Council of the Indies for Spanish, Spanish American, and European history, are housed in Seville. Council of the Indies The Council of the Indies; officially, the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies (, ), was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire for the Americas and the Philippines. The crown held absolute power over the Indies and the Council of the Indies was the administrative and advisory body for those overseas realms. It was established in 1524 by Charles V of Spain to administer "the Indies," Spain's name for its territories. Such an administrative entity, on the conciliar model of the
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Council called the "Volksraad" for the Dutch East Indies was installed in 1918. The "Volksraad", an infant form of democratic council, was limited to an advisory role and only a small portion of the population were able to vote for its members. The Council comprised 30 indigenous members, 25 European and 5 from Chinese and other populations, and was reconstituted every four years. In 1925 the Volksraad was made a semilegislative body; and the Governor-General was expected to consult the "Volksraad" on major issues. Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies () represented Dutch