Dutch

Brief History

"The Dutch sent their first fleet to the East in 1595. Being commercial realists they went straight to the source of the spice trade in the East Indies, established themselves at Batavia (now, as previous to their arrival, called Jakarta), and proceeded to oust the Portuguese. Then they established a chain of posts through Ceylon and Capetown to connect themselves with their home base and proceeded to develop a great Asian network of trade by which they planned to earn resources needed to purchase spices without drawing on the silver bullion which was in chronic short supply in northern Europe. India came within their purview only as a link in their great commerical chain. It was a source of textiles for sale in the East Indies in exchange for spices while the extreme south and Ceylon were valuable for their own supplies of pepper, cardamom and cinnamon. The Dutch had 'factories' or warehouses as far north as Agra but they took no part in politics or cultural contacts. Their eccentric tombs at Surat and their factories at Cochin and Negapatam are their principal memorials in India. Only in Ceylon did they exercise dominion in the plains from Colombo and leave a living memorial in the Burgher community."

Source : A History of India (Volume Two) (1978) by Percival Spear pp.65-68

Marco Ramerini has compiled a collection of Dutch and Portuguese Colonial History Links.

Church Records

If your ancestors were baptised, married or buried in a European church in British India, then the church records should have been transcribed and sent to the capital of the Presidency, where they would later have been forwarded on to London. These records were indexed and about 80% of church records in British India are believed to have survived. You can access these records at the APAC in the British Library in London, or at LDS Family History Centres. The FIBIS website has extensive information on locating church records on microfilm for British India. However, your Dutch ancestors may not have lived in British India (i.e. that portion of India that was controlled by the British - this grew from a very small area in 1600 to almost all of India by 1947). In this case, the church records will not be kept in the APAC at the British Library.

The Dutch Churchbook of St Francis' Church in Cochin has been microfilmed by the LDS and is available at LDS Family History Centres on microfilm 498601. A transcribed index of the names in this book, together with dates of death, can be seen on the Archived Cochin Churchbook website The dates of death cover the period 1751-1804

BACSA have transcribed and published Bimlipatam Christian Cemeteries which contain British and Dutch tombs from the 17th century.

Associations

If you had Dutch ancestors who lived in India, a useful association is the Dutch Indies Genealogical Association. Although their main focus is what is now called Indonesia, the Dutch Indies Genealogical Association can also help with Dutch genealogy in India.

Books

The following are books relating to the Dutch in India :

De Nederlanders in Voor-Indië by Terpstra, H. and Kernkamp, J.H. Published in 1947 in Amsterdam by P. N. van Kampen & Zoon

The Dutch in India By Owen C. Kail. Hardcover edition (1981).

Precious Metals and Commerce : The Dutch East India Company in the Indian Ocean Trade By Om Prakash. Hardcover edition (1994).