The VOC, the Dutch East India Company, had trading posts on the island of Ceylon. Cinnamon trade was not the only reason for the Dutch presence on the island.
Sri Lanka is an island situated south east of India. From the sixteenth century onwards, traders in this eastern part of the world fought each other for the variety of luxury trading goods and spices. Spain and Portugal were the first European trade rulers of the area but from 1595 onward the Dutch gained importance. The Portuguese controlled Sri Lanka, which was called Ceylon at that time, and the local kings were eager to get rid of them. King Raja Sinha II (1635-1687) had faith in an alliance with the Dutch. He had met them on various occasions and he was impressed with the VOC’s display of force: the Company had entered Portuguese ships successfully. So the king got in touch with the VOC.
Joris van Spilbergen and the king of Kandy in 1602
VOC takes over control of the island
The Company arrived with a small fleet in 1638. An army of 2000 men conquered Galle, a port town on the south west side of the island. On this part of the coast were the best cinnamon plantations and the Dutch wanted this expensive product. Within 20 years, the VOC had chased the Portuguese off the island and taken over all of their fortresses. The king of the island’s central province Kandy was deeply disappointed by then. One European power had made way for another and he was not granted his wish for the Portuguese fortresses. What’s more, to solidify the power of the Dutch on Ceylon, the king had to pay them the impossible amount of seven million guilders in war expenses.
Meanwhile, the VOC’s administrators settled on the west coast of the island, in the port town of Colombo. In this region cinnamon was also cultivated on a large scale. Ceylon’s cinnamon was the best of the world and the island was the only place on earth where cinnamon grew so abundantly. VOC thus monopolized cinnamon trading and did everything it could to protect it from the greedy competition, not only on a European level but on a national one as well. Contrary to trading posts on other islands, the Company had taken over the government of Ceylon. They enforced the law on the island and collected taxes and loans. The locals in the coastal zones were therefore Dutch citizens. They could only cultivate whatever crop the Company allowed them. Any individual initiative by the farmers was rejected for fear of competition.
Mass production
In spite of the massive cinnamon production, the Company did not have enough: demand from Europe was simply too high. The Dutch exported 8,000 to 10,000 bales of cinnamon annually, cultivated and peeled by the local residents of the island. A total of a million bales have been transported to the Netherlands. On a yearly basis a Company ship from the Netherlands would arrive at the island to get cinnamon for trading in Asia, and two ships arrived from Batavia to take back cinnamon to the Netherlands. This generated an income of 2.5 million guilders a year for Ceylon. Administrative and other expenses had to be paid out of this money though; the Dutch East India Company did not receive any financial help from the Netherlands to stay in business.
Dutch legacy
The year 1796 marks the end of the Dutch rule over Ceylon. During the war with the England, the English take over control of the island and at the Treaty of Amiens, Ceylon is officially awarded to the British. Some of the Dutch fortresses and a number of public buildings have stood the test of time and can still be visited.
The Reformed Wolvendaal Church, est. 1749 is a good example. It has recently been renovated and the VOC logo in the fencing around the church still exists. The Dutch language survived until halfway through the nineteenth century when it disappeared. A few street names are all there is left of it.
The Chessmen Museum has an unusual chess set from Sri Lanka on display. The traditional Staunton chess pieces were made by handicapped people in local workshops, and have been decorated with dots, stripes and other figurines in cheerful colors.
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