AFTER THE BANDA MASSACRE, THE TEARS OF MYRISTICA FRAGRANS

An Initiative by Powers of History

Speaker: Dr M Ahmedullah

Commemorating the Banda Massacre on 8 May 1621

Thursday, 6.30-8.30pm, 7 May2026

Conference Room, Idea Store Whitechapel, 321 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1BU

This talk will explore the story of the spice war fought by the Dutch and the English between 1595 and 1623 in regions of Asia that are now a part of present-day Indonesia; the defeat of the English in 1620 and their expulsion from the Banda islands; the massacre of the native population in 1621; the story of how slavery was introduced into the Banda Islands, including from Bengal, to support Dutch plantation settlers to produce the nutmeg, being among the two most expensive spices in the world of the time, the other being the humble clove, found in another group of small islands hundred miles to the north.

Dr M Ahmedullah has travelled extensively to many locations in present-day Indonesia where the English East India Company visited, established settlements, sought spices, attempted to sell their goods, operated from, and engaged in conflicts, particularly with the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Over a period of nearly two decade he ran many community initiatives on the East India company based in East London, including seven community projects culminating in the production of the same number of books: Plassey’s Legacies; Bengal to Britain: Re-creating Historic Fashions of the Muslin Trade; From Red Dragon to Nemesis; Heirlooms from Asia; Untold Stories of the East India Company; Jute, the Golden Fibre of Bengal: A British Empire Monopoly and East India Company Spice Wars Stories.

For further details, please email [email protected], or call on 07359 099219.

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