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">Today's history, 403 years ago, May 28, 1619, Jan Pieterszoon Coen again arrived with an additional war fleet to Jayakarta. Coen came with 17 ships carrying thousands of troops. The goal is clear. Coen wanted Jayakarta to be conquered immediately and to control the spice trade around it.
Coen's tactic is accurate. The Governor General of the VOC who served twice in 1619-1623 and 1627-1629 won the battle. Jayakarta is defeated. Batavia was built on it.
Complete control over the spice trade in the archipelago was Coen's dream. That ambition required Coen to conquer Jayakarta. That's not easy either. Coen had to fight with many parties to seize one of the transit centers of the world's spice trade. England, Banten, to Jayakarta were the enemies that Coen had to face in 1618.
The atmosphere of Batavia during the VOC reign according to Johannes Rach's painting. (Wikimedia Commons)
Coen appears confident that he can beat all three. Moreover, as the leader of the Dutch trading airline, the VOC he had been equipped with his own war fleet. Unfortunately, the battle does not only require sheer optimism. The Dutch actually needed more troops and weapons.
The lack of it overwhelmed the Netherlands. The desperate Coen immediately fled to Maluku. He also sought VOC reinforcements in Maluku. Meanwhile, the VOC in Batavia tried to carry out negotiations aimed at buying time. The stalling option is quite appropriate.
The problem between Jayakarta and Banten made the war not focus on the deadly Dutch attack. The war in fact became personal for Jayakarta and Banten. Banten smells bad behavior from Jayakarta. The conflict between the two made the VOC war fleet in Batavia survive, while waiting for help to arrive.
“The Dutch cleverly took advantage of the opportunity for the dispute between Banten and Prince Jayakarta and the British. Actually, the beginning of the war came from the decision of the Sultan of Banten to face Jayakarta and the VOC. He urged the British Admiral Thomas Dale to go to Jayakarta and expel the Dutch who were there."
Painting depicting Dutch ships anchored in Batavia Harbor during the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia in 1649. (Netherlands Maritime Museum)
“At the harbor he was intercepted by Coen with his small army. However, in the end Dale was able to urge Coen, who had resigned to Maluku, to gather strength. Meanwhile, Dale and Wijayakrama together surrounded the Dutch fort. When at the end of 1619 the VOC decided to surrender, unexpectedly, suddenly Banten troops appeared to hinder their intentions,” said Benny G. Setiono in the book China in the Political Vortex (2008).
The awaited reinforcements have finally arrived. Coen came with 17 ships with thousands of troops. The arrival of the troops gave a moral injection to the troops in Jayakarta.
Two days later, Coen led the attack on Jayakarta. The attack left the city of Jayakarta in ruins. Even the VOC burned down all of Jayakarta. It was on the ruins of Jayakarta that Coen later built a new city. Batavia, the name.
“In May 1619 the Coen fleet returned from Maluku. On May 28 the Governor-General entered the fort of Batavia. Two days later he led his army of 1.000 men to attack. With only one person killed, the city of Jayakarta was conquered. Jayakarta was burned to the ground, and occupied by the VOC.
The statue of Jan Pieterzoon Coen once stood in the Banteng Square area, Jakarta, which during the Dutch colonial period was called the Lion Field. (
Coen immediately ordered the construction of a new, larger fort and a smaller town fort, which was built in the next few years following the style of the ancestral country, with canals and bridges,” concluded Bernard HM Vlekke in the book Nusantara (2016).
The conquest of Jayakarta by Jan Pieterzoon Coen became an important part of today's history in Indonesia on May 28, 1619.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language.
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