- Quilon
was a fortified city.
- Cranganore was a little city with a small fort, but the place was of
major strategic importance; it was "the key" to Cochin.
- Cannanore was a city with a good harbour and a strong stone fort called
Fort Sant’Angelo.The Dutch ruled Malabar for
over a period of 130 years, and forced the rulers of Malabar to agree to monopolistic
contracts with the VOC for pepper and cinnamon.
Unlike the Portuguese in Malabar, they did not try to convert indigenous peoples to the
Dutch Reformed Doctrine. However, they helped the St. Thomas Christians of Malabar against
the Roman Catholic Church.
The Dutch compiled and published a monumental work (12 volumes and nearly 800
illustrations) on the medicinal properties of Malabar plants: the "Hortus Indicus
Malabaricus" that remains unsurpassed even to this day.
In Cochin the Dutch established an Orphanage for the poor children. Only the children of
the Europeans were admitted. Also a leper asylum was built on Vypeen island.
During the Dutch occupation of Cochin they made several changes in the city. In 1697, they
reduced the Portuguese fort. They developed the harbour and built piers. They enlarged the
palace built by the Portuguese at Mattancheri for the King of Cochin that, from that time
on, became known as the "Dutch Palace". In Bolghatti island, in 1744, an
impressive building, the country house of the Dutch Governors was erected. They also built
many merchants’ houses and warehouses in Cochin.
Bibliography:
- Baldaeus, Philip "A Description of East India Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel and
also of the Isle of Ceylon"
360 pp. maps, Reprint of the 1703 edition, Asian Educational
Services, 1996, New Delhi-Madras, India.
Translated from High Dutch in 1672, this book gives a description of the East Indian
Coasts of Malabar, the Coromandel and the Island of Ceylon together with details of all
the adjacent Kingdoms, Principalities, Provinces, Cities, Chief harbours, Structures,
Pagan Temples, Products, and Living Creatures. It also details the Manners, Habits,
Economies and Ceremonies of the Inhabitants as well as the war like exploits, Sieges, Sea
and Field Engagements between the Portuguese and Dutch.
- Koshy, M.O. "The Dutch power in Kerala 1729-1758"
334 pp. 2 maps Mittal Publ. 1989, New Delhi, India.
Index: The rise of the Dutch power in Kerala 1604-1663, the early history of the Dutch
settlements in Kerala 1663-1728, the Dutchinvolvment in the regional power politics of
Kerala, the confrontation at Colachel, the treaty of Mavelikara, the Dutch and the
Zamorins of Calicut, the Dutch and the Kingdom of Kolattiri, the Dutch and the others
European powers, the Dutch trade in Kerala, the administrative system of the Dutch East
India Company and its policy in Kerala, the Dutch impact on Kerala.
- Meyer, Raphael "The Jews of Cochin"
Internet article American Asian Kashrus Services, 1995
- Poonen, T.I. "Dutch hegemony in Malabar and its collapse 1663 – 1795"
238 pp. Department of Pubblications, University of Kerala, 1978, Trivandrum, India.
- Ramachandran, Vaidyanadhan "Communication History of the Dutch in India"
46 pp. Artline Printers, 1997, Madras, India.
Books
about Dutch in Malabar
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