Campaigns against the Portuguese
Van Goens had been leading many of the successful military campaigns directed at the Portuguese. Van Goens, was of the belief that everybody else, but especially Muslim traders, England and Portugal, were jealous of the company's possessions. He believed that the company should strike before its enemies would strike, which naturally would lead to a further increase of the company's possessions. The VOC was, first and foremost, a trading company. Therefore, officials back in the Netherlands were reluctant to send reinforcements over to Asia. Nevertheless, van Goens was able to successfully convince the majority of the officials to send a massive fleet to Asia, with the goal of taking Ceylon, Cochin, Diu, Goa, Mozambique and Macao from the Portuguese. Van Goens was able to conquer Jaffanapatnam, Mannar and the stronghold of Tuticorin on the Coromandel Coast by 23 June 1658. He did this with 21 ships, carrying a total of 2139 soldiers, 1550 sailors, 240 Singhalese soldiers and 180 saves. The soldiers themselves saw little action as the towns surrendered. In 1661, when a peace treaty was signed between Portugal and the Republic, the plan that van Goens so carefully planned a few years before, appeared to be a failure as the Portuguese's fortresses were stronger than van Goens had anticipated. Nevertheless, the Portuguese were expulsed from Ceylon and the Coromandel Coast. Macao, Diu, Goa, Cochin and Mozambique were still in Portuguese hands. Formosa had been lost as well. Two years later, van Goens conquered Cochin. After a hard battle, the Portuguese commander Sermento negotiated a surrender on 7 January 1663. ==See also==