2. Key: Column 2: total in Bruijn, Gaastra, Schöffer, 1987, 170; distribution according to Bruijn and Lucassen, 1980, 80 (respective percentages 11.11, 40.03, 21.84, and 27.02). Column 3: percentages for the Netherlands equivalent to the ones for Delft in the eighteenth century (Van Schouwenburg. 1988 and 1989), which in Column 4 yields 140,000 returning foreigners; the difference between soldiers and sailors here is analogous to the one for the Netherlands (Bonke, 1999, 192-193). Column 4: my figures based on the percentages in Column 3.
31. Jan Kees Beers and Cees Bakker, Westfriezen naar de Oost. De kamers der VOC te Hoorn en Enkhuizen en hun recruteringsgebied, 1700-1800 (Hoorn, 1990), 60; Perry Moree, "Gezagvoerders op VOC-schepen van de kamer Rotterdam in de achttiende eeuw," in Manon van der Heijden and Paul van de Laar, eds., Rotterdammers en de VOC. Handelscompagnie, sladen burgers (1600-1800) (Amsterdam, 2002), 136-160.
32. Jan Kees Beers and Cees Bakker, Westfriezen naar de Oost. De kamers der VOC te Hoorn en Enkhuizen en hun recruteringsgebied, 1700-1800 (Hoorn, 1990), 60; Perry Moree, "Gezagvoerders op VOC-schepen van de kamer Rotterdam in de achttiende eeuw," in Manon van der Heijden and Paul van de Laar, eds., Rotterdammers en de VOC. Handelscompagnie, sladen burgers (1600-1800) (Amsterdam, 2002), 136-160.
33. I am grateful to Femme Gaastra for these useful suggestions.
34. As ships' wage logs for ship's crews are released, research will become easier in this field. See the Internet site http://voc.mindbus.nl/, which will be at the National Archive in The Hague in the future.
35. J.R. Bruijn, F.S. Gaastra, and I. Schöffer, Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries (The Hague, three volumes, I [1987], II [1979], III [1979]), 161-172; Frank Lequin, "A New Approach to the History of the Dutch Expansion in Asia: the Personnel of the Dutch East India Company in the XVIIIth Century" Journal of European Economic History 8 (1979), 435; Ingrid Dillo, De nadagen van de verenigde Oostindische Compagnie 1783-1795. Schepen en zeevarenden (Amsterdam, 1992), 99-102.
36. J.R. Bruijn, F.S. Gaastra, and I. Schöffer, Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries (The Hague, three volumes, I [1987], II [1979], III [1979]), 161-172; Frank Lequin, "A New Approach to the History of the Dutch Expansion in Asia: the Personnel of the Dutch East India Company in the XVIIIth Century" Journal of European Economic History 8 (1979), 435; Ingrid Dillo, De nadagen van de verenigde Oostindische Compagnie 1783-1795. Schepen en zeevarenden (Amsterdam, 1992), 99-102.
37. J.R. Bruijn, F.S. Gaastra, and I. Schöffer, Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries (The Hague, three volumes, I [1987], II [1979], III [1979]), 161-172; Frank Lequin, "A New Approach to the History of the Dutch Expansion in Asia: the Personnel of the Dutch East India Company in the XVIIIth Century" Journal of European Economic History 8 (1979), 435; Ingrid Dillo, De nadagen van de verenigde Oostindische Compagnie 1783-1795. Schepen en zeevarenden (Amsterdam, 1992), 99-102.
38. Lequin, 1979, 435. British survival rates later improved considerably. See Van der Brug, 1994, 188; Philip D. Curtin, Death by Migration: Europe's Encounter With the Tropical World in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge, 1989).
39. Lequin, 1979, 435. British survival rates later improved considerably. See Van der Brug, 1994, 188; Philip D. Curtin, Death by Migration: Europe's Encounter With the Tropical World in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge, 1989).
40. Van Schouwenburg, 1988, 89-90 (the sample is for 1729 and concerns thirty-three persons).
41. Van Schouwenburg, 1988, 86 and Id., 1989, 183.
42. This rough estimate of the duplicates is based on the following assumptions: Ten percent of all those on board were officers. Of the sixty-five percent who returned, half signed on again, which yielded ca. 30,000 persons; of the remaining ca. 200,000 seamen, half returned, and one-third of that group signed on for another journey, which would be another 30,000 persons. Allowing for a few returning soldiers and persons making three or more voyages might amount to 75,000 persons altogether.
