Dutch and St Thomé
By the latter half of the seventeenth century, conflicts between nations in Europe had their counterparts in far corners of the world. At this period, such actions were generally of minor importance to the main course of any war. In peacetime, the English, Dutch, French and Danes mostly got along well in India. They kept largely to their own bases, but visited and did business with each other. The company shore personnel were not militarised, except that the forts and larger settlements housed troops of armed guards as a combination of garrison and police.
When war was declared, despatches would arrive from each company headquarters (London, Amsertdam, etc) giving orders to stop enemy vessels doing business or obtaining services in ports under the control of that company. The ships were armed and could chase or be chased as prizes, which incentivised a certain amount of sea combat. However, the number …