A spice worth more than gold
For centuries, the global supply of nutmeg and mace came from a single source: the fruit of the evergreen tree Myristica fragrans. This tree grew exclusively on the Banda Islands, a tiny volcanic group in the Maluku province of Indonesia. In 17th-century Europe, the spice was worth more than its weight in gold, used for flavoring and also as a food preservative and a supposed cure for the bubonic plague. The markup from Asia to Europe could be as high as 60,000 percent. Arab traders kept the location of the "Spice Islands" a secret for centuries, but their discovery by the Portuguese in 1512, and the subsequent arrival of the Dutch and English, led to a violent struggle for control.
The Dutch East India Company (VOC), a powerful multinational corporation, sought a total monopoly. This campaign culminated in the Banda Massacre of 1621. Under the command of Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the Dutch systematically depopulated the islands. Of an original population estimated at 15,000, over 90 percent were killed, enslaved, or forced to flee. Coen's forces killed an estimated 14,000 Bandanese people. The VOC then established a plantation system, dividing the land among Dutch planters (perkeniers) who used enslaved labor to cultivate the nutmeg.