Four hundred years ago something terrible began to happen to the Banda islanders. By late April 1621, the Dutch forces had completed their conquest of the tiny island archipelago, which consisted of six inhabited lands, one of which was an active coned-shaped volcanic island, and a few exposed rocks. 

The Banadese people who lived there for centuries became entirely subjugated to the Dutch and awaited their fate, which was already decided thousands of miles away in Amsterdam by the ‘Gentlemen Seventeen’, the board members running the Dutch East India Company. It was all to control the trade in nutmeg, the golden spice that subsequently enriched the Dutch republic for several centuries.

On 8 May 1621, forty-four leading members of the island communities were executed in a makeshift enclosure. Japanese mercenaries were brought in by the Dutch to carry out this macabre task, who beheaded and quartered them. Horrified family members and Dutch officials witnessed the gruesome event. 

The severed heads were displayed on bamboo poles as a warning to create fear and deterrence. Then followed xy&z and what became known as the Banda Genocide and the eventual creation of a new mixed community of Bandanese.

I visited the Banda islands for five days at the end of August/early September 2019. It was not an easy journey as I had to take a late-night 2 am flight from Jakarta to Ambon, where I arrived early morning. Then, I waited the whole day in Ambon city before boarding a ship after midnight. It took a 22-hour nauseating ship journey to Banda Neira, the administrative island of the Banda archipelago. The return journey was also a similar experience. 

In this commemorative event, I will talk about my experience in the Banda islands, the Anglo-Dutch spice-wars (1600-1625), the Banda Genocide in 1621. I became interested in the topic several years ago when I learnt that the Dutch were engaged in Bengali slavery during 1623-1665 and some of the Bengali slaves ended up in the Banda islands. The presentation will include a PowerPoint and short video clips.