The New Student's Reference Work/Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company.  This company was formed in 1602 by the union of several smaller companies to secure a monopoly of the Dutch trade to the East Indies.  During the long war with Spain and Portugal the Dutch Company managed to deprive Portugal of all its possessions in the East Indies.  The company established a valuable colony at the Cape of Good Hope; and took Ceylon from Portugal in 1658.  In spite of English and French competition the Dutch Company was very successful, especially during the seventeenth century, when its dividends ranged from 12 to 63 per cent.  But the proclamation of the Batavian Republic under French control in 1795 put an end to the existence of the company, which had during the 18th century at times required state-support.  The English had already driven the Dutch Company from India and crippled its trade.  But in 1815 many of the possessions of the Dutch East India Company were restored to Holland.