This episode explores the brutal 17th-century rivalry between the English and Dutch East India companies over the nutmeg trade, centered on the remote Banda Islands. The conflict culminated in a 1664 deal where the Dutch kept Run Island (the nutmeg monopoly) in exchange for New Amsterdam, which the English renamed New York—a swap that reshaped global history.
Summarized by Podsumo
Nutmeg was more valuable than cocaine in the 1600s, with a 60,000% markup from source to London due to multiple middlemen and its perceived medical powers.
English captain Nathaniel Courthope held Run Island for 1,540 days against Dutch siege until his death in 1620, leading to a Dutch monopoly and genocide of 15,000 native Bandanese (reduced to under 1,000).
The Treaty of Breda (1664) swapped Run Island for New Amsterdam, creating New York and shifting English focus to India, which became vastly more profitable as nutmeg prices fell.
"In the 1600s Nutmeg was more valuable than cocaine is today. — William Dalrymple"
"The Dutch, they pissed and shat on our heads. And in this manner, we lay until such time as we were broken out from top to toe like lepers having nothing to eat but dirty rice and stinking rainwater. — A prisoner of the Dutch East India Company"
"This is a story of corporate power... a corporation like Google with an army behind it enforcing its will. — Giles Milton"