Dutch East India Company (VOC) in India

Colonial power Level 2

1605 – 1825

Dutch trading posts on the Coromandel and Malabar coasts and in Bengal.

🗺 See on map in 1715

Capital: Pulicat, later Nagapattinam
Region: Coastal
Duration: 220 years
Main period: European Maritime Powers

Approximate extent over time (solid = latest, dashed = earlier).

Constituent & related polities

Dutch Coromandel (Pulicat)

Dutch Chinsurah

Dutch Ceylon

Dutch Malabar (Cochin)

Key events

Year	Event	Place
1602	Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded The Dutch arrived in India in the early 17th century and, unlike the Portuguese, focused mainly on trade, especially in spices. Their Dutch East India Company set up trading posts at Surat, Bharuch and Cochin in the west and Nagapattinam and Masulipatnam in the east.
1656	Dutch take Colombo from the Portuguese Portuguese rule in Sri Lanka ended by 1658.	Colombo

Sites & monuments

Galle Fort

Capital / fort · 1663

📚 Recommended reading on the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in India

Textbook

Our Pasts I, II & III (Classes 6–8)

NCERT · NCERT

The simplest possible start: short, illustrated and the base of countless exam questions.

NCERT basics UPSC Prelims SSC State PSC

Amazon ↗Flipkart ↗

Textbook

Themes in Indian History, Parts I–III (Class 12)

NCERT · NCERT

Source-based chapters on Harappa, Vijayanagara, the Mughal court and 1857 — essential for UPSC.

NCERT basics UPSC Prelims UPSC Mains SSC State PSC

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Reference

The Marathas 1600–1818

Stewart Gordon · Cambridge University Press

How the Maratha state rose from Shivaji's swarajya to a subcontinental power.

General reading

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Reference

A History of Assam

Edward Gait · Various reprints

The classic history of Assam and the Ahom kingdom.

State PSC General reading

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📄 Research papers

Paper🏛 Library access

🇮🇳 Indian scholarship

Connected Histories: Notes towards a Reconfiguration of Early Modern Eurasia

Sanjay Subrahmanyam · 1997
Modern Asian Studies 31(3): 735–762

Reads Mughal India as part of a connected early-modern world rather than an isolated civilisation.

✓ Verified with Crossref · 28 Sep 2026 · Original article by its authors, at the publisher

Read at the publisher ↗Google Scholar ↗doi:10.1017/S0026749X00017133

Paper🏛 Library access

🇮🇳 Indian scholarship

The Portuguese, the port of Basrur, and the rice trade, 1600-50

Sanjay Subrahmanyam · 1984
The Indian Economic & Social History Review 21(4): 433–462

The Kanara coast's rice trade and the Portuguese in the early seventeenth century.

✓ Verified with Crossref · 28 Sep 2026 · Original article by its authors, at the publisher

Read at the publisher ↗Google Scholar ↗doi:10.1177/001946468402100403

All journals & research papers →

🕸 Connections 20 links

Explore connections full screen ↗

Everything on YugMap linked to this page — and why. Hover a dot in the graph, or pick from the list.

🗂 Era 1

Modern India
Part of this era

⏳ Periods 1

European Maritime Powers
Belongs to this period

🏛 Kingdoms & empires 12

Dutch Coromandel (Pulicat) 1610 – 1825
Part of it
Dutch Chinsurah 1656 – 1825
Part of it
Dutch Ceylon 1658 – 1796
Part of it
Dutch Malabar (Cochin) 1663 – 1795
Part of it
Sultanate of the Maldives 1153 – 1968
Existed at the same time (220 years)
Malla Dynasty of Nepal 1201 – 1769
Existed at the same time (164 years)
Ahom Kingdom 1228 – 1826
Existed at the same time (220 years)
Mewar (Sisodia) 1326 – 1949
Existed at the same time (220 years)
Vijayanagara Empire 1336 – 1646
Existed at the same time (41 years)
Kingdom of Mysore 1399 – 1950
Existed at the same time (220 years)
Kingdom of Kandy 1469 – 1815
Existed at the same time (210 years)
Portuguese Estado da Índia 1505 – 1961
Existed at the same time (220 years)

⚔ Events 1

Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded 1602
Happened in it

🔧 Technology 1

Jantar Mantar observatory early 18th century
Made or discovered in this time

📄 Research 2

Connected Histories: Notes towards a Reconfiguration of Early Modern Eurasia Sanjay Subrahmanyam · 1997
Research on this topic
The Portuguese, the port of Basrur, and the rice trade, 1600-50 Sanjay Subrahmanyam · 1984
Research on this topic

📚 Books 2

Our Pasts I, II & III (Classes 6–8) NCERT
Recommended reading
Themes in Indian History, Parts I–III (Class 12) NCERT
Recommended reading

Contemporaries

Powers that coexisted with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in India for a significant part of its history. The bar shows when, within its own span.

