Netherlands
(3)
In 1602 the Dutch parliament granted to the Dutch East India Company a charter that gave it a
trading monopoly with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and west of the
Strait of Magellan in South America. The charter also conferred many sovereign powers on the
company, including the right to wage war and to conclude peace. The West India Company
established colonies in the West Indies, Brazil, and North America. (3)
The East India Company established itself first in the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, and later on
West Java, where Batavia (modern Jakarta) became the centre of the company's enterprises.
These enterprises were devoted mostly to trade and to the establishment of trading posts. Their
functions generally did not include governing. Subsequently, pressed by the necessity of
maintaining peace among the native rulers, the Dutch began to govern the territories (now
called Indonesia) in order to maintain trade. (3)
2.8 Internal Developments
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