Whether or not archival events are hidden behind all these subject headings has
yet to be investigated. For some of the possible archival events an explanation
seems obvious. After all, they could be linked to some of the 'historical events'
in the history of the VOC.54 For example, the increase of references under
Java's East Coast in the second half-year of 1743 (table 3) can be explained by
the war against the Chinese and Javanese in Central Java in that year. Also, the
increase under 'Hoge Regering' in 1740 and 1741 can be explained by the crisis
of governance occurring after the arrest of the board members Van Imhoff, Van
Schinne and De Haeze (following the Chinese Massacre of October 1740). Even
the increase under 'Commissioners of Naval and Commercial Affairs' (table 2)
can be explained as this commission was set into office in 1746. Other possible
archival events, however, are less easy to explain on this level. They might also not
overlap with the Company's historical events. It would be interesting, therefore,
to investigate what exactly provoked those thickenings of references. One of
those thickenings can be found under the subject heading of 'Persia'.
The Persian example earlier in this article shows that an archival event can indeed
be found under this keyword. A "thickening of documents" based on (references
to) hundreds of written pages. Research on the documents flows around
the Persian outpost, however, also gives an interesting insight in the working
of the information system and network of the VOC in practice. This takes us
back to Persia.
Information flows outside of the network
Unfortunately, the archive of the Persian outpost has been lost. This probably
happened in 1766, when Persian forces captured the island of Kareek, the seat of
the VOC in Persia at the time.55 Moreover, the collection of incoming letters is
missing in the archive of the Hoge Regering, and documents on Persia are scarce
in the separate collections of 'regional documents' and 'foreign' at the Arsip
Nasional Republik Indonesia. The document flow of the outpost, however, can be
distilled from the collection of Tetters and papers from the trading posts' in the
archive of the Heeren XVII and Kamer Amsterdam.56 Maps 2 and 3 display the
document flow of the Persian outpost during the years 1736-1737. The maps show
how the document flow of the Persian outpost was centred on Gamron.
The correspondence between the principal town and its subordinate offices in
Kirman (Kerman in present-day Iran), Spahan (Isfahan) and Bassoura (Basra
86
COLONIAL LEGACY IN SOUTH EAST ASIA -
THE DUTCH ARCHIVES
54 However, an historical event not necessarily encloses an archival event, or vice versa. In my master thesis
Het informatiesysteem en -netwerk, the results are discussed in more detail. In particular the Chinese
Massacre of 1740, and to some extent the increase under 'Englishmen.' Possible archival events in the
archive of the Heeren XVII are also presented there.
55 Meilink-Roelofsz, 'Een Nederlandse vestiging 488. See also: Jacobs, Koopman in Azië, 125-127.
56 NA, VOC, Letters and papers from the trading posts, inv. numbers 2333, 2368, 2390, 2398, and 2416-2417.
To reconstruct the direct flow between Persia and the Dutch Republic via the Levant, inv. numbers 2333,
2368 and 2398 are used. The correspondence in "Batavia's collection of incoming letters" is found under
inv. numbers 2390, 2416 and 2417. The document flows are distilled from the so-called registers der papieren
(list of documents) and are displayed cumulative, minus duplicates. The 'unbelievable amount of paper' of
1736, as mentioned in the Report of the Haagse Besogne Haagse Verbaal), was not found. To reconstruct
the document flows, also the website www.tanap.net was used. A database is displayed there, in which a
large part of the letters and papers from the trading posts are found on document level. On map 3, two
letters between Gamron and "the ship Stadwijk, in front of Bassaidoor" are missing, as this location was
not found. See: Lists of documents sent from Persia to Batavia, 10 December 1736. NA, VOC, Letters and
papers from the trading posts, inv. number 2416, fol. 66.