Ost-India ( niderl. Oost-Indië , literally - East India), a term used in the past in relation to the territory of India and some other countries in South and Southeast Asia . The West Indies arose in contrast to the term, when traveling eastward (from Europe ), the Europeans, who at that time considered India islands of the Caribbean in America open by Christopher Columbus to the islands of the Caribbean Sea , reached the shores of the Indian subcontinent .
The name "Ost-India" has been preserved for a long time due to the colonial activities of the East India Companies :
- British , founded in 1600 ;
- Danish , founded in 1616 ;
- Netherlands , founded in 1602 ;
- Portuguese , founded in 1628 ;
- French , founded in 1664 ;
- Swedish , founded in 1731 .
There are British East Indies (or actually India) and the Netherlands East Indies.
British Ost-India
British India ( eng. British Raj ) - the name of the British colonial possession in South Asia from the middle of the XVIII century to 1947 . The gradually expanding territory of the colony over time covered the territories of modern India , Pakistan and Bangladesh (and until 1937 - Burma ). The term British India usually refers to the entire territory of colonial possession, although, strictly speaking, it referred only to those parts of the subcontinent that were under British direct control (the administration was first at Fort William and then at Calcutta and Delhi ); in addition to these territories, there were the so-called "indigenous principalities", formally only vassal dependence on the Crown .
In 1947, British India was granted independence, after which the country was divided into two dominions — India and Pakistan (they maintained dominion status until 1950 and 1957 , respectively). Pakistan, in turn, collapsed in 1971 with the formation of the state of Bangladesh .
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies or the Netherlands India ( niderl. Nederlands-Indië ) (now Indonesia ) included the islands of the Malayan archipelago : Sumatra , Java , Maduru , Celebes and part of Kalimantan Island, Bank Island, the Small Sunda Islands , the Moluccas and other islands, the western part of New Guinea . The total area of the Dutch possessions in the area was 1915 thousand km ². The main economic crops are rice, maize, cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, coffee, tea, indigo. Governance of the Netherlands East Indies was exercised by the Governor-General . The main cities are Butenzorg and Batavia (currently Bogor and Jakarta, respectively).
Literature
- India // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Netherlands India // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907.