Tidore Sultanate

1. The History

Tidore is an island in Maluccu archipelago. Before the coming of Islam in Nusantara (Malay Archipelago), Tidore was famous as Kie Duko that means a volcanic island. The name was referred to the topographic condition of the island where the highest volcano in the archipelago, Marijang, lays within. Today, the volcano is no longer active. Additionally, the name of Tidore is thought to be combination of two words derived from both Tidore and Arabic (Iraq dialect) word: in Tidore, To ado re means ‘I have arrived‘, and in Arabic, anta thadore means ‘you are coming‘. The combination of the two words backed to the historical moment in the island. According to the history, in gaining a power in the island, Momole (heads of tribe), supported by each members of tribe, preserved a continuously dispute among them. The dispute, more often than not, drove to bleeding war, although several negotiations had been conducted to decrease the riot.

In one day, estimated in 846 C.E, a caravan led by Ibn Charcazabah as a representative of Caliph al-Mutawakkil from Abbasiah kingdom in Bagdad, came to the island. In the meantime, the dispute broke out among the Momole. One of Arabians, Syech Yakub, tried to be negotiator among the Momole to keep them from bleeding war. In attempt to make a comprehensive peace, the Momole and Syech Yakub agreed to conduct a negotiation, called Togorebo, on a big stone laid in the slanting side of Marijang volcano. They agreed that the first Momole who came to the stone would lead the negotiation and became the leader of the island. In that competition, all Momole came to the location in the same time, and each Momole spoke loudly “Ta ado re” to confirm that he was the first who reached the location. After a while, Syech Yakub came and spoke in Iraq dialect “anta thadore”. Syech Yakub then decided to not select one of them to be the leader because no one faster than others in reaching the location. As the last decision, all Momole agreed to install Syach Yakub as their leader instead. Beginning from that time, the word Tidore, as the combination between Ta ado re and anta thedore, was broadly used by the indigenous people, and replaced the previous name of the island, Kie Duko. It was also eventually taken as the name of big kingdom in the Maluccu archipelago.

Based on the writing of Tidore Sultanate, the kingdom was formally established after Jou Kolano Sahjati crowned as a king in 1108 C.E. But the provided sources do not explain further about the location of the kingdom. The origin of Sahjati can be revealed through the story of the coming of Djafar Noh from Marocco to Tidore Island. Noh then married a local maiden, Siti Nursafa, and had four sons and four daughters. The four sons were Sahjati, the founder of Tidore kingdom; Darajati, the founder of Moti sultanate; Kaicil Buka, the founder of Makain sultanate; Bab Mansur Malamo, the founder of Ternate Sultanate. And the four daughters were Boki Saharnawi, the mother of Banggai kings; Boki sadarnawi, the mother of Tobungku kings; Boki Sagarnawi, the mother of Loloda kings; and Boki Cita Dewi, the mother of Marsaoli and Mardike. The Tidore kingdom was one pillar, besides Ternate, Makian and Moti, that formed Kie Raha relationship (the unity of four kingdoms in north Maluccu: Ternate, Tidore, Makian and Moti).

The story above clearly proved that the four kingdoms in Maluccu had the same ancestors, Djafar Noh and Siti Nursafa. The emergence and the development of the legend, whether true or false, obviously showed the consciousness to strengthen the brotherhood among the four kingdoms of Kie Raha, and therefore they upheld the myth of origin above.

The data that inform the time of the establishment of Tidore kingdom until the fourth king have not yet been found. The debatable information is revealed only after the period of Jou Kolano Bunga Mabunga Malibung. Balibunga is estimated as the place where the kingdom established. But many historians have different opinions in deciding the exact location of Balibunga. Several of them believe that it was located in northern side of Tidore, while others argue that its location was in rural place of southern Tidore.

