MEMAHAMI VOC DALAM 30 MENIT: PERUSAHAAN TERKAYA SEPANJANG SEJARAH UMAT MANUSIA

[Music]

VOC or Ferening the Austi Company

is a big name in

colonial history and world trade. Initially,

the VOC was just a group of Dutch traders

who wanted to make a profit on the

spice trade route. But who would have

thought that from its humble beginnings, the

VOC would grow into a

giant company that controlled most of

Asia, including the Indonesian archipelago, for

almost 200 years. Interestingly, the VOC was

not just an ordinary company. They

have great power and authority

granted by the Dutch government.

How did Viosi grow so

big and what caused

its downfall? This time, we'll

discuss in more depth

how Viosi executed

its trading strategy, leaving a legacy whose

impact is still felt today.

with the film room in the video understand

Viosi

before the Dutch emerged as a

major player who monopolized the

spice trade, the city of Anwork in the

Flanders region or what is now Belgium

had already become an

important trading center in northern Europe

. However, this condition changed when the

Dutch rebellion occurred in

1566 to 1568

which was part of the

Dutch struggle against Spanish rule.

After 1591,

Portuguese trade began to shift the

distribution of their Asian goods

to the port of Hamburg in Germany.

They collaborated with

large European merchant families

such as Fuger and Welser from Germany

as well as several companies from Spain

and Italy. As a result,

Dutch traders were increasingly pushed out of the

very profitable spice trade

. Because at that time

spices such as nutmeg, pepper and cloves

had very high prices in

Europe. Sometimes it can even be more expensive

than gold. The problem was that the

Portuguese trading system at that time was

unable to meet the increasing market demand

, especially for pepper

which was very popular in Europe. The demand for

spices is relatively inelastic.

This means that even though the price has risen high,

people continue to look for it.

That's why when pepper supplies were hampered,

prices immediately shot up sharply.

The situation was further complicated when, in

1580,

Portugal and Spain came under

one crown in the Iberian Union. Because at

that time Spain was at war with the

Netherlands. Automatically, the

Portuguese territory, including its colonies in

Asia, which also included the Indonesian archipelago, became an

easy target for attack by

the Dutch. Traders from the Netherlands

saw this situation as a

great opportunity to boldly enter the

intercontinental spice market. Several

important figures such as Han Hugen, Van Lyn

Scotton, and Cornellis the Holman

managed to obtain valuable information

about the secret trading routes and methods

of Portuguese traders.

This information would be

important for the Netherlands to participate

in the spice trade.

Dutch traders began their journey

with various daring expeditions.

The exploration began with the departure of

James Lancaster in 1591

followed by Cornelis The Hotman in

1595

and 1598

and Jacob Vannek in 1598.

They all headed to Asia, especially to the

Indonesian archipelago. One of the

important expeditions was the journey of

Cornelis and Frederick the Hotman to the

Banten region which was the

main port in West Java in

1595.

However, this expedition did not go

smoothly. They clashed with the Portuguese

and the local Javanese population. Even

experienced attacks in Sidayu and

killed local officers in Madura. From

this clash, half of their crew

died from the four ships that

left. But Cornelis and Frederik

still returned to the Netherlands with

enough spices to make a

huge profit. Their success

seems to have tempted many

other Dutch traders to join in the competition.

After Cornelis and

Frederick returned from Asia, it turned out that more and

more Dutch merchant groups were

trying their luck. Although there were

also fleets that failed or were lost at

sea, there were far more expeditions

that survived and yielded

extraordinary profits. One of the

most successful expeditions known

took place in 1598

led by Jacob Vannek with a

ship to the Spice Islands or

Maluku. Jacob and his men

managed to get rid of the

middlemen traders from Java and buy

spices directly from the source.

The ships returned to Europe in

1599

and 1600 with profits of up

to 400%. a very

fantastic figure at that time. However, at that time it was

not yet standing. Dutch traders who

traded in the archipelago still

operated with several

trading companies. One of them was the

Vanver company from Amsterdam which

sailed to Asia from 1595

to 1597.

