The first Dutch expedition arrived at the East Indies, a term which refers to the lands of South and Southeast Asia, in 1595 trying to access to spices directly from Asia. When the Dutch government recognized the potential of the East Indies trade had, with a 400% profit, and with the intention of dominating trade in Southeast Asia, they amalgamated the competing companies into the United East India Company, which was granted a contract to make trades across Asia, monopolizing initially the indigenous spices such as nutmeg, peppers, cloves and cinnamon and then the non-indigenous products like coffee, tea, cacao, tobacco, rubber, sugar and opium.
This Dutch hegemony reached their greatest extent in the early 20th century, becoming in one of the most valuable European enterprises under the Dutch Empire, which contributed to their global prominence.
