COEN, JAN PIETERSZ

(1587–1629)

   Merchant in the service of the Dutch East India Company. In 1619, Coen established Dutch rule on Java at Jacatra (Batavia; now Jakarta, capital of Indonesia) during the struggles with the neighboring sultanate of Bantam and the rival colonizers, the English. In 1621, he undertook a punitive expedition against the inhabitants of the Banda Islands because of their negli gence in observing trade agreements. During his second term as governor-general of Netherlands East Indies, he died in Batavia.