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Fully AI-GeneratedUsers of Open Archives can have summaries generated from the recognized texts (transcriptions) produced through text recognition (OCR) and handwriting recognition (HTR). Neither of these artificial intelligence tasks is perfect, but they are often more than sufficient to make the historical document understandable. In the transcripts, names are underlined in green and clickable (to search the personal entries on Open Archives for the name in question), the recognized dates have a light gray background and recognized place names have a light purple background. The results of the application of (European) artificial intelligence have not been verified by a human.


A trade document from Coromandel dated September 6, 1732 details a shipment of mace (spice). Out of 154 pounds gross weight, after cleaning and processing, there remained 97 7/8 pounds of pure mace, with some waste material and white leaves. The empty container (socket) weighed 18 pounds. The total gross weight came to 143 pounds. The warehouse manager handed over 97 7/8 pounds of pure mace and 26¼ pounds of waste and white leaves. According to the invoice, there was a shortage of 29 2/8 pounds, representing a loss of 19 7/8 pounds per hundred.

This declaration was made at the Dutch office in Mazulipatnam, witnessed by Johannes Croese and Jan Wulik, clerks of the secretariat. It was signed by J. Selover and Paul Hendrik Schulin, with W. de Jong as chief clerk. When the declaration was read back to the witnesses, they confirmed its accuracy without changes. A final calculation showed a shortage of 3¾ pounds on the gross weight, with the socket weighing 26¼ pounds at receipt, making a total of 146¾ pounds.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8858 / 0195  


On June 25, 1707, in Coromandel, under the management of former chief Isaak Selover, traders were given permission to supply 4000 pagodas (a form of currency) worth of cloth within two months, in exchange for a 1000 pagoda loan, as stated in his letter from November 14, 1703. When local chiefs raised concerns, the traders had to provide jewelry worth over 1000 pagodas as security. However, these merchants broke their promises, and instead of reducing their debt, they increased it. They were now trying to do the same thing again. The authorities decided that trusting them a second time would be worse than the first mistake. Therefore:

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8686 / 0207  


Here is the English summary in HTML:

On June 25, 1707, a declaration was made regarding a debt dispute in Coromandel. The arrested merchants from Datcherom would not be released until they paid their entire debt, either in cash or suitable cloth acceptable to the Company. Alternatively, they could secure the amount with jewels, gold, or other valuable goods under sufficient guarantee that these would be redeemed within 4 months, with payments made in cash or linen.

Meanwhile, the cited official provided a response which can be found in the attachments. In his answer, he requested that if there were doubts about the quick settlement of this debt based on his encouragement to the arrested Datcherom traders, and if they did not want to delay the matter any longer, the debt amount could temporarily be placed on his salary account. He promised to ensure the debt would be fully paid within a year or less, so his account could be cleared. This was related to the position of second-in-command at the Masulipatnam office, which would become vacant due to the requested dismissal of junior merchant Hermanus van Luchtelen.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1745 / 0214  


On June 25, 1707, in Coromandel, a proposed guarantee was rejected as being maliciously written. According to this guarantee, new merchants would need advance payments of 1,000 pagodas (or 3,500 rixdollars) each. These traders would only bring in 4,000 rixdollars worth of good quality and desired linens. For the East India Company to settle their debt, they would need to advance about 14,000 pagodas (or 49,000 rixdollars) to these merchants.

The merchants had already proven that their words, promises, and commitments could not be trusted. A recent example occurred under chief Isaak Selover, as shown in his letter of November 18, 1703. The merchants were given 1,000 pagodas in advance and promised to deliver 4,000 pagodas worth of cloth within two months. Though the chief officers had taken jewels worth over 1,000 pagodas as security, the merchants broke their promises and instead of reducing their debt, they increased it. They were now trying to do the same thing again, so trusting them a second time would be worse than the first time, as the deception and usual tricks of these merchants were clearly visible in this guarantee.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1745 / 0213  


The text discusses ships sailing from Coromandel on November 26, 1716. Three ships are mentioned: the Rosenburg, Den Berg, and Koning Karel. Two documents were sent along: one from bookkeeper Petrus Hollebeek and one from Abraham Selover.

A formal request (number 30) came from Ian Daniel Simons, second in command at Bimilipatinam, addressed to the governor of Coromandel and the council of Nagapatnam. Document 31 was a sealed package from guardians of the government, addressed to honorable guardians in Batavia.

