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Dutch East Indiaman
The VOC's East Indiamen were large armed Dutch merchant ships of the 17th century carrying spices, textiles, and precious metals across the Indian Oc…
Timeline
- 1602–1620Amsterdam · North HollandAfter its founding the VOC assembled a standing ocean-going fleet, using large three-masted or multi-masted merchant-warships, organizing eastern voyages by monsoon winds and returning to auction cargo.
- 1630–1640Indian Ocean–Moluccas route · Southeast AsiaIn the 1630s the VOC consolidated its positions in Java, Ceylon, and the Moluccas; East Indiamen handled spice consolidation, transshipment, and the voyage back to Europe, with fleet size and armament reaching an early-17th-century peak.
- c. 1635–1700Port of Batavia · BataviaWith Batavia as the eastern headquarters, East Indiamen gathered cargo there for repair and distribution to the ports of the various chambers, forming an Indian Ocean–Southeast Asia shipping system akin to a modern transshipment port.
Sources
- Femme Gaastra, The Dutch East India Company: Expansion and Decline — Femme Gaastra (2003)
- Jonathan I. Israel, The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806 — Jonathan I. Israel (1995)