Ternate

Ternate Island
Geography
Location	South East Asia
Coordinates	0°47′N 127°22′E / 0.783°N 127.367°E / 0.783; 127.367
Archipelago	Maluku Islands
Area	76 km2 (29.3 sq mi)
Highest elevation	1,715 m (5,627 ft)
Highest point	Gamalama
Country
Indonesia
Demographics
Population	145,143 (as of 2003)
Density	1,910 /km2 (4,950 /sq mi)

Ternate is an island in the Maluku Islands (Moluccas) of eastern Indonesia. It was the center of the powerful former Sultanate of Ternate. It is located off the west coast of the larger island of Halmahera.

Like its neighbouring island, Tidore, Ternate is a visually dramatic cone-shaped island. The islands are ancient Islamic sultanates with a long history of bitter rivalry. The islands were once the world's single major producer of cloves, a commodity that allowed their sultans to become amongst the wealthiest and most powerful of all sultans in the Indonesian region. In the precolonial era, Ternate was the dominant political and economic power over most of the "Spice Islands" of Maluku.

Today, Ternate City is the largest town in the province of North Maluku, within which the island constitutes a municipality (kotamadya). It is, however, no longer the provincial capital, a title now held by the town of Sofifi on Halmahera.

Geography[link]

Ternate in Maluku islands.

Ternate is dominated by the volcanic Mount Gamalama (1715 m). An 1840 eruption destroyed most houses on the island and recent eruptions occurred in 1980, 1983, 1994 and 2011.^[1] During the latest eruption in 2011, Indonesia closed a domestic airport near the volcano for several days following ash emissions that reached 2,000 meters into the atmosphere.^[2] The foothills are home to groves of clove trees, and climbs to the peak of the volcano can be made.

The island now has an area of 76 square kilometres (29 sq mi) and held a population estimated at 145,143 in July 2003. The town is located at 0°47′N 127°22′E / 0.783°N 127.367°E / 0.783; 127.367.^{[citation needed]}

The airport lies along the north east coastline of the island.

Hiri island is a volcanic cone lying off the northern tip of Ternate. Crocodile infested crater Tolire Lake lies in the north west and is bordered by sheer cliffs. Ternate beaches include Sulamadaha (on the northern tip), Afetaduma and Jouburiki in the west, and the beach at the village of Kastela in the south east.^[1]

Administration[link]

Ternate Volcano view from Dodoku Ali

Ternate is governed as Ternate City (Kota Ternate) within the province of North Maluku. The kota (city) of Ternate has seven sub-districts (kecamatan):

• Pulau Ternate
• Moti
• North Ternate
• South Ternate
• Central Ternate
• Pulau Hiri
• Pulau-Pulau Batang Dua

Transportation[link]

Sultan Babullah Airport is located on the island and is served by Wings Air (Group Lion Air), Merpati Nusantara Airlines, Express Air of Trigana Air. Connections are via Makassar, and Manado via Sorong. In addition there are also direct flights to Jakarta on Batavia Air, Sriwijaya Air and Garuda Indonesia. Pelni provides ship connections.

Ternate City[link]

Greater Ternate City (Indonesian: Kota Ternate) spreads 10 kilometres from the airport to Bastiong port. The commercial centre stretches 2 kilometres from the bus terminal near Fort Oranye to Ahmad Yani Port where Pelni ships arrive. It is the largest town in North Maluku province.^[1] The current Sultan's Palace, built in 1796, is now partly a museum. The large Fort Oranye, built by the Dutch in 1607, was the home of the Dutch East Indies Company until it moved to Batavia (Jakarta) around 1619.^[1]

History[link]

Pre-colonial history[link]

Gate of the palace of Ternate Sultanate.