Meanwhile, several

similar companies were also established in the same city of

Rotterdam and Zealand. All

these companies compete with each other to

sail to gain

profits in the Asian region. At

that time, trading companies were usually only

created for one voyage. So,

after the ship returns to Europe, the

company will be dissolved and the

profits will be divided. Sometimes

experts gain profits, they

actually lose because of the challenges and risks they have to

face. The risks include

ship hijacking, sinking in the middle of the

sea, or the crew dying due to

various factors. This risk does not

include the issue of unstable market prices

. The demand for spices

is high in Europe and never

decreases. But the supply can suddenly

surge, causing prices to

plummet. If that happens, profits

can be lost in an instant. Competition to

obtain commodities in the archipelago has

become unhealthy and has resulted

in the profits obtained by

each company becoming very

small. This means that the amount of capital

they spend on sailing is

no longer commensurate with the profits

they get. Realizing this,

several Dutch trading companies

decided to cooperate locally

with local residents starting in 1600.

One of them was cooperation with the

Hitu Muslim group on Ambon Island.

In return for this cooperation,

the Dutch received exclusive rights to purchase

spices from Hitu, which at that time was

still controlled by the Portuguese.

However, because of this cooperation agreement, the

Portuguese finally handed over

their fort in Ambon to the

Dutch Hitu alliance, which also marked the

beginning of Dutch power there.

This decision was also supported by the

political conflict between the Netherlands, Spain

and Portugal. Indeed, in that year

the Dutch were at war with the kings of

Spain and Portugal who were uniting

to control trade in Asia.

This condition made the Dutch, both

the government and the traders, realize

that unity could overcome many

things. both military and economic.

That's why the Dutch government then

provided political support that was in line

with the traders' goal of

controlling the trade routes to Asia. This is

where a brilliant idea emerged from an

official and lawyer named John Van

Olden Barnevel. He proposed that

all Dutch traders should not operate

alone, but join together in

one large company financed by

many people through a share system. The

traders who were interested in

Barnevel's idea finally agreed to form a

trading partnership in one

large company with the aim of

reducing competition between traders

themselves, controlling supply, regulating

prices, and overcoming the losses of all

Dutch traders who competed with the

Portuguese and Spanish in Asia. Then

reap the highest possible profits

to help the Dutch war

against Spain. Actually, this

kind of trading partnership is not the first

time this has been done. In fact, England was the

first country to try this model

in 1600 by forming the East

India Company or Yesi, a

giant trading company that had

monopoly rights to trade in Asia.

This step made the

Dutch traders increasingly panic because if the

India Company was left alone, England

would control the trade market

. So finally on

March 20, 1602,

Dutch traders founded the

Fending Austisk Company or in

Indonesian, the

Dutch East India Company, which was

headquartered in the Netherlands and divided into

six cities or called commerce.

These six offices appointed 17 directors

called the Hen 17. They were like a

modern-day board of directors. They

determined policies, decided on

expeditions, built warehouses and ships,

and appointed high officials for the

Asian region. When it was first

founded, Viosi was given full support

by the Dutch government through a

special charter which contained rules

to allow Viosi to have

trading privileges in Asia as well as

extraordinary powers such as building

forts, maintaining an army, building

warships, signing treaties

with kings in Asia, going to war if

necessary, colonizing foreign territories,

collecting taxes, and even forming their

own government in the areas they

controlled.

The VOC itself had a different system

from the British Yesi. The VOC was the

first joint stock company in the world

to sell shares to the public that could be

bought or

sold by anyone. So it's not

only Dutch citizens who can

invest in Viosi shares. This

makes Viosi a pioneer of

modern investment systems in the world.

Thanks to this investment system, the

initial capital of the VOC to start

the company was considered extraordinarily large

for its time, reaching 6.4 million

golden or if estimated in

today's rupiah value by

equating it with the modern euro value

or the price of gold, perhaps the figure of 6.4 million

golden could reach up to Rp2

trillion. However, interestingly, Vosi does not

need to make financial reports every

year like most companies.

They only need to make it once every 10

years to make them more

flexible in moving.

Viosi's journey then saw them

showcase their dance in 1603

when they seized a Portuguese trading ship

named Santa Katarina which

was sailing near the

Malay Peninsula. In the same year, a

joint Dutch-British force captured

another Portuguese ship near Maau. As a result,

they made huge profits

because the cargo of the two ships confiscated from the

Portuguese was equivalent to 50% of the

total initial capital of the VOC. In just

a moment, the VOC's investment was able to

return investors' capital by

more than half. This is what makes investors

increasingly confident that Viosi is not

just a dream and empty talk,

but a big business with

extraordinary profit potential. In the

same year after successfully seizing

Portuguese ships, the Dutch finally

established their first permanent trading post

in Banten. Then in

1611 they made a new post in

Jayakarta which was later renamed

Batavia and is now known as

Jakarta. Viosi also opened trade routes

to India, Persia, China, and Japan.

