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Dear Gentleman

 

My name is Marco Valente, Portuguese Archaeologist, working in Mozambique since January 2018.

 

I have lots of friends working on several parts of the world.

 

One of them works in India, and it seems that his team has found the graves from two Dutchmen that might have been working on the East India Company (VOC).

 

One of them was named:

ABRAHAM VAN DER VOORT  

Born in 1640 (4th October maybe) and died in 1676 (8th of June maybe), Merchant

 

The other one was named:

NICOLAES FABER  

Born in Amsterdam, April 5th 1628 - Superior and Founder of the Company (?)

Died on the 8th of February with 47 years old (around 1675 maybe)

 

Do you have any of these men listed in your archives?

This is very interesting information right?

 

Hoping to hear from you soon.

With all my best regards

Marco Valente

Archaeologist, Historian, Researcher

Marco Paulo Gouveia Ferreira Valente - 28 okt 2019 - 22:25

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Hi Marco,

both gentlemen are mentioned in "Op- en ondergang van Cormandel, of Cormandel in zijn binnenste geheel open gesteld" [The Rise and Fall of Coromandel] by Daniel Havart med.doct. published by Jan ten Hoorn, Amsterdam 1693. There's an extensive section on Nicolaes Faber from page 27 [here] describing his career in India from 1648 until his death 17.02.1676 in Nagelwanse, he was the first head of that comptoir, which he managed for 8 years, so his grave would be historically significant. (Nicolaes was succeeded by Jacob Corbisier from Utrecht). The book provides a very colourful description of the man including some commentary on his lifestyle, (illegegitime) children, satirical versions of his epitaph, etc.

A smaller section is dedicated to Abraham van der Voort, from Zeeland, number two (from page 32), who died 06.05.1676; both are buried in the same garden.

Peter B - 29 okt 2019 - 01:10 (laatst bijgewerkt 29 okt 2019 — 01:59 door auteur)

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Very interesting indeed!

Marco, you are not mentioning where these 2 graves are found, but I bet it is here: Nagulavancha

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nagulavancha,+Telangana+507208,+India/@17.0680462,80.2088427,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3a34533907954c7b:0xa105ac6c68d60138!8m2!3d17.0679297!4d80.2126109

This town was called 'Nagelwanze' by the Dutch in these days; see this map for the Dutch presence in the 'Coromandel' area in these days:

https://www.vocsite.nl/geschiedenis/handelsposten/coromandel.html

"Nagelwanze (now Nagulavancha), comptoir from 1669 to 1687. Purchase of clay mud, emery stone, cotton, saltpeter, iron, indigo."

There is a map of the VOC building there in the book that Peter provided a link to, pg 16. The building was established in 1670

-Bart- - 29 okt 2019 - 10:02

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@ Peter - the hyperlink in your reply (page 27) cannot be viewed as it doesn't open.

rgds - Ph

Philip H. van der Valk - 29 okt 2019 - 11:51

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According to the book that Peter provided a link to, both graves should be located 'in a garden, outside the town' - in these days that is. So that should be a garden (what it is today is anybodies guess) in the proximity of the old town or village.

The book says that on the stone on Nicolaes Faber's grave the following epitaph can be read:

Die veel met jok, en ernst, versleet zijns levens uyren,
rust in dit donker graf, en word der wormen spijs,
Zijns levens vreemdigheyd zal vele jaren duyren,
De ziel omtfange God by hem in't Paradijs

(Translated, and I am not a poet:)

He spend the hours of life with gravity and fun, 
Forage for the grubs, resting in this murky hole.
Remember the weirdness of his life for years to come,
To be in Paradise may God receive his soul.

The grave of Abraham van der Voort (still according the same book) should be 'opposite' of Faber's grave, and with the following epitaph:

Een die van Imborst goed, noyt twist, of onheyl baarde,
Rust onder deze zerk, en word tot asch, en stof.
In't beste van zijn jeugd verliet hij ons, en de aarde,
Zijn ziel hier boven in den hemel zingd Gods lof.

(Translated)

Righteous character, never causing harm or strife
Resting under this stone, ashes to ashes, dust to dust
He left the earth and us in the prime of his life
In heaven above his soul sings praise to God he must

-Bart- - 29 okt 2019 - 11:55 (laatst bijgewerkt 29 okt 2019 — 14:57 door auteur)

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The unwinding of the legacy and estate of Abraham van der Voort is archived here:

https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/index/nt00332/890cff06-7102-102d-a428-005056a23d00

name Voort
Description Inheritance and heirs ab intestato of Abraham van der Voort? sub-merchant of the OI Comp. † 8 June 1676.
Rights to Inheritances, genealogies
Year 1713
Sent number 62
Source reference Number of access: 3.03.01.01, inventory number: 906, (62)

-Bart- - 29 okt 2019 - 12:14

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https://www.vocsite.nl/geschiedenis/handelsposten/coromandel.html

(translated by google)

Nagelwanze
==========

In Nagelwanze (now Nagulavancha), about halfway between Masulipatnam and Golconda, the VOC set up a factory in 1669 in order to better monitor the quality of the goods supplied. Precisely because Nagelwanze was not on the main road, the first chief Nicholas Faber chose this location. He did not want to open the lodging on the main road from Masulipatnam to Golconda so that he would have few visitors. Nagelwanze was a large village and three hamlets were included. The village had twenty plantations with mango trees, ten tanks and ten temples, five dedicated to Shiva and five dedicated to Vishnu [Valentine]. The white accommodation was in the middle of the village. The lodging initially served as a residence for the chief and his secund and to store the textile purchased. Later it was expanded with rooms and buildings. Until 1678, the two horses of the Company stood in the separate stable. In that year the horses were sold due to cutbacks and the stable was used as dyeing and nail forging. The VOC had two gardens in Nagelwanze, given by the regents. There was a small garden in the village beyond the stable. The second one was just outside the village and was considerably larger. The last garden had a gate and, after the death of Nicolaas Faber in 1676, also served as a burial place [Valentine]. Nagelwanze was destroyed during the Mogul Wars in 1687. The lodge was raided on October 13, 1687, killing most of the native merchants and soldiers.

