Building maritime empire: Shipbuilding and networks of coercion under the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) in South and Southeast Asia

Capturing, dispatching, and ordering ships

In the Dutch Republic the VOC built the ships used for intercontinental shipping from the Dutch Republic to Asia and back. Some of these ships were used for brief or extended periods on intra-Asian routes. On long-distance routes between Asian destinations, ships from the Dutch Republic were also in the majority, although ships built in Asia were used as well, especially medium-sized and smaller vessels, such as yachts and fluyts. This was still more common in local shipping activities, where over time ‘collapsible boats’ (afbreekboots) and ships purchased locally were increasingly replaced by ships that the VOC had manufactured in Asia. The VOC fleet in Asia thus comprises the following five categories: 1) ships built in the Dutch Republic and conveyed by sea to Asia; 2) ships transported by sea to Asia from the Dutch Republic as a construction kit and assembled in Asia (‘collapsible boats’); 3) ships purchased or captured in Asia; 4) ships ordered in Asia from local shipbuilders; and 5) ships built from scratch in Asia by the VOC.

The VOC used these ships of different origins – from Europe and Asia – together and concurrently and soon resorted to ships built by others. Ships captured from the Portuguese, for example, were incorporated into the VOC fleet. In the first half of the seventeenth century during the expansion in the South China Sea the VOC used many Chinese junks that were leased or purchased. The VOC was therefore familiar with ships not of its own making and regularly added ships purchased in Asia to its fleet. In 1652, for example, ships were ordered in Siam. The merchant woman Osoet Pegua supplied timber to build them. Expectations were modest, as reported from Siam: capable carpenters were said to be scarce. ¹⁰ After two years the VOC decided not to build ships in Siam again. ¹¹ Still, ships continued to be purchased or ordered in Asia. In 1661 the cost of constructing a yacht on the Coromandel Coast reportedly exceeded 22,700 guilders. Henceforth ‘yachts were to be hammered together at Vidjagapatnam’ – presumably referring to Visakhapatnam, about 300 kilometres northeast of Masulipatnam (Coromandel Coast).

In 1686 the VOC started to use the ship Kasteel Batavia, which was built in Surat for the king of Siam, who had declined the vessel. The ship was taken by ‘50 European and 24 indigenous seafarers’ to Bengal to be equipped there with ‘masts and with ropes and sails from the homeland’. ¹² The matter would long haunt the VOC. Even in 1693 references appear to the matter concerning ‘construction of the ship that the VOC started using and named the Castle of Batavia’. ¹³ The ‘advance to the Siamese envoy Coda Selim in Persia’, for example, was still outstanding, because the envoy claimed he had already repaid the advance to the junior merchant Louis Crayers (by then deceased) but had no written evidence thereof. ¹⁴

Toward the end of the seventeenth century ships were regularly ordered on Java as well. The VOC commissioned shipbuilders from various backgrounds. In 1692 the Chinaman Tswa Oeyqua on the east Coast of Java was reported to have been assigned to build a chialoup. ¹⁵ In August 1690 the Mardijker Abraham Claesz was commissioned to build two pantjalangs for the Compagnie. Prior to that, Claesz and the equipage master for Batavia Simon van den Berg had entered into a contract. The ships would measure ‘47 feet long at the stern, 13 ditos wide along the exterior, [and] 5 ditos and 1 thumb deep’ – about 13.5 metres long, nearly 4 metres wide, and 1.5 metres deep. Shipbuilder Claesz was paid 75 rijksdaalders for each pantjalang. The contract further stipulated that the builder ‘could receive a 50 percent advance from the Noble Compagnie for the required hardware and nails’. Claesz built these ships in the place ‘Tamparet, 10 miles above Rembang’. ¹⁶

Designing and building ships

The VOC used smaller and medium-sized ships based on European and Asian models in different settlements in Asia. By the mid-seventeenth century on Java, the VOC was already using smaller vessels, known as chialoups. They had one or two masts and rarely exceeded 40 tons. ¹⁷ In addition, pantjalangs were built. ¹⁸ These small, Asian-style vessels had only one mast and rarely exceeded about 20 tons. They were often used in the Indonesian archipelago as patrol vessels and were known as ‘cruisers’. The Compagnie also had somewhat larger Asian ships, such as champiangs and cora-coras. And the VOC built all kinds of medium-sized European-style ships in Asia, such as hoekers, barken and brigantines.

