Cornelis de Houtman (2 April 1565 – 11 September 1599) was a Dutch merchant seaman who commanded the
first Dutch expedition to the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...
.
Although the voyage was difficult and yielded only a modest profit, Houtman showed that the
Portuguese monopoly on the
spice trade
The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in t ...
was vulnerable. A flurry of Dutch trading voyages followed, eventually leading to the displacement of the Portuguese and the establishment of a Dutch
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
on spice trading in the East Indies.
Early life
Cornelis de Houtman was born in 1565 in
Gouda, South Holland
Gouda () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province , city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands , municipality in the west of the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Utrecht (city), Utrecht, in the Provinces of the Netherland ...
. His father, Pieter de Houtman, was a brewer. Cornelis had a younger brother,
Frederick de Houtman, born in 1571 and two sisters.
In 1592, Houtman's wealthy cousin, Reynier Pauw, and several other prosperous merchants in Amsterdam formed a company, ''
Compagnie van Verre'', to finance a Dutch trading expedition to the East Indies. Their initial inspiration had been the publication of a series of maps that appeared to show the route to the East Indies. These charts were provided by noted Dutch cartographer,
Petrus Plancius, who indicated he had obtained them from Spain's royal cosmographer, Bartolomeo de Lasso.
That same year, Pauw sent Houtman to Lisbon along with his brother Frederick. It is unclear whether Houtman had legitimate business in Portugal or went primarily as a commercial spy to gather information about Portuguese spice trade in the East Indies. While they were gone, another Dutch merchant,
Jan Huygen van Linschoten, returned to Amsterdam after spending almost nine years in
Goa. He brought back extensive information about the region including crucial details on navigation and the spice trade.
The voyage
The merchants determined that
Bantam provided the best opportunity to buy spices. On 2 April 1595, four ships left Amsterdam: the , , , and the .

The voyage was beset with trouble from the beginning.
Scurvy
Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
broke out after only a few weeks, due to insufficient provisions. At
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
, where a brief stop was planned, seventy-one people had to be buried. The 71 of the 248 sailors had died, most of scurvy. The Madagascan bay where they were anchored is now known as the Dutch cemetery. After the death of one of the skippers, quarrels broke out among the captains and traders, one was imprisoned on board and locked up in his cabin. In June 1596, the ships finally arrived at
Banten
Banten (, , Pegon alphabet, Pegon: بنتن) is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capi ...
, a northwestern port at
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
.
Jan Huyghen van Linschoten had told them not to pass through the
Malacca Strait, which was controlled by the Portuguese, but through
Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait () is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean.
Etymology
The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the western portion of Ja ...
.
De Houtman was introduced to the
Sultan
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
of Banten, who promptly entered into an optimistic treaty with the Dutch, writing "We are well content to have a permanent league of alliance and friendship with His Highness the Prince
Maurice of Nassau, of the Netherlands and with you, gentlemen." The local Portuguese traders became very suspicious when De Houtman did not buy any black pepper, and wanted to wait on the next harvest. Unfortunately, De Houtman was undiplomatic and insulting to the sultan, and was turned away for "rude behaviour", without being able to buy spices at all.
The ships then sailed east to
Madura
is an list of islands of Indonesia, Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administratively ...
, but were attacked by pirates on the way. In Madura, they were received peacefully, but De Houtman ordered his men to brutally attack and rape the civilian population in revenge for the unrelated earlier piracy.
The ships then sailed for
Bali
Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
, and met with the island's king. They managed to obtain a few pots of peppercorns on 26 February 1597. Two of the crewmembers stayed on the island. At
Bawean one of the ships, the ''Amsterdam'' was purposely set on fire, and the crew divided over the other three ships. When the sailors had enough of the exhausting voyage, it was decided not to go to the Moluccas and return to Holland. That evening another one of the skippers died. De Houtman was accused of poisoning him.
Portuguese ships prevented them from taking on water and supplies at
Saint Helena. Out of the 249 men crew, only 87 returned, too weak to moor their ships themselves.
Death
Though the trip was a humanitarian disaster and financially probably just broke even, it was a symbolic victory. It may be regarded as the start of the Dutch colonisation of Indonesia. Within five years, 65 more Dutch ships had sailed east to trade. Soon, the Dutch would fully take over the spice trade in and around the Indian Ocean.
On his second trip to the East in 1599, for a different company, De Houtman and his troops arrived in
Aceh
Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...
. The Sultan accepted him peacefully until de Houtman insulted him. He had already clashed with the
Banten Sultanate
The Banten Sultanate (, ) was a Bantenese people, Bantenese Islamic trading sultanate, kingdom founded in the 16th century and centred in Bantam (city), Banten, a port city on the northwest coast of Java; the contemporary English name of both w ...
in northwest
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
before his arrival in Aceh, and, feeling arrogant, escalated the situation by challenging the Sultan. This led to his defeat at the hands of the first woman admiral in modern world, Admiral
Keumalahayati, and her Inong Balee Army.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Houtman, Cornelis de
16th-century Dutch explorers
1565 births
1599 deaths
H
People from Gouda, South Holland
Businesspeople from the Habsburg Netherlands
Merchants