In 1495 C.E, Ciriliyati, the first king titled sultan, was crowned as the sultan of Tidore kingdom. In the meantime, the center of the kingdom located in Gam Tina. But when sultan Mansur occupied the throne in 1512 C.E, he built a new settlement in Rum, northern Tidore, and moved the center of the kingdom there. The new settlement was nearby Ternate, laid in the middle of Mafugogo cape and Maitara Island. Owning a beautiful panorama of sea and a secure place of economic activity, the new capital developed fast and became an important and crowded (most visited) harbor.

Historically, the kingdom moved its capital for several times due to some reasons. In 1600 CE, the capital was moved by sultan Mole Majimo (Alauddin Syah) to Toloa in northern Tidore. The policy was taken to keep it from the attack of Ternate due to its near distance, while the relationship of the two kingdoms was getting worse. Another view argued that the sultan‘s policy purposed to convert Kolano Tamabanga community as the believers of animism into Islam. The last capital of the kingdom was Limau Timore built by sultan Saifuddin (Jou Kota). Limau Timore was then named Soasio until this present day.

In the 16^th century CE, both Portuguese and Spanish imperialists occupied Maluccu, including Tidore, to search for various spices, to monopolize the trade, and to colonize the region. The local kingdoms attempted hardly to maintain their rights from the European colonialist through several bleeding wars. In many times, Tidore, Ternate, Bacan and Jailolo united to expel those robbers.

After the end of Portuguese domination, another colonialist, the Dutch colonialist, came to the archipelago for the same purposes: monopolizing and dominating Tidore for fulfilling their wild material greed. The most perseverant sultan who stood against the colonialist was Sultan Nuku (1738-1805 CE). He struggled for many years consistently to expel the colonialist from the Maluccu Archipelago that involved Ternate, Tidore, Bacan and Jailolo. On June 21, 1801 CE, the Dutch colonialist was defeated by Sultan Nuku, and went out from the archipelago. Tidore, Ternate, Bacan and Jailolo then were free from the outsiders domination. During the war, the British troop supported Tidore, therefore they were allowed to rule both Ambon and Banda. The kingdom conducted a peace agreement with the imperialist to create a peaceful situation in the region. Tidore kingdom, under the rule of Sultan Nuku, reached its top of glory, became a big respected kingdom in the archipelago, and broadened its territory to Pacific archipelago, such as Micronesia, Melanesia and Solomon Islands. According to the history of Tidore, Sultan Nuku himself who came to the islands and gave them names, such as Nuku Hifa, Nuku Ora, Nuku Maboro, Nuku Nau, Nuku Lae-lae, Nuku Fetau and Nuku Nono.

As noted in the history of Tidore, the colonialist came to Tidore with the idea of spreading the Christianity. Because Islam had been exerted profoundly among the people, the Christianity could not develop significantly.

2. The Kings

From the first time of its establishment, the Tidore kingdom has been ruled by 38 sultans. Today Sultan H. Djafar Syah is the ruler of the kingdom. (Other sultans, from the first until the thirty-seventh, are still in the process of data collecting).

3. The Kingdom Period

The Tidore kingdom was established in 1108 CE as an independent kingdom until the 18^th century CE. Afterwards, the kingdom was occupied by the Dutch colonial. When Indonesia obtained its independence on August 17, 1945, the kingdom integrated itself within the Republic of Indonesia.

4. The Kingdom Territory

During its glorious period, the kingdom had very large territory including the Pacific archipelago. The surrounding islands included in the kingdom territory were Papua, Seram and Raja Ampat islands. In addition, in the Pacific archipelago, the territory of the kingdom included Micronesia, Marianas Islands, Marshal, Ngulu, Kapita Gamrange Islands, Melanesia, Solomon Islands, and many other islands that are named by Nuku, such as Nuku Haifa, Nuku Ora, Nuku Maboro and Nuku Nau. The other islands, Haiti, Nuku Lae-lae Islands, Nuku Fetau, Nuku Wange and Nuku Nuno, were also part of the territory of the kingdom.