The letter was addressed to Governor-General Christoffel van Swoll and the Council of the Dutch East Indies. It was received via Ceylon on the yacht Anna on March 4, 1717. The ship Rosenburg had departed from Masulipatnam on October 6 with cargo worth 315,605 florins. The ships Den Berg and Koning Karel had previously sailed directly from this port on August 14.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8830 / 0011  


On October 10, 1692, at the coastal fort in Coromandel, money was seized from the estate of the late chief merchant Joannes Huijsman. According to records from the Coromandel accounting books, this was transferred to the general account. Orders regarding Commander Joannes Bacherus were communicated to him. A bundle of papers originally meant for High Commissioner P. L. was redirected due to his death, at Bacherus's request.

Of the two junior merchants who arrived on the ship "Silversteijn," Hendrik Kerkrinck van der Wiel went to Masulipatnam seeking employment, while Isaacq Selover stayed behind along with three assistants who were sent on the same vessel. The sailors from the yacht "Jambij" who arrived with the Silversteijn had their yearly pay recorded by the local bookkeeper.

For transporting goods back to the homeland and other necessities in the coming spring, they sent:

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1518 / 1627  


In April 1722, some merchants from the highlands were successfully using certain legal rights granted by rulers in Cormandel. After an agreement was made, Ramana moved across the Ritsna River with 400-500 men towards the coast of the Cardawier Province. It was said he was heading to Pette poely to bring the province under their control. He left his remaining troops on the other side of the river to maintain control in Lojaal.

A letter dated April 20, 1732 from Mazulipatnam to Nagapatnam mentions that a ship had been struggling near Mekka. Due to a lack of drinking water and firewood, it had to turn back. After being resupplied at a cost of 257.14 guilders, it departed again. The assistant Jacob Selover was given his food allowance for the month of May.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 2244 / 0604  


On October 20, 1703, merchants in Coromandel owed a large sum of 49,071.3/30 rupees at the end of August. The chief merchant Isaac Seelover had been supporting these unreliable traders despite their failure to honor their recent contract. They had promised to pay their debt within 2 to 2.5 months. Van Steelant decided to stop arguing about the statements in the chief merchant's letters. At Paliacatta, where Seelover had been second in command for several years, he likely developed a habit of siding with the merchants. Both at Paliacatta and there, they experienced opposition to their efforts to serve the East India Company well. It was regrettable that many servants showed so little dedication to their masters' true service, preferring to protect malicious merchants rather than maintaining their own honor and duty. At the trading post of Palicol, no significant changes had occurred since their last letter of the 10th.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8821 / 0367  


On February 8, 1713, a report was made about events in Bengal. The document mentions that Pieter Coster, a ship captain, delivered a report to Director Anthonij Huijsman. The report states that Huijsman had sent Coster to Calcutta to meet with English governor Anthonij Welden to discuss concerns about French ships in India. The document is signed by several officials: The report mentions a captured sailor from an English free ship who provided information about four ships heading to Nun.
View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1810 / 0661  


In Coromandel on April 27, 1703, Mr. Selover reported that a prince had openly declared himself an enemy of Terfdaer Madarouw. The prince fortified his makeshift fort in Peddapoer with cannons from Coringa, defying Fausdaer Casmichan. Despite daily rumors that the prince would surrender to the Fausdaer, and his house steward giving assurances about this, the local officials decided it was unwise to send a planned delegation to the prince. They feared this would cause great jealousy, not only with the Fausdaer but especially with Terfdaer Madarouw, in whose hereditary lands the Company's villages of Gollepalum and Goudewaron were located. Since the Company's textile procurement happened in both rulers' territories, maintaining good relationships with both local rulers was important for both collecting taxes and shipping textiles.
View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8820 / 0595  


In Coromandel on April 27, 1703, there was concern about increasing debts. The authorities found that these debts grew due to too generous advance payments. The only assets available to reduce this debt were some poor-quality linens, limited cash, and trade goods. According to a separate document answering question 10, the chief merchant Soera Chittij Serrappa had little or no means beyond his basic funds. There were several others in similar financial situations. While some merchants in the group were wealthy, they would not help their poorer colleagues unless they could make a significant profit, which was typical of local merchants. The debt of 81,067 2/3 rix-dollars, though recent and created since Selover's arrival, would likely take a long time to settle. To better manage this situation and protect the East India Company from significant losses during any local disruptions, it was suggested to deal with lower quality goods, below the 6th grade.
View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8820 / 0575  


On February 15, 1702, a report was sent from Coromandel. It discussed a shortage of weapons at the trading post. The document was signed by Dirck Comans and J. van Steelant in Nagapatnam on November 26, 1701.

