Jan Pieterszoon Coen

Timeline

1. 1587–1600Hoorn · Dutch RepublicBorn into a merchant family in Hoorn, orphaned young and raised by relatives, he grew up in a Dutch port city, receiving commercial and arithmetic training in preparation for joining the East India Company.
2. 1607–1614Bantam · JavaSent to East Asia as an accountant in 1607, he served in Bantam, Jakarta, and elsewhere, becoming familiar with the spice trade and local politics, and rising quickly through the ranks with a strict style and commercial acumen.
3. 1614–1629Batavia · JavaServing twice as governor-general, he destroyed old Jakarta and built Batavia as his headquarters, monopolized the nutmeg and clove trade by force, suppressed the inhabitants of the Banda Islands, and died of illness in 1629 while campaigning against Bantam.