Jan Pieterszoon Coen (, 8 January 1587 – 21 September 1629) was an officer 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) in the early 17th century, holding two terms as
governor-general of the Dutch East Indies
The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies ( nl, gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese fo ...
. He was the founder of
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 ...
, capital of the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
. Renowned for providing the impulse that set the VOC on the path to dominance in the Dutch East Indies, he was long considered a national hero in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Since the 19th century, his legacy has become controversial due to the violence he employed, especially during the last stage of the
Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands
The Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands was a process of military conquest from 1609 to 1621 by the Dutch East India Company of the Banda Islands. The Dutch, having enforced a monopoly on the highly lucrative nutmeg production from the islands, ...
, in order to secure a trade monopoly on
nutmeg, mace and
clove
Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...
.
A famed quote of his from 1618, ''Despair not, spare your enemies not, for God is with us'', illustrates his single-minded ruthlessness, and his unstinting belief in the divinely-sanctioned nature of his project. Using such self-professed divine sanction to violently pursue his ultimate goal of trade monopoly in the East Indies, Dutch soldiers acting on Coen's orders perpetrated numerous wanton acts of destruction in the spice islands of (now) eastern Indonesia, including the infamous
Banda Massacre of 1621. The purpose of this was to gain a
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
upon the supply of nutmeg and mace in order to sustain artificially high prices and profits for the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
investors of the VOC. This was deemed by many to be excessive, even for such a relatively violent age. Consequently, since the independence of Indonesia he has been looked at in a more critical light, and historians view his often violent methods to have been excessive.
Life
Coen was born in
Hoorn
Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...
on 8 January 1587, and was raised by his family in accordance with strict
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
principles. In 1601, he travelled to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, to study trade in the offices of the Fleming Joost de Visscher, where he learned the art of bookkeeping. Joining the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1606, he made a trading voyage to the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
in 1607 with the fleet of
Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff
Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff ( – 22 May 1609) was a Dutch admiral of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, notable for his voyage to Asia between 1607 and 1612.
Verhoeff was in the service of the Dutch East India Company. In 1601, he was involved in th ...
.
First VOC voyage and return (1607–1612)
During the journey, Verhoeff and 42 of his men were killed during negotiations with the chiefs of the
Banda Islands
The Banda Islands ( id, Kepulauan Banda) are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and constitute an administrative district (''kecamatan'') within the Central M ...
.
After his return to the republic in 1610, Coen submitted an important report on trade possibilities in Southeast Asia to the company's directors. As a result of this report, he was again sent overseas in 1612, with the rank of chief merchant.
Second VOC voyage and promotion (1612–1617)
On the second trip, he acquitted himself so well of his commission and notable by the success of his practice of commerce, that in October 1613, he was appointed as accountant-general of all VOC offices in the East Indies and president of the head offices in
Bantam and
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
.
In 1614, he was made director-general, second in command. On 25 October 1617, the
Heren XVII
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 co ...
of the VOC appointed him as the fourth governor-general in the East Indies, of which he was informed on 30 April 1618.
Conquest of Jayakarta and Banda (1618–1622)
As a merchant and Calvinist, Coen was convinced of the necessity of strict enforcement of contracts entered into with Asian rulers. He accordingly aided Indonesian princes against their indigenous rivals or against other European powers and was given commercial monopolies for the company in return. Thus the Dutch, at the price of heavy military and naval investment, slowly gained control of the area's rich spice trade.
Between 1614 and 1618, Coen secured a clove monopoly in the
Moluccas
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...
and a nutmeg monopoly in the Banda Islands. The inhabitants of Banda had been selling the spices to the English and other Indonesians tribes owing to their offering better prices, despite contracts with the Dutch, which obliged them to sell only to the VOC, at low prices.
In 1621, he led the
Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands
The Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands was a process of military conquest from 1609 to 1621 by the Dutch East India Company of the Banda Islands. The Dutch, having enforced a monopoly on the highly lucrative nutmeg production from the islands, ...
, using Japanese mercenaries. After encountering some fierce resistance, mostly by cannons that the natives had acquired from the English, they took the island of Lonthor by force. Many thousands of inhabitants were massacred and replaced by slave labor from other islands to make way for Dutch planters. Of the 15,000 inhabitants it is believed only about a thousand survived on the island. Eight hundred people were deported to Batavia.
Because of disputes at the head office in Bantam with natives, the Chinese, and the English, the VOC desired a better central headquarters. Coen thus directed more of the company's trade through
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
, where it had established a factory in 1610. However, not trusting the native ruler, he decided in 1618 to convert the Dutch warehouses into a fort. While away on an expedition, the English took control of the town. Coen managed to reconquer Jakarta in 1619, with fire destroying most of the town during the process. He rebuilt the city and fort, thus founding the new Dutch town over the ruins of its predecessor, which he forthwith proclaimed the capital of the Dutch East Indies.
In 1621, the city was renamed
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 ...
. Coen preferred Nieuw Hoorn, after his hometown, but did not get his way.
Return to the Netherlands (1622–1627)
In 1622, Coen revisited Europe.
On 1 February 1623, he handed his post to
Pieter de Carpentier
Pieter de Carpentier (19 February 1586 – 5 September 1659) was a Dutch administrator of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) who served as Governor-General there from 1623 to 1627. The Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia is named after him. ...
and returned to the Netherlands, where he was given a hero's welcome off the coast of
Texel
Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of De ...
