The starting point of this research is a painting of Johannes Lingelbach. This painting called ‘gezichten op de dam’ the painting was created in 1656. The Dam was in the seventeenth and eighteenth century one of the trade centers of Amsterdam and the Dutch Republic. The painting was created in the beginning of the Dutch Golden Age. During this period the Dutch Republic was a major player in the world in different aspects. In the Dutch Golden Age the Republic colonialized different parts of the world. In this time the Dutch entered the world trade and become a huge player in the global trade. Which attracted a lot of people. This aspect is visualized in the painting of Johannes Ligelbach. On the surface of this painting you can see different people trading with each other. In the right corner there are three people visible with a different style of clothing. They are wearing a turban and they are wearing orient fashion. A normal question would be if you see those orient fashioned people in Amsterdam, who are they and where do they came from.
The most logical and probably right answer would be: Armenians. They were the first Easterners that settled in Amsterdam. The first Armenians arrived in 1560. In the seventeenth century numbers started to increase, and outnumbered other Western European city’s with Armenian citizens in it’s walls. In the heydays of the Armenian present in Amsterdam the Armenian population in Amsterdam was estimated on 800. The purpose of settling in Amsterdam was trading. The Armenians had a comprehensive trading network stretching from Manilla in the East to Amsterdam in the West. The ‘nodal center’ of this extended trade network was New Julfa (Isfahan, Persia). The core of the Armenian trade network was in New Julfa. That’s why the Armenian traders are called Julfa traders or merchants.
As mentioned earlier The Dutch were at the time of the painting of Johannes Lingelbach a major global trading state. They were connected with the Atlantic trade and could receive a vast amount of different goods, products and spices. According to Braudel and Abulafia the core of the trade shifted in the Seventeenth century from the Mediterranean to West-Europa in particular to London and Amsterdam. Those city’s became the center of trade and the economic market. According to Wallerstein, London and Amsterdam became the center of the capitalistic world system during this time. In the opinion of Wallerstein the Julfa merchants didn’t have access to the capitalistic world system. The missing link between the Julfa merchants, the Atlantic trade and the capitalistic word system meant that the Julfa traders found themselves back in the periphery. According to the theory of Wallerstein the periphery delivered cheap products or raw materials to the center. So according the theory of Wallerstein, the Julfa merchants visible on the painting of Lingelbach traded cheap and inferior products. The question rising up after such a theory: is it true? Why would the Julfa merchants have such an extended network for selling cheap products with a small profit. And why would be The Dutch interested in the inferior product of the Julfa traders. These questions resulted in the main question: Which products, delivered by Julfan merchants networks could be interested for The Dutch Republic. The main objection of this question is to analyze the theory of Wallerstein.
The Dutch trade network
The growth of the Dutch trade and the expansion of its trade network started after the treaty of Munster 1647-1648. According to Jonathan Israel this treaty was an important watershed in Dutch economic history. The period 1647 -1672 was the zenith of the Dutch trade hegemony. After 1672 the trade power of the Republic declined slowly but stayed a major trade power till the mid of the eighteenth century.
The Dutch trade network was a far-flung network with trade post in almost every part of the whole world. The Dutch East India Company founded in 1602 and the West India Company founded in 1621 divided the world in separate parts. The West India Company concentrated their activities to the America’s and the shores of West-Africa. The East India Company were active in the East including the Kaap (South-Afrika). Also the bulk trade with the Baltic states was important during the Dutch Golden Age. Another important, but less known area the Dutch traded with, was the Mediterranean. After the Venetian–Turkish War of 1645 the Dutch entered the created gap in the Mediterranean area. The Dutch made different settlements in the Levant, the main target for most of the merchants was to collect silk. The Dutch entrepreneurs in the Levant exchanged fine cloth, silver or spices for raw silk.
The growth of the Dutch trade and the expansion of its trade network started after the treaty of Munster 1647-1648. According to Jonathan Israel this treaty was an important watershed in Dutch economic history. The period 1647 -1672 was the zenith of the Dutch trade hegemony. After 1672 the trade power of the Republic declined slowly but stayed a major trade power till the mid of the eighteenth century.
The Dutch trade network was a far-flung network with trade post in almost every part of the whole world. The Dutch East India Company founded in 1602 and the West India Company founded in 1621 divided the world in separate parts. The West India Company concentrated their activities to the America’s and the shores of West-Africa. The East India Company were active in the East including the Kaap (South-Afrika). Also the bulk trade with the Baltic states was important during the Dutch Golden Age. Another important, but less known area the Dutch traded with, was the Mediterranean. After the Venetian–Turkish War of 1645 the Dutch entered the created gap in the Mediterranean area. The Dutch made different settlements in the Levant, the main target for most of the merchants was to collect silk. The Dutch entrepreneurs in the Levant exchanged fine cloth, silver or spices for raw silk.
