Giles Milton

Or in the 1600s, they were simply known as the Spiceries.

And some of these islands were known for cinnamon and cloves.

That's Tanati and Tidore.

Others are known exclusively for Nutmeg, and that's the Bounder Islands.

And the Dutch really have a big head start on the English.

They get to the Bounder Islands, first of all, and the first thing they do is build forts on the islands.

Forts which, I have to say, still exist to this day.

These crumbling, vast fortifications.

You find brass cannon lying in the sand in these islands, you know.

You make it sound a very alluring spot.

It's absolutely wonderful.

And the point, the kind of key point of the Bander Islands is, as I said, there are six islands and five of them are all quite close together.

And the Dutch realised if they built strategically placed forts, they could control those five islands and therefore have a virtual monopoly on the nutmeg trade.

But one island, the sixth island in the Bander Islands, Run Island, was about 10 miles from the main group.

And this was the island that the Dutch did not control.

And this island was a real thorn for them because it meant that without them controlling it, if the English controlled it, they would be able to break this monopoly on the nutmeg trade that the Dutch were so desperate to carve out for themselves.

Jan Keun was the Governor General of the entirety of the Dutch East Indies.

Yeah, well, I mean, a portrait exists of him and he looks absolutely terrifying.

He's got these piercing eyes that are staring directly at you.

And unlike the English, who wanted to try and deal with the native populations of these islands, Jan Koen decided it would be far easier just to massacre the lot, just kill the lot of them and take control of the islands.