43. Ketting, 2002, 59-61.
44. Ketting, 2002, 52-54 reaches this conclusion about the years 1630-1650. On later periods, see Manon van der Heijden, "Achterblijvers. Rotterdamse vrouwen en de VOC (1602-1750)" in van der Heijden and van de Laar, eds., Rotterdammers en de VOC, 181-212. and Danielle van den Heuvel, "Bij uijtlandigheijt van haar man. Echtgenotes van VOC-zeelieden, aangernonsterd voor de kamer Enkhuizen (1700-1750)" (MA Thesis, Free University of Amsterdam, 2003). Wives of officers were better off, as evidenced by letters of one: Perry Moree, ed., Kikkertje lief. Brieven van Aagje Luijtsen geschreven tussen 1776 en 1780 aan haar man Harmanus Kikken stuurman in dienst van de VOC (Texel, 2002).
45. Ketting, 2002, 52-54 reaches this conclusion about the years 1630-1650. On later periods, see Manon van der Heijden, "Achterblijvers. Rotterdamse vrouwen en de VOC (1602-1750)" in van der Heijden and van de Laar, eds., Rotterdammers en de VOC, 181-212. and Danielle van den Heuvel, "Bij uijtlandigheijt van haar man. Echtgenotes van VOC-zeelieden, aangernonsterd voor de kamer Enkhuizen (1700-1750)" (MA Thesis, Free University of Amsterdam, 2003). Wives of officers were better off, as evidenced by letters of one: Perry Moree, ed., Kikkertje lief. Brieven van Aagje Luijtsen geschreven tussen 1776 en 1780 aan haar man Harmanus Kikken stuurman in dienst van de VOC (Texel, 2002).
46. J.R. Bruijn and Jan Lucassen, eds., Op de schepen der Oost-Indische Compagnie. Vijf artikelen van J. de Hullu (Groningen, 1980); Jan Kees Beers and Cees Bakker, Westfriezen naar de Oost. De kamers der VOC te Hoorn en Enkhuizen en hun recruteringsgebied, 1700-1800 (Hoorn, 1990); Ketting, 2002, 41-51.
47. J.R. Bruijn and Jan Lucassen, eds., Op de schepen der Oost-Indische Compagnie. Vijf artikelen van J. de Hullu (Groningen, 1980); Jan Kees Beers and Cees Bakker, Westfriezen naar de Oost. De kamers der VOC te Hoorn en Enkhuizen en hun recruteringsgebied, 1700-1800 (Hoorn, 1990); Ketting, 2002, 41-51.
48. Examples of both appear in van Gelder 1997 (German edition: Das ostindische Abenteuer. Deutsche in Diensten der Vereinigten Ostindischen Kompanie der Niederlande (VOC), 1600-1800 [Hamburg, 2004]). and van Gelder, Naporra's omweg. Het leven van een VOC-ma-troos (1731-1793) (Amsterdam, 2003). Even Germans who left the service with sufficient savings often had trouble adjusting and were sometimes unable to, as the local elite refused to tolerate ostentatious conduct on the part of a local resident who had left in search of his fortune and returned as one of the nouveau riche.
49. Examples of both appear in van Gelder 1997 (German edition: Das ostindische Abenteuer. Deutsche in Diensten der Vereinigten Ostindischen Kompanie der Niederlande (VOC), 1600-1800 [Hamburg, 2004]). and van Gelder, Naporra's omweg. Het leven van een VOC-ma-troos (1731-1793) (Amsterdam, 2003). Even Germans who left the service with sufficient savings often had trouble adjusting and were sometimes unable to, as the local elite refused to tolerate ostentatious conduct on the part of a local resident who had left in search of his fortune and returned as one of the nouveau riche.
50. Karel Davids, "Maritime Labour in the Netherlands, 1570-1870," in Paul van Royen, Jaap Bruijn, and Jan Lucassen (eds), "'Those Emblems of Hell'? European Sailors and the Maritime Labour Market, 1570-1870" (St. John's, Newfoundland, 1997), 41-71, features an interesting account of the seamen in the Netherlands.
