The Treaty of Friendship and Trade with Aceh (1600) was an agreement signed on 28 December 1600 between the Sultanate of Atjeh and the Dutch Republic, represented by vice-admiral Paulus van Caerden. It was a commercial treaty that granted the Dutch favorable trading rights, specifically a monopoly on pepper purchases in Atjeh, and established a framework for the protection of Dutch trading posts. The treaty also formalised, as one of its provisions, the release of Frederik de Houtman and other Dutch prisoners captured during the disastrous 1599 expedition.
Context and negotiation
Following the failure of Cornelis de Houtman’s expedition, the Dutch were eager to re-establish relations with Atjeh. Paulus van Caerden, leading a fleet for the “Nieuwe Brabantsche Compagnie” (an early predecessor of the VOC), arrived in Atjeh on 21 September 1600. He found a situation where Portuguese influence, which had been instrumental in the earlier betrayal, was waning. The Sultan, wary of the Portuguese, was now open to an alliance with the Dutch.
A key element of the negotiations was the treatment of the Dutch prisoners, including Frederik de Houtman, who had been held captive since the 1599 ambush — see Imprisonment of Frederik de Houtman in Atjeh. The Sultan’s willingness to release some of the prisoners was a gesture of goodwill. On 28 December 1600, after a period of tense negotiation — during which the Sultan tore up a previous draft that had been mistranslated by Hans Decker — an agreement was finally reached.
Key provisions
The treaty’s main articles stipulated the price and quantity of pepper for trade, established a schedule for delivery, and fixed the export duties. The central clause, however, was the one that gave the Dutch preferential access to the market, stating that:
“No merchants or ships of whatever nation they may be, shall be able to purchase or load pepper before the Dutch have obtained their lading.”
In a critical addition to the treaty, the Sultan granted Van Caerden the release of Frederik de Houtman and 27 of his men from captivity.
Aftermath and significance
Despite the favorable terms of the treaty, the relationship remained fragile. The new agreement did not prevent the Sultan from later reneging on some of the provisions to court the Portuguese once more. The treaty of 1600 marked the beginning of a formal, albeit rocky, relationship between the Dutch Republic and the Sultanate of Atjeh — a relationship that would be renewed and expanded seven years later in the Treaty of Atjeh (1607), and would be defined throughout by the competing interests of trade, colonial ambition, and local politics.
See Also
- Houtman brothers’ visit to Atjeh (1599)
- Imprisonment of Frederik de Houtman in Atjeh
- Paulus van Caerden
- Frederik Houtman
- Cornelis Houtman
- Atjeh
- Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie
- Treaty of Atjeh (1607)
- Portuguese
- Pedir
- 1600
Source
Coen: Koopman van Heeren Zeventien, by Johan van der Woude (Amsterdam: C.V. Uitgeverij v/h C. de Boer Jr., 1948), pp. 112-113. Also referenced in Heeres, p. 20.