A year earlier, in

1610, Viosi had appointed a

governor-general to lead affairs

in Asia to maintain stability and

to prevent the governor-general from acting

arbitrarily, the Council of the

Indies or Ratfad Indie was also formed as a

supervisor. However, the

highest power remains held by Harim 17

or the board of directors in the Netherlands which

consists of 17 shareholders

from various regions in the Netherlands. After

the inauguration of power, the Vosi headquarters

in Ambon was finally moved to

Batavia. This shift occurred because

they finally realized that although

Ambon was at the center of

spice production, its location was too

far from the main Asian trade routes.

They considered the move to Batavia to be more strategic and closer to major trade routes. Even though the Dutch were

very powerful at that time and Viosi had already

monopolized trade in Asia, in

fact, since 1604, the East

India Company from England also came

to the eastern region to visit

Ternate, Tidore, Ambon, and Banda which were

known as the main source areas for

spices. The competition is

heating up. The Fiosi were clearly unhappy with the

British presence disrupting

their monopoly plans. Moreover, when the

British began to establish many

trading posts in the archipelago starting from

Sukadana or Kalimantan, then to

Makassar, Jepara, Jayakarta to Aceh,

Pariyaman and Jambi between 1611

and 1617, the existence of

these British trading posts threatened

Viosi's dream of becoming the sole

trading ruler in Southeast Asia. In

the midst of this competition with England,

the position of Governor General

changed in 1619 and a figure

named Jan Peter Zun Coin was appointed

as the new leader. In his hands the VOC

became increasingly fierce. Coin had a

very big ambition, namely to make the VOC

not only a trader but also a

political and military power in Asia.

This ambition pushed Choin to

strategize. He brought 19 ships

and many troops to attack the

Jayakarta region on May 30,

1619.

His troops massacred many

local residents and drove the Banten Sultanate troops

from Jayakarta. Then from the

ruins of the city, Koin founded a

new city which he named Batavia, a city

which became the headquarters of Viosi and the

center of Viosi power in Asia. In the early

1620s, Koin then attacked the

Banda Islands which were famous for

producing nutmeg. He massacred or

starved almost the entire

native population of Banda in order to open

nutmeg plantations managed directly

by the Dutch. The coin actually

hoped that many Dutch workers and farmers

would move to Asia and settle in the

colonies. But in reality,

very few people want to live

far from their homeland, mostly

because of distance and

difficult conditions. Meanwhile, because the competition

with England was getting hotter, a

major incident finally erupted known

as the Amboina massacre in

1623.

In this incident, it was known that

10 English people were captured and

executed by the Dutch

on charges of conspiring

against Viosi. This incident obviously

sparked great anger in the UK and

created a diplomatic crisis between the two

countries. However, Britain quietly

withdrew from trade in

Indonesia and focused its attention on

India and other Asian regions.

Meanwhile, Viosi is increasingly dominating the

Nusantara region.

Viosi initially faced

major problems that other European traders also faced

at that time. The problem

was that they didn't have many of the things

Asians wanted except

gold and silver, which were in

very limited supply. That's why Koin then

created a trading system between

Asian countries and used the profits from there

to buy spices

which would later be sent to Europe.

With this strategy, Viosi no

longer needs to send large amounts of gold

or silver from the Netherlands. And this system

proved to be quite successful, even running

until the 1630s.

Viosi then traded throughout

Asia, including in the Bengal region

which is now part of India and

Bangladesh. This trading system was

well-strategized by

Koin and under his supervision, Viosi

continued to trade across Asia

by bringing silver and copper from

Japan and exchanging them for silk, cotton

textiles and ceramics from India and

China. These goods

were traded back in Asia or some were

sent to Europe along with

spices. Vosi also brought science

and technology from Europe to Asia and even

supported Christian missionaries. One of the

most important trading posts of the VOC during

this period was located on Dejima, an

artificial island near Nagasaki, Japan. This

was the only place Europeans

were allowed to trade with Japan for

over 200 years as they were not

allowed to enter Japanese territory. Viosi

with all its systems and controls

makes it a

feared and respected trading giant in Asia.

