cinnamon plant drawing The Cinnamon Tree' posters & prints by Wenceslaus Hollar

cinnamon plant drawing The Cinnamon Tree' posters & prints by Wenceslaus HollarBotanical study of the cinnamon tree. Figures can be seen in the background harvesting the crop. Plate from the book An embassy from the East India Company of the United Provinces to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperour of China., by John Nieuhoff (London, 1669). John Nieuhoff (1618 1672), Dutch traveller, was appointed steward of the mission to China under Peter van Goyer and Jacob van Keyser, ambassadors of the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch East

Botanical study of the cinnamon tree. Figures can be seen in the background harvesting the crop.

Plate from the book An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperour of China...., by John Nieuhoff (London, 1669).

John Nieuhoff (1618-1672), Dutch traveller, was appointed steward of the mission to China under Peter van Goyer and Jacob van Keyser, ambassadors of the Dutch East India Company.

The Dutch East India Copmany (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) began operating in South Asia, and over the next century expanded its colonial operations to Mauritius and South Africa. It is known to have made use of slave labour from early on. Laurens Real, the Governor-General in the East Indies from 1615-1619, first introduced slave labour into the nutmeg plantations on Amboina in the East Indies, and his successor, Jan Pieterzoon Coen (1619-1623 and 1627-1629) introduced it in the remaining of VOC settlements.