51. Lucassen, 1994, 165-169, 183; Lucassen, "Mobilization of labour in early modern Europe," in Maarten Prak, ed., Early Modern Capitalism. Economic and social change in Europe, 1400-1800 (London, 2001), 167; Bruijn and Wels, 2003.
52. Lucassen, 2001. For maritime labor see Lucassen, "The International Maritime Labour Market (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Centuries)," in van Royen, Bruijn, and Lucassen, eds., "Those Emblems of Hell?".
53. Gaastra, 2003, 163.
54. Deurlo, A.J., "Bijltjes en klouwers. Een bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Amsterdamse scheepsbouw, in het bijzonder in de tweede helft van de achttiende eeuw," in Economisch-en Sociaal-Historisch Jaarboek 34 (1971), 8.
55. B.E. van Bruggen, "Schepen, ontwerp en bouw," in: Maritieme Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 3 (Bussum, 1977), 57; Roelof van Gelder and Lodewijk Wagenaar, Sporen van de Compagnie. De VOC in Nederland (Amsterdam, 1988); extensive details about Amsterdam in the eighteenth century appear in Jerzy Gawronski, De Equipagie van de Hollandia en de Amsterdam. VOC-bedrijvigheid in 18 de-eeuws Amsterdam (Amsterdam, 1996), 43-130.
56. B.E. van Bruggen, "Schepen, ontwerp en bouw," in: Maritieme Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 3 (Bussum, 1977), 57; Roelof van Gelder and Lodewijk Wagenaar, Sporen van de Compagnie. De VOC in Nederland (Amsterdam, 1988); extensive details about Amsterdam in the eighteenth century appear in Jerzy Gawronski, De Equipagie van de Hollandia en de Amsterdam. VOC-bedrijvigheid in 18 de-eeuws Amsterdam (Amsterdam, 1996), 43-130.
57. B.E. van Bruggen, "Schepen, ontwerp en bouw," in: Maritieme Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 3 (Bussum, 1977), 57; Roelof van Gelder and Lodewijk Wagenaar, Sporen van de Compagnie. De VOC in Nederland (Amsterdam, 1988); extensive details about Amsterdam in the eighteenth century appear in Jerzy Gawronski, De Equipagie van de Hollandia en de Amsterdam. VOC-bedrijvigheid in 18 de-eeuws Amsterdam (Amsterdam, 1996), 43-130.
58. Deurlo, 1971.
59. F.S. Gaastra, "De VOC in Azië tot 1680," in Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 7 (Bussum, 1980A), 207;
60. Remco Raben, Batavia and Colombo: The Ethnic and Spatial Order of Two Colonial Cities 1600-1800 (PhD Thesis, Leiden, 1996).
61. F.S. Gaastra, "De VOC in Azië 1680-1795," in Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 9 (Bussum 1980B), 445, according to Van Goor, 1978, 16 and 173, fn. 78. The author is not entirely clear. He writes "In 1786 243 'Landskinderen' were figuring amongst the 306 servants in the civil ranks. Amongst the 4,435 compagnieservants including the soldiers, 816 were born in the country. The number of 3,039 soldiers consisted of 1,192 Muslims and sepoys, 264 'Land-skinderen' and 1,583 Europeans"; Raben, 1996; Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben, De oude Indische wereld 1500-1920 (Amsterdam, 2003).
62. F.S. Gaastra, "De VOC in Azië 1680-1795," in Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 9 (Bussum 1980B), 445, according to Van Goor, 1978, 16 and 173, fn. 78. The author is not entirely clear. He writes "In 1786 243 'Landskinderen' were figuring amongst the 306 servants in the civil ranks. Amongst the 4,435 compagnieservants including the soldiers, 816 were born in the country. The number of 3,039 soldiers consisted of 1,192 Muslims and sepoys, 264 'Land-skinderen' and 1,583 Europeans"; Raben, 1996; Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben, De oude Indische wereld 1500-1920 (Amsterdam, 2003).
63. Pieter van Dam, Beschryvinge van de Oostindische Compagnie 7 vols. (Nijhoff, 1927-1954), vol.1 (1927) 605: ("... [those who] married indigenous women and have consequently deprived themselves of the opportunity to return or be sent back to the Netherlands").
