Dutch rule

From the book I'm reading by Jean Gelman Taylor:

From there own history of rule by Spain and struggle for religious freedom and autonomy, the Dutch had acquired a national and religious identity... Their lives were not governed by Kings but by merchants who controlled the administration of Dutch cities. Dutch ships sailed in the northern seas,
the Atlantic Ocean, and, from the end of the 16th c., the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, and Indonesian waters. Dutch work habits and owrk sites were determined by governing boards of commercial companies located in
Holland's seaboard towns. In 1602 these companies merged
into the United East Indies Company (or VOC).