Indiae Orientalis, 17th century map by by Nicolaes Visscher II
Muhammad Ahmedullah
The first trade treaty concluded by the English in Asia was with Sultan Alauddin Riayat Syah of Aceh in 1602. This was achieved quite soon after the arrival of the first fleet of four ships of the English East India Company in Aceh on June 5 of that year, under the command of Captain James Lancaster.
Based on records of the voyage, the efforts the English made and the resources they spent in Aceh, clearly indicate that Aceh was planned to be their main base in Asia.
One of the first people the English captain met in Aceh was a Dutchman, who had been left by a previous Dutch voyage to learn about the region’s culture, language and trade and prepare for the next arrival of the Dutch in Aceh.
He came on board one of the English ships and informed Captain Lancaster that the king of Aceh was waiting to meet the English people as Queen Elizabeth I had developed a high reputation in this part of the world due to her victory against the Spanish.
The gifts to the king and the letter from Queen Elizabeth to Sultan Alauddin, the ruler of the kingdom, show how important the English considered Aceh to be for their Asian trade.
Although it didn’t take long to achieve a trade treaty, it wasn’’t a simple matter to come to an agreement on regulating mutual trade – one important reason could be that the ruler and his kingdom were then very powerful and confident. There was a process of discussion, negotiation, and clarification in writing as to what the English were seeking had to be gone through before a treading treaty could be concluded.
As part of the preamble of the letter, before condemning the Portuguese and the Spanish for what they were doing, Queen Elizabeth I praised the Sultan further and requested protection for her subjects and to conclude a free trade agreement with Aceh.
“Elizabeth by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland (Defender of the Christian Faith and Religion.) To the great and might ie King of Ache, Sfc, in the Island of Sumatra, our loving Brother, greeting.
“The eternal God, of his divine knowledge and providence, hath so disposed His blessings and good things of His creation for the use and nourishment of mankind, in such sort: that notwithstanding they grow in diuers kingdoms and regions of the world, yet, by the Industrie of man (stirred up by the inspiration of the said omnipotent Creator) they are dispersed into the most remote places of the universal world; to the end, that even therein may appear unto all nations His marvellous work, He having so ordained that the one land may have need of the other; and thereby, not only breed intercourse and exchange of their merchandise and fruits, which doe so superabound in some countries and want in others, but also ingender love and friendship betweet all men, a thing naturally divine.”
After presenting the letter of the English Queen to Sultan Alauddin of Aceh on June 7, 1602, on the third day after they arrived in Aceh from England, during the first reception and banquet given at the court, Captain James Lancaster made the following presents to the king:
“… a basin of silver, having a fountain in the middle of it, weighing 205 ounces; a large standing cup of silver; a rich mirror; a headpiece with a plume of feathers; a case of very fair dagges; a richly embroidered sword-belt; and a fan made of feathers. All these were received in the king’s presence by a nobleman of the court, the king only taking into his own hand the fan of feathers, with which he made one of his women fan him, as if this had pleased him more than all the rest.”
Early that day, Captain James Lancaster arrived at the Dutch house with about thirty others from his ships before seeing the king. The king sent “… six great elephants were sent, with many drums, trumpets and streamers, and manypeople, to accompany the general to court.
The largest elephant was about thirteen or fourteen feet high, having a small castle like a coach on his back, covered with crimson velvet. In the middle of the castle was a large basin of gold, with an exceedingly rich wrought cover of silk, under which the queen’s letter was deposited. The general was mounted upon another of the elephants, some of his attendants riding, while others went a-foot.”
In return, Sultan Alauddin,“… gave also to the general (Captain James Lancaster) a fine robe of white calico, richly wrought with gold: a very fine girdle of Turkey work; and two crisses, which are a kind of daggers, all of which were put on him by a nobleman in the king’s presence.”
When the English East India Company set out for Asia, they thought Aceh would be where they could buy most of their spices, mainly pepper, and the price would be low.
So, the efforts made to establish a trade treaty with the Sultan was designed to set them on the right footing so they could start trading as soon as possible, buying up spices without fear and obstruction, and seek redresses from local violaters.
Treaties with other rulers would complement and help improve the prospects for English trade.
However, the English soon realised that very few spices could be had in Aceh and that the prices were higher than expected. They learnt that they needed to venture more to the east to get cheaper spices.
