North Maluku Tourism: About Ternate

Ternate is an island and town in the Maluku Islands (Moluccas) of eastern Indonesia, located off the west coast of the larger island of Halmahera. In the pre-colonial era, Ternate was the dominant political and economic power over most of the "Spice Island” of Maluku. Today, Ternate is the largest town in North Maluku province.

Ternate on the north Seram is a center of power and communication. It is the second most important town in Maluku after Ambon. Two-third of the island's people live in Ternate town, the business and market center of the whole region. A visit to the market will give an idea of some of the area's products. Fort Oranje, built by the Dutch and currently being used by the Indonesian police and military is open to the public. 

Ternate, an island off the west coast of Halmahera, is just 15 sq. km in size but it offers a treasure of sights and experiences. There is an active volcano named Gamalama, two lakes, an old Sultan's palace, a picturesque port and several good beaches.

HISTORY

Up until the Ducth completed the colonization of Maluku in the nineteenth century, the sultans of Ternate ruled an extensive empire that at the time stretched across the archipelago, from Sulawesi to Papua. 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, Ambon and Seram area, and Papua parts. It frequently engaged in fierce competition for control of its periphery with the nearby sultanate of Tidore. According to historian Leonard Andaya, Ternate's "dualistic" rivalry with Tidore is a dominant theme in the early history of the Maluku Islands.

In part as a result of its trade-dependent culture, Ternate was one of the earliest places in the region, which Islam spread, probably coming from Java in the late fifteenth century. Initially, the faith was restricted to Ternate's small ruling family, and spread only slowly to the rest of the population. The first Europeans who stay on Ternate were part of the Portuguese expedition of Francisco Serrao out of Melake, 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 had heard about, he had brought them to Ternate in 1512. The Portuguese were permitted to build a fort on the island, but the relations were strained from the start. Portuguese inhabitants of the fort and felt free to appropriate supplies from the Ternate population without payment, and responded violently when the local population objected. Portugal was finally expelled in 1575 amid Ternate anger with zealous Christian missionaries, and Portuguese meddling with the Ternate throne. At the time, European power in the region was very weak; after the expulsion of the Portuguese, Ternate was able to substantially increase its military reach across the region for a time.

Spanish forces to capture the former Portuguese fort in 1606 deported the Ternate Sultan and his entourage to Manila. In 1607 the Dutch came back in Ternate with Ternateans help built a fort in Malayo. The island was divided between 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. 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 the controlling rebellions there. The Spaniards remained in Ternate and Tidore until 1663. In the eighteenth century Ternate was the site of a VOC governorship, which attempted to control all trade in the northern Moluccas.

By the nineteenth 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 Dutch government in 1800 nationalized the VOC, Ternate became the part of Moluccas Government (Gouvernement der Molukken). British were forces to occupied Ternate 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 Sulawesi central east coast. 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.

Like the rest of Indonesia, Japanese forces occupied Ternate during World War II; the Navy governed eastern Indonesia. 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.