From ‘Sits’ to ‘Spices’: Dutch Interactions with the Global Circulation of Indian Textiles

Abstract

This historiographical essay explores the ways in which scholars—both historians and art historians—have studied the production of and trade in textiles in the early modern period in quantitative and qualitative ways. It discusses not only how textiles were a critically important commodity for both the English and Dutch East India Companies but also how a digital, data-driven approach can enhance our understanding of this complex trade.