The Cambodian–Dutch War (Dutch: Cambodjaans-Nederlandse Oorlog; Khmer: សង្គ្រាមកម្ពុជា-ហូឡង់) from 1642–1644 was a conflict sparked by a coup which brought a new Cambodian King to the throne who converted to Islam with the help of Malay traders resident in the country. The new King initiated a massacre of Dutch East India Company employees and subsequently defeated the Dutch forces sent to extract retribution from the Cambodians.
Background
In 1635, Cambodian ships brought products and silk to sell on the island of Java (Indonesia), but these goods were intercepted by the Dutch in the Sea of Makassar in the Sulawesi archipelago and detained for a year. The news of the detention reached the King of Cambodia, So the Cambodia king sent this problem to Samdech Preah Uotey to report this matter for the Dutch to release the Cambodian ships back, However there was no response, Dutch not reply for release the Cambodian ships back. In 1636, a Dutch cargo ship named "Noordwijk" that wanted to sell copper to the Annam but this ship lost map and came to the port of Peam province of Cambodia in the Kampuchea Krom region. At that time, the Cambodian Customs Ministry intercepted and confiscated 30 cannons and 500 haps of copper (1 hap = 15 kg), equivalent to 7.5 tons. The seizure of the goods did not release to the Dutch. Until 1637, the Dutch sent "Henry Hagenaar", the governor-general of Batavia of the Dutch East Indies Company (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia), to Cambodia with four other Dutch ships as a mediator to resolve the dispute over the detention of the Dutch ships. Henry Hagenaar arrived Cambodia in May and His ship face to face of the Portuguese ships , And they have a conflict, After Henry Hagenaar capture Portuguese ship and not care of Cambodia Law. When Henry Hagenaar came to meet the King of Cambodia in the capital of Oudong to The Royal Letter of Credence Ceremony, he was severely reprimanded by the King for his arbitrary seizure of a Portuguese ship. As a result, relations between the Dutch and Cambodia were not good at that time.
Conflict
=== Massacre of 1642 === In 1642 a Cambodian Prince named Ponhea Chan became King Reameathiptei I after overthrowing and assassinating the previous King. Malay Muslim merchants in Cambodia helped him in his takeover, and he subsequently converted to Islam from Buddhism, changed his name to Ibrahim, and married a Malay woman. He then started a war to drive out the Dutch East India Company, by first starting a massacre in the capital of the Dutch, commandeering two of their ships, and killing 36 Dutch employees of the Company in addition to the Company's ambassador, Pieter van Regemortes.
=== 1643 ambush === On November 27, 1643, Van Regemortes departed for an agreed meeting with the King. He had taken twelve soldiers with him for protection, as well as VOC personnel, including chief merchant Hermen Brouckman and junior merchant Buekoy, and various sons from wealthy Amsterdam families. Upon arriving in the capital, Oudong, he and his entourage were ambushed by hundreds of Cambodian soldiers and murdered on the spot with sabers. Later that day, all remaining employees of the VOC factory were attacked and slaughtered by Malays and Japanese.Next, they advanced towards the VOC ships anchored further away: the Rijswijck and the Orangie-Boom. The captains and crew did not yet know what had just happened. The Cambodians pretended they wanted to inspect the boats, something that happened frequently. They were allowed on board but subsequently murdered part of the crew; another part managed to save themselves by jumping overboard and hiding on shore. When hunger got the better of them, they emerged from the woods and were taken prisoner. The king decreed that they be enslaved. The VOC lost about 50 soldiers and civilian personnel, in addition to the approximately 60 men who were now slaves.The third VOC ship had dropped anchor south of Phnom Penh, and the captain was likewise unaware of what had happened to the others when he was urged by Cambodians to come ashore. However, he found the situation suspicious. Four Chinese who had climbed aboard to distribute rice wine and beer were taken prisoner, interrogated, and tortured as a precaution. They confessed to having come aboard on the king's orders and recounted what had happened to the others. The ship then departed for Batavia, taking the Chinese along, who were brought before the court on Java, tortured again, and sentenced to death.
Battle of Phnom Penh
On the Mekong River, the Cambodians defeated the Dutch East India Company in a mostly naval war in 1644 with the Cambodian suffering 1,000 dead, and the Dutch forces suffering 156 dead out of 432 soldiers and multiple Dutch warships fell into Cambodian hands. The Dutch East India Company ambassador who was killed along with his men was Pierre de Rogemortes and Captain Harouse, and it was not until two centuries later that European influence in Cambodia could recover from the defeat inflicted on the Dutch. Back in Batavia, Van Diemen ordered a new and larger attack on Cambodia. For this, he wanted to enlist the help of the King of Siam . However, the Governor-General died in April 1645. His successor, Cornelis van der Lijn, considered a new expedition on such a large scale too costly and difficult, and he was also unsure of the outcome. He only proposed to free the VOC workers who had been enslaved. The King of Cambodia agreed. All the survivors, 29 in total, were put on the VOC fluyt ship Orangie-Boom, which had been seized by the Cambodians in 1643, after about three years of slavery, and sent to Batavia. Peace was officially signed on July 8, 1656.
== Aftermath == This Muslim Cambodian King was ousted and arrested by the Vietnamese Nguyễn lords after Ibrahim's brothers, who remained Buddhists, requested Vietnamese help to restore Buddhism to Cambodia by removing him from the throne. In the 1670s, the Dutch left all the trading posts they had maintained in Cambodia after the massacre in 1643.
== See also == Cambodian–Spanish War Sino-Dutch conflicts Battle of Liaoluo Bay Trịnh–Nguyễn War Siege of Fort Zeelandia
References
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