From the outset, the Batavian equipage wharf was one the largest centres for repairing and building ships. In 1686, 50 shipyard workers were employed in Batavia, in addition to 63 ‘master craftsmen’ and ‘15 smiths on the wharf’, while on Onrust Island another 91 shipyard workers, 15 gunners, 21 sailors, and 21 other seamen were active. ¹⁹ In Batavia and on Onrust Island in the bay, vessels were built, such as the brigantine Achilles in 1713, which had two masts and was 74 feet (21 metres) long. In 1724 instructions were issued to build two vessels in Batavia for the pilots in Bengal. These vessels were also 75 feet (21.2 metres) long, 23 feet (6.5 metres) wide, and eight feet deep (2.3 metres). The ships were intended for the local pilot work and could carry ‘an estimated 800 bags of saltpetre’. ²⁰

But Batavia did not control all the work. Other places on Java were essential for building the VOC ships. In 1672 a master carpenter was dispatched to Japara to build small yachts. The objective was to provide ‘not only Malacca but also the Eastern Quarters, Bengal, and elsewhere, as well as us, here on Batavia, with vessels constructed in this manner’. It was also deemed ‘useful for the service of the Comp[agni]e in these quarters in these ominous times to have here on Batavia a reasonable number of large and well-built war yachts, where they may be unmanned or otherwise equipped with a crew of four or five men, generally ready to equip with soldiers and crew and use, in the event of anything unexpected, here or elsewhere’. ²¹

The shipyard opened in 1677 at Rembang expanded into a large wharf with three slopes, a sawmill and a smithy. Ships were built here for local use as well. In 1693, for example, a chialoup was built ‘that would need to cruise the outer Coast of Ceram every year, specifically from May to October’. The vessel was ‘70 feet long’. ²² And in 1711 at Rembang three shallops were built for Ambon and two for Banda. ²³ While in 1722 six ‘shallops and covered boats were completed’, three pantjalangs were built at this time as well to replace several vessels that were no longer seaworthy and were cruising the east coast of Java. ²⁴ In the second half of the eighteenth century, in 1778, another shipyard opened in nearby Djuwana. ²⁵

The VOC soon started building ships outside Java as well. In 1665, for example, the decision was announced to discontinue shipbuilding on Buru Island (in the Moluccas), because ‘shipbuilding did not crystallize’, and was moreover proving ‘very costly’. ²⁶ Still, shipbuilding on Buru Island continued for quite a while. In 1734 a report from the Moluccas mentioned that the island Kelang was considered more suitable than Buru Island for manufacturing ships. The champiang built on Buru was deemed unsuitable for use on the waterways and was sold privately. ²⁷ Shipbuilding was continuously transferred to different locations, depending on the circumstances. In 1744, under the authority of Van Imhoff, for example, the decision was taken to build the vessels for VOC use on Banda. Previously, vessels had been sent from Batavia. To this end timber was shipped from Tegal to Banda for shipbuilding, and the authorities were encouraged to train local inhabitants to build ships. ²⁸

In the second half of the seventeenth century the conquest of the Malabar Coast marked the start of shipbuilding in the Cochin shipyard. Shipbuilding in Cochin became important for supplying ships for regional routes in this part of the VOC realm. In 1728 following rumours of war on the Coromandel Coast, Batavia authorized construction of ‘a shallop and two pharos in Malabar’. ²⁹ In the debate about the fortifications and the request to build ‘a shipyard with a residence’ at a cost of over 18,000 guilders, it was mentioned in 1732 at Batavia that the Cochin settlement has ‘managed since 1669 to build good yachts and shallops without a wharf’. ³⁰ In 1741, completion of a galleon was reported, while two galleons for Bengal were under construction. ³¹

