Portrait: Sultan Saifuddin of Tidore, Czartoryski Museum, Krakow
“Kesultanan Tidore does not betray its people,” the Sultan waved his hand to dismiss the envoy. “We are not Ternate,” he added, ignoring his advisor’s frown.
The envoy left, stiff-backed, and the Sultan sighed and rose from his seat. It was past time for lunch.
“I do not like the Portuguese any more than I like the Dutch,” he admitted. “Neither have our well-being in mind. But the Spaniards have helped us resist the Dutch’s dogged attempts at making us their puppets. I will not become Ternate.”
“The Sultan speaks wise words,” the advisor bowed. “As for the trade?”
“I will take the Dutch’s payment for the cloves my people grow,” Sultan Saiffudin’s smile was tight, “and I will gift it to my people, whose support I trust more than that of the Dutch East India Company.” His smile dropped. “Make no mistake, the Dutch’s only aim is monopoly.”
For What Pegman Saw: Raja Ampat, Indonesia
Na'ama Yehuda 
Nice one. Indeed. I’m still stewing on my take.
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Will happily take a taste of the resulting stew … 🙂
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🙂
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Great bit of history. The Spanish and Portuguese were after their souls, too. The Dutch only wanted a monopoly. You’re right about that!
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Yes, they wanted to use the people and the islands as commodities. Even the ‘soul’ part was as means to absolute control.
Sultan Saifuddin seemed to have known this about them and in his days, Tidore was more independent than later on. He was also respected, which helped him have alliances from within and rely less on the Dutch (which Ternate ended up having to do…).
Thanks, J!
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Oh excellent job bringing this history to life.
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Yay! Pegman prompts often get me learning stuff – I love it! 🙂
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I’m so glad! I feel the same.
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It’s like being a mini world-traveler by proxy. 🙂
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Great job bringing this slice of history to life. Sadly, in the long history of powerful companies venturing out to trade with far-off lands, the lure of profit and monopolizing it has led to tragedy and horrors. I appreciated seeing the Sultan’s resistance here!
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Thanks, Joy!
His is a true story of resistance for his people. In the end – in the decades following the end of this Sultan’s reign – the monopoly of the Dutch and their control of where spices could be grown, had impoverished Tidore’s lands and people.
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It’s so interesting to learn these aspects of history that are inspired by the Pegman prompts — thank you for sharing!
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My thoughts exactly and why I like this prompt so much! 🙂
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You’ve caught the Sultan’s strength and shrewdness beautifully. The way you have him ignore his advisor is a brilliant way of emphasising his ability to go beyond conventional wisdom (and probably local graft by officials…) in defence of his people.
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Thanks, Penny! I think sometimes people forget that aristocrats often had only the information fed to them, and unless they had good instincts and enough leadership to go the extra mile to get their information from as many sources as possible, and then knew how to USE that information and weed the nonsense from the real stuff … they risked being played by others who did not have their best interests in mind. We see that happening today, too …
But this Sultan was a REAL leader, and he clearly knew his stuff.
🙂
Na’ama
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I admit it, I had to Google. 🙂 Really excellent short-short in this piece. You packed a lot into a little space.
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Thank you! I had to google some things, too … 🙂
No shame in learning new things, me think!
🙂
Na’ama
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The sultan certainly saw through the Western schemes and attempts to control him and his people. How greedy they all seem, scrabbling over his cloves! Great writing
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Thank you, Lynn!
I think there were a lot of greedy hands scrabbling over the resources of native people, and often without regard to ruinous practices. I’m glad the Sultan did what he could to protect his people, at least while he was alive.
Na’ama
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My pleasure 🙂
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