East Indies
Definition
A term used by Europeans to refer to what is now known as Southeast Asia, including the Indonesian Archipelago and surrounding islands.
Analogy
Consider East Indies as a popular shopping mall where everyone wants to go. Just like shoppers are attracted to malls because they offer a variety of goods under one roof, European powers were drawn to the East Indies due to its wealth of spices and other valuable resources.
Related terms
Spice Trade: The trade between historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper etc., were known and traded using these routes.
Colonialism: As defined earlier - it's the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
Dutch East India Company (VOC): As defined earlier - an early megacorporation founded by a government-directed amalgamation of several rival Dutch trading companies in 1602.
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