However, in reality, it does not always

achieve victory in

its expansion process in Asia. Behind a

magnificent fleet and a sophisticated trading system

, Vosi also had to suffer

defeat in the face of fierce resistance

from local kingdoms who

refused to submit to

foreign rule. In the early 17th century, Viosi

tried to expand its influence in the

coastal areas of China. With

high self-confidence and

formidable military strength, they tried to

force the Ming Dynasty to open

wider trade access. However,

this move actually backfired.

In 1623 to 1624, the

Viosi fleet suffered a bitter defeat

in the war in the Penghu Islands.

China's strong and

strategic defenses forced the Netherlands to

withdraw and shift its focus to

Taiwan. The problem is that the attempt to control

Taiwan also did not last long. Because

in 1662 a

Chinese general named Kong Singa who

was of Japanese Chinese descent

launched a massive attack on the

Viosi fortress on the island. After a

fierce siege, the Viosi were expelled

from Taiwan, marking the end of

their ambitions on the island. A similar fate

was experienced by the Viosi in

other Southeast Asian regions in 1643

in the vortex of internal conflict of the

Tringuyen war in Vietnam.

Viosi warships tried to take advantage of the situation

by intervening. But

this step turned out to be a disaster. The

well-organized Nguyen forces destroyed the

Dutch ships in a brutal naval battle

. The ocean that was once a

trade route has now turned into a

graveyard of iron and wood for the

mega ships of the Viosi. Not only in Vietnam,

Cambodia also witnessed

local resistance against the colonial ambitions of Viosi

in the Dutch Cambodian war which

took place from 1643

to 1644. Kahmer troops succeeded in

defeating Viosi forces around the

Mekong River. The river, which was previously

considered a strategic trade route, has

become an arena for

deadly conflict. This defeat after defeat

became a bitter lesson for the VOC, whose

military strength and money were not

always able to conquer the fighting spirit of

the people who were trying to defend

their homeland. However, after experiencing

a number of military failures in East

and Southeast Asia, Viosi apparently did not

lose direction. Instead, they

shifted their focus to other parts of Asia. A

promising economic opportunity is

still wide open, namely South Asia,

especially Ken Island, which is now

Sri Lanka. Ken Island is not

just a dot on a map. In

its tropical forests grows

high quality cinnamon and a

very valuable commodity on the European market.

In fact, the Portuguese had already

controlled the cinnamon trade route in

CEN. But it seems Viosi doesn't just

want to be a spectator. In 1640,

Viosi took a big step by

seizing the port of Galai from

Portuguese hands. This operation was not just a

military action, but part of a

larger strategy to break the Portuguese monopoly

on cinnamon. With the help of king

Sing 2 from the Kandy kingdom, VOI

continued the conquest. In 1658, a

Dutch fleet led by Gerald

Peters Hof besieged the city of Colombo,

the heart of Portuguese power in Celen.

After a fierce battle,

Colombo finally fell into Dutch hands. With

the fall of Colombo, Viosi not only

controlled the port, but also

secured a global monopoly on the

cinnamon trade. They established a

strict system of cinnamon plantations and collection employing thousands of

local people under the supervision of

Dutch officials. The coastal areas

slowly turned into the

Dutch economic headquarters. Meanwhile, the Portuguese

were driven out of the western coasts of India

or the Malabar coast until only

their name remained in history. However,

maritime domination is not just about controlling

ports in Asia. Viosi realized that the

sea journey from Europe to Asia was

very long and tiring.

Therefore, they needed a supply post in

the middle of the shipping route. So in

1652, a VOC official named Han

Rebeek led a group to

build a post at the southern tip of the

African continent. They arrived at Tanjung Badai

which is a wild,

windy and rainy area.

However, the VOC saw great potential in

the area which was then given a new name

as Tanjung Harapan or Cap of Good

Hope. They built a colony cap, a

small colony that initially only served to

replenish water and supplies for

Viosi ships. But over time

Dutch, German and

French settlers began to settle there, cultivate the

land and establish settlements.