. He then became head of the VOC chamber in Hoorn and worked on establishing new policies. During his absence from the East Indies, difficulties with the English were exacerbated by
Dutch massacre of 21 Englishmen on Amboyna. On 3 October 1624, he was reappointed governor-general in the East Indies, but his departure was hindered by the English. In 1625, he married
Eva Ment
Eva Ment (1606 - 1652), was a Dutch governor's wife.
She was born to the brewer Claes Corneliszoon Ment and Sophia Benningh (1561-1627). She married in 1625 to the official Jan Pieterszoon Coen
Jan Pieterszoon Coen (, 8 January 1587 ...
, and in 1627 departed incognito for the East Indies with his wife, their newborn child and her brother and sister, starting work on 30 September 1627. After his arrival, the English abandoned Batavia and established their headquarters in Bantam.
Last years (1627–1629)
Twice during Coen's term in office,
Sultan Agung of Mataram
Sultan Anyakrakusuma is known as Sultan Agung ( jv, ꦱꦸꦭ꧀ꦠꦤ꧀ꦲꦒꦸꦁꦲꦢꦶꦥꦿꦧꦸꦲꦚꦏꦿꦏꦸꦱꦸꦩ, Sultan Agung Adi Prabu Anyakrakusuma) was the third Sultan of Mataram in Central Java ruling from 1613 to 1645 ...
besieged Batavia, in 1628 and 1629. Agung's military was poorly armed and had inadequate provisions of food, and was never able to capture the city.
During Agung's second siege Coen suddenly died on 21September 1629, likely due to the
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
outbreak in Batavia during this siege.
In
Imogiri
Imogiri (ꦲꦶꦩꦒꦶꦫꦶ in Javanese script or ''Imagiri'' in standard Javanese spelling) is a royal graveyard complex in Yogyakarta, in south-central Java, Indonesia, as well as a subdistrict under the administration of Bantul Regency. Im ...
, there is a persistent folklore that Coen's remains were stolen from his grave in Jakarta, and placed under the steps leading up to
Sultan Agung
Sultan Anyakrakusuma is known as Sultan Agung ( jv, ꦱꦸꦭ꧀ꦠꦤ꧀ꦲꦒꦸꦁꦲꦢꦶꦥꦿꦧꦸꦲꦚꦏꦿꦏꦸꦱꦸꦩ, Sultan Agung Adi Prabu Anyakrakusuma) was the third Sultan of Mataram in Central Java ruling from 1613 to 1645. ...
's grave.
Legacy
He was long considered a national hero in the Netherlands. Since the 19th century, his legacy has become controversial due to the violence he employed, especially during the last stage of the
Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands
The Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands was a process of military conquest from 1609 to 1621 by the Dutch East India Company of the Banda Islands. The Dutch, having enforced a monopoly on the highly lucrative nutmeg production from the islands, ...
, which is widely considered a genocide.
Named for him are the
Coentunnel
The Coentunnel (1966) is a tunnel in the A10 motorway under the North Sea Canal in western Amsterdam. The tunnel is named for the 17th-century colonizer Jan Pieterszoon Coen. The tunnel itself is 1283 metres long of which 587 metres are fully ...
and the Coenhaven in Amsterdam.
Statues
A statue to Coen was revealed in Batavia on 4 September 1876, in front of the
Weltevreden Estate. It was destroyed by Japanese occupying forces on 7 March 1943.
Of the monuments that remember Coen in the Netherlands, the best-known is the in Hoorn, with the motto "Dispereert niet" ("do not despair"). Made in 1887 by
Ferdinand Leenhoff
Ferdinand Karel Adolf Constantijn Leenhoff (24May 184125April 1914) was a Dutch painter and sculptor.
Life
He was born in Zaltbommel to Carolus Antonius Leenhoff (1807–1878), a carillonneur and music professor, and Martina Adriana Johanna I ...
in bronze, it was placed on a central location in Hoorn, the
Roode Steen, in 1893.
Following a citizen's initiative,
in 2012 the city council placed an additional text on the statue's pedestal, explaining the controversial nature of Coen's actions and legacy, and detailing some of his atrocities.
A statue for Coen in Amsterdam, on one of the corners of the
Beurs van Berlage
The Beurs van Berlage is a building on the Damrak, in the centre of Amsterdam. It was designed as a commodity exchange by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and constructed between 1896 and 1903. It influenced many modernist architects, in part ...
, also includes the "Dispereert niet" motto.
File:KITLV A752 - Standbeeld van Jan Pietserszoon Coen voor het paleis van Daendels op het Waterlooplein te Batavia, KITLV 111189.tiff, Statue for Coen in Batavia
File:Exterieur STANDBEELD OP DE RODE STEEN - Hoorn - 20315971 - RCE.jpg, Monument to Coen in Hoorn
File:Tekst op standbeeld Jan Pieterszoon Coen.jpg, Explanatory text placed in 2021 on the pedestal of the Hoorn statue
References
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Coen, Jan Pieterszoon
17th-century Dutch colonial governors
17th-century Dutch East Indies people
1587 births
1629 deaths
Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies
People from Hoorn
People of the Dutch Republic in the Dutch East Indies