Julfa trade in Amsterdam
The Armenian presence in Amsterdam in the seventeenth and eighteenth-century was not only based on trade. The Armenians were also attracted because of the freedom for dissidents. Although the most important fact for settling in Amsterdam were trade considerations. The strength of the Dutch capital and the linked receive of prompt cash was really attractive for Julfa merchants. Also the presence of the seat of the VOC was interesting. The Julfa merchants in Amsterdam traded in luxurious goods like diamonds and cornelian stones but the most traded good was silk.
The Armenian presence in Amsterdam in the seventeenth and eighteenth-century was not only based on trade. The Armenians were also attracted because of the freedom for dissidents. Although the most important fact for settling in Amsterdam were trade considerations. The strength of the Dutch capital and the linked receive of prompt cash was really attractive for Julfa merchants. Also the presence of the seat of the VOC was interesting. The Julfa merchants in Amsterdam traded in luxurious goods like diamonds and cornelian stones but the most traded good was silk.
The Julfa trade network and the position of Amsterdam within this network
The Julfa trade network was a far-flung network connected by caravans and ships. Most of the Julfa merchants spoke half a dozen languages. They connected the network by traveling from one Armenian settlement tot another. These merchants connected the Indian ocean the Mediterranean and the Eurasian landmass. Probably the most traded product on the Julfa trade network was Persian silk. The wide spread of the network is visible by merchants ledger, trading letters, contracts and account-books. One of the primary sources indicated the far flung network of the Julfa trade network is the ‘manual of weights, measures, tariffs, regulations and prices’ this book was published in Amsterdam in 1699. The manual provides information about there network wit notes that from Amsterdam to Ethiopia and from Ethiopia to Manila.
The Julfa trade network was a far-flung network connected by caravans and ships. Most of the Julfa merchants spoke half a dozen languages. They connected the network by traveling from one Armenian settlement tot another. These merchants connected the Indian ocean the Mediterranean and the Eurasian landmass. Probably the most traded product on the Julfa trade network was Persian silk. The wide spread of the network is visible by merchants ledger, trading letters, contracts and account-books. One of the primary sources indicated the far flung network of the Julfa trade network is the ‘manual of weights, measures, tariffs, regulations and prices’ this book was published in Amsterdam in 1699. The manual provides information about there network wit notes that from Amsterdam to Ethiopia and from Ethiopia to Manila.
Figure V (Primary source): Manual published in 1699 (Amsterdam) named: manual of weights, measures, tariffs, regulations and prices. Important merchant manual about different aspects of trading. That this important merchant manual was published in Amsterdam reflected the prestige of the city in the Julfa trade network.
The network was tight together by places with small and big Armenian communities. The most important was New Julfan the ‘nodal center’. Other cities like Amsterdam were less important but had an important regional character, they can called a ‘regional center’. Other cities like London are called ‘satellite’, because of the small Armenian merchant community and less important institutions like a press or Armenian church.
Figure VI (Primary source):
Red line: Account-book of the family Bandurean 1711-1718. The family started with a capital of 328.5 kg silver. The family traded between Russia and the Netherlands. The total amount of soled silk was 14.5 tons. The sold price in Amsterdam exceeded 44% of the purchase the total profit was less than 18%.
Road: Shamaki- Nizovoy-Saratov-Lomovka-Moscow-khangelsk- Amsterdam
Blue line: Notarial record of Godge Sarhadt 1626.
Road: Genoa-Amsterdam
The Julfa trade network, as mentioned before, was really extended and diverse. There were multiple roads or seas to distribute commodities like silk, even to Amsterdam. This becomes clear if we compare the account- book of the family Bandurean with the notarial record of Godge Sarhadt. Those two sources, although there small in length, provide information about the diversity of the network and the commercial possibilities of the Julfa trade network.
Red line: Account-book of the family Bandurean 1711-1718. The family started with a capital of 328.5 kg silver. The family traded between Russia and the Netherlands. The total amount of soled silk was 14.5 tons. The sold price in Amsterdam exceeded 44% of the purchase the total profit was less than 18%.
Road: Shamaki- Nizovoy-Saratov-Lomovka-Moscow-khangelsk- Amsterdam
Blue line: Notarial record of Godge Sarhadt 1626.
