The Singapore and Melaka Straits: Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century

5 VOC Blockades in the Singapore and Melaka Straits: Diplomacy, Trade and Survival, 1633–41

157 C H A P T E R 5 VOC฀Blockades฀in฀the฀ ฀ Singapore฀and฀Melaka฀Straits:฀ Diplomacy,฀Trade฀and฀Survival,฀ ฀ 1633–41 Melaka฀and฀the฀VOC:฀Evolving฀Perceptions฀of฀a฀฀ Colonial฀Prize,฀c.฀1600–33 To many Europeans of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the Portuguese emporium of Melaka was a place of almost legendary wealth, an undisputed “jewel in the crown” at the centre of the Estado da Índia’s far- flung possessions spanning from the eastern coast of Africa to the Japanese islands. Unbridled fantasies of prosperity far exceeded the reality on the ground. What is certain is that the Portuguese did not inherit either a hugely populated city or a vast empire that controlled much of the region around the Straits of Singapore and Melaka. These less fantastic realities may have been recognised on the ground, but they were not readily reflected in reports circulating in writing or, more often, by word of mouth around the trading centres of Europe’s Atlantic seaboard. At the dawn of the 17th century, accounts of Melaka’s almostlegendary wealth still fired the imagination of traders in Europe. Melaka was still regarded as a “jewel in the crown” of the Estado da Índia, an assessment that made it a colonial possession of great envy. When the 05 S&MS.indd 157 12/31/09 2:56:54 PM 158฀ The Singapore and Melaka Straits Dutch arrived in the waters of insular Southeast Asia, inspired not least by Linschoten’s Reysgeschrift and Itinerario (1595–6), Melaka was seen as a great, prosperous colonial prize. The VOC that sprung out of earlier regional trading firms inherited a dream to wrest control of Melaka from the Portuguese for the prestige of the Dutch company and the glory of the new Dutch Republic. The imagined riches in and from the East Indies inexorably drove policy-making in the VOC’s boardrooms and in the republic’s corridors of power. As has been shown in Chapter 2, the Santa Catarina incident of February 1603 was to impact the European scenario in several ways, two of which merit further explanation in the present chapter. First, the auction of the carrack’s cargo evoked considerable attention among the merchant communities of the Low Countries and beyond over the riches to be reaped from the East Indies commerce, and especially from the trade with China. Given the circumstances of the seizure in waters en route to Melaka, it can be little wonder that the Santa Catarina’s cargo sold by public auction served as visible, tangible evidence to validate the fantasies surrounding the Melaka legacy. Second, as will be recalled from Chapters 2 and 4, Admiral Jakob van Heemskerk returned to Europe with a Johorean ambassador, Megat Mansur, and his entourage. The purpose of this embassy has been subject to some speculation, but readers can be left with little doubt about the subsequent development of Dutch-Johor relations. Megat Mansur may have passed away during the voyage to Europe, but a member of his entourage, one Encik Kamar, made it to Europe and returned to Johor with the fleet of Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge in 1606.1 On the basis of materials consulted, the Johor embassy to the Dutch Republic appears to have served two specific ends. One was to pave the way for formalising budding VOC-Johor relations with a treaty. The second was to use the formal alliance to wrest control of Melaka from the Portuguese. Conclusions about the latter derive from snippets of information in the travelogue of Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge. On arriving with Matelieff’s fleet in the waters at Melaka on 30 April 1606, Encik Kamar set ashore and proceeded to inform his ruler that the Dutch had returned and were ready to launch a seaborne attack on the Portuguese fort and settlement.2 On learning of the arrival of the Dutch fleet, the Johor ruler dispatched the shahbandar of Singapura to examine the situation.3 Melaka was a jewel waiting to be plucked from the Portuguese, or so the Dutch thought at the time. Within just over three weeks of arriving 05 S&MS.indd 158 12/31/09 2:56:54 PM VOC Blockades in the Singapore and Melaka Straits 159 off the coast of Melaka, Matelieff had signed a preliminary agreement with the Johor royals for the capture of Melaka and the division of the...