François Valentijn
François Valentijn (born April 17, 1666 in Dordrecht , † August 6, 1727 in The Hague ) was a preacher (pastor) of the Dutch East India Company in the Moluccas and an author. Between 1724 and 1726 he published a description of the Dutch possessions and numerous regions in Asia ("Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën"), which, despite various weaknesses, remained unsurpassed in its scope and wealth of information until the 19th century.
Life
Valentijn was born the son of a headmaster of the Latin school in Dordrecht. He studied theology and philosophy in Leiden and Utrecht and was born in 1684, d. H. at the age of 19, hired as a predicant by the East India Company. In 1685 he moved to Batavia . In the colony on the Cape of Good Hope he met Simon van der Stel, in Batavia, among others, Johannes Camphuys .
From 1686 to 1694 he was pastor on the Moluccas, mainly in Ambon . Here he made friends with the botanist Georg Eberhard Rumpf , who came from Hanau . He also began to distribute Bibles in Malay but was then transferred to Batavia against his will. Relations with the other pastors there were not without conflicts, which is why he returned to Dordrecht in 1695 with his wife and children. In 1705 he set out again for East India to resume the distribution of Bibles. He worked on Java until 1707 , after which he lived again on Ambon until 1712. Because of disputes with Adriaan van der Stel, the governor of Ambon, and the governor-general of the company Abraham van Riebeeck , he was dismissed from office in 1713 and returned to the Netherlands.
plant
Valentijn's great work Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën was published between 1724 and 1726 . The title alone testifies to the author's claim:
- Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën, vervattende Een Naaukeurige en Uitvoerige Verhandelinge van Nederlands Mogentheyd in die Gewesten, benevens Eene airy Beschryvinge der Moluccos, Amboina, Banda, Timor, en Solor, Java, en alle de Eylanden onder dezelve Landbestieringen behoor; het Nederlands Comptoir op Suratte, en de Levens of the Groote Mogols; als ook Een Keuryke Verhandeling van 't wezentlykste dat men behoort te weten van Choromandel, Pegu, Arracan, Bengal, Mocha, Persia, Malacca, Sumatra, Ceylon, Malabar, Celebes of Macassar, China, Japan, Tayouan of Formosa, Tonkin, Cambodia , Siam, Borneo, Bali, Kaap der Goede Hoop en van Mauritius. Te zamen dus riveted niet avenues eene zeer nice description of everything, what Nederlands Oost-Indiën concerns, maar ook 't voornaamste dat eenigzins tot some other Europeërs, in the west, trekking heeft. With the sea dan thien honderd en vyftig Prentverbeeldingen verrykt. Everything zeer naaukeurig, in opzigt van de Landen, Steden, Sterkten, Zeden der Volk, Boomen, Gewasschen, Land- en Zeè- dieren, met alle het Wereldyke en Kerkelyke, van d'Oudste tyden af tot nu toe aldaar voorgevallen, Beschreven, en met veele zeer nice daar toe reyed cards opged by François Valentyn, Onlangs operator of the Goddelijken Woords in Amboina, Banda, enz. in vyf deelen. Te Dordrecht, by Joannes van Braam, te Amsterdam, by Gerard onder de Linden. Bookverkoopers. MDCCXXIV. Met privilege. [1724–26]
In five volumes with 5144 pages and more than 1050 illustrations, it gives a detailed overview of the history of the Dutch East India Company, its possessions and all the Asian areas in which the company operated its business. Due to the maritime character of Dutch trade, islands and coastal areas are in the foreground. The respective country description is followed by an overview of flora , fauna , the inhabitants, law , religion and the political constitution. The work gives detailed information on the military, political and commercial position of the Dutch in Asia.
Valentijn not only drew on his own considerable experience and observations. He had access to unpublished India Company documents and to Rumpf's extensive manuscripts. Further information came from Willem Adriaan van der Stel. At the same time, he evaluated the publications by Willem Schouten and Nicolaas de Graaff .
In principle, the East India Company tried to prevent former servants from publishing on their possessions and trade. However, enforcement was not always stringent, and in Valentijn's time there were hardly any secrets in the spice trade or with regard to sea routes and geography, so that Valentijn was lucky enough to experience the pressure while he was still alive.
literature
- Fisch, Jörg (1986): Holland's fame in Asia. François Valentijn's vision of the Dutch empire in the 18th century . Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden. ISBN 3-515-04593-7
- Habiboe, Ron RF (2004) Tot habenffing van mijne natie. Het leven en werk van François Valentijn (1666-1727) . Van Wijnen. ISBN 9051942621
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Valentijn, François |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch historian and predicant of the United East India Company in the Moluccas |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 17, 1666 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dordrecht |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 6, 1727 |
| Place of death | The hague |