Dutch Malabar

Dutch Malabar Malabar
Dutch colony
← 1661–1795 →
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Quilon (1661-1663) Cochin (1663-1795)
Language(s)	Dutch, Malayalam
Political structure	Colony
Commander
- 1663-1665	Ludolph van Coulster
- 1669-1676	Hendrik van Rheede
- 1793-1795	Jan Lambertus van Spall
Historical era	Imperialism
- Dutch capture of Quilon	December 1661
- British annexation of Malabar	1795

Malabar, also known by the name of its main settlement Cochin, was a commandment of the Dutch East India Company on the Malabar Coast between 1661 and 1795, and is part of what is today collectively referred to as Dutch India. Dutch presence in the region started by the capture of Quilon from the Portuguese, and ended by the occupation of Malabar by the British in 1795.^[1]

History

Although also motivated by the lucrative pepper trade on Malabar, the primary aim for the Dutch in capturing the coast from the Portuguese was to secure Dutch Ceylon from Portuguese invasions. After failed attempts to capture the main Portuguese fort Goa in 1604 and 1639, the Dutch decided to aim for the secondary Portuguese trading posts on the Malabar Coast. This was first successful in December 1661, when Quilon was captured. A little more than a year later, in January 1663, Cochin was captured as well, which now became the primary trading post of the colony. In 1669, Dutch Malabar became a separate commandment of the Dutch West India Company; before this year it had been governed from Batavia.^[1]

The Dutch never succeeded in establishing a pepper trade monopoly in Malabar, and were all the more frustrated in their attempts when the raj of Travancore started to expand his kingdom. The Travancore–Dutch War that followed culminated into the Battle of Colachel, which was disastrous for the Dutch.

As a result of the Kew Letters, the Dutch settlements on the Malabar Coast were surrendered to the British in 1795, in order to prevent being overrun by the French. Dutch Malabar remained British after the conclusion of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, which traded the colony with Bangka Island.

Forts and trading posts

Cochin

Quilon

Cannanore

Kayamkulam

Cranganore

Pallipuram

Purakkad

Map of the main forts on the Malabar Coast of India (Vengurla and Barselor not shown)

Settlement	Type	Established	Disestablished	Comments
Fort Cochin	Fort and factory	1663	1795	Established by the Portuguese as their first settlement in India. Captured by the Dutch in 1663, who made it the capital of Dutch Malabar.
Fort Cranganore	Fort	1662	1770	Fell under the command of Fort Cochin and meant to protect the latter. In 1662, the formerly Portuguese fort was first given back to the Zamorin of Calicut as a reward for his alliance with the Dutch, but in 1666 the Dutch started to renovate the dilapidated fort for their own purposes.
Fort Pallipuram	Fort	1661	1789	Fell under the command of Fort Cochin and meant to protect the latter. Sold to the Kingdom of Travancore in 1789.
Purakkad	Factory	1662	?	Fell under the command of Fort Cochin.
Fort Quilon	Fort and factory	1661	1795	The first Portuguese fort to be captured by the Dutch in December 1661. Capital of Dutch Malabar until the capture of Cochin in 1663.
Kayamkulam	Factory	1661	?	Fell under the command of Fort Quilon.
Fort Cannanore	Fort and factory	1663	1790	Captured on 15 February 1663 from the Portuguese.
Vengurla	Factory	1637	1693	Established before the establishment of the Malabar commandment to spy on the nearby Portuguese settlement of Goa. Fell directly under the command of Batavia until 1673, and then under command of Suratte. From 1676 onwards, the command was with Dutch Malabar.
Barselor	Factory	1667	1682	Established by treaty with the local ruler. The unreinforced factory traded in rice and pepper, and was closed in 1682 after problems with local merchants.

Gallery

• 

  Capture of Quilon in 1661.

• 

  Capture of Cochin in 1663.

• 

  Quilon in 1756.

• 

  The Bolgatty Palace, built in 1744 for the commander of Dutch Malabar, is one of the oldest existing Dutch palaces outside of the Netherlands.

• 

  Kochi City 1672.

See also

• List of commanders of Dutch Malabar
• Dutch Ceylon
• Dutch Coromandel

References

1. ^ ^{a b} De VOC site - Malabar