Dutch (V.O.C.) Conquest of Jakatra (Batavia) 1619




Since 1527, the small port city of Jayakarta was part of the Sultanate of Demak. In 1611, V.O.C. captain Pieter Both was assigned, by the Pangeran (Prince) of Jayakarta, a plot of land in Jayakarta, where he built a house and left a representative. When returning from the Moluccas in October 1613, he found the house burnt down. In 1618 V.O.C. captain Jan Pieterszoon Coen established a small garrison of 24 men at Jayakarta, which fortified the trade factory there (Fort Nassau). This measure angered the Pangeran of Jayakarta, and he invited the E.I.C. to also establish their headquarters there - to balance the Dutch and English. The appearance of an English fleet forced Coen to retreat with his ships; a naval battle on January 2nd 1619 was undecided. Coen departed for the Moluccas; 4 months later he returned with reinforcements. The Dutch still held Fort Nassau.
On May 30th 1619, Coen landed a force, which defeated the allied British, Bantam and Jayakartas forces, lifted the siege of Fort Nassau, conquered and destroyed Jayakarta. On her ruins the city of Batavia was founded and a larger fortress constructed. Batavia became the administrative center of the V.O.C. Empire.
An attempt by Sultan Agung of Mataram to retake Batavia in 1628 failed; the Sultan was killed during the siege; a second siege in 1629 similarly was without success.



EXTERNAL
FILES 		Batavia, from De V.O.C. Site, in Dutch
Jan Pieterszoon Coen, from De V.O.C. Site, in Dutch
Batavia Room, from V.O.C. Museum
Batavia, from V.O.C. Kenniscentrum, in Dutch
DOCUMENTS Image : Map Batavia c. 1720 (G. van Keulen), posted by Collections Online
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on March 12th 2004, last revised on November 19th 2004

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