This did not mean that Cochin was the only shipyard where ships were built for the western part of the VOC empire. In addition to the vessels built in 1728 in Cochin, a shallop was built in Rembang for the Coromandel Coast. ³² On Ceylon smaller and medium-sized ships were being built as well, including ‘two yachts for Malabar that were completed in 1739’. Next, were ‘two galleons to be built for Bengal, due to the serious shortage of transhipment vessels’ there. ³³ In 1759, Ceylon was notified that building new ships was prohibited: ‘shipbuilding can be done far more cheaply at Rembang, where timber is available locally. Having timber brought in from elsewhere is far less advantageous.’ ³⁴

Batavia was not the only source of efforts to regulate shipbuilding at the different settlements in Asia; shipbuilding was continuously restricted by the Dutch Republic as well. This arose mainly from the fear of disseminating knowledge and heightened competition in trade, shipbuilding and warfare. In 1650 the Heren Zeventien [Gentlemen Seventeen] ordered that ‘building ships or yachts in other countries’ was to be prohibited. The explicit purpose was to ensure that ‘the indigenous did not acquire experience in shipbuilding’. ³⁵ That the effect of this injunction was very limited emerges clearly from the subsequent prohibitions issued by the Dutch Republic intended to curtail shipbuilding. In 1692, for example, the Heren Zeventien [Gentlemen Seventeen] decided that ships longer than about 17 metres could no longer be built in Asia, in the interest of protecting employment in the Chamber Cities. ³⁶ Compliance, however, was inconsistent. Overseas shipbuilding therefore continued, and restrictions on ship size were not always observed either. Fear of losing control over private shipbuilding persisted, as is clear from a series of provisions proclaimed in the 1760s. In 1762 ‘building vessels for individuals’ was prohibited ‘for a while’, and instructions were issued ‘to seize all those pending’. In addition, there were orders ‘to have all vessels for the Compagnie built with helms from Holland’. ³⁷ In 1763 ‘selling vessels of any size or charter whatsoever’ to foreign nations, was prohibited. ³⁸ Another prohibition soon followed against ‘the sale here on Java of vessels larger than 10 last, subject to forfeiture of the proceeds from the sale’. ³⁹

Necessary maintenance

The VOC did more than build new ships to ensure that its fleet in Asia met the standards set. Good maintenance was important for keeping the existing ships seaworthy. Having a large fleet in Asia made for ongoing responsibilities. Both the large vessels for voyages to the East Indies, used on intercontinental and intra-Asian routes, and the smaller vessels used only for local runs, needed regular maintenance or rebuilding, especially the large ships used on intra-Asian and return voyages. While covering long distances, the ship’s hulls were deeply affected by accretion and damage to the hull. In Asia the double plating of ships for return voyages often needed to be replaced or have accretion removed. Other maintenance consisted of sealing cracks, tarring the hull and renewing the rigging and masts.

The exterior and structure of the ships were not the only parts which needed maintenance. In 1683, equipage master Harmen Lodewijcksz deplored the ‘rapid erosion’ of the ships due to inferior timber. ⁴⁰ In October 1723 the Batavian equipage master Westpalm wrote the Governor General that he was concerned about the state of the VOC ships in Asia:

‘Undersigned equipage master, having discerned through extended observation that the Noble Compagnie’s valuable ships, after they have been in use here for 2 to 3 years, are severely affected, especially in the hold, by vermin, centipedes, ants, and especially by the cockroaches that gnaw through the inner hulk at the back, leading to such deterioration that even if such a ship is held together by its structure of corner and crossbeams continues to sail as if it were new, the inner hulk is riddled with holes, especially if it appears old and dilapidated, and all the more so, if harmful vermin find wood that is soft and very porous.’ ⁴¹

The different shipyards of the VOC settlements were used for ship maintenance as well. In addition, Batavia was an especially important site for ship maintenance, because it was pivotal in the intercontinental and intra-Asian shipping network. On Onrust Island (Batavia) maintenance was done on the larger vessels used for return and intra-Asian voyages. Kuyper Island was used for caulking ships (sealing cracks in the exterior hull of the ship).

