Chinese and Arabs. The
actual numbers of Bandanese who were killed, forcibly expelled or fled the
islands in 1621 remain uncertain. But readings of historical sources suggest
around one thousand Bandanese likely survived in the islands, and were spread
throughout the nutmeg groves as forced labourers. The Dutch subsequently
re-settled the islands with imported slaves, convicts and indentured labourers
(to work the nutmeg plantations), as well as immigrants from elsewhere in
Indonesia. Most survivors fled as refugees to the islands of their trading
partners, in particular Keffing and Guli Guli in the Seram Laut chain and Kei
Besar. Shipments of surviving Bandanese were also sent to Batavia (Jakarta) to
work as slaves in developing the city and its fortress. Some 530 of these
individuals were later returned to the islands because of their much-needed
expertise in nutmeg cultivation (something sorely lacking among newly-arrived
Dutch settlers).
Whereas up until this point the Dutch presence had
been simply as traders, that were sometimes treaty-based, the Banda conquest
marked the start of the first overt colonial rule in Indonesia albeit under the
auspices of the VOC.
VOC Monopoly