64. Van der Brug, 1994, 152; Els Jacobs "VOC-scheepvaart binnen Azië. De Lokhorst als lokaas, of hoe het standaardwerk Dutch-Asiatic Shipping een Aziatisch complement kan krijgen," in Leo Akveld, ed., In het kielzog. Maritiem-historische studies aangeboden aan Jaap R. Bruijn bij zijn vertrek als hoogleraar zeegeschiedenis aan de Universiteit Leiden (Amsterdam, 2003), 177, 187.
65. C.R. Boxer, The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600-1800 (Harmondsworth, 1973), 239-249, 258-259; Johan Talens, Een feodale samenleving in koloniaal vaarwater. Staatsvorming, koloniale expansie en economische onderontwikkeling in Banten, West-Java (1600-1750) (Hilversum, 1999), 212-217, summarizes the debate well and applies it to West Java; on East Java, see Gerrit J. Knaap, Shallow Waters, Rising Tide: Shipping and Trade in Java around 1775 (Leiden, 1996), 163-207. Ibid., 155 for the relationship between coin circulation and wage payments; Talens, 1999, 227-232.
66. C.R. Boxer, The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600-1800 (Harmondsworth, 1973), 239-249, 258-259; Johan Talens, Een feodale samenleving in koloniaal vaarwater. Staatsvorming, koloniale expansie en economische onderontwikkeling in Banten, West-Java (1600-1750) (Hilversum, 1999), 212-217, summarizes the debate well and applies it to West Java; on East Java, see Gerrit J. Knaap, Shallow Waters, Rising Tide: Shipping and Trade in Java around 1775 (Leiden, 1996), 163-207. Ibid., 155 for the relationship between coin circulation and wage payments; Talens, 1999, 227-232.
67. C.R. Boxer, The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600-1800 (Harmondsworth, 1973), 239-249, 258-259; Johan Talens, Een feodale samenleving in koloniaal vaarwater. Staatsvorming, koloniale expansie en economische onderontwikkeling in Banten, West-Java (1600-1750) (Hilversum, 1999), 212-217, summarizes the debate well and applies it to West Java; on East Java, see Gerrit J. Knaap, Shallow Waters, Rising Tide: Shipping and Trade in Java around 1775 (Leiden, 1996), 163-207. Ibid., 155 for the relationship between coin circulation and wage payments; Talens, 1999, 227-232.
68. C.R. Boxer, The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600-1800 (Harmondsworth, 1973), 239-249, 258-259; Johan Talens, Een feodale samenleving in koloniaal vaarwater. Staatsvorming, koloniale expansie en economische onderontwikkeling in Banten, West-Java (1600-1750) (Hilversum, 1999), 212-217, summarizes the debate well and applies it to West Java; on East Java, see Gerrit J. Knaap, Shallow Waters, Rising Tide: Shipping and Trade in Java around 1775 (Leiden, 1996), 163-207. Ibid., 155 for the relationship between coin circulation and wage payments; Talens, 1999, 227-232.
69. Knaap, 1996, 48, 69; Jacobs, 2003, 185, 191; and Ravi Ahuja, "The Origins of Colonial Labour Policy in late Eighteenth-Century Madras," International Review of Social History 44 (1999), 159-195.
70. Van Dam, II-2 (1932) 299. Generale missiven van gouverneurs-generaal en raden aan Heren XVII der Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, ed., W.Ph. Coolhaas et al.; Rijks geschied-kundige publication, grote serie 104, 112, 125, 134, 150, 159, 164, 193, 205, and 235, 10 vols., (The Hague, 1960-1995), III, 463-464.
71. Van Dam, II-2 (1932) 114; Ibid. III (1943) 325. Generale Missiven IV, 690, VI, 242, 627; VII, 160.
72. The following primarily according to J.R. Bruijn, "De personeelbehoefte van de VOC overzee en aan boord, bezien in Aziatisch en Nederlands perspectief," Bijdragen en Med-edelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 91 (1976), 229-230; Dillo, 1992, 104-112, 161-165; Raben, 1996, 100.
73. The following primarily according to J.R. Bruijn, "De personeelbehoefte van de VOC overzee en aan boord, bezien in Aziatisch en Nederlands perspectief," Bijdragen en Med-edelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 91 (1976), 229-230; Dillo, 1992, 104-112, 161-165; Raben, 1996, 100.
74. The following primarily according to J.R. Bruijn, "De personeelbehoefte van de VOC overzee en aan boord, bezien in Aziatisch en Nederlands perspectief," Bijdragen en Med-edelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 91 (1976), 229-230; Dillo, 1992, 104-112, 161-165; Raben, 1996, 100.