As in shipbuilding, in its quest for the best ways to maintain and treat the ships, the VOC used not only European techniques but relied on experiences from different parts of the VOC empire, as exemplified in the debate about ‘patching up’ ships. Correspondence from 1731 mentioned the knowledge acquired in Surat of techniques used on routes in the western Indian Ocean:

‘In Surat the Moors protect their ships from being eaten away by worms by greasing them with a composition called Boomwol, Troen, Harpuijs and with burnt lime, crushed together, formed into round balls, and rubbed in there as well.

‘It was also told that the Moors always sailed there with unreplicated ships for 10, 12, and more months at sea, where worms eat heavily, never discover any worms in their ships.

‘The cotton used to make the composition mentioned is crushed fine by the heel, the lime is then burned out with stones, not shells.’ ⁴²

These experiences with ‘patching up ships in Surat’ were compared with other techniques. Compared with the European techniques ‘such a concoction [was found] not to be more durable than our harpuijs [resin, linseed oil, grease, and soot], although the former is more resistant to worms than the latter’. ⁴³ In October 1734, it was reported that ‘the paste or patch stuff of the Buginese proved more effective against ship worms than the one from Surat’. ⁴⁴ Still, patching according to the Surati method was being considered. In 1735 it was reported that ships could not be patched properly in Surat. ⁴⁵ Considering ‘the lack of tar’ in Batavia it was proposed in 1744 that ‘the small Compagnie vessels be patched in the same way as the inland ships’, explaining that ‘this was worth a try’. ⁴⁶

Aside from techniques, material was important for the VOC. Building ships from quality material could make a substantial difference to subsequent maintenance needs. The VOC therefore constantly compared the quality of timber, rope, sailcloth and other materials. The excerpts from the discussions about timber are very revealing. In 1683 complaints arrived about the poor quality of the ‘heavy boards’ transported from the Dutch Republic. Javanese teak was considered to be far superior. ⁴⁷ Timber quality was important. A report from 1719 pointed out the importance of

‘distinguishing between the woodwork needed for the Compagnie’s carpentry on land and that for building vessels for use at sea, because the sawed and chopped timber can be used anywhere on land, but for the ships cleaved or split timber is needed that bends well and is ordinarily known here as swalpen and tinkan planks, which require a great many trees; accordingly no more of that timber variety is to be used than needed to build ships, which, we believe, will greatly help preserve the already depleted forests’. ⁴⁸

The agreement between the VOC and the central-Javanese kingdom of Mataram (1677) guaranteed a constant supply of this timber on Java. The agreement signed shortly thereafter with the sultanate of Cirebon also contained clauses about supplying timber, thereby facilitating shipbuilding on Java. In shipbuilding on Rembang locally available timber was used. It was cheaper than elsewhere and of good quality. ⁴⁹ While timber could also be obtained elsewhere, price and quality were important considerations for the VOC. In 1661 the decision that ships were henceforth to be built in Vidjagapatnam mentioned that on the Coromandel Coast ‘two shiploads of timber were available each year’, but that they were ‘dear’. ⁵⁰ In Cochin, timber from Calicut was to be used for shipbuilding and maintenance, ⁵¹ and this was sent to other settlements as well, subject to availability. This did not always work out. In 1741, for example, the timber requested from Ceylon could not be supplied by Cochin, ‘because even with the fear among the merchants of a general rupture, the timber required for shipbuilding had been impossible to obtain’. ⁵²

Timber for masts was supplied from the Dutch Republic but occupied a great deal of space on the ships making the journey. ⁵³ The equipage masters therefore constantly sought places with good timber for masts. In 1725 a report from Malacca indicated that a batch of ‘sixteen thick masts, twenty feet long’ (longer than 5.5 metres) had been ‘inspected by the Malaccan shipwright, who judged it to be suitable’. ⁵⁴ Malacca also reported to Batavia that ‘on the Malaccan Coast, on high mountains, far heavier and stronger wood species were chopped than what grew on the other side, on the Sumatran North East Coast’. In Batavia, however, the equipage master concluded that the ‘sample mast’ sent was ‘good and mature on the exterior but away from the core was very brittle and tore easily’. The masts were ‘not [deemed to be] of the quality required’. ⁵⁵

