Latest / The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History / The Dutch in Ceylon: Cinnamon, Elephants, and Empire
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the VOC in Indonesia — Batavia, the Banda Islands, the spice monopoly. But the Dutch also had a major, and I think less understood, colonial project in Ceylon. Luna: Ceylon — modern Sri Lanka. Right, the Portuguese were there first. Lucas: Exactly. The Portuguese Estado da Índia had controlled the cinnamon coast since the early 1500s. But by the mid-17th century, the Dutch saw an opportunity. The Portuguese were overstretched, and the Kandyan kingdom in the interior was looking for allies to push them out. Lucas: So the VOC signed a treaty with Rajasinha II, the king of Kandy. They agreed to help him expel the Portuguese in exchange for a monopoly on cinnamon and a monopoly on the elephant trade. And they got the right to build fortifications along the coast. Luna: Elephant trade? That's not something we've covered. Lucas: It's a fascinating side of VOC operations. Ceylonese elephants were highly prized — not just for labour, but as diplomatic gifts. The Dutch shipped them to Mughal India, to the Deccan sultanates, even to the Middle East. A single elephant could fetch thousands of guilders. It was a major source of revenue. Lucas: But back to the military campaign. The VOC sent a man named Rijckloff van Goens — a tough, ambitious commander. He led several campaigns from 1640 onward, capturing Colombo in 1656 after a long siege. Then Galle, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Trincomalee. By 1658, the Portuguese were completely driven out of Ceylon. Luna: So the Dutch kept their promise to Rajasinha. Or did they? Lucas: They absolutely did not. Once the Portuguese were gone, the Dutch cemented their own control. They refused to hand over the coastal forts to the Kandyan king. They imposed strict monopolies on cinnamon and elephants. They even banned anyone from peeling cinnamon bark without their permission — punishable by death. Luna: So Rajasinha traded one colonial power for another. Lucas: Pretty much. He spent the rest of his reign fighting the Dutch — launching raids into Dutch territory, allying with anyone who would help, but he couldn't dislodge them. The VOC had too much firepower and too many resources. Lucas: What's interesting is how the Dutch administered the cinnamon monopoly. They created a system called the thombo — essentially a land registry and census rolled into one. Every village, every family, every cinnamon tree was recorded. Peasants were forced to deliver a fixed amount of cinnamon each year as tax. Luna: Sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare. Lucas: It was highly efficient, though. The thombo allowed the VOC to squeeze maximum profit out of the island. And it wasn't just cinnamon — they controlled pearls, elephants, areca nuts, and even the fishing industry. Ceylon became one of the most profitable VOC possessions. Luna: What about the people on the ground? How did Ceylonese society change under Dutch rule? Lucas: That's a big question. One major change was the spread of Roman-Dutch law, which still influences Sri Lanka's legal system today. Another was the introduction of Protestant Christianity — the Dutch were less zealous than the Portuguese, but they did establish schools and churches, especially along the coast. Lucas: And there was the creation of the burgher community — mixed-race descendants of Dutch men and local women. They became a distinct social group, often working as clerks, interpreters, and traders. They spoke Dutch, wore European clothes, and were generally loyal to the VOC. Luna: So the Dutch left a deeper cultural footprint than the Portuguese in some ways. Lucas: In coastal areas, absolutely. The Portuguese legacy was more about place names and some Catholic converts. The Dutch left legal systems, architectural styles — look at the Galle Fort, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site today — and a whole social class. Lucas: But the interior, the Kandyan kingdom, remained independent and fiercely resistant. It wasn't until 1815, under the British, that the whole island was unified under colonial rule. Luna: That's more than 150 years of VOC control in Ceylon. It's a long chapter. Lucas: It is. And like many VOC ventures, it was driven by profit — and a willingness to use force and coercion to get it. The cinnamon monopoly alone made Ceylon a jewel in the VOC's crown. But the human cost was high. Luna: Speaking of cost — if you've been following these conversations, episode by episode, you know we dig into these stories because we're curious about how power actually worked in the past. And we keep this show ad-free because of listeners who support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that lets us keep going. Lucas: Yeah, it really makes a difference. And we're grateful for everyone who chips in. Now — back to the elephants. Because there's a particularly strange detail about the elephant trade. Lucas: The VOC actually bred elephants in captivity — a rare practice for the time. They had elephant stables in Colombo and Jaffna. And they trained them for war and ceremony. Some of these elephants were sent as gifts to Mughal emperors, like Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. Luna: I imagine the Mughals were impressed. Lucas: They were. Ceylonese elephants were considered particularly strong and intelligent. The VOC used them to curry favour with powerful rulers in India, smoothing the way for trade agreements. It was a form of soft power wrapped in a very large package. Lucas: But the elephant trade also had a dark side. Capture methods could be brutal — wild herds were driven into pits or enclosures called kraals. Many animals died. And the monopoly meant that local Ceylonese could no longer trade elephants freely. It was one more resource taken from them. Luna: It's another example of the VOC treating everything as a commodity to be extracted. Lucas: Exactly. The same mindset that drove the spice monopoly in the Banda Islands — the same ruthlessness — played out in Ceylon. The difference is that Ceylon had a strong interior kingdom that resisted, and the VOC had to operate more carefully there, at least in the early years. Lucas: Over time, though, the VOC's grip tightened. By the 18th century, Dutch Ceylon was a well-oiled machine of extraction, with the thombo system keeping everything in order. Luna: What happened when the VOC itself started to decline? Lucas: Good question. By the late 18th century, the VOC was in serious financial trouble everywhere. In Ceylon, corruption and inefficiency crept in. The cinnamon monopoly was increasingly hard to enforce. When the British took over in 1796, during the Napoleonic Wars, they inherited a system that was already fraying. Lucas: But the British kept many of the Dutch structures — the thombo, the legal codes, the administrative divisions. So the Dutch legacy in Sri Lanka lasted long after they were gone. Luna: It's one of those quiet, long-lasting colonial influences that doesn't get talked about much. Lucas: Absolutely. And I think it's worth remembering that the VOC's empire was, in many ways, a prototype for modern corporate colonialism. They were a company that acted like a state — waging war, making treaties, administering justice, and extracting wealth from distant lands with incredible efficiency. Luna: And Ceylon was one of their most valuable possessions — even if it's overshadowed by Java in the popular imagination. Lucas: Exactly. It's a chapter that deserves more attention. And we've only scratched the surface here.