Sultanate of Tidore كسلطانن تدوري‎ Kesultanan Tidore
1081?/1450–1967
Flag
Seal used bySultan Amiruddin Syahc. 1803
Sultanate of Tidore in 1800
Capital	Tidore
Common languages	North Moluccan Malay[1] Tidore
Religion	Sunni Islam
Government	Monarchy
Sultan, Kië ma-kolano
• 1081	Kolano Syahjati (Muhammad Naqil)
• 15th century–1500s	Jamaluddin
• 1947–1967	Zainal Abdin Shah
History
• Established	1081?/1450
• Disestablished	1967
Succeeded by Dutch East Indies
Today part of	Indonesia

TheSultanate of Tidore (Jawi:كسلطانن تدوري‎;Kesultanan Tidore sometimesKerajaan Tidore) was a sultanate inSoutheast Asia, centered onTidore in theMaluku Islands (presently inNorth Maluku,Indonesia). It was also known as Duko, its ruler carrying the title Kië ma-kolano (Ruler of the Mountain). Tidore was a rival of theSultanate of Ternate for control of the spice trade and had an important historical role as binding the archipelagic civilizations of Indonesia to thePapuan world.^[2] According to extant historical records, in particular the genealogies of the kings of Ternate and Tidore, the inaugural Tidorese king was Sahjati or Muhammad Naqil whose enthronement is dated 1081 in local tradition. However, the accuracy of the tradition that Tidore emerged as a polity as early as the 11th century is considered debatable. Islam was only made the official state religion in the late 15th century through the ninth King of Tidore, SultanJamaluddin. He was influenced by the preachings of Syekh Mansur, originally fromArabia.^[3] In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sultans tended to ally with eitherSpain orPortugal to maintain their political role but were finally drawn into theDutch sphere of power in 1663. Despite a period ofanti-colonial rebellion in 1780–1810, the Dutch grip on the sultanate increased until decolonization in the 1940s. Meanwhile, Tidore's suzerainty overRaja Ampat and westernPapua was acknowledged by the colonial state.^[4] In modern times, the sultanate has been revived as a cultural institution.^[5]

According to later historical traditions, the four kingdoms of North Maluku (Ternate, Tidore,Bacan, andJailolo) had a common root. A story that arose after the introduction ofIslam says that the common ancestor was anArab, Jafar Sadik, who married aheavenly nymph (bidadari) and sired four sons, of whom Sahjati became the firstkolano (ruler) of Tidore.^[6] The termkolano might be a Javanese loanword borrowed from the name of the character inPanji tales, pointing at early cultural influences from Java.^[7] The first eightkolanos are proto-historical as there are no contemporary sources on Tidore until the early 16th century.^[8] The ninth,Ciri Leliatu, was reportedly converted to Islam by an Arab, Syekh Mansur, and named his oldest son after the preacher.^[9] According to European sources, Islam was accepted by the North Malukan elite in about the 1460s–1470s. Ciri Leliatu's son Sultanal-Mansur ruled when the Portuguese first visited Maluku in 1512 and met the remnants of theMagellan expedition in 1521.^[10] By that time the sultanate lived in an uneasy and ambiguous relationship with its close neighbour Ternate. Though frequently at war, the Tidore rulers held a ritual precedence position since their daughters regularly married Ternatan sultans and princes.^[11]

Together, the two sultanates Ternate and Tidore exercised suzerainty over a huge area fromSulawesi toWest Papua. Supposedly, the ninth Tidore ruler Ciri Leliatu invaded the Papuan islandGebe, a local power center, in the late 15th century and thereby gained access to valuable forest products of theRaja Ampat Islands andNew Guinea.^[12] According to records in the Sonyine Malige Museum, the start of Tidore's influence in these quarters was due to his son, al-Mansur or Ibnu Mansur, who bonded a naval leader ofWaigeo,Gurabesi fromBiak (later known by the European titleKapitan), as well as with aSangaji ofPatani, Sahmardan. According to tradition they launched an expedition to Papua in 1453 and created bonds with Papuan villages with Gurabesi's assistance.^[13] These regions were held separately by theKorano Ngaruha (lit. Four Kings) orRaja Ampat. The four sub-kings were KolanoSalawati, KolanoWaigeo, KolanoWaigama, and Kolano Umsowol orLilinta. Furthermore, thePapoua Gam Sio (lit. The Papua NineNegeri) included Sangaji Umka, Gimalaha Usba, Sangaji Barei, Sangaji Boser, Gimalaha Kafdarun, Sangaji Wakeri,Gimalaha Warijo,Sangaji Mar, and Gimalaha Warasay. Lastly, theMafor Soa Raha (lit. TheMafor Four Soa) includedSangaji Rumberpon, Sangaji Rumansar, Sangaji Angaradifa, andSangaji Waropen.^[14] Historical tradition also relates that Tidore in 1498 attackedSran centered on Adi island inWest Papua and installed a vassal king (later known by the European titleMayor). The first vassal ruler, Wanggita, was followed by his descendants for three generations; their influence extended to Karufa and Arguni Bay.^[15] However, the Papuan dependencies were only documented by Europeans in the 17th century.^[16] Considering that New Guinea had little economic value for them, the Dutch promoted Tidore as suzerain of Papua. By 1849, Tidore's borders had been extended to the proximity of the current international border between Indonesia andPapua New Guinea.^[17] Tidore furthermore ruled over parts ofHalmahera and islands close by, especially the Gamrange area in the southeast (Maba,Weda, andPatani). At times, Tidore controlled EastSeram and laid claims to outlying places such asBuru andAru.^[18]

