Sri Lanka: 17th century Dutch East India Company manuscript map of Galle (detail). The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese. It was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia, including establishing colonies in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and India.

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Size: 3600px × 4952px
Photo credit: © Pictures From History / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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