Ternate and neighbouring Tidore were the world's major producer of cloves upon which their rulers became among the wealthiest and most powerful sultans in the Indonesian region. Much of their wealth, however, was wasted fighting each other. Up until the Dutch completed the colonization of Maluku in the 19th century, the sultans of Ternate ruled empires that claimed at least nominal influence as far as Ambon, Sulawesi and Papua.^[1]

The peak of its power came near the end of the sixteenth century, under Sultan Baabullah, when it had influence over most of the eastern part of Sulawesi, the Ambon and Seram area, and parts of Papua. It engaged in fierce competition for control of its periphery with the nearby sultanate of Tidore.^{[citation needed]} According to historian Leonard Andaya, Ternate's "dualistic" rivalry with Tidore is a dominant theme in the early history of the Maluku Islands.^{[citation needed]}

In part as a result of its trade-dependent culture, Ternate was one of the earliest places in the region to which Islam spread, probably coming from Java in the late 15th century. Initially, the faith was restricted to Ternate's small ruling family, and spread only slowly to the rest of the population.^{[citation needed]}

Europeans[link]

Early maps of northern Maluku during Age of Discovery. North is on the right direction, with Ternate in the rightmost island followed by Tidore, Mare, Moti and Makian islands. The bottom is the Gilolo (Jailolo or Halmahera) Island. Inset on the top is Bacan Island.

Sultan of Ternates guard.

Colonial era painting of Ternate island. ca. 1883-1889.

The first Europeans to stay on Ternate were part of the Portuguese expedition of Francisco Serrão out of Malacca, which was shipwrecked near Seram and rescued by local residents. Sultan Abu Lais of Ternate heard of their stranding, and, seeing a chance to ally himself with a powerful foreign nation, he brought them to Ternate in 1512. The Portuguese were permitted to build a fort (Fort Tolukko) on the island, construction of which began in 1522.

Relations between the Ternateans and Portuguese were strained from the start.^{[citation needed]} An outpost far from Europe generally only attracted the most desperate and avaricious, such that the generally poor behaviour of the Portuguese combined with feeble attempts at Christianisation, strained relations with Ternate's Muslim ruler,^[3] as did their efforts to monopolise the spice trade and dominate local politics.^[1]

In 1535 King Tabariji was deposed and sent to Goa by the Portuguese. He converted to Christianity and changed his name to Dom Manuel. After being declared innocent of the charges against him he was sent back to reassume his throne however he died en route in Malacca in 1545. He had though bequeathed the island of Ambon to his Portuguese godfather Jordão de Freitas.^{[citation needed]}

When Sultan Hairun was executed and his head exhibited on a pike in 1570, Muslim Ternateans rebelled against the Portuguese who were besieged in their castle until 1575 when a new Sultan made the castle his palace.^[1] Ambon became the new centre for Portuguese activities in Maluku. European power in the region was weak and Ternate became an expanding, fiercely Islamic and anti-Portuguese state under the rule of Sultan Baab Ullah (r. 1570–1583) and his son Sultan Said.^[4]

In 1580, the sultan entertained British Francis Drake, who much to the surprise of the Ternateans had no interest in buying cloves as his ship, the Golden Hind, was too full of stolen Spanish-American gold to carry cloves.^[1]

As the Portuguese battles in the Indian Ocean against Muslim Powers raged on, Ternate became a site of interest especially for the Ottomans, who had gained much information about Maritime Southeast Asia from the Sultanate of Aceh, and in fact Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis the Ottoman Admiral intended to reach both Java, Borneo and Ternate but was engaged in pitched battle and was outnumbered against the Portuguese Fleet in Sumatra.^{[citation needed]}

Spanish and Dutch traders competing for control over the lucrative clove trade played Ternate off against Tidore. The Dutch eventually became the dominant European power although the sultanates were in place almost continually until today.^[1] Spanish forces captured the former Portuguese fort from the Ternatese in 1606, deported the Ternate Sultan and his entourage to Manila. In 1607 the Dutch came back in Ternate where with the help of Ternateans built a fort in Malayo.^{[citation needed]} The Spaniards occupied the southern part of the island where they had their main settlement the town of Ciudad del Rosario. [1] The island was divided between the two powers: the Spaniards were allied with Tidore and the Dutch with their Ternaten allies. For the Ternaten rulers, the Dutch were a useful, if not particularly welcome, presence that gave them military advantages against Tidore and the Spanish. Particularly under Sultan Hamzah (r. 1627–1648), Ternate expanded its territory and strengthened its control over the periphery.^{[citation needed]} Dutch influence over the kingdom was limited, though Hamzah and his son and successor, Sultan Mandar Syah (r. 1648–1675) did concede some regions to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in exchange for help controlling rebellions there. The Spaniards abandoned Ternate and Tidore in 1663. In the 18th century Ternate was the site of a VOC governorship, which attempted to control all trade in the northern Moluccas.^{[citation needed]}

