The Dutch colonial archival legacy in an age of regime change c.1790 - c.1810 During both the seventeenth and a large part of the eighteenth century, the Dutch East India Company, abbreviated to VOC (Verenigde Geoctroyeerde Oost- Indische Compagnie), built up a large network of trading-posts, fortresses and colonial towns in an area stretching from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to the Nagasaki Bay in Japan and from Mokha in Yemen to Bandaneira in Eastern Indonesia. In fact, the VOC networks are best characterized as a maritime colonial empire. From about 1640 until about 1755, the VOC empire actually meant the Dutch were the strongest European nation in Asia. In 1641 they had taken the strategic Portuguese stronghold Malacca, at the same time thereby marking the demise of the Portuguese power in Southeast Asia. Simultaneously the Dutch were also busy attacking the Portuguese possessions in South Asia. In the 1750s British power was growing stronger by the year, particularly in South Asia. A turning-point in this process was the battle of Bidara in 1759, at which the Dutch attempt to play a significant role in the economy and politics of Bengal was thwarted. After their defeat, the Dutch withdrawal from South Asia gradually became a reality. GERRIT KNAAP1 Palace of Buitenzorg. Palace of the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies in Buitenzorg (nowadays: Bogor). View at the front side. First half 19th century. National Archive The Hague, Collection of Maps Foreign Countries Leupe. 4.VELH, inv. no. 467 1 The author wishes to express his gratitude to Rosemary Robson-McKillop for correcting the English of this article. 97

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Jaarboeken Stichting Archiefpublicaties | 2012 | | pagina 99