The Banda Islands Massacre, 1621: Dutch East India Company Wiped Out a People to Monopolize Nutmeg

In 1621, a trading company sent warships, soldiers and hired swordsmen to a tiny chain of volcanic islands. When it was over, a society that had traded freely for centuries was almost gone, and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) held a monopoly on the world's nutmeg. This is the story of the Banda Islands conquest: how a spice worth a fortune in Europe, a company with the powers of a state, and a governor who saw the world as a ledger came together in one of the most brutal chapters of colonial history. In this video: How Banda became the only source of nutmeg and mace on Earth How the Bandanese ran a competitive trading society with no king How the VOC was created in 1602, a corporation with shareholders and sovereign power The rise of Jan Pieterszoon Coen and the plan to replace Banda's people with a plantation system The 1621 conquest, the execution of 44 orang kaya, and the deportations The Treaty of Breda (1667), Run, New Amsterdam and the myth of "Manhattan for nutmeg" How the monopoly finally broke, and what the story still tells us today A note on accuracy: the financial motive is the argument of this video, built on the historical record, and it was not the only factor. Dutch rivalry with Spain, Portugal and England also mattered, and historians debate both the casualty figures and whether to call these events genocide, massacre or ethnic cleansing. Population and casualty numbers are scholarly estimates. Further reading: Giles Milton, Nathaniel's Nutmeg Willard A. Hanna, Indonesian Banda Vincent C. Loth's academic work on Banda If you made it this far, leave a in the comments, and subscribe for more stories of the money behind history. #BandaIslands #DutchEastIndiaCompany #HistoryDocumentary #VOC #Nutmeg #ColonialHistory #SpiceTrade #Indonesia #DutchGoldenAge #UntoldHistory Banda Islands massacre 1621, Dutch East India Company history, VOC nutmeg monopoly, how the Dutch conquered the Banda Islands, Jan Pieterszoon Coen history, nutmeg and mace trade, Spice Islands colonial history, Treaty of Breda Run New Amsterdam, why nutmeg was so valuable in the 1600s, first multinational corporation, Dutch colonialism in Indonesia, orang kaya of Banda, Fort Belgica Banda Neira, Nathaniel Courthope Run island, hidden history of empire, history of money and empire