Expanding infrastructure

The overseas activities of the VOC relating to ship maintenance and construction led not to the establishment of shipyards but coincided with a progressively expanding system for mobilizing the resources and labour needed. Manufacturing crucial goods such as timber, rope and sailcloth, as well as nails and anchors, necessitated specialized workshops. Activities in the shipyards therefore brought about a surrounding infrastructure for supplying and processing these raw materials.

Research by Peter Boomgaard on the use of wind and hydro-power techniques during the VOC reveals much about the dissemination of sawmills in and around the VOC settlements in the Indonesian archipelago. In the late 1650s in Batavia the VOC started using a hydro-powered sawmill on Molenvliet. In 1675 the VOC set up a wind-powered sawmill on Kuyper Island in the bay of Batavia. And in 1682 in Batavia another private hydro-powered sawmill was introduced. In the 1680s a wind-powered sawmill came into use in Demak, as did a hydro-powered sawmill in Rembang, near Cirebon and Japara, as well as two wind-powered sawmills on Onrust Island. In the eighteenth century, whether for extended or brief periods, mills were added on Edam Island, in Batavia, in Tegal, and at Surakarta. ⁵⁶

Outside the archipelago there were in any case sawmills – most hydro-powered – operating in Cochin, Colombo, Trinconomalee and on Mauritius. ⁵⁷ The mill in Cochin was built between 1681 and 1683 but by 1704 was described as an ‘unnecessary and dilapidated sawmill’. ⁵⁸ In 1724 the sawmill in Colombo was deemed ‘unfit for use’. The view on restoring it was that: ‘a new one is unnecessary, as sawing can be done more quickly and at a lower cost by indigenous’. ⁵⁹ From 1705 Edam Island in the bay of Batavia also had a sawmill to supply the shipyards in Batavia with timber. ⁶⁰

In addition to timber processing, manufacturing rope and sailcloth were immensely important for maintaining the ships. In 1662 workshops for rope-making (‘lijnbaan’) and weaving sailcloth were reported in Batavia. ⁶¹ Two years later the lijnbaan was reported to have been ‘placed on a stone foundation and expanded’, but the hemp shortage was an impediment to rope making. ⁶² In 1662 ‘neither the lijnbaan nor the sailcloth weaving works functioned well for lack of hemp from Bengal’. ⁶³ Both workplaces were probably still in Batavia at the time. Edam Island – later the site of the Batavian lijnbaan – was still described in 1685 as ‘the rough island off this bay’ that was given to Governor-General Joannes Camphuys ‘to clean it and turn it into a reserve for all kinds of wild animals’. ⁶⁴ Around 1700 rope production was transferred to Edam Island, where the lijnbaan spanned virtually the entire length of the tiny island.

Other lijnbanen were set up in places pivotal in the VOC shipping network VOC: Houghly (Bengal), Galle and Caliture (Ceylon). The lijnbaan in Bengal was opened in response to the hemp shortages in Batavia. In 1668 it was noted that

‘since hemp (being very voluminous) is difficult to bring to the lijnbaan and weaving works in the large quantities required, we have considered (for our convenience and to save ship space) having the longest and best hemp spun into fine yarn, like rope yarn, ourselves in Bengal to twist all kinds of rope here, using the waste and refuse of the hemp in Bengal to make good Dutch fuses, and to which end we sent two persons there’. ⁶⁵

