The Dutch East India Company used treaties such as this one, which was signed with the leaders of the Banda islands, to secure control over precious spices. When they arrived in Asia, VOC captains and ambassadors carefully and deliberately positioned themselves as the protectors of vulnerable local rulers against the aggressive incursions of Portugal and Spain. In return, the recipients of VOC protection were required to pay offer tribute and the particular form this tribute took was the surrender of control over key commodities, most notably precious spices such as cloves, nutmeg and mace, the sale of which dominated international trade in the region. The protection/tribute exchange found concrete form in dozens of treaties signed between the Company and rulers across the region and it enabled VOC officials to seize control over large parts of the spice trade. Once the VOC had rights to a particular crop, it could use force to defend those rights and this frequently resulted in the steady expansion of Dutch control.