The text includes records from Masulipatnam about textile trade in 1701. There was a shortage of 250 packages of bleached Guinea cloth. The following deliveries were made:

This left 224 packages still missing. Isaack Selover, the assistant merchant, and Cornelis Comans, the bookkeeper, reported that the main problem was the stubbornness of chief merchant Gollawierappa. From September 1, 1700 to March 1701, he refused to deliver any cloth to the Dutch East India Company, even though the quality had improved due to higher prices that year.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8819 / 0068  


In Palliacatta on September 18, 1699, B. van Slingelant, J. Selover, N. Cranfer, Hans Wolff, D. Hackaert, and J.A. Dubbeldaard wrote about goods requested for the trading office. They explained why they could not deliver all items yet, but listed ready-to-ship items: Yesterday, they received word from tax collector Kagie Mahomet about 34½ packs, for which they await a boat from the coast. Additional items include:
View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1618 / 0045  


In Coromandel on May 25, 1706, chief officer Isaak Seelover allowed a banned person named Bandicauwinarsol back into the Company's lodge. Bandicauwinarsol had previously been the main troublemaker during Seelover's time and was banned by letter on August 18, 1703. Seelover paid too much attention to his reports and gossip. The Company was forced to take action by:

Local chiefs were ordered to check if these orders were being followed properly. Van Noort was warned that disobedience would not be tolerated, to prevent the office from falling into decline again due to the evil advice and greed of these Brahmins.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8824 / 0447  


On October 8, 1708, there was a visit to Coromandel. After receiving ceremonial robes, a regent promised to assist with 1,000 men. The military leaders Maderauw and Bramagie Mazumdaar were sent to the powerful local lord Appareyne. The great nobleman Caldinda Rengarasoe and prince Timmerasoe had already crossed the river of Ragimahindra. The last-mentioned was ordered by king Cambax by decree to prevent the escape of the old governor Daatcheromse. The regent Mierhassum had begun moving his people and baggage across the river, though their final destination was not mentioned.

The memorandum written by the departing northern Coromandel chief Hendrik van Oudshoorn van Sonnevelt was handed over to his successor Hendrik Grousius. This document would be sent by the frigate Peter and Paul. Additionally, three requests were submitted, including one from the junior merchant Isaat Selover who was seeking the position of junior merchant.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1761 / 1022  


On February 8, 1711, a report was written from Bengal about events near Coringa. A ship flying a white flag had strongly pursued them, but they managed to escape along the coast due to their sailing abilities and the approaching night. This information was deemed important enough to be quickly communicated to the southern trading posts. The letter was signed by Hendrick Grousius, Isaacq Selover, P. Ten Broek, Johannes Coenraads, and Jeronimus van Campen as clerk.

The original message was dated from Masulipatnam on November 3, 1710. A note requested the heads of the southern trading posts to forward this message quickly after reading. The ship's captain Pieter Coster presented this report to director Anthonij Huijsman, who had sent him to Calcatta to meet with the English governor.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8742 / 0053  


In Masulipatnam and Madapalem, the trading operations involved the delivery of 330 different types of cloth to both the old and new English companies, as mentioned in the letter of September 9. After merchants Massis and Colijns, who were former chiefs of the trading posts in Palicol and Daatcherom, left their positions, it was hoped that all disagreements that had caused much correspondence would cease. The newly appointed merchants Caulier and Selover, along with their deputies, were expected to work together in harmony. They were instructed not to ask merchants directly about business matters, but rather to gather information through indirect means.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1633 / 0365  


The document records correspondence and financial papers from 1692-1693 related to the Dutch East India Company's operations in Suratte (modern-day Surat). The independent fiscal officer Pieter van Helsdingen sent several letters to the Amsterdam Chamber and the Council of Seventeen. The papers include trade records showing profits from sold goods, and declarations from Banian merchants about the Company's spice sales. There is also a copy of a declaration from Antonij de Porto and Isaacq Selover from April 26, 1692, describing how former director Vosburgh intercepted the fiscal officer's letters. The documents were part of the return fleet's cargo in 1693.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1512 / 0013  


On October 27, 1725, several clerks were assigned to work at various colonial trading posts in Coromandel. Due to low wages and insufficient funds to maintain a proper appearance at work, some new clerks had to be recruited from military and naval personnel to replace those who had left, been dismissed, died, or been promoted. Three were placed at the secretariat: Jonas Daniel Rosse from Stockholm, Gerit Colder from Haarlem, and Johannes Tamman from Norden in East Friesland. Three were assigned to trade and salary offices:

