THE VOC & JAN HUYGEN VAN LINSCHOTEN

THE VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) Dutch Company of the East India

• The VOC was founded in the 20th of March in 1602. It was the first multinational corporation in the world.

• The VOC was the first company that made its earnings public by the shares. You could be owner of the company by buying a share.

• This company lasted 200 years.• All the jobs were related directly or indirectly with the VOC. For example

the people who made the boats, the traders who sold the VOC’s products, people working in the docks, offices…

• They had as much power as a government. They could make currency, make new laws…

Establishments

• In 1603 the company made their first establishment, in Banten, Java. Then in 1611 they made another one in Yakarta. Then, they conquered that city and they gave it another name: Batavia.

• The company was managed by a central government. The governor was Jan PieterszoonCoen.

VOC’s decline

• VOC was liquidated in the Anglo - Dutch war. The English seized of all the factories in the indies, because of this Asia made inaccessible for the Dutch.

• In 1796 they tried to save the VOC, but the 30th of December of 1800 it failed for bankruptcy.

Jan Huygen van Linschoten

• Jan Huygen van Linschoten (was born in 1563 and died in 1611) was a trader and an explorer who worked for the Portuguese in Asia.

• When he returned to the Netherlands he wrote a book about his trips named Itinerary.

In that book he explained his travels and his experiences with the Portuguese people.

Jan’s task

• Jan Huygen van Linschoten showed to the Dutch people the route to go to the Indies. Because of this, the Dutch people made a big commercial empire in the Indies. They didn’t only trade with spices but they also traded with coffee, cocoa and tea.

Jan’s itinerary