The barricade Van den Broecke

In early 1617, Pieter van den Broecke was sent by Jan Pietersz. Coen with the ships Middelburgh and Duyve to sail to Mauritius, Madagascar, the Red Sea and Surat, to assault Portuguese ships and otherwise hinder Portuguese interests. After completing the first parts of the voyage without much success, the ships sailed to Surat in September 1617. Near the Portuguese city of Damman, Van den Broecke’s expedition was heavily damaged by a storm and the Dutch were forced to go ashore. There they built a barricade that Van den Broecke named after himself. Later, from there the remaining crew would traverse the entire width of the Indian subcontinent on foot to find safety in Dutch holdings in southeast India. On this image we see the barricade, made of barrels and other materials from the ship. Dutch soldiers march in front of it. Some cannons have been put inside the fortress. On the bottom-right is the damaged Duyve