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First edition of a teaty on the Dutch and Portuguese commerce and territories in Ceylon

[CEYLON].
Provisioneel ende particulier tractaet, gemaeckt, gearresteert ende besloten in 's Graven-Hage, den 27. Martii, 1645. tusschen de heer Francisco de Sousa Continho, raedt ende ambassadeur van den doorluchtighsten grootmachtigen Coninck van Portugael, Algarves, etc. ...; ende de heeren ghedeputeerden vande hooch mogende heeren Staten Generael vande Vereenichde Nederlandtsche Provincien, etc. aengaende de controversie over de jurisdictie ende territorie van 't Fort Galle [in Ceylon], etc. [At head:] Translaet uyt het Latijn inde Nederlantsche tale.
The Hague, widow and heirs of Hillebrant Jacobsz van Wouw, 1645. 4to. With the woodcut arms of the States General in an elaborately decorated cartouche with military attributes on title-page and woodcut initial on first page. Never bound and with the bolts unopened, making a folded full sheet. 4 ll.
€ 475
First edition of the Dutch translation of a provisional agreement made between the Dutch States General and the Portuguese ambassador Francisco de Zousa Continho on the jurisdiction and territory of Fort Galle in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), one of the most important outposts both strategically and as a trading center. The Dutch had captured it from the Portuguese in 1640 and they had been fighting in the region since that time. As the Eighty Years' War was nearing its conclusion the present treaty was written in an attempt to settle the dispute. The dispute in fact continued beyond the peace of 1648 until the Dutch managed to drive the rest of the Portuguese out of Ceylon by 1658.
The treaty notes the losses and battles caused by the dispute between the two powers and the demands made by the Dutch government to secure their position in the East Indies. This includes their demand for a yearly supply of cinnamon, through which the Portuguese are to pay off their debt, and restitution by both parties for the losses they caused one another. The parties agree to honor the treaty and not trespass on each other's rights and territories. Copies were to be sent to the Viceroy in Goa and to various governors in the East Indies.
Slightly creased, otherwise in very good condition. Knuttel 5202; Landwehr & V.d. Krogt, VOC 242; STCN 852481330 (5 copies).
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