Suchergebnisse

"This book follows the trade winds, the trade routes, and the port cities across the East Indies and the Orient. High finance, piracy, greed, ambition, double dealing, exploitation all is here. Driven by the search for spices, silks, gold, silver, porcelains and other oriental goods the Portuguese trading monopoly was challenged by the Dutch East India Company and then the English East India Company, the worlds first joint stock and multi-national trading companies. The struggle for supremacy between the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English ranged across the Eastern Seas and in the settlements of Goa, Malacca, Ambon, Macao, Canton, Nagasaki, Solor, Batavia, Macassar, Johor and Singapore for 250 years. Visitors to these destination will be interested in this book. The story is told by the history of these port cities, beginning with Malacca -- one of the worlds largest trading ports in 16th century and ending with the founding of Singapore and Hong Kong." --Publisher description

Cloves and nutmeg are indigenous to the Spice Islands of Eastern Indonesia. The book tells of the many uses of these exotic spices and the history of their trade over a period of more than 2000 years. It describes how the Spice trade into Europe came to be dominated by Middle Eastern and Venetian merchants. Backed by the Crowns of Portugal and Spain explorers such as Columbus, Vasco da Gama and Magellan dreamt of sailing directly to the Spice Islands. Much of the story is told through the lives of these historical characters, as well as Sir Francis Drake, Jan Pieterzoom Coen, Pierre Poive and others, lesser known but equally important. The story revolves around the intense rivalry between the Sultans of Ternate and Tidore, their relationship with the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and English who at different times occupied the Spice Islands.