In 1621, the Dutch, desperate for a monopoly over the expensive, rare nutmeg that grew only in Indonesia’s Banda Islands, would annihilate nearly the entire Bandanese population, keeping the rest in near-slavery, while selling the spice for massive profits in Europe. In Sri Lanka, home of the cinnamon plant, the Portuguese, Dutch and English forced locals into harvesting and peeling cinnamon under brutal, exploitative conditions; those who resisted were flogged and tortured. Cloves from Indonesia’s Ambon Islands were gathered under the same Dutch regime; while ginger, introduced to the Caribbean in the 17th Century, was cultivated on plantations where the English, Spanish and French relied on enslaved labour.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20251113-the-divisive-autumnal-drink-with-a-shady-past