5. The Kingdom Structure

The governmental system of the kingdom ran democratically. The highest ruler occupied by sultan. Unlike any other kingdoms in Malay region, the new sultan was not elected automatically from one of the sons of the previous sultan. The election arranged strictly in a permanent mechanism in which the candidates were elected from Dano-dano Folaraha (the representatives of tribes) who were Fola Yade, Fola Ake Sahu, Fola Rum and Fola Bagus. One of them would be selected as a new sultan.

In the glorious era of Sultan Nuku, the kingdom had a good system of government. In the meantime, the sultan, in ruling the kingdom, was supported by Dewan Wazir (ministers), in Tidore term it was called Syara‘ adat se nakudi. The council was led by the sultan, but practically all tasks were held by Joujau (prime minister). The members of Dewan Wazir were Bobato pehak raha (four persons from bobato or department) and the representatives of each district of kingdom territory. The task of bobato was restricted in organizing and implementing the policy of Dewan Wazir. The four bobato were (1) pehak labe (minister of religion). The members of pehak labe were judge, religious leader, religious official and modem; (2) pehak adat included Jojau (prime minister), Kapita Lau (troop leader), Hukum Yade (minister of exterior), Hukum Soasio (interior minister) and Bobato Ngofa (minister of cabinet). They intensively served simultaneously the government and the society; (3) Pehak Kompania included Kapita Kie, Jou Mayor and Kapita Ngofa. They dialed with both the security and the defense of the kingdom; (4) pehak or secretaries were led by Tullamo (kingdom secretary), who managed also Sadaha (head of household), Sowohi Kie (kingdom official who dialed with spirituality), Sowohi Cina (kingdom official who dialed with the Chinese matters), Fomanyira Ngare (public relations of the kingdom), Syahbandar (kindom official who dialed with voyage administration). The other official kingdom, Gonone (kingdom secret agent) and Serang (kingdom official who dialed with propaganda), also supported the kingdom in strengthening the system of government.

6. The Socio-Cultural Life

The majority of the members of Tidore society were good faithful Muslims, and Tidore was the center of development of Islam in eastern Indonesia for several centuries ago. Due to the profound influence of Islam, the religious leaders had an important rule and honorary status within the society. The strong relation between Islam and the society was symbolized in the saying, “Adat ge mauri Syara, Syara mauri Kitabullah (tradition founded upon Islamic law, Islamic law founded upon the Qur‘an). This collaboration is maintained until today.

Regarding the kinship of the society, they took previously matrilineal descent system, but the coming of Islam and its profound influence had changed the kinship into patrilineal descent system. The most important patrilineal clan was called soa. In Tidore tradition, the most ideal marriage was conducted between two cousins, called kufu. The marriage gave the couple a large chance to decide the location where they intended to live within. They were allowed to live among bride‘s or groom‘s families. In anthropology, this tradition is called utrolocal.

In endeavor of maintaining the harmony between human being and nature, the society conducted various traditional ceremonies, such as ceremony of Legu Gam Adat Negeri, ceremony of Lufu Kie daera se Toluku, ceremony of Ngam Fugo, Dola Gumi, Joko Hale, etc…

The society, in daily communication, used Tidore language that was included in language-family of non-Austronesia. This language was also used to develop both oral and writing literature. The most popular oral literatures were dola bololo (form of proverb or pantun), dalil tifa (philosophical saying accompanied by drum), kabata (oral literature in the form of poem, couplets, maxim, etc…performed by two small even groups). The delivering of that performing art was, more often than not, accompanied by drum. Alongside the oral literatures above, writing literature also developed significantly in Tidore that its legacy (the manuscript of Tidore sultanate preserved in national museum in Jakarta) can be seen today. And, perhaps, many other manuscripts are preserved by the people in their own houses.   

Most people, in their daily activities, cultivated their lands with various plants, such as rice, corn, sweet potato, cassava, clove, pala and coconut. These various spices brought Tidore to be famous country visited by the traders from China, India and Arab, and later became the area of wars between the indigenous people and the European robbers.

Sources:

Maswin M. Rahman, 2006. Mengenal Kesultanan Tidore. Tidore: Lembaga Kesenian Kraton Limau Duko.

Wikipedia.