EAST INDIES-AMBON-De Landvoogdy van Amboina met de elf Onderhoorige Eylanden.

Superb c.18th map by Francois Valentyn of Ambon which was one of the most important islands for the spice trade in the c.16th-17th as it was one of the only known source of cloves in the world.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to land on Ambon in 1513, and it became the new centre for Portuguese trading activities after they were expelled from Ternate. The Portuguese were dispossessed in 1605 and Ambon then became the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) until the founding of Batavia in 1619. There was intense rivalry between the English and Dutch East India Companies over the island, which came to the fore during the Amboyna Massacre in 1623, when twenty men, some in the employ of the British East India Company, were allegedly tortured and executed by agents of the VOC.

Valentyn studied theology and travelled twice to the East Indies in the employ of the VOC, firstly as a Calvinist minister on the spice island of Amboina (1686-1694) and then to Java (1706) and again Amboina (1707-1713). In the preparation of his historical account of the VOC in the East, Valentyn was given privileged access to the secret archives of the company, enabling him to obtain detailed information of the Dutch India Company’s (V.O.C.) activities and history in East Indies.

From Francois Valentyn’s, historical account of the Dutch East India Company Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien.

Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 3719586