By the 19th century, the spice trade had declined substantially. Hence the region was less central to the Netherlands colonial state, but the Dutch maintained a presence in the region in order to prevent another colonial power from occupying it. After the VOC was nationalised by the Dutch government in 1800, Ternate became part of the Government of the Moluccas (Gouvernement der Molukken). Ternate was occupied by British forces in 1810 before being returned to Dutch control in 1817. In 1824 became the capital of a residency (administrative region) covering Halmahera, the entire west coast of New Guinea, and the central east coast of Sulawesi. In 1858 Alfred Russel Wallace wrote his paper on Evolution here, which he sent to Charles Darwin for co-publication (The Ternate letters). By 1867 all of Dutch-occupied New Guinea had been added to the residency, but then its region was gradually transferred to Ambon (Amboina) before being dissolved into that residency in 1922.^{[citation needed]}

20th century[link]

Like the rest of Indonesia, Ternate was occupied by Japanese forces during World War II; eastern Indonesia was governed by the Navy. After Japan surrendered in August 1945 and Indonesia declared independence, Ternate was reoccupied in early November 1945 by Allied forces intending to return Indonesia to Dutch control. It became part of Maluku province when Indonesia became independent.

Ternate saw some violence in the 1999–2000 sectarian conflict across the Maluku islands, not, however, to the extent of other islands such as nearby Halmahera. As of 2003, former churches and cinemas on Ternate were occupied by refugees from the Halmahera violence.^[1]

Geology[link]

Ternate lies in a very active seismic region where active volcanic activity and frequent earthquakes are common.

References[link]

General[link]

• Andaya, Leonard Y (1993). The world of Maluku: eastern Indonesia in the early modern period. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1490-8
• The History of the Spanish Presence in the Moluccas (Indonesia): the Spanish Forts in Tidore Island, Maluku, Indonesia by Marco Ramerini
• Cribb, Robert (2000). Historical atlas of Indonesia. Surrey: Curson. ISBN 0-7007-0985-1.
• Hanna, Willard Anderson and Des Alwi (1990). Turbulent times past in Ternate and Tidore. Banda Naira: Yayasan Warisan dan Budaya.
• Wallace, Alfred Russel (1858). "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type"
  • The famous naturalist wrote the "Ternate essay", an early discussion of natural selection, while on the island in 1858.

Notes[link]

