Sources of agarwood in Cochinchina during the 16 and 18th centuries

Abstract

The greatest achievement of the land reclamation process in Thuan Hoa under the Nguyen lords was to transform the land of the "evil land of O region" with a harsh climate into the political centre of the Nguyen Cochinchina. In 1693, the remaining land of Champa became the territory of the Nguyen family. By the middle of the 18th century, Nguyen Phuc Khoat proclaimed himself king with his realm expanding from Hoanh Son to Ca Mau peninsular. To develop the economy of Cochinchina, Nguyen Hoang established trade relations with countries such as Japan, China, Portugal, Holland, France, Britain, Cambodia and Siam (Thailand). With the favourable natural conditions, notably the commercial ports of Hoi An, Thanh Ha, Nuoc Man, etc., the region’s import and export volume was considerable with diverse types kinds of commodities such as agricultural, forestry and fishery products. In particular, the source of great profit for the Cochinchina economy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was agarwood.