ABSTRACT
In 1609, within a decade of the establishment of the VereenigdeOostindische Comppagnie and the founding of the first forts and factories in the East Indies, the directors decided to institute the office of governor general as the highest authority with overall control of the Company's eastern assets and activities. As the arm of Dutch political authority and commercial participation extended over the sprawling regions of maritime Asia, several subordinate seats of administration were set up under the Supreme Government at Batavia. In some respects, the Ceylon government, among subordinate governments stood in a special position in its relation with Batavia. Outside the archipelago, it was that the Dutch had sovereign control over a large extent of land and a large Asian subject population. Alone among the subordinate governments, the Ceylon government had the right to correspond directly with the Heeren Zeventien in Holland.
