Page 198 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

In a text dated 1665 it was reported that Galela’s people recognized Sangaji Gamkonora
(Fraassen, 1980: 117) until 1741 when there was a revolt against the Sultan of Ternate and
Sangaji Gamkonora. Gamkonora had no power over Galela any more because of its treaty
with the Dutch. This was followed by a power vacuum that lasted until 1794. In 1822,
Sangaji Gamkonora no longer had any power over Galela.
Two important points in the short history of Galela can be mentioned. First, no article
mentions Tiana. Second, the story that Tiana people came from Galela was recorded in
the field. The arrival of the Tiana people in Sarau who then spread to Jere and Tobelos,
according to this version was caused by war. Unfortunately, which war is not known so
the year when the war happened can not be identified. Between the years 1553 - 1550, the
sultanate of Ternate and Bacan was allied with the Portuguese against Jailolo.
Fraassen, (1980: 91) states that between the years 1553 and 1550, Ternate and Bacan
were allied with the Portuguese against Jailolo who was allied with Tidore and the Spanish.
The war between Tidore and Jailolo according to the Gamkonora, lasted a long time.

Non Linguistic Explanation
Van Fraassen recorded that Sangaji Gamkonora once ruled Galela and Tobelo in the 17th
century. This was also asserted by a descendant of Sangaji from Gamkonora village but
he did not mention the year. Elderly Gamkonora speakers confirmed that Tiana speakers
came from Galela. Furthermore, it is said that their arrival occured during the war between
Ternate and Jailolo (Fraassen, 1980: 91) Jailolo was occupied by Ternate who were allied
with the Portuguese. In December, the Sultan was summoned to Ternate but he refused.
Sangaji Gamkonora, at that time Qamaluddin, asked Jaelani Kharim Jieko to settle in
Gamkonora and gave him a piece of land in Lontar Tiana (sometimes called Tiana Lontar).
Jaelani Kharim Jieko came together with maids, servants and slaves. Their descendants
are known as Tiana. After the war, Jaelani Kharim Jieko, the military leader of Tiana, moved
to Tobelos and Sarau simultaneously from Lontar Tiana.
Differences in sources may explain why Tiana speakers eliminated their historical
traces from Gamkonora especially Lontar Tiana because of their status as maids of Jaelani
Kharim Jieko during his arrival in Gamkonora in the 16th century exactly after the war
between the sultanates of Ternate and Jailolo ended. The Galela language may have been
intentionally left out of the record because of their closeness to Jaelani Kharim Jieko who
went to Lontar Tiana, Gamkonora speakers’ region.
So the relationship between the Tiana and Galela languages goes back some time,
although Tiana speakers claim that they originated from Galela and had no effect on

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