75. Generale Missiven XI, 66, 167, 307, 514, 726, 774.
76. Dillo, 1992, 105, 162, based on resolutions of Governor General and Council. Frank Lequin, "Het personeel van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie in Azië in de achttiende eeuw, meer in het bijzonder in de vestiging Bengalen" (2 vols., PhD Thesis, Leiden, 1982), 409, yields far lower figures based on general muster-roll of the company personnel until 1789, although Dillo appears more detailed and consequently more reliable in this respect (see also Van der Brug, 1994, 152), although she may also be underestimating the figures, see the critical remarks of Els Jacobs, Koopman in Azië. De handel van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie in de 18de eeuw (Zutphen, 2000), 277, fn. 8, and Jacobs, 2003, 190-191. On the return fleet see Table 4.
77. Based on four ships headed homeward in 1789 and two ships in 1791 (Bruijn, Gaastra, and Schöffer, III 1979, 522-566) and reconstructed according to Bruijn, 1976, 230, for 1792, assuming that each ship headed homeward averaged seventy seamen to the Cape (Ibid., for 1792 based on nine ships, for which the numbers of seamen are known); also based on one outbound ship in 1784, three ships in 1785, one ship in 1790, six ships 1791, and three ships in 1793 (Bruijn, Gaastra and Schöffer II, 1979, 707-760) and based on three ships in Dillo, 1972, 164, for 1794. Large ships weighing at least 880 tons have been counted according to their country of origin, while the Pinken, Fluiten, and Hoekers with their far smaller crews have been excluded. See also Hans Bonke, De zeven reizen van deJonge Lieve. De Biografie van een VOC-schip, 1760-1781 (Nijmegen, 1999), 60, and on lascars on English ships, Rozina Visram, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London, 2002), 14-33.
78. Based on four ships headed homeward in 1789 and two ships in 1791 (Bruijn, Gaastra, and Schöffer, III 1979, 522-566) and reconstructed according to Bruijn, 1976, 230, for 1792, assuming that each ship headed homeward averaged seventy seamen to the Cape (Ibid., for 1792 based on nine ships, for which the numbers of seamen are known); also based on one outbound ship in 1784, three ships in 1785, one ship in 1790, six ships 1791, and three ships in 1793 (Bruijn, Gaastra and Schöffer II, 1979, 707-760) and based on three ships in Dillo, 1972, 164, for 1794. Large ships weighing at least 880 tons have been counted according to their country of origin, while the Pinken, Fluiten, and Hoekers with their far smaller crews have been excluded. See also Hans Bonke, De zeven reizen van deJonge Lieve. De Biografie van een VOC-schip, 1760-1781 (Nijmegen, 1999), 60, and on lascars on English ships, Rozina Visram, Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History (London, 2002), 14-33.
79. Van Dam, III (1943) 325; Raben, 1996; Gerrit Knaap and Ger Teitler, eds., De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie tussen oorlog en diplomatie (Leiden, 2002).
80. Gaastra, 2003, 87. On the reserve troop system, see Remco Raben, "Het Aziatisch legioen. Huurlingen, bondgenoten en reservisten in het geweer voor de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie," in Knaap and Teitler, 2002, 192-198. See also Talens, 1999.
81. Gaastra, 2003, 87. On the reserve troop system, see Remco Raben, "Het Aziatisch legioen. Huurlingen, bondgenoten en reservisten in het geweer voor de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie," in Knaap and Teitler, 2002, 192-198. See also Talens, 1999.
82. Raben, 2002, 182, 185; Raben, 1996.
83. Raben, 2002, 182, 185; Raben, 1996.
84. Gaastra, 1980A, 202; Dirk Kolff, Naukar, Rajput and Sepoy: The ethnohistory of the labour market in Hindustan, 1450-1850 (Cambridge, 1990), 4-6, 152.
85. Van Dam, II-2 (1932) 350; J. van Goor, Jan Kompenie as Schoolmaster. Dutch Education in Ceylon 1690-1795 (PhD Diss., Utrecht, 1978), 17, 162-164 (glossary), 173 fn. 78, 85 (but different figures for 1765 in Raben, 1996, 147); Raben, 2002, 199-200 (1794: out of fifty companies, twenty-four companies were "easterners and sepoys," two companies "lascars"). A company comprised 60 to 100 men (Talens, 1999, 96).
