Portugesen werden von den Holländern bey Malacca in die Flucht geschlagen.

Title

Portugesen werden von den Holländern bey Malacca in die Flucht geschlagen.

View of the city Malakka. The Dutch stroke into the escape the Portugiese. Plate 88 from de Bry, India Orientalis II.

ca. 1612

Artist

Bry, de (1528-1598)

Theodor de Bry (1528–1598) was a Frankfurt-based engraver and publisher who, beginning in 1590, produced two of the most important early modern travel collections: the West Indian (America) and East Indian voyages. Richly illustrated with copper engravings and published in both German and Latin, these works were aimed at a European audience. With the help of his sons, Johann Theodor and Johann Israel, de Bry published six volumes before his death. The project was continued by his descendants until 1634, ultimately comprising 25 volumes with over 1,500 engravings. In 1594, he famously depicted Columbus's arrival in the New World. The West Indian series (1590–1618) chronicled the European discovery and conquest of the Americas, while the East Indian series followed the rise of Dutch trade power in Asia around 1600.

Historical Description

The peninsula is already described by the ancient geographer Claudius Ptolemy in the second century AD under the name Chryse Chersonesos (Golden Peninsula). Originally, Malacca was founded by the Chinese as a collection and transshipment point for spices (especially pepper from the Moluccas) and sandalwood from Timor. However, due to its favorable location, it quickly developed into a thriving trading port where Arabs, Indians and Chinese exchanged goods. Until the 15th century, the city remained virtually a Chinese colony and thus a kind of bridgehead of the Chinese to the Indian Ocean. In the 15th century, Malacca was the seat of a Malay sultan. Between the 13th and 17th centuries, Malacca was considered the most important eastern hub in the international spice trade around the Indian Ocean. The city, at critical point to control the shipping routes between Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. The trade routes of cloves and nutmegs, which were also highly sought after in Europe, began on the islands of Halmahera, Tidore and Ternate south of Papua; Javanese ships brought the spices to Malacca and partly further to India's east and west coasts in a monsoon-related, year-and-a-half-long journey. Largely Arab traders brought the goods as far as Cairo and Alexandria, from where, before 1510, mostly Genoese and Venetian traders brought the goods to Europe. In 1509, Portuguese ships reached Malacca for the first time under Diogo Lopes de Sequeira. In the 16th century, trade routes were highly dependent on the season. Portuguese caravels left Goa in September with the southward blowing monsoon. From Malacca, Indian goods were then exchanged for Chinese copper coins on Java. In exchange, rice and simple cottons were received further east on Sumbawa, which in turn were exchanged for spices on the Banda Islands and Ternate. In 641, the Dutch conquered Malacca and ruled the city until 1824. Until independence in 1957, the city, like the entire Malay Peninsula, belonged to the British colonial empire as British Malaya and part of the Straits Settlements.