chief                                                   secunde 
=====                                                =======

Nicolaas Faber 1668-1676                Abraham van der Voort 1668-1676
Jacob Corbesier 1676-1679              Abraham van der Voort 1676-1676
                                                          Dirk Vonk 1676-1678
                                                          Nicolaas Bolk 1678-1679
Ambrosius van der Wiel 1679-1684  Barent Houtthuyn 1679-1682
                                                          Nicolaas Dankwaard 1682-1684
Adriaen Block 1684-1686                  Nicolaas Dankwaard 1684-1686
Nicolaas Dankwaard 1686-1687       Gerard Benoorden 1686-1687

-Bart- - 29 okt 2019 - 12:27

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Hmm,

https://mhpeters.home.xs4all.nl/4b.html

Nagulawancha (Nagelwanze)

Van het excentrieke opperhoofd Nicolaas Faber en zijn secunde Abraham van der Voort zijn intussen de graven gevonden. Op het graf van Faber, met in het midden een krans, is een gedicht van Daniel Havart uitgehakt. Het gedicht is ondertekend met 'D.H.' De grafzerk van Van der Voort is doormidden gebroken door een grote steen die uit de muur ernaast was gevallen. Zie voor Nicolaas Faber In steen geschreven, pag. 35, 58, 81, 172, 26 en 247; en Van der Voort, pag. 173 en 247.

(google translate)

Nagulawancha (Nagelwanze)

In the meantime the graves of the eccentric chief Nicholas Faber and his second son Abraham van der Voort have been found. A poem by Daniel Havart has been carved into the grave of Faber, with a wreath in the middle. The poem is signed with 'DH' The gravestone of Van der Voort has been broken in half by a large stone that had fallen from the adjacent wall. For Nicolaas Faber, see  In steen geschreven , p. 35, 58, 81, 172, 26 and 247; and Van der Voort, p. 173 and 247.

Copyright site © Marion Peters 2011

-> these graves must have been discovered already years ago(!)

(Scientific) publication of these facts:

https://mhpeters.home.xs4all.nl/3b.html#inhoudsopgave

Marion Peters​ :IN STEEN GESCHREVEN. Leven en sterven van VOC-dienaren op de Kust van Coromandel in India (Amsterdam 2002) 

(WRITTEN IN STONE . Life and death of VOC servants on the Coromandel Coast in India)

-Bart- - 29 okt 2019 - 12:43

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Hi all

Wow, this was spectacular... it means I've come to the right place.

Thank you all for all the help you're giving to us.

bart rietkerk When were these graves first discovered, any idea? Was it thru Marion Peters and her husband ? Because I saw that the site was from 2011 but the book was from 2002, and they were carrying out works in India for 10 months regarding graves, cemeteries and assets from the Dutch East India Company in the late 1990's, that is correct? So they've might have found them then? But I've also read somewhere else that they proposed to the Indian Government by then to do something regarding the protection of these assets from the VOC and they never got any reply, this is correct as well right?

Something was done only thru the help of a construction company from the Netherlands that helped in reconstruct a wall from a Cemetery in India and a little bit more, right?

I guess nothing just happened between the 1990's and 2019 and so they had fallen into a limbo once more... but they appeared once more...

I promisse I will do my best to help in preserving them with the dignity they deserve.

Many thanks, bart rietkerk, Peter B and Philip H. van der Valk. You've been very helpful

Marco Paulo Gouveia Ferreira Valente - 30 okt 2019 - 17:28

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Hello Marco,

I don't know when these graves have been discovered before, but I guess some time between 2002 (book published) and 2011 (website). The website seems to contain - sort of - updates to the book. And the website says 'In the meantime'. But that is my interpretation of the chronology here.

'proposed to the Indian Government by then to do something regarding the protection of these assets' and 'thru the help of a construction company from the Netherlands'? As far as I know this is about protection / restoration of graves and a graveyard in Pulicat. I don't think this concerns graves in Nagulawancha. But I may be not completely informed of course. See: https://journals.open.tudelft.nl/index.php/knob/article/view/Schiebroek229

Rgds, Bart

-Bart- - 30 okt 2019 - 18:48

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See :  Biographical data :

In the last decades of the past century my partner, the photographer Ferry André de la Porte, and I made long voyages through Asia.
[...]
Our investigation also included the Dutch remains. All the existing fortifications, graffiti, grave-yards and graves that we could find have been charted and photographed. In 2002 this resulted in an exhibition of a selection of these pictures in the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam. This exhibition was accompanied by the book Written in stone. Life and death of VOC-officers and their families at the Coast of Coromandel in India (In steen geschreven. Leven en sterven van VOC-dienaren op de Kust van Coromandel in India)

Willem H. - 30 okt 2019 - 19:27

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Thank you very much... yes "in the last decades of the past century"....

I also send an email to Mrs. Marion Peters... let's see how these stories will end...

Hopefully with these two testimonies from the Past being treated with the most respect and protection they deserve.

"On my honor I will do my best!"

 

Just curiously, my work in Mozambique is also on dealing with human remains - translation of graves from the XIXth, XXth and XXIst centuries on Northern Mozambique for a Consortium of Archaeological Companies... for the Anadarko LNG Project... Maktub.

Marco Paulo Gouveia Ferreira Valente - 30 okt 2019 - 19:48


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You're welcome!

-Bart- - 30 okt 2019 - 21:26







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