Gentle Janus, Merchant Prince : : The VOC and the Tightrope of Diplomacy in the Malay world, 1740-1800 / / Reinout Vos.

• Superior document: Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde ; 157
• VerfasserIn: Vos, Reinout,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden; , Boston : : BRILL,, 1994.
• Year of Publication: 1994
• Language: English
• Series: Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde ; 157.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (264 pages)
• Other title: The VOC and the Tightrope of Diplomacy in the Malay world, 1740-1800
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 9789004454255; 9789067180627
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Reinout Vos.

The Janus face of the Dutch East Indies Company-representing a merchant on one side and a prince on the other-has long puzzled historians. How could a commercial enterprise, firmly rooted in a tradition of free trade, turn into a powerful monopolistic empire the moment its ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope? This book, based on Company archives and Malay historical material, offers a reconstruction of the VOC's double role in the complex world of eighteenth-century Malay court politics. It describes the successes and failures of the VOC's political trade system as practised in its tin trade in the Straits of Malacca from 1740 to 1800. Careful consideration is given to the Company's relations with the sultanates of Pelembang and Johore, and the position of the VOC with respect to its English and Chinese competitors. The author's main thesis is that the VOC's political mode of operation, far from being a deviation from its proper merchant's role, was an essential means to achieving success: trade privileges were 'bought' by rendering political support to indigenous princes. Contrary to popular opinion, however, the system was not based on forced deliveries, the merchant prince's iron hand. When this resulted in stable and friendly alliances gentle Janus's system could bear fruit, even in the difficult years of the late eighteenth century.