In April 1595, the ships Mauritius, Hollandia, Amsterdam and the Duyfken set sail from Texel, with Bantam in Java as their destination. The small fleet led by Cornelis de Houtman is in search of spices. It is the first trip to the East: the Dutch East India Company (VOC) does not exist yet, but the House of Orange is already playing a role in the first steps towards colonisation of Java, write Australian researchers Susan Broomhall and Jacqueline Van Gent in their book Dynastic Colonialism.

It was of great importance to De Houtman that Stadholder Maurice of Orange would bring letters of recommendation and gifts along with him to ingratiate himself with foreign rulers. Through diplomacy, trade and the exchange of gifts, the House of Orange figuratively gained a foothold in the East Indies.

However, much is still unknown about the role played by the royal house in the early stages of colonisation, says historian and royal house expert Coks Donders. ‘Mainly concerning the details of the money flow. It’s a good thing to investigate that and I understand the king’s desire to find out where the royal family’s money came from.’

INGRATIATION WITH RULERS

Last week, the news broke that Leiden University was commissioned by King Willem-Alexander to conduct an independent investigation into the colonial history of the House of Orange-Nassau. The investigation will take three years and will be headed by professor emeritus of Colonial History Gert Oostindie.

‘Profound knowledge of the past is essential to understand historical facts and developments and to confront as acutely and truthfully as possible what impact they had on people and communities’, the king announced. ‘I think it’s important that this knowledge also becomes available with regard to the role of the House of Orange-Nassau in colonial history.’

Mare talked to various experts and as it turns out, there is plenty to research.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the House of Orange was administratively, economically and culturally involved in the colonies, says assistant professor Karwan Fatah-Black, who is an expert on early modern globalisation and the history of the Atlantic slave trade. ‘We know that stadholder William III, who was also king of England and Scotland, had shares in the English trading company The Royal African Company, which practised slave trading. Stadholders William IV and V were involved in the colonial administration, they were presidents of the VOC and the West India Company (WIC).’

ARMY FORCE TO SURINAME

For example, William IV sent an army force to Suriname to quell uprisings by Maroons, former slaves who had fled, and to replace the colonial council in Suriname with an Orangist administrator. ‘The investigation could reveal that the stadholders had a more leading role than previously thought’, says Fatah-Black. ‘William V had shares in plantations. I don’t know to what extent they received other revenues from the colonies; that’s something that can now be investigated.’

But the further back you go, the harder it is to find out, warns Donders. ‘Much has either never been documented or has been lost over time. And, of course, there is no one left to tell us which trade register contains which information. There are some materials available, but the question is whether they’re complete. That requires a lot of detective work, but there are specialists who can do that.’

There is no doubt that the House of Orange made money from the colonies. Donders: ‘What we do know is that an exorbitant share, sometimes up to 20 percent of the proceeds from the colonies, ended up in the coffers of the House of Orange.’

OPIUM TRADE

But the investigation is not only focused on money but also on valuable objects. Fatah-Black: ‘The House of Orange received gifts from the colonies, which they would pass on to friendly heads of state, for example. Those gifts had a role to play in the accumulation of the family’s power and reputation.’ Donders: ‘Once the shipping industry, the VOC and WIC, was well established, many valuable art treasures were brought back home.’

Thanks to modern techniques, it is possible to find out exactly where they came from. ‘These techniques were also used on the Golden Coach, for example, which allowed specialists to trace the gold all the way back to the mine in Suriname, so to speak. But the question is what you want to do with that information. That’s up to the state to decide.’

In addition, the researchers should try to shed light on the investments made by the House of Orange in the colonies, according to Fatah-Black and Donders. King William I, for example, acquired wealth through the opium trade, writes Ewald Vanvugt in his book Roofstaat (2016). For that purpose, William I founded the Netherlands Trading Society (NHM), among other things. The NHM believed that ‘morality did not forbid it from stimulating consumption among the Javanese for the purpose of obtaining trade profits for the Netherlands’, writes the expert on the Netherlands’ colonial past. By the early nineteenth century, the East Indies had been reduced to a subdued profit-making region where the population was exploited.

The NHM’s profit between 1825 and 1833 was six million guilders, half of which stemmed from the opium trade. ‘That profit prevented both NHM and the Dutch royal house from going bankrupt, and laid the foundation for both institutions’, Vanvugt writes. When he ascended to the throne in 1815, William I had next to nothing. ‘Upon his death, his fortune was estimated at 30 million guilders.’

It was never revealed where this money came from. One of the things the commission will have to find out is what other part of William I’s fortune can be traced back to the colonies.

30 MILLION GUILDERS

‘For this king, who had the colonies under his direct authority, the investigation will also have to cover the cultivation system’, says Fatah-Black. That was a tenure system under which the Javanese were forced to grow coffee, tea and sugar on some of the land they farmed. The produce was handed over to the government, which would sell the goods at high profits. That system allowed the king to exercise his power with practically no resistance and mercilessly exploited the people of Java. ‘The House of Orange was the embodiment of colonial power at that time.’

The period that followed, around the time slavery was abolished in 1863 (although slavery continued to exist in Suriname until 1873), also warrants investigation. ‘It would seem that Kings William II and III did not play a very active role in the abolition’, says Fatah-Black. ‘It’s possible that they actually hindered that development.’

Much about the last century is already known, says Donders. ‘In the first half of the twentieth century, most colonies became independent. Wilhelmina was the last to have any major involvement in the colonies. As of Juliana’s reign, which started in 1948, the royal family’s involvement decreased considerably.’

NEW ISSUES

Fatah-Black expects that many new issues will be brought to light. The same proved true when he conducted an investigation into the role of De Nederlandsche Bank in slavery. ‘The word “slavery” was completely absent from the bank’s historical accounts that had already been published. Upon investigation, however, clear links to that past were revealed. I expect the same to happen here. It could be uncomfortable if it is revealed that the House of Orange made a lot of money from the colonies.’

According to Donders, a three-year investigation may not be long enough. ‘I think the plan of ploughing through so many centuries in three years is very ambitious’, she responds. ‘A lot can be done in three years, but I’m certain it won’t be finished by then.’