The relationship between the VOC (Dutch East India Company) and its servants fundamentally changed with its decline (1740-1796). The changing circumstances of the eighteenth century demanded too... Show moreThe relationship between the VOC (Dutch East India Company) and its servants fundamentally changed with its decline (1740-1796). The changing circumstances of the eighteenth century demanded too much of the VOC. The solution to these new demands was not sought in new capitalization from Europe, but in a combination of cutbacks on activities in Asia and augmented usage of servants’ fortunes. The domains the VOC retreated from were filled by privileges to the servants. As the VOC depended more on its servants during its decline, the balance of power between them shifted in favour of the servants. This change in balance demanded more of the servants, forcing them to organize themselves differently to meet the new challenges. In the end, this change of perspective makes the development much more comparable to the changes the English East India Company went through, and provides a new perspective on changes in the position of the EIC-servants in the period around Plassey (1757). Show less
=========ABSTRACT=========It is tempting to think of precolonial India as a harmonious society, but was it? This study brings evidence from new and unexpected sources to take position in the... Show more=========ABSTRACT=========It is tempting to think of precolonial India as a harmonious society, but was it? This study brings evidence from new and unexpected sources to take position in the sensitive debate over that question. From the investigation of six conflicts in the Deccan region it draws conclusions about group behaviour that put modern clashes in context. Some of the conflicts under investigation appear odd today but were very real to the involved, as the antagonism between Left and Right Hand castes was for about a thousand years. Other conflicts continue to the present day: the seventeenth century saw lasting changes in the relationship between Hindus and Muslims as well as the rise of patriotism and early nationalism in both India and Europe. This book carefully brings to life the famous and obscure people who made the era, from the Dutch painter Heda to queen Khadija and from maharaja Shivaji to the English rebel Keigwin=========NOTES=========First Leiden University Press edition, 2009. Entirely revised from the author’s dissertation Xenophobia and Consciousness in Seventeenth-Century India: Six Cases from the Deccan, 12-Mar-2008. Show less
