Dutch Malabar
| Dutch Malabar | ||||||||||
| Dutch Malabar, Lanta | ||||||||||
| Dutch colony | ||||||||||
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| Capital |
Dutch Quilon (1661-1663) Fort Cochin (1663-1795) |
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| Languages | Dutch, Malayalam | |||||||||
| Political structure | Colony | |||||||||
| Commander | ||||||||||
| • | 1663-1665 | Ludolph van Coulster | ||||||||
| • | 1669-1676 | Hendrik van Rheede | ||||||||
| • | 1793-1795 | Jan Lambertus van Spall | ||||||||
| Historical era | Imperialism | |||||||||
| • | Dutch capture of Portuguese Quilon | December 1661 | ||||||||
| • | British annexation of Malabar | 1795 | ||||||||
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Dutch Malabar, also known by the name of its main settlement Cochin, was the title of a commandment of the Dutch East India Company on the Malabar Coast between 1661 and 1795, and is part of what is today collectively referred to as Dutch India. Dutch presence in the region started with the capture of Portuguese Quilon, and ended with the occupation of Malabar by the British in 1795. They possessed military outposts in 11 locations: Alleppey, Ayacotta, Chendamangalam, Pappinivattom, Ponnani, Pallipuram, Cranganore (from 15 January 1662), Chetwai, Cannanore (from 15 February 1663), Cochin (7 January 1663 – 1795), and Quilon (29 December 1658 – 14 April 1659 and from 24 December 1661).
The Dutch virtually ruled Malabar for a period of over 130 years, and forced the rulers of Malabar to agree monopolistic contracts with them for pepper and cinnamon. The Kingdom of Cochin was under the complete influence of the Dutch and the king was a mere puppet of the Dutch East India Company. They enlarged the Royal Palace built by the Portuguese at Mattancheri for the King of Cochin, which from then on became known as the "Dutch Palace". In 1744, an impressive country house, later called Bolgatty Palace, was erected on Bolghatty Island for the Dutch Governors.
The Dutch contributed a monumental work called Hortus Indicus Malabaricus on the medicinal properties of Malabar plants. In Cochin, the Dutch established an orphanage for poor European children and a leper asylum on Vypin.
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Wikipedia