Belgium and India: A Three-Century Story of Trade, Science, and Crystal

Discover the surprising 300-year relationship between Belgium and India, from Flemish merchants and Jesuit scientists to royal crystal chandeliers and modern trade partnerships.

In a recent article, I explored the fascinating story of the Sikh community of Belgium, whose roots lie in the Punjab region of northern India. But the relationship between Belgium and India goes back much further – over three centuries. From Flemish merchant ships sailing to Bengal, to Belgian scientists shaping India’s intellectual life, and crystal chandeliers illuminating royal palaces, this is a remarkable yet little-known story.

Flemish merchants and a forgotten trading empire

In the early eighteenth century, merchants from Antwerp, Ghent and Ostend entered one of the most lucrative trades in the world: commerce with Asia. Their ships sailed thousands of kilometres to India, China and the Middle East, returning with tea, coffee, textiles and spices.

“The Ostend Company transported 7 million pounds of tea from China in less than a decade. This was roughly equal to the entire output of the British East India Company in the same period.” – From contemporaneous trade records

This trade became formalised in 1722 with the creation of the Ostend Company – Belgium’s own East India Company. Within just a decade, its ships transported millions of pounds of tea and established a permanent trading settlement at Bankibazar in Bengal. Known as the “Flemish Lodge,” it was a remarkable achievement for merchants from such a small European region.

But success brought powerful enemies. The British and Dutch East India companies saw the Flemish traders as dangerous competitors. Under intense diplomatic pressure, the Austrian emperor was forced to dissolve the company in 1731. Its existence was brief, but it demonstrated Belgium’s early role in global commerce.

Belgian Jesuits and the link with Indian science

More than a century after the last Ostend ships returned home, the connection between Belgium and India was renewed through an entirely different channel: the Society of Jesus. In 1859, the Superior General of the Jesuits, the Belgian, Peter Jan Beckx, entrusted the opening of a college for the Catholics of West Bengal to the Belgian Jesuit Province. The result would shape Indian intellectual life for generations.

St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta (now Kolkata) quickly became one of India’s leading educational institutions. Among its most influential figures was Eugène Lafont, a physicist from Mons who transformed scientific education in India.

Lafont established India’s first modern science laboratories, built meteorological observatories, and helped found the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science. It was the country’s first scientific research institute managed by Indians. His students included pioneering scientists such as Jagadish Chandra Bose. Lafont became known as the “Father of Science in India,” a remarkable legacy for a Belgian priest.

Another extraordinary figure was Camille Bulcke, a Belgian Jesuit who arrived in India in 1935 and became one of the world’s leading scholars of Hindi literature. His devotion to Indian language and culture earned him one of India’s highest civilian honours. To this day, he is remembered in India with immense respect.

Crystal from Wallonia in India’s royal palaces

Among the most vivid and enduring threads in the Belgium-India tapestry is one that glitters: Belgian crystal. The story centres on Val Saint Lambert, a glassworks established in 1826 in the former Cistercian abbey of Seraing, near Liège. Founded by chemist François Kemlin and engineer Auguste Lelièvre, it became Belgium’s – and eventually the world’s – most celebrated crystal manufacturer, employing 5,000 craftsmen at its height and producing 120,000 pieces of glass per day.

Val Saint Lambert’s clientele soon included the tsars of Russia, the royal houses of Europe, and prominently, the maharajas of India. Palaces in Hyderabad, Bhuj, Bikaner and Varanasi still contain collections of Val Saint Lambert crystal such as chandeliers, mirrorwork, and crystal ware. These were acquired during the gilded decades of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

No commission illustrates the relationship more dramatically than the order placed around 1900 by Maharaja Sir Madho Rao Scindia for the Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior. He commissioned Val Saint Lambert to produce two crystal chandeliers of staggering scale: each standing 13 metres high and weighing 3.5 tonnes. At the time, these were the largest crystal chandeliers in the world.

“Legend holds that elephants were made to march across the first floor of the Jai Vilas Palace to test whether the ceiling could bear the weight of the Belgian chandeliers.” From the history of the Jai Vilas Palace, Gwalior

The chandeliers still hang there today, in a palace that is now partly a museum. They are extraordinary objects: made by Wallonian craftsmen in a Liège river valley, shipped around the Cape of Good Hope, and installed in a Maratha royal palace: a meeting of two aesthetic traditions across thousands of miles.

Although the retail networks linking Val Saint Lambert to India were largely severed during the 1950s, the relationship never fully disappeared. Even now, the company receives commissions from Indian families. A 30-kilogram crystal vase recently photographed in the company’s showroom – its price tag a cool €80,000 – was destined for an Indian collector. The glass of Seraing still finds its way to the subcontinent.

A modern partnership built on trade and technology

Belgium is one of India’s key European trading partners, with annual trade worth billions of euros. The dominant commodity in Belgium-India trade is diamonds. Antwerp is the world’s most important diamond-trading hub, and the exchange of rough and polished stones between Antwerp and the Indian cutting centres – above all Surat in Gujarat – accounts for more than half the bilateral trade volume. But diversification is accelerating. Belgium now exports significant quantities of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machinery, precision instruments and steel to India; India exports IT services, textiles, gems, chemicals and steel to Belgium in return.

The most strategically significant development of recent years is in semiconductors. Belgium is home to IMEC, the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre in Leuven, one of the world’s leading independent research organisations in chip technology. India, determined to build a domestic semiconductor ecosystem, signed a landmark agreement with IMEC to receive technical support for that project. The collaboration positions Belgium as a critical partner in India’s most ambitious industrial transformation.

Defence cooperation has followed. In 2025, discussions between India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken produced concrete agreements: Thales Belgium signed contracts to supply 70mm rocket systems for Indian Army helicopters, and the Belgian company John Cockerill expressed interest in producing parts for tanks in India under the country’s expanding domestic defence manufacturing framework. Scientific collaboration extends to astronomy, with joint programmes around India’s Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and the Himalayan Chandra Telescope.

“In March 2025, Princess Astrid of Belgium led an economic mission of 362 representatives, from business, universities, and government, to India. The scale signalled a bilateral relationship entering a new phase.” – Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry, 2025

The cultural dimension of the modern relationship is visible too. A cultural agreement has existed since 1973; a 2021 MoU linked India’s Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) with Belgium’s BOZAR, the celebrated Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels. Over 750 Indian students and researchers study or work in Belgian universities at any given time. The Indian community in Belgium is well-established, and Belgian chocolate, beer and diamond jewellery have loyal followings across India’s urban middle class.

The Embassy of Belgium in India

I can’t finish this article without drawing attention to the Belgian embassy in New Delhi, completed in 1983-84. Rather than erecting a European building on Indian soil, Belgium invited an Indian artist to create something rooted entirely in the host country’s traditions. The renowned Indian painter and self-taught architect Satish Gujral designed a building made from handmade red brick with a form representing medieval India. The building was selected by the International Forum of Architects as one of the 1,000 finest buildings of the twentieth century. Belgium awarded Gujral the Order of the Crown.

So there’s my story of the relationship between Belgium and India. It is a story of exploration, innovation and cultural exchange. The relationship continues to evolve today, linking two nations across continents through centuries of shared history.

Unless otherwise indicated, photos from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Denzil Walton

I created Discovering Belgium in 2011 to share the country’s hidden stories, fascinating places, and remarkable people. Through articles, photography, and audio walks, I share discoveries that reveal Belgium beyond the obvious. Hope you enjoy this site.