This colony would later become the root of the

buer community in South Africa. When it entered the

late 17th century, Viosi was at

the peak of its glory. Their headquarters

in Batavia became the control center of a

trading empire that stretched from

Japan to South Africa. Viosi

was no longer just an

ordinary trading company, but had

more than 150 merchant ships, 40

warships, and a private military force of

10,000 men. Behind the scenes,

some 50,000 female employees, both

European and native, worked to run a

highly complex trading system.

They traded silk from China,

cotton from India, pearls from Japan,

and of course spices from the

archipelago. These goods were sold in the

European market at high prices

providing extraordinary profits

for the company's shareholders.

At its peak, the VOC even distributed

dividends reaching 40% of its initial capital, a

figure that was unimaginable for

any company at that time. So

rich, Viosi is considered by many

historians to be the richest private company

in human history.

No other company in the world

has such economic, military and

political power. All of which is

run not by the state, but

by private trading companies. In the midst of

this glory, many VOCI employees

lived and settled in the colonies.

They married native women

and formed a new community

known as Indo people. The origin of a

mixed society that has

Dutch and Indonesian blood.

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Around 1670, the VOC began to

face major changes. Two

significant events shook the foundations of

their business. First, trade

with Japan, which had previously been very

profitable because Japan was a

major source of precious metals such as silver

and gold, which were essential

for purchasing merchandise

throughout Asia, began to decline. This

happened because the Japanese government's policies

changed along with the change of

power that fell into the hands of the

Tokugawa shogunate, Japan also began to limit

gold and silver exports because it was worried that the

country's wealth would be drained out.

Japan wants to maintain domestic economic stability

and tighten controls

on foreign influence. This policy

clearly directly impacted the

VOC's trading strategy because the VOC could no longer

obtain large amounts of precious metals

from Japan. This made it difficult for the VOC

to purchase important commodities from

other regions, so that the VOC could not

carry out its old role as the

main player in intra-regional trade. Although

the Vosi tried to overcome this problem

by switching to buying silk from

Bengal, the problem remained

unresolved as access to

silver and gold remained a

major obstacle for them. Viosi also lost its

strategic foothold in Formosa,

now part of Taiwan, after

being defeated by the Kongsing Singa forces

in the siege of Fort Zelandia in

1662.

This defeat was not only about

losing an island, but also

losing direct access to the

silk trade from China. Because

Formosa is their key point

to enter the Chinese market.

This situation was further complicated because at the

same time China was experiencing

great chaos after the Ming Dynasty was overthrown

and replaced by the King Dynasty.

This transfer of power caused

instability so that

international trade routes to China were

disrupted and access

to the Silk trade was lost.

Ultimately, all these events that occurred

in sequence hampered the entire wheel of

Viosi trade in East Asia. Fiosi

not only faced problems in

Asia, but was also greatly affected

by the conflict in Europe. When the

Third Anglo-Dutch War broke out in

1672 to 1674, trade routes

between Asia and Europe were temporarily cut off.

This caused a shortage of pepper in

Europe, causing the price of this commodity

to soar sharply. This situation became a

golden opportunity for the EIC company which

immediately entered the market aggressively.

During this time, the VOC kept the price of pepper

stable and low. Not because of wanting to be

generous, but as a strategy

to avoid the entry of competitors.

However, this time they were forced to compete

openly with EC. Although AC had

suffered major losses in

1683,

VOCI began to realize that

they were no longer playing alone.

Other countries such as France and

Denmark are also starting to get a taste of the

spice market. This indicates that the VOI monopoly era is

starting to falter. In response to

this situation, Viosi took a

major step by closing the pepper market in

Bantam or Banten which had been an

important pepper trading center for

many years. Feosi also moved his

base of operations from the Karomandel coast to

Nagapatinem. Unfortunately,

this strategic decision did not bring the

expected results. As the VOC tried

to maintain this dominance,

bitter reality began to hit them.

Spices, including pepper, are no

longer as valuable as they once were. Demand

in Europe is also starting to fall. Meanwhile, the

military and logistical costs of

maintaining the monopoly remain high.

Viosi tried to expand its influence to the

Malabar coast located in

southwest India. But there Viosi

faced stiff resistance from

Zamorin, the ruler of Calicut. Although

Viosi managed to force the Zamorin to submit in

1710, the British supported a

new rebellion and the conflict

continued. Finally, Viosi surrendered and

withdrew from the region in

1721.

