The Dutch East India Company established itself in the East Indies [now Indonesia] in the early 1600s with a view to controlling the lucrative trade in nutmeg; mace; cloves and pepper from a tiny cluster of islands known as the Moluccas [Maluku]. English merchants associated with the British East India Company; however; were also keen to stake a claim in the spice trade; and their interests came into direct conflict with those of the Dutch.

Early in 1623; the Dutch local governor; Herman van Speult; believed that the English merchants; helped by Japanese mercenaries; planned to kill him and overwhelm the Dutch garrison. He ordered the arrest of the alleged plotters. Under torture they admitted their guilt; and were executed on Amboina in February 1623. The British thereafter referred to the incident as the Amboina Massacre.