Road: Genoa-Amsterdam
The Julfa trade network, as mentioned before, was really extended and diverse. There were multiple roads or seas to distribute commodities like silk, even to Amsterdam. This becomes clear if we compare the account- book of the family Bandurean with the notarial record of Godge Sarhadt. Those two sources, although there small in length, provide information about the diversity of the network and the commercial possibilities of the Julfa trade network.
Conclusion
Although the Dutch trade network was comprehensive, connecting nearly all parts of the world the Dutch were interested in silk. Even when the Republic had access to the Levant and it’s silk roads, the Dutch silk market was not satisfied. Because of this the theory of Wallerstein is too simplistic. Silk was an luxury product. Sulfa merchants could sell them in Amsterdam for high prices of cash or other commodities reaching behind their own network. If they did so, they would be automatically be connected with the transatlantic trade and the center.
Although the Dutch trade network was comprehensive, connecting nearly all parts of the world the Dutch were interested in silk. Even when the Republic had access to the Levant and it’s silk roads, the Dutch silk market was not satisfied. Because of this the theory of Wallerstein is too simplistic. Silk was an luxury product. Sulfa merchants could sell them in Amsterdam for high prices of cash or other commodities reaching behind their own network. If they did so, they would be automatically be connected with the transatlantic trade and the center.
Figures:
I: Johannes Lingelbach, De Dam, gezien naar het Noorden, met het Stadhuis in aanbouw, 1656, Amsterdam Museum
http://hdl.handle.net/11259/collection.38042
II: Young Armenian leaning at a Window, attributed to Casper Netscher (Heidelberg 1639- The Hague 1684)
http:// www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/541100
III: Dutch trade routes, ca.1650. The Dutch were the greatest commercial nation of the seventeenth century.
http://abriegrowsinbrooklyn.com/post/128244822797/theres-so-much-i-cant-understand-or-speak-about
IV: Diaspora Entrepreneurial Networks, page: 49.
V: Marchands arméniens au XVIIe siècle. A propos d'un livre arménien publié à Amsterdam en 1699, page: 7.
VI: Europa.
https://www.kaartenenatlassen.nl/wandkaarten/continentkaarten/europakaarten/europakaarten
Further readings :
I: Aslanian, Sebouh David. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean : the global trade networks of Armenian merchants from New Julfa. London: University of California Press, 2011.
II: Aslanian, Sebouh David. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean : the global trade networks of Armenian merchants from New Julfa. London: University of California Press, 2011.
III: Baghdiantz McCabe, Ina, Harlaftis, Gelina en Pepelasē Minoglou, Iōanna. Diaspora entrepreneurial networks : four centuries of history. Oxford: Berg, 2005.
IV: Israel, I, Jonathan. Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585–1740. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
V: Morineau, Michel en Chaudhury, Sushil. Merchants, companies and trade : Europe and Asia in the early modern era. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999.
VI: Zacharov, V.N., Harlaftis,Gelina en Katsiardē-Hering, Olga. Merchant colonies in the early modern period. London : Pickering & Chatto, 2012.
I: Johannes Lingelbach, De Dam, gezien naar het Noorden, met het Stadhuis in aanbouw, 1656, Amsterdam Museum
http://hdl.handle.net/11259/collection.38042
II: Young Armenian leaning at a Window, attributed to Casper Netscher (Heidelberg 1639- The Hague 1684)
http:// www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/541100
III: Dutch trade routes, ca.1650. The Dutch were the greatest commercial nation of the seventeenth century.
http://abriegrowsinbrooklyn.com/post/128244822797/theres-so-much-i-cant-understand-or-speak-about
IV: Diaspora Entrepreneurial Networks, page: 49.
V: Marchands arméniens au XVIIe siècle. A propos d'un livre arménien publié à Amsterdam en 1699, page: 7.
VI: Europa.
https://www.kaartenenatlassen.nl/wandkaarten/continentkaarten/europakaarten/europakaarten
Further readings :
I: Aslanian, Sebouh David. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean : the global trade networks of Armenian merchants from New Julfa. London: University of California Press, 2011.
II: Aslanian, Sebouh David. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean : the global trade networks of Armenian merchants from New Julfa. London: University of California Press, 2011.
III: Baghdiantz McCabe, Ina, Harlaftis, Gelina en Pepelasē Minoglou, Iōanna. Diaspora entrepreneurial networks : four centuries of history. Oxford: Berg, 2005.
IV: Israel, I, Jonathan. Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585–1740. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
V: Morineau, Michel en Chaudhury, Sushil. Merchants, companies and trade : Europe and Asia in the early modern era. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999.
VI: Zacharov, V.N., Harlaftis,Gelina en Katsiardē-Hering, Olga. Merchant colonies in the early modern period. London : Pickering & Chatto, 2012.