This was a sign that it was increasingly

difficult for Viyosi to expand their power without

facing strong resistance. The peak of

the decline of the Viosi military occurred at

the Battle of Kolakel in 1741

when the troops of the local kingdom of Travan Kor

under King Martada Farma succeeded in

defeating the Viosi army. The

Dutch commander named Captain Denoy was even

captured and instead made a

military trainer for the Ravancor troops. This

was one of the first defeats of a

European army by an organized local Asian force

and signaled

that the Viosi were no longer an

invincible force. But Viosi

didn't want to give up and be destroyed just like that

. They realized that the spice kingdom era was

over. So Viosi

tries to adapt to the

new market. Viosi started trading in tea, coffee,

sugar and textiles as did its

competitors. However,

this community has a much smaller profit margin

and is only profitable if

sold in large quantities. Although the

Viosi fleet and trading activities were still

active between 1680 and

1720, in reality

their profits had decreased drastically. Many

historians call this period a

period of growth without profit. To the

naked eye, Viosi looks busy and

successful. Even though financially they are

just turning over money without any

real profit. Worse still, the

VOC managers at this time were no longer

skilled traders, but rather nobles and

bureaucrats who had little understanding of the world of

trade. They still distribute

high dividends to shareholders.

Even though the company's profits continue to

shrink. So to cover the shortfall,

Viosi started relying on short-term debt

which only added to the burden in the

future. What are they doing?

Like patching a leaking ship with water, it's

just a futile effort.

After 1730, the VOC increasingly

sank into various

structural problems. They lost many

important posts in Asia, including in Persia,

Bengal, and India. So that

inter-Asian trade weakened. The

VOC's logistics system, which was centralized in Batavia,

began to be considered old-fashioned and

inefficient when compared to its competitor,

Iesi, which had already sent tea directly

from China to Europe. Meanwhile, Vosi

still had to transport everything to

Batavia first before sending it

to the Netherlands. On the other hand, corruption is

rampant. The low salaries of VOC employees

and the rules prohibiting them from

trading privately actually

gave rise to many shady practices to

fill their personal coffers. This situation

has become an open secret to the point that the

Dutch people even insult Viosi

as an abbreviation of vergan order

corrupti which means destroyed by

corruption. Problems increased within the

VOCI structure when the death rate

among VOCI employees became very

high due to poor working conditions

and tropical diseases. However,

even though it was so devastated and had run out of

funds, in order to maintain

market confidence, the company's profits were

still distributed to shareholders at a

high value. This led them

from 1730 to 1780 to continuously

withdraw capital from Asia and deplete

reserves in Europe while increasing

massive debt. The general public, especially the

Dutch, seems to have

realized the destruction of Viosi. However, the

turning point towards its collapse only

really occurred when the

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War broke out in 1780

to 1784.

In this war, the Viosi fleet

was destroyed. Many ships were seized

by the British and important commodities

were lost. From

this incident, direct losses are estimated

to reach 43 million golden.

Truly enormous value in its time.

However, Viosi forced itself to continue

operating and eventually went into

debt again in an extraordinarily

large amount. Until finally their assets no

longer have any real value. At the

same time, a social crisis exploded in Batavia. The

previously profitable sugar market

is becoming saturated due to competition with

sugar from Brazil. Many

Chinese traders went bankrupt and unemployment

increased. This tension exploded

in the Chinese massacre

in 1740.

One of the greatest tragedies in the

colonial history of the Dutch East Indies. The

VOC military, assisted by local residents, massacred thousands of

ethnic Chinese, sparking

widespread condemnation and prompting the first official investigation

into the

Viosi government. This case had a

long tail until finally after

considering many factors and

losses. In 1796, the Council of 17 who

led the VOC was dismissed. The

Dutch government took over

the management of the company and officially

dissolved the VOC, which had existed

for almost 2 centuries, on December 31, 1799. Much of the remains of the incident were

taken over by the

British during the Napoleonic Wars. Although

some of it was returned after

the formation of the new Dutch kingdom

in 1814.

Meanwhile, their legacy in the archipelago

seems to still have an impact

today. Their lives became a

cultural bridge between Europe and Asia.

But behind all the glittering wealth

and splendor, Fosi also leaves behind a

dark story of

monopoly oppression and exploitation. In

the search for profit, many

local people lost their land. freedom and even

life. And when Veosi began to falter in the

18th century, its legacy was not only

maps, voyages and

trade records, but also the scars of its

very long history.

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