Page 282 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

The news of the Portuguese presence reached the Sultan of Ternate, Bayanullah and
Sultan Tidore, Almansyur. The two sultans sent a messenger to pick up the Portuguese
people. It turned out that the envoy of Sultan of Ternate arrived first so that they could
take Serrao and the 9 other Portuguese to Ternate and landed at the port of Talangame.
The main objective of picking up the Portuguese was to make them advisors in the
implementation of his administration. Serrao was well received by the sultan and served
as an advisor to sultanate government.
Serrao utilized that position to obtain the right to monopolize the spice trade in the
sultanate. The Sultan also allowed Serrao to build a fort, as a place where he and his retinue
resided. Finally a fort known as Fort Gamlamo, which by the Portuguese authorities named
Nostra Senhora de Rosario (Our lady garlanded with roses).
The search for spice-producing areas was also undertaken by Spanish merchants
and mariners in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan came to the king of Spain, Charles, to request
approval to sail to the Spice Islands. The plan received the king’s approval and support, so
that on August 10, 1519, the merchant fleet consisting of five sailboats left their country
sailing westward. The merchant fleet finally arrived at Tidore on 8 November 1521 with
two ships led by Gonsalo Carvalhindo, because in the process of sailing the Spanish fleet
lost 3 vessels and the leader of the cruise, Magellan, who along with 60 crew members,
was killed on Maktan Island, south Phillippines. The presence of the merchant fleet was
warmly welcomed by the Sultan of Tidore, so they got the opportunity to buy cloves to be
transported to their country.
The presence of Portuguese and Spanish at the center of the spice-producing areas
did not face any resistance from local authorities. Instead a violent conflict between the
two European powers took place. The impact of the dispute between the two European
powers was ultimately rooted in a conflict between two local powers, namely the Kingdom
of Ternate and Tidore. This happened because Ternate Sultanate supported Portuguese
sailors and merchants, while Tidore sultanate supported sailors and merchants from Spain
fought over spice products. This shows that the conflict between the Portuguese and the
Spanish is synonymous with the conflict between the Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore.

Maritime Trade of Makassar
The fall of Malacca to the Portuguese caused Malay sailors and merchants to make an
exodus to the eastern regions, to the ports located in Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Their
presence added to the proliferation of trading activities in the ports of commerce located

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