The first to arrive were the Portuguese in 1511. They captured the Malay port of Melaka and made large sums of money by trading there in cloves and nutmeg. The Spice Wars began when the Dutch reached the East Indies in 1596. By 1607 they had defeated the Portuguese and won control of the clove trade from Maluku as well as occupying the Banda Islands for their nutmeg The English were drawn into the Spice Wars in 1601, setting sail under the auspice of the East India Company.