Rijcklof Volckertsz. van Goens (24 June 1619 – 14 November 1682) was the

Governor of Zeylan A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' may ...

and

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (, ) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945, followed by the ...

. He was the

from 12 May 1660 to 1661, then in 1663 and finally from 19 November 1664 to 1675 during the Dutch period in Ceylon. He was also served as Council Member of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

during 1679. Van Goens’ managed to monopolize the cinnamon trade, get hold of the Malabar pepper and drive away the Portuguese from Ceylon and the Coromandel Coast for the VOC. Van Goens was born in Rees. He wrote extensively about his travels to Java,

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

. His writing about visits to the palaces of

Sultan Agung Sultan Agung Adi Prabu Anyakrakusuma (; 1593 – 1654), commonly known as Sultan Agung, was the third Sultan of Mataram in Central Java ruling from 1613 to 1645. He was a skilled soldier who conquered neighbouring states and expanded and cons ...

and his successors are important references for historians of the Mataram era in Java. He died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, aged 63. On 20 February 1673, Van Goens with a fleet of 6,000 men attacked Bombay. Soon, The Treaty of Westminster concluded between England and the Netherlands in 1674, relieved the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

settlements in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

of further apprehension from the Dutch. In 1679 when Rijckloff van Goens arrived at

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, while recuperating from an illness. He recommended to the Chamber of Seventeen, the governing body of the

Dutch East India Company (VOC) The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Neth ...

, that land should be granted to

Simon van der Stel Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (1691), the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. He was interested in botany, establishing vineyards Groot Constantia, Groot and Klein C ...

. When

received title to 891 morgen (about 763 hectares) on 13 July 1685, he built a house and used the land to produce wine and called the estate as

Groot Constantia Groot Constantia is the oldest winery, wine estate in South Africa and provincial heritage site in the suburb of Constantia, Cape Town, Constantia in Cape Town, South Africa. "Groot" in Dutch and Afrikaans translates as "great" (as in large) i ...

where Groot in Dutch is great and Constantia is daughter's name of Rijckloff van Goens.

Campaigns against the Portuguese

Van Goens had been leading many of the successful military campaigns directed at the Portuguese. Van Goens, was of the belief that everybody else, but especially Muslim traders, England and Portugal, were jealous of the company's possessions. He believed that the company should strike before its enemies would strike, which naturally would lead to a further increase of the company's possessions. The VOC was, first and foremost, a trading company. Therefore, officials back in the Netherlands were reluctant to send reinforcements over to Asia. Nevertheless, van Goens was able to successfully convince the majority of the officials to send a massive fleet to Asia, with the goal of taking Ceylon, Cochin, Diu, Goa, Mozambique and Macao from the Portuguese. Van Goens was able to conquer Jaffanapatnam, Mannar and the stronghold of Tuticorin on the Coromandel Coast by 23 June 1658. He did this with 21 ships, carrying a total of 2139 soldiers, 1550 sailors, 240 Singhalese soldiers and 180 saves. The soldiers themselves saw little action as the towns surrendered. In 1661, when a peace treaty was signed between Portugal and the Republic, the plan that van Goens so carefully planned a few years before, appeared to be a failure as the Portuguese's fortresses were stronger than van Goens had anticipated. Nevertheless, the Portuguese were expulsed from Ceylon and the Coromandel Coast. Macao, Diu, Goa, Cochin and Mozambique were still in Portuguese hands. Formosa had been lost as well. Two years later, van Goens conquered Cochin. After a hard battle, the Portuguese commander Sermento negotiated a surrender on 7 January 1663.Meilink-Roelofsz, 1982, p. 310

References

Bibliography

* Blussé, Leonard, "De Chinese nachtmerrie: een terugtocht en twee nederlagen" in: ''De voc: tussen oorlog en diplomatie, Leiden'': Oxford University press, 2002. *

Femme Gaastra Femme Simon Gaastra (born 23 July 1945 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands) was a Dutch Professor of maritime history at the University of Leiden and a leading expert on the history of the Dutch East India Company. Early life and education Gaastra attende ...

, ''The Dutch East India Company: expansion and decline''. Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 2003. * Bruijn, J. R.,

, and I. Schöffer, eds., ''Dutch-Asiatic shipping in the 17th and 18th centuries''. Rijks geschiedkundige publicatiën. Grote serie, vol. 165–167. (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1979, 1987). * Meilink-Roelofsz, M. A. P., "Hoe rationeel was de organisatie van de Nederlandse Oost-Indische Compagnie?", ''Economisch en sociaal-historisch jaarboek'' 44 (1982) 170–190. * Tristan Mostert, ''Chain of command: The military system of the Dutch East India Company 1655–1663'', University of Leiden, 2007.

External links

* (Dutch)''
www.vocsite.nl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goens, Rijckloff van 1619 births 1682 deaths History of Kerala People from Kleve (district) Governors-general of the Dutch East Indies Governors of Dutch Ceylon 17th-century Dutch colonial governors Dutch East India Company people from Amsterdam Writers about India People of the Third Anglo-Dutch War Naval officers of the Dutch East India Company

Campaigns against the Portuguese

See also

References

Bibliography

External links