Steven van der Haghen (1563-1624) was a Dutch admiraal in the service of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie — and before 1602 of the voorcompagnieën — who concluded the treaty of 11 November 11 November 1604 with the zamorin of Calicut on the Malabar coast, recaptured Ambon from the Portuguese in 1605, governed Ambon from 1605 to 1609, and conferred with Cornelis Matelieff at Mauritius in 1605 about the strategic plan to attack Malaka — the plan that would be executed in the Matelieff campaign of 1606. He is the principal Dutch administrative figure in the Moluccas and the Malabar coast in the early VOC period.
The Malabar treaty (1604)
Van der Haghen concluded the treaty of 11 November 1604 with the zamorin of Calicut on the Malabar coast — “een vast verbondt, eeuwige ende onverbreecklijcke alliantie tot verdrukking der Portugesen ende alle hare geassocieerde, haer te verdrijven uyt alle de landen van Sijne Mayesteijt, keijzer van Malabar”. The treaty, confirmed by Verhoeff on his outward voyage in 1608, was the principal diplomatic foundation of the Dutch position on the Malabar coast and the framework within which the Dutch pepper trade of the west coast of India would develop over the next century and a half.
The recapture of Ambon (1605)
In 1605 Van der Haghen recaptured Ambon from the Portuguese, taking the fortress of Victoria at Laha and establishing the Dutch position on the island that would become one of the VOC’s chief spice bases. The recapture was the first major Dutch military success against the Portuguese in the Moluccas and the foundation of the Dutch spice monopoly in the clove-producing islands. Van der Haghen governed Ambon from 1605 to 1609, during which period he also dispatched ships to the Banda islands to maintain the Dutch commercial position there — the position that Verhoeff’s 1609 expedition would attempt to formalise into a monopoly.
The Mauritius conference (1605)
On his way to the Indies with the Matelieff fleet in 1605, Van der Haghen — commanding a separate fleet — conferred with Matelieff at Mauritius about the state of the Indies. The two admirals agreed that Malaka should be the first target — the strategic plan that the Matelieff campaign of 1606 would execute. Van der Haghen’s own fleet then proceeded to the Moluccas and the Malabar coast, while Matelieff’s fleet proceeded to the Strait of Malaka. The Mauritius conference was the principal instance of strategic co-ordination between Dutch admirals in the Indies before the establishment of the Governor-Generalship in 1609, and the framework within which the Matelieff campaign was conducted.
Significance
Steven van der Haghen is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, the principal Dutch administrative figure in the Moluccas and the Malabar coast in the early VOC period, and the principal co-architect — with Matelieff — of the strategic plan to attack Malaka that the Matelieff campaign of 1606 would execute. His treaty of 11 November 1604 with the zamorin of Calicut was the principal diplomatic foundation of the Dutch position on the Malabar coast; his recapture of Ambon in 1605 was the first major Dutch military success against the Portuguese in the Moluccas; and his conference with Matelieff at Mauritius in 1605 was the principal instance of strategic co-ordination between Dutch admirals in the Indies before the establishment of the Governor-Generalship. Van der Haghen’s role in the early VOC period — together with Matelieff, Both, and Verhoeff — defined the strategic framework within which the Coen programme of monopoly-by-force would later operate.
See Also
- Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie
- Cornelis Matelieff
- Matelieff’s Malaka campaign (1606)
- Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff
- Pieter Both
- Mauritius
- Calicut
- Ambon
- Banda-eilanden
- Malaka
- Acheh
- 1605
- 1606
Source
Coen, Koopman van Heeren Zeventien. Geschiedenis van den Hollandshen Handel in Indië (1598-1614), by Johan van der Woude (Amsterdam: C.V. Uitgeverij v/h C. De Boer Jr., 1948), Hoofdstuk V “Voorgangers, Hollanders en mededingers tot 1614. Atjeh. Djohor. Malaka.” (pp. 137-138).
