It happened when the biggest and the most valuable company in the history of the world was brought down (among other things) by a royal Malayali from India.
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There was a moment in history when the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) or simply the Dutch East India Company was the most well funded and powerful Business, military and naval force in the world.
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Established in 1602, it had a virtual monopoly of the global spice trade for most of the 17th century and was the first truly multinational corporation in history.
It had a great run and was the Apple or Google of its day - only more successful, profitable-
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paying on average, an 18% dividend for almost 200 years.
Adjusted to inflation, it had the market capitalisation of over 7 Trillion Dollars (in today’s money)- making it perhaps the most valuable company in the history of companies.
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The Dutch made most of their money from India - By the early 18th century, the Dutch economic and political power in southern India was at its peak. The Dutch had thrown the Portuguese out, defeated the Mighty Zamorins of Calicut and even sadly turned the powerful
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kingdom of Kochi into a Vassal State where the crown even bore the Dutch emblem of VOC.
The Dutch East India Company is dead today - in large parts, thanks to this patriotic powerful Indian from Kerala.
Among the many mistakes that ultimately lead to their downfall,
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perhaps the biggest was committed by Dutch Governor Gustaaf Willem Van Imhoff in 1739.
During the ensuing negotiations between Governor Imhoff and Marthanda Varma, the ruler of Travancore, regarding the Dutch interests in Kochi, when Governor Imhoff threatened
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Marthanda Varma, that his forces will rake Travancore down to dust.
In his reply - Varma quipped simply:
"With all due respect to you sir, then I will certainly invade Holland, mark my words ."
Obviously miffed, the Governor of the Mighty Dutch empire
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walked off from the meeting, determined to teach this local king of a small Indian kingdom a lesson.
Soon, a large contingent of Dutch artillery forces landed in Colachel, lead by Captain Eustachius De Lannoy. Their intention was to make a quick dash and capture the
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capital of Travancore- Padmanabhapuram.
On the 10th of August, 1741, both Armies met in the now famous Battle of Colachel.
Within no time, the Dutch faced a crushing and decisive defeat- most of their soldiers fled and their commander, Eustace De Lannoy was captured
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along with his deputy.
Marthanda Varma forced the Dutch to sign a peace treaty, taking over most of the Dutch forts in the Malabar region of India and bringing to an end, the Dutch monopoly in the Spice Trade with India.
What’s more, Marthanda Varma even made
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Eustachius De Lannoy join his forces as a trainer and used him to modernise the Army of Travancore - which later became the Madras Regimentof Independent India.
The Dutch Black Pepper trade monopoly was taken over by the State of Travancore - which made them rich then
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and now!
In case you wonder how rich - Marthanda Varma re-consecrated an old Temple of Lord Padmanabhaswamy (Lord Vishnu) and regularly donated to it in his lifetime.
Recently, 5 of the 8 sealed chamber Vaults of this temple were opened by the authorities- which
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yielded a "smallish " treasure in Gold and Jewels, estimated to be worth a little over USD 22 Billion (making it the richest institution and place of worship in the world). Experts believe that the remaining sealed vaults hold treasures worth a Trillion dollars.
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While Marthanda Varma, an Indian, had his life moment in world history- our disgraceful Indian Historians didn’t think of his achievements as important enough to even deserve a mention in our school textbooks.
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If you care more and are an Indian with self respect and pride, irrespective of where you come from in India- spread this factual historical event far and wide!!
Interesting piece of Indian history. 🙏 🙏 🙏
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Todays restitution of 10 stolen artefacts to Tamil Nadu is an historic occasion and is the result of a complex global investigation arising out of work done by a citizens activist group - The India Pride Project.
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Each of these restitutions were complex cases and the lessons from these will yield results for future restitution cases not just for Tamil Nadu but for other States and countries.
Though these 10 objects are returned from two countries - America and Australia,
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each of them are unique cases starting from when they were stolen from India, smuggled out and eventually landed up in some of the most prestigious museums and collections there.
The case of the Chola Bronze Nataraja stolen from Punnainallur in 1971 - was not a
During this journey of life, where do we put our attention and where should we put it.
Once upon a time, two men embarked upon a journey. They met each other during the trip, and while talking they discovered that both had the same destination,
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so they started travelling together. After seven days of traveling together, when the time came for both of them to go their own way, one said to the other : "Brother! We have stayed together for a week, did you recognize who I am?" The other responded, "No, I did not."
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The first traveler said : "Brother, I am a famous thief but you are an even greater thief than me. You turned out to be ten steps ahead of me."
The second traveller said "How so?"
First traveller : "I searched you continuously for seven days in the hope of finding
A student studying in #Switzerland writes: While studying in #Switzerland, I rented a house near the school. The landlady #Kristina was a 67-year-old single lady who had worked as a teacher in a secondary school before she retired.
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Switzerland's pension is very good, enough not to worry about food and shelter in her later years. However, she actually found work to take care of an 87-year-old single man. I asked if she was working for money.
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Her answer surprised me: I do not work for money, but I put my time in the #timebank, and when I cannot move in my old age, I can withdraw it.
The first time I heard about this concept of time bank, I was very curious and asked the landlady more.
In the United States, an estimated 5.4 million people have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This figure is growing rapidly with the ageing population.
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One of them was Steve Newport. His wife, Mary Newport, was a doctor. Dr. Mary learned that her husband had severe Alzheimer's disease.
When the doctor examined her husband at the hospital, he asked Steve to paint a clock. Instead, he drew a few circles and
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then drew a few figures without any logic. It was not like a clock at all!.
The doctor pulled her aside and said: "Your husband is already on the verge of severe Alzheimer's disease!"
It turned out that it was a test of whether a person had Alzheimer's disease.
People over 60 generally stop feeling thirsty and consequently, stop drinking fluids.
When no one is around to remind them to drink fluids, they quickly dehydrate.