86. Van Dam, II-2 (1932) 350; J. van Goor, Jan Kompenie as Schoolmaster. Dutch Education in Ceylon 1690-1795 (PhD Diss., Utrecht, 1978), 17, 162-164 (glossary), 173 fn. 78, 85 (but different figures for 1765 in Raben, 1996, 147); Raben, 2002, 199-200 (1794: out of fifty companies, twenty-four companies were "easterners and sepoys," two companies "lascars"). A company comprised 60 to 100 men (Talens, 1999, 96).
87. Many examples also appear in Raben, 1996 and 2002.
88. Van, Dam I-1 (1927) 605-606 (nearly 19,000 rijksdaalders [2.50 guilder coins] were spent on wages for 652 persons, with an additional 60,000 rijksdaalders for an unspecified number, yielding a total of ca. 2,500, suggesting that each company comprised approximately 150 soldiers). On the Ambonese, see Raben, 2002, 188-191.
89. Van, Dam I-1 (1927) 605-606 (nearly 19,000 rijksdaalders [2.50 guilder coins] were spent on wages for 652 persons, with an additional 60,000 rijksdaalders for an unspecified number, yielding a total of ca. 2,500, suggesting that each company comprised approximately 150 soldiers). On the Ambonese, see Raben, 2002, 188-191.
90. Jacobs, 2000, 30.
91. Van Dam, II-2, 343; Van Goor, 1978, 13; Raben, 1996, 142-147; Generale Missiven IV, 394; VII, 308, 310, XI181, 281-282, 426, 688.
92. Van Dam, II-2, 343; Van Goor, 1978, 13; Raben, 1996, 142-147; Generale Missiven IV, 394; VII, 308, 310, XI181, 281-282, 426, 688.
93. Van Dam, II-2, 343; Van Goor, 1978, 13; Raben, 1996, 142-147; Generale Missiven IV, 394; VII, 308, 310, XI181, 281-282, 426, 688.
94. Van Dam, II-2, 343; Van Goor, 1978, 13; Raben, 1996, 142-147; Generale Missiven IV, 394; VII, 308, 310, XI181, 281-282, 426, 688.
95. Van Dam, II-2, 343; Van Goor, 1978, 13; Raben, 1996, 142-147; Generale Missiven IV, 394; VII, 308, 310, XI181, 281-282, 426, 688.
96. Raben, 2002, 203; In addition, Van der Brug, 1994,188, reveals that mortality rates were far lower in British India than in the Netherlands Indies.
97. Raben, 1996, esp. 119-132; Markus Vink, "The World's Oldest Trade': Dutch Slavery and Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean in the Seventeenth Century," Journal of World History 14, No.2 (2003), 131-177; Van Stipriaan and Bal, 2002, 232-236).
98. Raben, 1996, esp. 119-132; Markus Vink, "The World's Oldest Trade': Dutch Slavery and Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean in the Seventeenth Century," Journal of World History 14, No.2 (2003), 131-177; Van Stipriaan and Bal, 2002, 232-236).
99. Jacobs, 2000,25; G.J. Knaap, Kruidnagelen en Christenen. De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie en de bevolking van Ambon 1656-1696 (Dordrecht, 1987), 138-160.
100. Jacobs, 2000,25; G.J. Knaap, Kruidnagelen en Christenen. De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie en de bevolking van Ambon 1656-1696 (Dordrecht, 1987), 138-160.
101. On the stereotyping of slaves, see Robert Ross, Status and Respectability in the Cape Colony, 1750-1870: A Tragedy of Manners (Cambridge, 1999), 34-37.
102. Ibid., 6.
103. Pieter van Duin and Robert Ross, The economy of the Cape Colony in the eighteenth century (Leiden, 1987), 9-12, 83-112-125, Ross, 1999, 6-7.
104. Luc Nagtegaal, Riding the Dutch tiger. The Dutch east Indies Company and the northeast coast of Java, 1680-1743 (Leiden, 1996), 193-227.
105. Van Dam III, 201-208,219-222; Marijke Barend-Van Haeften, Oast-Indië gespiegeld. Nicolaas de Graaff, een schrijvend chirurgijn in dienst van de VOC (Zutphen, 1992), 159-165; Raben 1996, 119-132.
