Company rule in the Dutch East Indies

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Dutch East Indies[a] Nederlandsch-Indië (Dutch)
1610–1800
Flag of the Dutch East India Company after 1630 Corporate logo
The territorial evolution of Dutch control in the Malay Archipelago from 1603 to 1800.
Status	Governorates of the Dutch East India Company
Capital	Amboina (1610–1619) Batavia (1619–1800)
Common languages	Dutch, Malay, Javanese, Chinese, Indigenous languages
Government	Colonial government
Governor-general
• 1610–1614	Pieter Both
• 1796–1801[b]	Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten
Historical era	Early modern
• Established	1610
• Dissolution and nationalization	1800
Preceded by Succeeded by Portuguese colonization Dutch East Indies
^ Known as the "Dutch Indies" or "Dutch East Indies" in official VOC documents.[1] Also called the Netherlands East Indies, Netherlands Indies, or simply "The Indies". ^ Although the VOC, along with its control over the East Indies, was dissolved in 1800, Overstraten maintained his position as governor-general in the new Dutch East Indies colony until his death in 1801.

Dutch East India Company rule in the East Indies
1610–1800
Batavia built in what is now Jakarta, 1682
Location	East Indies
Including	First Dutch Expedition to East Indies
Leader(s)	Pieter Both (1610–1614) Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten (1796–1801)
Chronology Portuguese colonization Dutch East Indies

Company rule in the Dutch East Indies began when the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, "United East India Company"; VOC) appointed the first governor-general of the Dutch East Indies in 1610,^[2] and ended in 1800 when the bankrupt company was dissolved and its possessions were nationalized as the Dutch East Indies. By then it exerted territorial control over much of the archipelago, most notably on Java.

In 1603, the first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia was established in Banten, northwest Java. The official East Indies government, however, was not created until Pieter Both was made governor-general in 1610. In that same year, Ambon Island was made headquarters of the VOC's East Indies. Batavia was made the capital from 1619 onward.^[3]

Corruption, war, smuggling, and mismanagement resulted in the company's bankruptcy by the end of the 18th century. The company was formally dissolved in 1800 and its colonial possessions were nationalized by the Batavian Republic as the Dutch East Indies.^[4]