Conquest, Colonialism, and Religious Conflict in the Moluccas in the Early Seventeenth Century

The Moluccas, the famous Spice Islands of Eastern Indonesia, were once at the centre of European colonial expansion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This chapter focuses on the first decades of the presence of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The Dutch established both secular governments and Reformed church consistories in Ambon, Ternate, and Banda. The first attempts to appease Islamic and traditional (Adat) rulers and islanders were meant to establish a “Christian Republic” in controlled territories. The Dutch self-image was one of tolerance: freedom of conscience and free trade zones in open seas (following the ideas of Hugo Grotius). Based on recently recovered church records in the archive of the Church Council of Batavia (National Archives of Indonesia), this chapter shows the differences between the situation on the ground and the Dutch self-image. It offers a comparison between the three centres of religion, politics, and trade in the Moluccas, and describes how the first generation of Dutch Protestant ministers clashed with both the more tolerant political leadership and VOC traders as well as the local communities. On the Muslim Banda Islands, the situation completely escalated, another example of the limits of Dutch toleration on the Moluccas

Ancient history · Archaeology · Colonialism · CONQUEST · Geography · Historical Studies on Spain · History · Latin American history and culture