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===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."<ref> Spear, ''A History of India'' (Volume Two) (1978) pp.65-68 </ref>
"It is noticeable that the best jobs, merchants, administrators and
ships officers were nearly all of Dutch origin, but that the more
marginal roles as sailors, (who could expect to return home every two
years or so) and even less popular jobs as soldiers, who would
probably struggle to get home after ten or more years, if ever, came
from further afield", many of [[German]] origin from parts of
Western Germany.<ref>Balmer, Nick. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210709055054/https://groups.io/g/india-british-raj/message/585 VOC Records] ''<nowiki>india-british-raj@groups.io</nowiki>'' 7 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.</ref>
===Individuals===
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