The base of Tidorese society was thesoa, socio-political units headed bybobato (headmen). Abobato was a state official but also a guardian of the interests of his community. On the basic level in the outlying areas (Halmahera, etc.) were variouskimelaha orgimalaha (local leaders formally appointed by the sultan), who in turn stood undersangaji (honoured princes) who lorded as vassals over various territories belonging to the Sultanate. At the center was a state council consisting of 31 members including the 27bobato, twohukum (magistrates), onekapiten laut (sea lord), and ajojau (chief minister). Moreover, the sultan employedutusan or envoys who visited the various outer areas under Tidore's sway and collected tributes.^[19] If these levies (which could be in the form of slaves or their value equivalent in massoy, nutmeg, turtle shell, and other goods) were not met, a punitiveHongi expedition would be launched on behalf of the sultan of Tidore, usually by other rajas of different regions under him.^[20]

Tidore established a loose alliance with theSpanish in the sixteenth century, starting with the visit of the Magellan expedition in 1521. The aim was to counter the power of Ternate, which had allied with the Portuguese since 1512. At the start, this did not mean much due to the rare Spanish visits, and Tidore suffered a series of serious defeats at the hands of the Portuguese in 1524, 1526, 1529, 1536, and 1560. However, the Ternatan sultanBabullah broke with the Portuguese in 1570 and greatly expanded his territory in all directions. Feeling slighted, the Tidorese underGapi Baguna allied with the Portuguese and allowed them to build a fort on their island in 1578.^[21] After themerger of Portugal and Spain in 1581, Spain, already established in thePhilippines, took over the Iberian initiative and carried out several more or less abortive interventions in Maluku to strengthen Iberian influence in the region. Since the Spanish and Portuguese realms were administered separately under theHabsburg kings, the Portuguese were however able to hang on for the next 24 years and kept several forts on the island. There was also a limited presence of Catholic missionaries in Tidore, who managed to convert a few members of the elite.^[22] While there was much mutual distrust between the Tidorese and the Spaniards and Portuguese, for Tidore the Spanish presence helped resist incursions by their Ternatan enemy. Nevertheless, it lost vital territories in Halmahera by the end of the 16th century, which had supplied Tidore Island withsago, a vital stock of food.^[23]

In 1605, theDutch of theUnited East India Company (VOC) took overAmbon as a part of their policy to control the lucrative trade in spices. The next step was to invade Tidore and defeat the Portuguese garrison in May in the same year. This was basically the end of the Portuguese presence in Maluku. However, the Spaniards soon retaliated; they launched a major attack on Ternate from their Philippines base in April 1606 and were assisted by the Tidorese. The enterprise was successful, the power of Ternate was curbed, and Tidore was allowed to take over certain Ternatan dependencies. This in turn alerted the VOC since Spain and theDutch Republic were at war in Europe, and their rivalry had global implications. The VOC allied with the new Ternatan sultan and launched their own expedition in 1607 that recovered part of Ternate.^[24] As a result, Ternate became heavily dependent on the Dutch, who also made incursions in Tidore over the next years and secured some coastal forts. SultanMole Majimu of Tidore held on to his allegiance to Spain, although some Tidorese princes leaned towards Ternate and the VOC. By this time the royal clan had split into two rivalling lineages which made for rapid throne shifts. The Spanish authorities found the sultans to be a nuisance rather than a help to the Spanish power.^[25]

