Western Contacts
On June 27, 1596 Dutch trade ships led by Cornelis de Houtman, the first ever Dutch fleet to arrive in East Indies, landed in Banten. On its return to the Netherlands, the voyage (1595–97) generated a modest profit. The Portuguese and Dutch fought for control of Banten in the 17th century. In 1600 the Dutch set up the Dutch East Indies Company.
Other Europeans were soon to follow. The English, who started to sail to the East Indies from around 1600, established a permanent trading post in Banten in 1602 under James Lancaster. In 1603, the first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia was established in Banten.
Danish merchants also arrived from Tranquebar, in search of pepper. The trade relation is evident in two letters written by Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa to Frederick III of Denmark.
Attesting to Bantem's renown in Europe is Henry Fielding's play "The Author's Farce" at whose conclusion the protagonist's problems are neatly solved when he is suddenly informed that he is "The Prince of Bantam", and that as the old "King of Bantam" has died he is to inherit the throne. Fielding and his London audience clearly conceived of "Bantam" as a prosperous country of which it a great fortune to become the monarch.
Read more about this topic: Sultanate Of Banten
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