Within a year success was reported: ‘the smithy at Bellasore and the lijnbaan at Houghly have yielded a considerable output’. ⁶⁶ The lijnbaan in Houghly instigated controversy. It was closed in 1678 but reopened soon afterwards. ⁶⁷ In 1709 the lijnbaan was destroyed ‘by a great fire’, but the VOC started rebuilding it almost immediately. ⁶⁸ In 1752 orders came from Batavia to abolish ‘the lijnbaan on Houghly entirely, because all that the system produced turned out to be very costly, and both the sailcloth and the rope were found to be of minimal value’. ⁶⁹ The lijnbanen on Ceylon (in Galle and Caliture) were reported in the same period to ‘yield a good batch of ropes and trusses’; the advice was to keep these ‘lijnbanen operational’. ⁷⁰

Organization of labour

The operations for this vast concatenation of activities – shipbuilding, processing required resources and supplying raw materials – necessitated both labour and very specific skills. Mobilizing and deploying labour was crucial for three stages in shipbuilding and repair: the actual work of shipbuilding and repair, processing raw materials (especially timber, rope, sailcloth and hardware) and the supply of raw materials. The VOC used European and Asian workers operating under different free and unfree labour regimes for these tasks, sometimes having them work alongside one another.

The diversity of the work performed becomes clear immediately from the work settings for shipbuilding and repair. At the shipyard in Rembang Javanese carpenters worked under European artisans and shipbuilders. On the equipage wharf in Batavia Asian slaves worked with European and local Asian artisans, such as Chinese carpenters. On Onrust Island Asian slaves and European workers were complemented by European and Asian convicts, known as chain gang workers. In the late seventeenth century about 200 Europeans and 125 slaves worked here. In the eighteenth century the number of slaves swelled to about 500 men and women.

In the shipyards contract labour worked alongside slaves and convicts. The wages of European artisans covered a broad range, because they left Europe on extended contracts at relatively low wages. Only after completing their multi-year contracts were the European officers free to leave or to sign on again overseas at a higher wage. In the late seventeenth century Pieter van Dam noted that artisans in Batavia ‘could not be captured in a fixed number […] in terms of their annual wages’. He explained this by noting:

‘Those leaving here with a monthly wage of 10 to 12 guilders, upon arriving in the Indies, once they have passed the test to prove their skill any trade they claim they master, their monthly wages are raised to 16, 18, 20, and 24 guilders, and upon completing their contract, they often receive 30, 40, and more guilders a month. As for the shipyard workers, whose wages the Compagnie pays still more dearly, standard amounts are still harder to estimate, as they are exceptionally necessary; they earn 20 to 40 and 50 guilders monthly, depending on how skilled they are.’ ⁷¹

Although Europeans were largely wage workers (the main exception being the European convicts, who could be forced to work without wages) no simple distinction is possible with respect to Asian workers here. Asians were made to work as slaves and convicts but were also wage workers. In 1660 in Batavia it was noted: ‘The black carpenters we have assigned are beginning to work out well and are rendering good services; we therefore also intend to increase this number now and then to offer the same as the high wages that Dutch carpenters receive.’ ⁷² On Demak European and Javanese carpenters were used as well, although there were complaints there in 1681 that ‘building vessels on Demak was making little progress’, due to ‘sickness and scarcity of the Europeans and lack of Javanese carpenters’. ⁷³ In Cochin, in addition to European artisans, locals appear to have worked for ‘coolie wages’. In the eighteenth century the VOC often used this term for temporary wage labour arrangements – in which free workers or slaves were paid hourly or by the day or half day. ⁷⁴

The presence of unfree workers in the shipyards affected not only work and authority relationships but also altered the structure and use of the workplaces. Regarding the Batavian shipyard in 1660, for example, it was reported that ‘the carpentry shed has been transferred to the slave quarters and can now be locked’. ⁷⁵ Onrust Island had separate quarters that could be locked for the European and Asian chain gang workers. Slaves on Onrust Island slept in attics above work and storage areas, which could be locked and had bars in front of the windows. ⁷⁶

Workplaces for processing raw materials were also organized with various combinations of contract and forced labour. European and Asian artisans often worked alongside Asian slaves at smithies and sawmills. Forced labour seems to have been still more common at the lijnbanen. In the late seventeenth century Edam Island rapidly changed from a pleasure garden and a place of exile for the Javanese elite into a workplace and penitentiary for Asian and European chain gangs. In addition to all kinds of general work, including work in the sawmill, they were used mainly as manual labour at the lijnbaan. In the mid-eighteenth century experiments with assigning sick or useless seamen proved unsuccessful, and European and Asian convicts therefore remained the main sources of labour for the Edam lijnbaan. ⁷⁷