106. Van Dam III, 201-208,219-222; Marijke Barend-Van Haeften, Oast-Indië gespiegeld. Nicolaas de Graaff, een schrijvend chirurgijn in dienst van de VOC (Zutphen, 1992), 159-165; Raben 1996, 119-132.
107. Van Dam III, 201-208,219-222; Marijke Barend-Van Haeften, Oast-Indië gespiegeld. Nicolaas de Graaff, een schrijvend chirurgijn in dienst van de VOC (Zutphen, 1992), 159-165; Raben 1996, 119-132.
108. Van der Brug, 1994, 33-34. For extensive information about the number of slaves in Batavia and Colombo, see Raben, 1996, esp. 84-105.
109. Van der Brug, 1994, 33-34. For extensive information about the number of slaves in Batavia and Colombo, see Raben, 1996, esp. 84-105.
110. Knaap, 1987, 124-137; Talens, 1999, 139 for convict labor.
111. Knaap, 1987, 124-137; Talens, 1999, 139 for convict labor.
112. Vink, 2003, 168.
113. The following is based primarily on Dillo, 1992, 104-112 and 161-165.
114. Van Gelder, 1997, 152; Ketting, 2002, 219, 231-232; Cf. however Bruijn and Lucassen, 1985, 110, where the animosity between soldiers was referred to as "the old passion" by 1639.
115. Ketting, 2002, 140-144; Van Gelder. 1997, 158; Bruijn and Lucassen, 1985, 116-117.
116. Ketting 2002, 137-140; Van Gelder. 2003, discusses the friendships of a sailor called Naporra in detail.
117. The following estimates are based on Van Schouwenburg, 1988 and 1989.
118. Van Gelder, 1997, 56-70, 184-189; Bonke, 1999, 66-80; Van Gelder, 2003, 146, 220, 226. On the general status of foreigners in the Netherlands, see Jan Lucassen and Rinus Penninx, Newcomers: Immigrants and their Descendants in the Netherlands 1550-1995 (Amsterdam, 1997).
119. Van Gelder, 1997, 56-70, 184-189; Bonke, 1999, 66-80; Van Gelder, 2003, 146, 220, 226. On the general status of foreigners in the Netherlands, see Jan Lucassen and Rinus Penninx, Newcomers: Immigrants and their Descendants in the Netherlands 1550-1995 (Amsterdam, 1997).
120. I am grateful to Femme Gaastra, who shared these examples with me.
121. Gawronski, 1996, 81-85, 117: Gawronski, "Vals plat en de VOC. Opgravingen op Oostenburg. Amsterdam," in Leo Akveld, ed., In het kielzog. Maritiem-historische studies aangeboden aan Jaap R. Bruijn bij zijn vertrek als hoogleraar zeegeschiedenis aan de Universiteit Leiden (Amsterdam, 2003), 163-173, 173.
122. Deurlo, 1971, 11-18; Richard W. Unger, Dutch Shipbuilding before 1800: Ships and Guilds (Assen, 1978), 95.
123. Deurlo 1971. 28, 54-65.
124. Ahuja 1999.
125. See above e.g. the uprising on the northeast coast of Java in 1741 and also Raben, 1996, 100, 126, 217, 245; Vink, 2003, 168-175; Gaastra, 2003, 94.
126. Ketting, 2002, 1-8 (he refers to Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 (Cambridge, 1989), but not yet to Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (London, 2000); Marcel van der Linden, "Labour History as the History of Multitudes," Labour/Le Travail 52 (Fall 2003), 235-243, and "Notes from an Outsider," in van Royen, Bruijn, and Lucassen, eds., "Those Emblems of Hell?".
127. Ketting, 2002, 1-8 (he refers to Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 (Cambridge, 1989), but not yet to Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (London, 2000); Marcel van der Linden, "Labour History as the History of Multitudes," Labour/Le Travail 52 (Fall 2003), 235-243, and "Notes from an Outsider," in van Royen, Bruijn, and Lucassen, eds., "Those Emblems of Hell?".
128. Ketting, 2002, 1-8 (he refers to Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 (Cambridge, 1989), but not yet to Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (London, 2000); Marcel van der Linden, "Labour History as the History of Multitudes," Labour/Le Travail 52 (Fall 2003), 235-243, and "Notes from an Outsider," in van Royen, Bruijn, and Lucassen, eds., "Those Emblems of Hell?".