A relatively pro-VOC sultan,Saifuddin, came to the throne in 1657 by pushing the other royal lineage aside. He agreed with the Dutch to eradicate all clove trees in his realm, in line with the VOC monopoly policy on the spice trade. In return he received a yearly compensation.^[26] The Spanish in the Philippines, who needed all available resources for their defense against the Sino-Japanese pirate lordKoxinga, decided to withdraw from Tidore in 1662. This was effectuated in 1663–1666.^[27] With the Spaniards gone, a new contract in 1667 spelled out the relations between the VOC and Tidore. In the 17th century Tidore became one of the most independent kingdoms in the region, resisting direct control byDutch East India Company (VOC). Particularly underSultan Saifuddin's rule (1657–1687), the Tidore court was skilled at using Dutch payment forspices for gifts to strengthen traditional ties with Tidore's traditional periphery. As a result, he was widely respected by many local populations and had little need to call on the Dutch for military help in governing the kingdom, as Ternate frequently did.^[28]

Tidore remained an independent kingdom, albeit with frequent Dutch interference, until the late eighteenth century. Like Ternate, Tidore allowed the Dutch spice eradication program (extirpatie) to proceed in its territories. This program, intended to strengthen the Dutch spice monopoly by limiting production to a few places, impoverished Tidore as well as its Ternate neighbour and weakened its control over its periphery. A treaty in 1768 forced Sultan Jamaluddin to cede his rights to East Seram which had been granted Tidore in 1700, which created great anger among the elite. The unrest caused the VOC authorities to depose Jamaluddin in 1779 and to force his successor Patra Alam to conclude a new contract that abrogated the old one from 1667. With this document (1780), Tidore was turned from an ally to a vassal and thus lost its independence.^[29] One of the exiled Jamaluddin's sons,Nuku, reacted to this bystarting a rebellion in 1780, seeking support in the marginal areas of the Tidore realm. The uprising took on violently anti-Dutch features where Islam was an important ideological glue. In this period, Gamrange (incl.Bicoli),^[30]Gebe, andNumfor were able to increase their influence, with Gebe serving as a base when Nuku assembled a fleet of 300 perahus for plundering raids.^[31] Nuku in particular found allies in Halmahera, Seram, and theRaja Ampat Islands, but also in places that had not been subservient to Tidore, such as theKei andAru Islands. After several shifts, Nuku allied with theBritish,who were at war with the Dutch after 1795 and were in the process of conquering Dutch colonial possessions. In 1797 he captured Bacan and then Tidore itself, expelling the VOC-backed Sultan Kamaluddin. Nuku was enthroned as Sultan Muhammad al-Mabus Amiruddin. As such he took care to restore the defunct Jailolo sultanate to return to the traditional, pre-European quadripartition of Maluku.^[32] In 1801 Ternate was captured by the British and Tidorese after a long siege. However, thePeace of Amiens in Europe changed the strategic positions in the next year already, since the Dutch were allowed to retake their positions in Maluku. After the death of Nuku in 1805, his brother, SultanZainal Abidin, proved unable to resist the Dutch-Ternatan attacks. Tidore was lost in 1806 and the sultan fled, finally dying in exile in 1810.^[33]

Tidore was subjected to an increasing implementation of colonial rule in the 19th century. A treaty was signed in 1817 where the sultan and grandees received annual subsidies. Tidore was included in the Residency of Ternate together with Ternate, Bacan, Halmahera, and dependencies. The infamoushongi expeditions, which had eradicated unauthorized spice trees in Maluku and kept the Papuan lands in subordination, were finally abolished in 1859–1861.^[34] The title of sultan lapsed in 1905 and was replaced by a regency. The rights of Tidore in West New Guinea were formally upheld, but the Dutch Residents of Ternate tried to diminish Tidorese's influence in those quarters since it was not considered in the interests of the Papuans.^[35] It was only after the outbreak of theIndonesian revolution that the Dutch authorities allowed a new sultan to be enthroned,Zainal Abidin Alting (r. 1947–1967). After the gaining of Indonesian independence in 1949, old monarchical institutions were abolished. However, the historical status of the sultan played a certain role in bolstering Indonesian claims to Dutch New Guinea. Thus Zainal Abidin was appointed Governor ofIrian Barat (Papua) during the years 1956–1961, at a time when the region was still under Dutch control. After his governorship, he settled inAmbon where he died in 1967.^{[36][full citation needed]} No new sultan was appointed. However, with the increasing interest in Indonesia for local tradition after the end of theSuharto era, some aspects of the sultanate were taken up. Titular sultans have been chosen from among the different royal branches since 1999.

• List of rulers of Maluku
• Nuku Rebellion
• Spice trade

• History of North Maluku
• Precolonial states of Indonesia
• Islamic states in Indonesia
• Sultanate of Tidore
• Former sultanates
• Sultanates
• Former countries in Oceania

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