In the Shadow of the Company -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Foreword -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Glossary -- Maps -- Introduction -- The decline of the VOC -- Answers to its decline -- A new approach to decline -- Literature and archives -- Case studies -- Comparisons -- PART ONE: POWER AND TRADE -- Chapter One: Power and Trade -- Europe and expansion -- Military expansion -- Asia and expansion -- Asian factors -- The debate on Imperialism -- Company and servant -- The Company servants as portfolio capitalists -- Chapter Two: India, the Fight for Dominance -- The Indian battlefield: a land of opportunity -- The Anglo-French struggle for power -- An unresponsive VOC -- A furtive response to fundamental dangers -- A failed design to emulate -- Negotiating with indigenous rulers -- Chapter Three: Ceylon, a Cinnamon Paradise in Jeopardy -- Enforcing a Monopoly -- Status quo -- Estrangement and conflict -- Negotiating internal conflict -- Increasing pressure on the king -- External factors -- Solving dilemmas by war -- Military intervention -- A new status quo -- PART TWO: MONOPOLY AND PRIVATE TRADE -- Chapter Four: Monopoly and Private Trade -- A definition of the VOC monopoly -- The monopoly: its success and its limitations -- Plans for private trade -- Institutionalization of private trade -- The continuity of private trade -- Freedom of trade and decline -- Chapter Five: Private Trade with Batavia -- Private trade to Batavia -- Negotiating private trade privileges -- Guaranteed profit and extended benefits -- Huijsgebruijck -- Remittances -- Private trade from Batavia to the Coromandel Coast -- Protecting privileges -- Social exclusion -- Chapter Six: Country Trade on the Coromandel Coast -- Imports from Batavia -- Institutional advantages -- Unregulated control -- Use of VOC facilities.

Long-distance country trade -- Financing trade -- An international community of trade -- PART THREE: PROFITS AND FORTUNES -- Chapter Seven: Profits and Fortunes -- Structural use of fortunes -- Priorities in organization -- Balancing interests -- The paradox of less to offer but more to take -- Hierarchy as a tool of control -- Personal interest in appointments -- From nepotism to redistribution of wealth -- Chapter Eight: Remuneration and Corruption -- A troubled relationship -- A legal share -- Down the hierarchy -- Corruption -- Up the hierarchy -- Chapter Nine: Promotions and Patronage -- The supremacy of the Republic -- Investing in 'friendship' -- Persuading patronage in Asia -- Social reproduction -- Balancing personal interests -- Distribution of wealth -- PART FOUR: DUTCH DECLINE AND BRITISH DOMINANCE -- Chapter Ten: Dutch Decline and British Dominance -- Monopolies and private trade -- Empire and private trade -- Profits and fortunes -- Power and trade -- Conclusion -- Power and Trade -- Monopoly and Private Trade -- Profits and Fortunes -- Dutch Decline and British Dominance -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- List of maps -- 1. European activity on the Coromandel Coast and in Bengal,c. 1760 -- 2. The private trade presence of Van Eck in a larger perspective, c. 1760 -- 3. The political situation in Ceylon, before and after the peace treaty of 1766.