Sultanate of the Maldives ★

Islands · c. 1153 – 1968

Overlap: 220 years

Malla Dynasty of Nepal ★

Himalaya · 1201 – 1769

Overlap: 164 years

Ahom Kingdom ★

Northeast · 1228 – 1826

Overlap: 220 years

Mewar (Sisodia) ★

West · 1326 – 1949

Overlap: 220 years

Vijayanagara Empire ★

South · 1336 – 1646

Overlap: 41 years

Kingdom of Mysore ★

South · 1399 – 1950

Overlap: 220 years

Kingdom of Kandy ★

Sri Lanka · c. 1469 – 1815

Overlap: 210 years

Portuguese Estado da Índia ★

Coastal · 1505 – 1961

Overlap: 220 years

Mughal Empire ★

North · 1526 – 1857

Overlap: 220 years

British East India Company ★

Pan-Indian · 1600 – 1858

Overlap: 220 years

Maratha Empire ★

Deccan · 1674 – 1818

Overlap: 144 years

Nawabs of Bengal ★

East · 1717 – 1765

Overlap: 48 years

Hyderabad State (Nizams) ★

Deccan · 1724 – 1948

Overlap: 101 years

Sikh Empire ★

North · 1799 – 1849

Overlap: 26 years

Zamorins of Calicut

South · c. 1124 – 1766

Overlap: 161 years

Kachwahas of Amber (Jaipur)

West · c. 1128 – 1949

Overlap: 220 years

Marwar (Rathore)

West · c. 1226 – 1949

Overlap: 220 years

Ahmadnagar Sultanate (Nizam Shahi)

Deccan · 1490 – 1636

Overlap: 31 years

Bijapur Sultanate (Adil Shahi)

Deccan · 1490 – 1686

Overlap: 81 years

Portuguese Cochin

Coastal · 1503 – 1663

Overlap: 58 years

Koch Kingdom (Kamata / Cooch Behar)

Northeast · 1515 – 1949

Overlap: 220 years

Golconda Sultanate (Qutb Shahi)

Deccan · 1518 – 1687

Overlap: 82 years

Madurai Nayaks

South · 1529 – 1736

Overlap: 131 years

Portuguese Bassein & Bombay

Coastal · 1534 – 1739

Overlap: 134 years

Portuguese Diu

Coastal · 1535 – 1961

Overlap: 220 years

Portuguese Daman

Coastal · 1559 – 1961

Overlap: 220 years

Gorkha Kingdom

Himalaya · 1559 – 1768

Overlap: 163 years

Portuguese Hooghly

Coastal · 1579 – 1632

Overlap: 27 years

Portuguese Ceylon

Sri Lanka · 1597 – 1658

Overlap: 53 years

Bhutan under the Zhabdrung (Druk Desi)

Himalaya · 1616 – 1907

Overlap: 209 years

Danish India

Coastal · 1620 – 1869

Overlap: 205 years

Danish Tranquebar

Coastal · 1620 – 1845

Overlap: 205 years

Fort St George, Madras

Coastal · 1639 – 1858

Overlap: 186 years

French India

Coastal · 1668 – 1954

Overlap: 157 years

Bombay (English East India Company)

Coastal · 1668 – 1858

Overlap: 157 years

Chandernagore

Coastal · 1673 – 1950

Overlap: 152 years

Pondichéry

Coastal · 1674 – 1954

Overlap: 151 years

Carnatic (Nawabs of Arcot)

South · 1692 – 1855

Overlap: 133 years

Hotak Dynasty

Northwest · 1709 – 1738

Overlap: 29 years

Gaekwad State (Baroda)

West · 1721 – 1949

Overlap: 104 years