The Dutch East India Company and the Asian Economy in the 18th Century: Focusing on the Trade of Cotton Textiles and Precious Metals Kunihisa FUKUSHIMA The purpose of this article is to reconsider the relationship between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and Asian economy from a new perspective of the intra-Asian trade in the 18th century. Usually, it is said that the intra-Asian trade is in the age of 'stagnation' in the 18th century. And from this perspective, the VOC was a 'ruler' that monopolized the Asian trade. However, recent researches have revealed that the intra-Asian trade didn't stagnate, and on the contrary, increased in the second half of the 18th century. Such perspective indicates that we should reconsider the relationship between Europe and Asia at that time. In this article, I follow the new perspective by focusing on the trade of cotton textiles and precious metals of the VOC. Indian cotton textile was the most important commodity for the VOC in the 18th century. However, to purchase textiles in South Asia, the large amount of precious metals was needed. In order to acquire enough precious metals, the VOC made use of the intra-Asian trade network. The VOC invested precious metals exported from Europe to the intra-Asian trade, and increased the amount of them. And to succeed in the process, 'cooperation' with the Asian merchant was necessary for the VOC. This means that the VOC was dependent on the Asian economy. In the late 18th century, VOC's trade of the cotton textiles declined, because of the difficulty in the acquiring process of precious metals in Asia. Some Primary factors of the difficulty were the changes of the conditions in Asia. The VOC couldn't adjust to the new conditions. This is an example that Asian economic conditions influenced on the European power. In this period, the relationship between Europe and Asia was not unilateral. They maintained the interactive relationship even in the late 18th century.