129. Ketting, 2002, 1-8 (he refers to Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: Merchant Seamen, Pirates, and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 (Cambridge, 1989), but not yet to Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic (London, 2000); Marcel van der Linden, "Labour History as the History of Multitudes," Labour/Le Travail 52 (Fall 2003), 235-243, and "Notes from an Outsider," in van Royen, Bruijn, and Lucassen, eds., "Those Emblems of Hell?".
130. Gaastra, 1997, 39; Ketting, 2002, 7; the intrinsically sensible objections of Heide Gerstenberger, "Men Apart; the Concept of 'Total Institution' and the Analysis of Seafaring," International Journal of Maritime History VIII, No.l (June 1996), 173-182, to overly automatic application to the shipping industry of the "total institution" concept does not seem applicable to the VOC.
131. Pablo E. Pérez-Mallaína, Spain's Men of the Sea: Daily Life on the Indies Fleets in the Sixteenth Century (Baltimore, 1998); regarding the VOC, Van Gelder, 1997, 153-157 and Ibid. 2003, 266-274, 298 appears implicitly to support the "rituals" approach.
132. Pablo E. Pérez-Mallaína, Spain's Men of the Sea: Daily Life on the Indies Fleets in the Sixteenth Century (Baltimore, 1998); regarding the VOC, Van Gelder, 1997, 153-157 and Ibid. 2003, 266-274, 298 appears implicitly to support the "rituals" approach.
133. Ketting, 2002, 266-267; moreover, seamen stopped petitioning the VOC after ca. 1630: apparently they lost all hope that such action would be effective.
134. Ketting, 2002, 103, 168-175 and 72, respectively.
135. Van Gelder, 2003, 277.
136. Ketting, 2002, 204-225.
137. Ibid., 245-251.
138. Ibid., 211-214 has observed that those on board the VOC ships closely resembled those who sailed on Spanish ships in the sixteenth century in this respect (see Pérez-Mallaína, 1998, 217), while Rediker does not even mention theft; Van Gelder, 2003, 221, 230-231, 274-275.
139. The statistical foundation for this account is still flimsy: Bruijn and Van Eyck van Heslinga, 1980, mention forty-five mutinies in their blurb text and list the ship and year for thirty-six of them in their book. Twelve occurred before 1650. Retting 2002, 256, mentions thirteen for that period, including seven that the preceding authors overlooked! Altogether, over fifty mutinies are therefore documented. Combining all the data yields eight unidentified ones; Roeper and Van Gelder 2002, 63-67. Sometimes the seamen ashore rebelled as well. e.g. in 1738, 1740, and 1743 in Amsterdam (Van Gelder 2003, 407). On individual acts of vengeance
140. see Ketting 2002, 265-266, and, as for 1756, see Van Gelder 2003, 407-408. On Spain, see Pérez-Mallaína 1998, 214.
141. J.R. Bruijn and E. Van Eyck van Heslinga, in Muiterij. Oproer en berechting op schepen van de VOC (Haarlem, 1980), report the following ships with rebellious Asians: Robo 1705, Rambang 1722, Slot ter Hoge 1783 (slaves), Java 1783 (Chinese seamen), Haasje 1790 (slaves). For a detailed description, see the essay by K. Van der Tempel in Ibid., 123-147; Vibeke Roeper and Roelof van Gelder, In dienst van de Compagnie. Leven bij de VOC in honderd getuigenissen (1602-1799) (Amsterdam, 2002), 245-247.
142. J.R. Bruijn and E. Van Eyck van Heslinga, in Muiterij. Oproer en berechting op schepen van de VOC (Haarlem, 1980), report the following ships with rebellious Asians: Robo 1705, Rambang 1722, Slot ter Hoge 1783 (slaves), Java 1783 (Chinese seamen), Haasje 1790 (slaves). For a detailed description, see the essay by K. Van der Tempel in Ibid., 123-147; Vibeke Roeper and Roelof van Gelder, In dienst van de Compagnie. Leven bij de VOC in honderd getuigenissen (1602-1799) (Amsterdam, 2002), 245-247.
143. Bas van Bavel, "Land, lease and agriculture: the transition of the rural economy in the Dutch river area from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century," Past and Present 172 (2001).