Others were assigned as follows:

These clerks could not survive on their meager wages, especially since some were already in debt, and they could not afford to appear properly dressed at their offices daily.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 2031 / 2164  


In Coromandel on September 15, 1734, several personnel changes were recorded. Among them, Jacobus van der Willigen from Palicol, who worked as a bookkeeper in Masulipatnam, Abraham Jacob Selover, a local assistant, and Gerrit ten Velde from Amsterdam, a sergeant, were all demoted to the rank of soldier with a salary of 9 guilders per month due to their scandalous behavior and misconduct. The document then describes a contract concerning 75 packs of various linens through the Company's merchants in Bimilipatnam. The contract was established by: The local merchants who entered into this agreement were:
View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 8864 / 1236  


Here is the English summary in HTML:

On September 15, 1734, several personnel changes were made in Coromandel. Jacobus van der Willigen from Palicol, who was a bookkeeper in Masulipatnam, Abraham Nam and Jacob Selover, both assistants from Daatcherom, and Gerrit ten Velde, a sergeant from Amsterdam, were all demoted to soldiers with a salary of 9 guilders per month due to their misconduct and scandalous behavior.

A contract was then made concerning 75 packages of various linens at the Company's trading post in Bimilipatnam. This contract was made between Gosen Willem van Lawick, the chief merchant, and the council on behalf of the Company, with approval from Governor and Director Elias Guillot of the Coromandel Coast and council in Nagapatnam, as well as Senior Merchant Gosewijn Maire, second in command of the coast and head of northern Coromandel, along with the Masulipatnam council. The merchants Jentij Bampena, Ganna Panda Ragoenaijk, and Coesmantij Chinaij agreed to the terms.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 2318 / 1200  


In Coromandel on July 7, 1734, a bookkeeper was fired for desertion. Jacob Selover and Sergeant Gerrit Ten Velden were summoned. Due to their wild behavior and poor conduct, they were demoted to soldiers with a salary of 9 guilders per month, to serve as an example to others.

On August 13, 1734, three corporals - Jan Hendrik Arendsz, Lambert van Houten, and Jacob Thomasz - were also demoted for the same reasons.

Bookkeeper Jacobus van der Linde, who had been sick for 2 years mostly due to his own fault and stubborn lifestyle, had his wages and food allowance suspended until he recovered and returned to work.

Two sailors deserted from the East India Company's service:

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 2318 / 1169  


On June 25, 1707, documents were exchanged between Coromandel and other trading posts. From October 15 until April 14, letters were sent to Ceylon, Bengal, and other outer regions. Several improvements were made along the coast from October 15 until April 20.

A Persian document was issued by Rustum Dil Khan, regarding free trade in Golconda. New merchant accounts were recorded at Sadraspatnam trading post on April 29, along with various trading book extracts.

New merchant accounts from Daatherom under Soerechittij Serrappa were dated end of March. On April 4, the main merchants from Palicol, Bangaar Letsjema Narsoe and Bangaar Wenketaraijel, provided a guarantee for the traders' debts.

Isaak Selover, a junior merchant and former head of the Daatcherom trading post, submitted his accounting on the 7th. Three inspection reports were made of textiles and linens from the trading posts of Sadraspatnam, Conjemere, and Porto Novo, including a price comparison of various fine bleached guineas and fine bleached salempores.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1745 / 0171  


In Batavia, under the order of Governor and Director Johannes van Heelant, coins were being minted into pagodas (a type of currency). This was supervised by Politics and Justice officials and junior merchant Isaacq Selover. The ship named Molenwerf brought the coins in the previous year. The document records various financial calculations, including conversions between different currencies, with a total profit of 3,029 guilders, 2 stuivers, and 12 pennies. The final accounting was completed in 1707.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1761 / 0705  


From a document dated October 14, 1698, sent from Nagapatnam, various Dutch East India Company officials including Barthout van Slingelant, Isaacq Selover, Hans Wolff, and Pieter Elsevier wrote about financial matters. They mentioned interest rates of 47 7/9 percent on one item and 65 1/2 percent on another. The document also refers to the arrival of Christiaan Peijp, who was born in Holstein. The letter mentions Dirck Hackaert as head official and Ioannes Dubbeldaard as sworn scribe in Geldria.

View transcript NL-HaNA / 1.04.02 / 1621 / 0186  



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