Steven van der Haghen (1563-1624) was a Dutch admiraal in the service of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie — and before 1602 of the voorcompagnieën — who concluded the treaty of 11 November 11 November 1604 with the zamorin of Calicut on the Malabar coast, recaptured Ambon from the Portuguese in 1605, governed Ambon from 1605 to 1609, and conferred with Cornelis Matelieff at Mauritius in 1605 about the strategic plan to attack Malaka — the plan that would be executed in the Matelieff campaign of 1606. He is the principal Dutch administrative figure in the Moluccas and the Malabar coast in the early VOC period.
The Malabar treaty (1604)
Van der Haghen concluded the treaty of 11 November 1604 with the zamorin of Calicut on the Malabar coast — “een vast verbondt, eeuwige ende onverbreecklijcke alliantie tot verdrukking der Portugesen ende alle hare geassocieerde, haer te verdrijven uyt alle de landen van Sijne Mayesteijt, keijzer van Malabar”. The treaty, confirmed by Verhoeff on his outward voyage in 1608, was the principal diplomatic foundation of the Dutch position on the Malabar coast and the framework within which the Dutch pepper trade of the west coast of India would develop over the next century and a half.
The recapture of Ambon (1605)
In 1605 Van der Haghen recaptured Ambon from the Portuguese, taking the fortress of Victoria at Laha and establishing the Dutch position on the island that would become one of the VOC’s chief spice bases. The recapture was the first major Dutch military success against the Portuguese in the Moluccas and the foundation of the Dutch spice monopoly in the clove-producing islands. Van der Haghen governed Ambon from 1605 to 1609, during which period he also dispatched ships to the Banda islands to maintain the Dutch commercial position there — the position that Verhoeff’s 1609 expedition would attempt to formalise into a monopoly.
The Mauritius conference (1605)
On his way to the Indies with the Matelieff fleet in 1605, Van der Haghen — commanding a separate fleet — conferred with Matelieff at Mauritius about the state of the Indies. The two admirals agreed that Malaka should be the first target — the strategic plan that the Matelieff campaign of 1606 would execute. Van der Haghen’s own fleet then proceeded to the Moluccas and the Malabar coast, while Matelieff’s fleet proceeded to the Strait of Malaka. The Mauritius conference was the principal instance of strategic co-ordination between Dutch admirals in the Indies before the establishment of the Governor-Generalship in 1609, and the framework within which the Matelieff campaign was conducted.
Significance
Steven van der Haghen is, in Van der Woude’s narrative, the principal Dutch administrative figure in the Moluccas and the Malabar coast in the early VOC period, and the principal co-architect — with Matelieff — of the strategic plan to attack Malaka that the Matelieff campaign of 1606 would execute. His treaty of 11 November 1604 with the zamorin of Calicut was the principal diplomatic foundation of the Dutch position on the Malabar coast; his recapture of Ambon in 1605 was the first major Dutch military success against the Portuguese in the Moluccas; and his conference with Matelieff at Mauritius in 1605 was the principal instance of strategic co-ordination between Dutch admirals in the Indies before the establishment of the Governor-Generalship. Van der Haghen’s role in the early VOC period — together with Matelieff, Both, and Verhoeff — defined the strategic framework within which the Coen programme of monopoly-by-force would later operate.
See Also
- Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie
- Cornelis Matelieff
- Matelieff’s Malaka campaign (1606)
- Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff
- Pieter Both
- Mauritius
- Calicut
- Ambon
- Banda-eilanden
- Malaka
- Acheh
- 1605
- 1606
Source
Coen, Koopman van Heeren Zeventien. Geschiedenis van den Hollandshen Handel in Indië (1598-1614), by Johan van der Woude (Amsterdam: C.V. Uitgeverij v/h C. De Boer Jr., 1948), Hoofdstuk V “Voorgangers, Hollanders en mededingers tot 1614. Atjeh. Djohor. Malaka.” (pp. 137-138).