v t e Portuguese Overseas Empire North Africa 15th century 1415–1640  Ceuta 1458–1550  Alcácer Ceguer (El Qsar es Seghir) 1471–1550  Arzila (Asilah) 1471–1662  Tangier 1485–1550  Mazagan (El Jadida) 1487– middle 16th century  Ouadane 1488–1541  Safim (Safi) 1489  Graciosa 16th century 1505–1769  Santa Cruz do Cabo  de Gué (Agadir) 1506–1525  Mogador (Essaouira) 1506–1525  Aguz (Souira Guedima) 1506–1769  Mazagan (El Jadida) 1513–1541  Azamor (Azemmour) 1515  São João da Mamora (Mehdya) 1577–1589  Arzila (Asilah) Sub-Saharan Africa 15th century 1455–1633  Anguim 1462–1975  Cape Verde 1470–1975  São Tomé1 1474–1778  Annobón 1478–1778  Fernando Poo (Bioko) 1482–1637  Elmina (São Jorge  da Mina) 1482–1642  Portuguese Gold Coast 1508–1547 (1600)  Madagascar2 1498–1540  Mascarene Islands 16th century 1500–1630  Malindi 1500–1975  Príncipe1 1501–1975  Portuguese E. Africa  (Mozambique) 1502–1659  Saint Helena 1503–1698  Zanzibar 1505–1512  Quíloa (Kilwa) 1506–1511  Socotra 1557–1578  Accra 1575–1975  Portuguese W. Africa  (Angola) 1588–1974  Cacheu3 1593–1698  Mombassa (Mombasa) 17th century 1645–1888  Ziguinchor 1680–1961  São João Baptista de Ajudá 1687–1974  Bissau3 18th century 1728–1729  Mombassa (Mombasa) 1753–1975  São Tomé and Príncipe 19th century 1879–1974  Portuguese Guinea 1885–1975  Portuguese Congo   1 Part of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1753.   2 A Factory (Anosy region) and small temporary coastal bases.   3 Part of Portuguese Guinea from 1879. Southwest Asia 16th century 1506–1615  Gamru (Bandar-Abbas) 1507–1643  Sohar 1515–1622  Hormuz (Ormus) 1515–1648  Quriyat 1515–?   Qalhat 1515–1650  Muscat 1515?–?   Barka 1515–1633? Julfar (Ras al-Khaimah) 1521–1602  Bahrain (Muharraq and Manama) 1521–1529?  Qatif 1521?–1551? Tarut Island 1550–1551  Qatif 1588–1648  Matrah 17th century 1620–?   Khor Fakkan 1621?–?   As Sib 1621–1622  Qeshm 1623–?   Khasab 1623–?   Libedia 1624–?   Kalba 1624–?   Madha 1624–1648  Dibba Al-Hisn 1624?–?   Bandar-e Kong Indian subcontinent 15th century 1498–1545  Laccadive Islands       (Lakshadweep) 16th century Portuguese India · 1500–1663  Cochim (Kochi) · 1501–1663  Cannanore (Kannur) · 1502–1658, 1659-1661  Quilon (Coulão/Kollam) · 1502–1661  Pallipuram (Cochin de Cima) · 1507–1657  Negapatam (Nagapatnam) · 1510–1962  Goa · 1512–1525, 1750  Calicut (Kozhikode) · 1518–1619  Portuguese Paliacate trading outpost (Pulicat) · 1521–1740  Chaul · 1523–1662  Mylapore · 1528–1666  Chittagong · 1531–1571  Chaul · 1531–1571  Chalé · 1534–1601  Salsette Island · 1534–1661  Bombay (Mumbai) · 1535  Ponnani · 1535–1739  Baçaím (Vasai-Virar) · 1536–1662  Cranganore (Kodungallur) · 1540–1612  Surat · 1548–1658  Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) 16th century (continued) Portuguese India (continued) · 1559–1962  Daman and Diu · 1568–1659  Mangalore · 1579–1632  Hugli · 1598–1610  Masulipatnam (Machilipatnam) 1518–1521  Maldives 1518–1658  Portuguese Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1558–1573  Maldives 17th century Portuguese India · 1687–1749  Mylapore 18th century Portuguese India · 1779–1954  Dadra and Nagar Haveli East Asia and Oceania 16th century 1511–1641  Portuguese Malacca 1512–1621  Maluku · 1522–1575  Ternate · 1576–1605  Ambon · 1578–1650  Tidore 1512–1665  Makassar 1553–1999  Macau 1571–1639  Decima (Dejima, Nagasaki) 17th century 1642–1975  Portuguese Timor (East Timor)1 19th century Macau · 1864–1999  Coloane · 1849–1999  Portas do Cerco · 1851–1999  Taipa · 1890–1999  Ilha Verde 20th century Macau · 1938–1941  Lapa and Montanha (Hengqin) 1  1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequent invasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was recognized by Portugal & the world. North America and the North Atlantic Ocean 15th century 1420 Madeira 1432 Azores 16th century 1500–1579?  Terra Nova (Newfoundland) 1500–1579?  Labrador 1516–1579?  Nova Scotia Central and South America 16th century 1500–1822  Brazil 1536–1620  Barbados 17th century 1680–1777  Nova Colónia do Sacramento 19th century 1808–1822  Cisplatina (Uruguay) 1809–1817  Portuguese Guiana 1822  Upper Peru (Bolivia) Portuguese colonization of the Americas - Theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia - Portuguese colonialism in Indonesia

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ternate, Indonesia

• The Portuguese in Indonesia: the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda islands