Read in the May 2025 issue of the IJMH (requires subscription) the article by Freek Loves on VOC perceptions of Mauritius and Madagascar in the early seventeenth century
Abstract:
This article examines what the VOC (Dutch East India Company) thought of Mauritius and Madagascar during the first half of the seventeenth century. Long depicted as backwaters of the overseas empire of the VOC, this article argues through the correspondence between the board of directors of the VOC in the Dutch Republic and the office of the governor-general in Batavia, and between them and senior Company personnel, that the Company engaged with Madagascar and Mauritius on a serious note and that both were considered important assets.
IMHA 