Procedures for mobilizing and assigning labour for supplying raw materials were different but are believed to have involved still more forced labour. This becomes especially clear from considering the timber supply, which was of course crucial for operating the sawmills and shipyards. The VOC reached agreements with local rulers, requiring them to meet annual quotas in supplying timber. In 1677, such an agreement was reached with the ruler of Mataram (on central Java), and in the 1680s the VOC signed an agreement with Cirebon. ⁷⁸ On Java the timber was gathered, transported and loaded onto ships by local corvée labour. The agreement reached in 1732 with local rulers in the area around Tegal stipulated that local subjects had to collect wooden rafts at Wallerij and take them across the water to the corner of Brebes. The inhabitants of Brebes were then responsible for unloading the wooden rafts and bringing the timber ashore. VOC ships (including the timber needed) were loaded and unloaded by inhabitants summoned from Tegal. ⁷⁹ The VOC used dozens of forced labourers daily thanks to this system. The same strategy was used on Demak, where the inhabitants of 11 villages were required to pull the timber sent downstream onto the river banks and then to transfer it to the arriving VOC ships. ⁸⁰ The VOC alternated this corvée labour with (local) wage workers, especially in regions where the rulers were more powerful. ⁸¹ When tensions arose between the VOC and local rulers, the ensuing struggle impacted these local inhabitants. In 1680 a report came from Java’s northeast coast that near Japara ‘woodcutters had to be admonished daily to do their duty’, but that this was complicated by the ‘unwillingness of the Calangers there’, who ‘according to their public statement were prohibited on pain of corporal punishment by their superiors from cutting any wood for the Compagnie’. ⁸² The next year the rulers were reported to be ‘summoning and press-ganging the Calangers or woodcutters daily’. ⁸³

Conclusion: organizing, coercing and building

The overseas infrastructure of the VOC for shipbuilding and repairs reveals much about the dynamics of the overseas operations. Here, the VOC implemented a clear structure of trade capitalism, consisting of a complex interaction between setting up an expansive proto-industrial infrastructure to manufacture and maintain one of the most important instruments of the VOC industry (ships) and to mobilize the resources and labour required to this end. In the middle of this infrastructure were the overseas shipyards, where maintenance was performed on ships in all different sizes, and where medium-sized and smaller ships were built. These medium-sized vessels were used in intra-Asian shipping, while the smaller vessels tended to be built for local service between specific settlements. Around the shipyards a great many workplaces emerged, where important resources, such as timber, rope, sailcloth and hardware were manufactured and processed. The supporting organization that supplied these raw materials extended beyond the immediate boundaries of the VOC empire, as has become clear with respect to Javanese timber. The VOC operated as an entrepreneur and potentate in producing, processing and supplying this commodity.

Historians have often examined the Compagnie as a trader, but the organization of the workplaces and underlying infrastructure for building and repairing ships reveals how important these other functions were. They disclose entirely different dynamics for the overseas operations. First, the influence of the Asian surroundings become clear. The VOC used both European and Asian raw materials and techniques for shipbuilding and maintenance. The Compagnie continuously compared different raw materials and techniques. Second, this reveals the complexity of the overseas empire, which did not crystallize unilaterally from Batavia but consisted of ongoing interaction between the different major overseas centres and more peripheral areas. Shipbuilding and supporting activities were continuously being transferred; and the VOC regularly alternated monopolistic action with outsourcing to others. In all important duties performed for shipbuilding and repair (supply, processing, production and repair), labour mobilization involved a combination of free, contract and also forced labour relations. Forced labour was omnipresent – from shipbuilding and repairs, to processing and supplying raw materials – but was especially prominent in branches such as repairing ships (Onrust Island), rope making (the Edam lijnbaan) and supplying timber.