The North-Eastern seaports and the seventeenth-century commercial system of tonkin as seen from Western sources

Abstract

On the basis of the so far unused primary Dutch and English sources, it is argued in this article that the birth of the seventeenth-century commercial system along the "Tonkin River" was a corollary of the emergence and development of three places: Domea (anchorage and temporary residence for foreign ships and sailors); Pho Hien (customs office and temporary factories for foreign merchants); and Thang Long (commercial centre and permanent factories for foreign merchants). This article also seeks to correct some protracted misinterpretations of Dutch and English archives on the transportation of foreign merchants between Thang Long and Domea. In an attempt to introduce new information on the Dutch East India Company's attempts to trade at the north-eastern seaport of Tinnam in present-day Quang Ninh province, the last part of this article is devoted to present the Dutch "Tinnam strategy" in the early 1660s.

(Second part)