Although the English virtually got everything, they were seeking from a trade treaty with the Sultan of Aceh, the efforts they made to get a trade treaty did not prove to be a sound investment. Subsequently, little came out of it in Aceh regarding trade, but the English found Bantam (Banten) easier to do business.
Few English ships visited Aceh subsequently during the early voyages, but went straight to Bantam, where they set up their trading base. A new trade agreement with the local ruler was reached within a few months after leaving Aceh. The trade agreement reached consisted of the following elements:
“First, free trade and entry. Second, freedom from customs on import and export. Third, the assistance of their vessels to save our goods and men from wreck, and other dangers. Fourth, liberty of testament, to bequeath their goods to whom they pleased.
Fifth, stability of bargains and payments by the subjects of Acheen. Sixth, authority to execute justice on their own people offending. Seventh, justice against injuries from the natives. Eighth, not to arrest or stay our goods, or to fix prices upon them. Lastly, freedom of conscience.”
Although the actual levels of trade in Aceh and its potential proved below expectations, going there wasn’t a complete waste of time for the East India Company. Captain James Lancaster’s fleet stayed in Aceh for just over five months from June 5 to November 7, 602, including a detour to the ‘straits of Malacca’ from September 11 to October 24.
During that time, the English learned much about Asia, where trade could be had for spices, the relative price differentials from place to place and the fact that the English goods they brought with them, mainly textiles, were not in demand in Asia. So, if they wanted to trade in Asia, they would have to find another way to bring a lot of silver cash or goods that local people in Asian cities were seeking.
The detour to the straits of Malacca proved to be the main source of success for the first voyage of the East India Company. Sultan Alauddin’s assistance to James Lancaster’s plan seems to have been a critical factor.
What happened was that Captain James Lancaster decided to go and look for a Portuguese ship to pirate. He had already successfully robbed a Portuguese vessel in the mid-Atlantic while on route to Asia from Europe, more than a year earlier in June 1601.
By then, the English had three ships in Asia as one of the four that arrived, Susan was sent to the Western Sumatran city of Pariaman to buy pepper, as it was learnt that they would be able to purchase spices there “where one of the smaller ships might be loaded”.
A Dutch captain with a 200-ton ship in Aceh was short of money, so he requested Captain Lancaster to join the English piracy plan. An agreement was reached that stipulated how to divide the pirated goods once a Portuguese vessel was taken: 7/8 and 1/8, respectively, between the English and the Dutch.
One major problem in executing the plan to capture a Portuguese vessel was the presence of a Portuguese Ambassador in Aceh. If the Portuguese Ambassador were to leave Aceh before or soon after the English departed for the straits of Malacca, then the Portuguese who controlled Malacca would be alerted of the English presence, and this would jeopardise any chances of success by the English.
So, Captain James Lancaster – by then, had established a good friendly relationship with the Sultan of Aceh, revealed his plan to pirate a Portuguese ship and requested King Alauddin to keep the Portuguese Ambassador in his court as long as possible.
As the Sultan had long historical hostility with the Portuguese, he was happy to oblige but also requested Captain James Lancaster to bring some presents for him, including “you must bring me a fair Portuguese maiden at your return”.
A large Portuguese ship on route from St Thome on the Coromandel coast of India to Malacca was taken somewhere near Malacca by the English East India Company ships with assistance from the sole Dutch ship which joined the expedition. They bombarded and disabled the vessel. It took them six days to transfer the goods from the Portuguese to the three English and one Dutch ship, which mostly consisted of Indian textiles and some rice.
After returning to Aceh at the end of October 1602, given some presents to the king of Aceh, the English departed for Banten on November 7, 1602.
When they arrived on December 16, 1602, they found the Banten Sultanate was ruled by a child king under a regent and, unlike Aceh, Banten was relatively less stable.
There they sold copious quantities of their pirated Portuguese textiles that were made in India and used the money to buy spices. They found enough spices to fill all the two ships that arrived in Bantam, two of which had been sent previously – one from Aceh and the other from Pariaman.
The quantity of textiles they took from the Portuguese was so huge that even after selling a lot in the Banten markets, they still had a huge quantity left unsold. One of two houses the English got from the Sultan of Banten was mainly used as a warehouse to store the textiles.
The 23 Englishmen left in the city when Captain James Lancaster departed with his two ships for England on February 20, 1603 were instructed to sell the textiles and buy and stock up on spices for the next voyage.
