This
year 2017 mark the 350 years since the treaty of Breda was signed in 1667. It
swaps the Dutch control of a tiny island name Manhattan in America as we know
now as New York(Previously it was call New Amsterdam) to an island in Maluku
name Run island.
The
question is, why is the Dutch willing to let go it territories far away for a
tiny island in Nusantara? The answer lies in what is in the island-nutmeg, one
of the most sought spices at that time.
This
part of the world known as the Malay Archipelago or Nusantara was very well
known for its riches in varieties of spices-nutmeg, kapulaga, cinnamon, ood,
pepper etc.
Nutmeg
at that time were valuable commodities as the prices expensive as gold. Before
the presence of the colonial power, the Arab trader were known as a middleman
who use to trade all this spices in Europe and elsewhere. In the early days of sail exploration, these seas were
known by Arabic traders as the Seven Seas, those enchanting waters on the other
side of the world where spice was in the wind.
The
spices island location was kept secret from the Europe merchant until they
discover it the 17th century. It is the richness of the archipelago
that attract European imperialism to monopolize the trading of spices in our
land and later colonize much part of Nusantara.
The
Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and the Spanish all were present, roaming
and competing to conquer land and territories. They had been in a ferocious race to find the elusive
Spice Islands and gain control of the spice trade. There were fortunes to be
made in cloves and nutmeg, and everyone was eager to knock out the middleman.
When the Dutch finally found the islands, they protected their
investment by forming the Dutch East India Company (VOC). With a horrific
brutality that included slaying much of the local Bandanese population, they
gained control of the plantations of evergreen nutmeg trees; the spice they
produced not only flavoured food but was thought to cure illness including the
bubonic plague.
To
give a glimpse of the huge profit make by the Dutch, VOC bought 5 cents per
pound the nutmeg and and its flowers for 40 cent per pound. Later, the Dutch
sold it 5 to 7 guilder per pound in Europe. The annual production is 500,000
for the nutmeg and 150,000 for the flowers! No wonder they will chase any
competitor that will endanger their monopolize of the nutmeg trade.
Nutmeg
at that time can only be found in the north of Maluku especially in Banda and
Run island. A combination of the region’s isolation and the finicky nature of the
nutmeg tree kept the price astronomical. Nutmeg will only grow in specific
conditions: fertile, well-drained soil in a tropical climate that gets lots of
rain. Even then the trees only fruit after seven to nine years, and the
labour-intensive process of harvesting requires workers to handpick each fruit
and remove the outer covering, before carefully peeling off the mace (a
delicate, saffron-coloured spice), drying the seed and cracking off the hard
shell.
To
guard the island from other competitors especially the British, the Dutch build
heavy fortress as much as 12 in just one small island of Banda!
With the local population subdued and enslaved as workers, the VOC
monopoly of the spice trade was now hampered by just one thing. In 1616, the
English had managed to gain control of a Banda Island called Run; a speck of
island less than 2 miles long and just more than half a mile wide. It was here
the English claimed their first colony and formed the English East India
Company or EIC and in doing so launched the British Empire. Soon it emerge to
became one of the largest empire in history, second only from Mongol.
The
EIC could not hold long on that island. They gain control only for 4 years as
they always attack by the Dutch. Soon the EIC launch it counter attack and send
4 frigates to cross the Atlantic Ocean to seize the Dutch territory names New
Amsterdam. In 1677, the two countries came to an agreement; both had refused to
give up their claims on each other’s islands, so they made a trade. The Dutch
gained control of Run and the English got New Amsterdam – a new colony they
renamed New York.
To
remember this important event, Indonesia has make an effort to make a movie
name “Dari Banda kepada dunia” which means to refresh the younger generation of
the spice route that exist in the Nusantara which later pave way the era of
colonialism. Here we sailed to a place where history
meets legend, a place where traditional ships still sail past live volcanoes to
a forgotten island that once changed the world.
As
the title of this post, referring to Amazon the e-commerce giant who sell almost
almost anything. Compare to what we have here in the Malay Archipelago from
gold, spice, tin, iron, pepper and fertile land that can grow trees from
elswere, we have almost everything. Nusantara indeed is amazon.
Fast
forward 350 years now in 2017 the New Amsterdam (New York) has expand to become
the largest trade and business city in the world while the island of Run still
much remain the same. The fragrant of nutmeg has escape the colonial smell as
well as it native.
