The governor of Formosa ( nl, gouverneur van Formosa; ) was the head of government during the
Dutch colonial period in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, which lasted from 1624 to 1662. Appointed by the
governor-general of the Dutch East Indies in
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
(modern-day
Jakarta,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
), the governor of Formosa was empowered to legislate, collect taxes, wage war and declare peace on behalf of the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
(VOC) and therefore by extension the
Dutch state.
The governor's residence was in
Fort Zeelandia on
Tayouan.
List of governors
There were a total of twelve governors during the Dutch colonial era.
The man sometimes claimed as the thirteenth,
Harmen Klenck van Odessen, was appointed by VOC Governor-General
Joan Maetsuycker
Joan Maetsuycker (14 October 1606 – 24 January 1678) was the Governor of Zeylan during the Dutch period in Ceylon and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1653 to 1678. He was appointed as Governor of Zeylan on 24 March 1646 and was ...
only to arrive off the coast of Tayouan during the
Siege of Fort Zeelandia
The siege of Fort Zeelandia () of 1661–1662 ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island.
Prelude
From 1623 to 1624 the Dutch had been at war with Ming China over the Pescador ...
. Klenck refused to go ashore to take up his post despite being urged to by
Frederick Coyett
Frederick Coyett (), born in Stockholm c. 1615 or 1620, buried in Amsterdam on 17 October 1687, was a Swedish nobleman and the last colonial governor for the Dutch colony of Formosa. He was the first Swede to travel to Japan and China and became ...
, the incumbent governor, and finally left without ever setting foot on Formosa.
See also
*
Dutch Formosa
The island of Taiwan, also commonly known as ''Formosa'', was partly under colonial rule by the Dutch Republic from 1624 to 1662 and from 1664 to 1668. In the context of the Age of Discovery, the Dutch East India Company established its presence ...
*
Governor-General of Taiwan
The governor-general of Taiwan ( ja, 臺灣總督, Taiwan Sōtoku) was the head of the Government-General of Taiwan in the Japanese era (including Formosa and the Pescadores) when they were part of the Empire of Japan, from 1895 to 1945.
The ...
(1895–1945)
*
Governor of Taiwan Province
The Taiwan Provincial Government was the government that governed Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. Its functions have been transferred to the National Development Council and other ministries of the Executive Yuan.
History
At the ...
(1994–present)
References
{{Dutch Formosa
Dutch Formosa
Dutch East India Company
G
1624 establishments in Dutch Formosa
1662 disestablishments in Dutch Formosa