The Seventeenth Century Dutch Travel Literature

The seventeenth century is important for the Dutch for many reasons. This century is considered as the golden age of economic affluence. During this period the Dutch achieved considerable success in maritime trade. This was also the century when many Dutch people made their journey overseas, especially to Asia as Company (VOC) soldiers, sailors, merchants, serviceman and missionary. This stimulated the interaction between the Dutch and the Asians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During their stays in Asia they engaged with the local society, culture, customs, and religion and so on. Through their interaction with local society they earned considerable knowledge of Asiatic regions. Upon their return home they began to publish their experiences on Asia. The book studies a specific seventeenth-century Dutch travel account titled Vervarelyke schip-breuk van‘T Oost-Indisch Jacht Ter Schelling written by a Dutch sailor Frans Jansz. van der Heiden. The book demonstrates that the seventeenth-century Dutch travel literature produced the bulk of knowledge on Asia, which can be used for reconstructing early modern history of Asia.