Jacob Christiaan Pielat

Jacob Christiaan Pielat was a Dutch merchant and the 22nd Governor of Ceylon.

Born in a family of a Protestant minister, Pielat entered the service of the Dutch East India Company and headed to the East Indies where he initially worked as a merchant.

Around 1720 he was appointed captain in charge of providing military accompaniment to goods transported from Patna to the Dutch factory in Hugly in Dutch Bengal. A temporarily post of “vice-governor” in Ternate, Pielat replaced with the more attractive office of governor of Amboina (1728-1731), and after its completion, he was appointed the Governor of Ceylon. During his mandate of the governor Pielat had wrote “memoir” for his successor, Diederik van Domburg, entitled “Memoir Left by Jacob Christiaan Pielat to His Successor: Diederik Van Domburg, 1734”.

Soon thereafter, Pielat made a decision to return back to the Netherlands where he died eight years later.