Indonesia

Colloquium on the Manila Galleon and the Spice Route, organized by the Indonesian Hidden Heritage Creative Hub, with the collaboration of the embassies of Spain, the Philippines and Mexico in Indonesia. Saturday 20 May 2023 – Museum Bahari – Jakarta – Indonesia Colloquium on the Manila Galleon and the Spice Route

Written by Marco Ramerini. On this page I want to write about an interesting book that has just been published. The book tells the story of the spice islands and focuses on the fortifications that Europeans built on these islands to control their trade. The story narrated in Simon Pratt’s book begins with the first contacts with Europeans and reaches ...

Written by Simon Pratt Forts of the Banda Islands The Banda Islands, reached via Ambon, contain some of the most historic and evocative forts of the old Dutch East Indies. Most impressive is Dutch-built Fort Belgica (constructed 1611) towering over the tiny township of Bandaneira. Following refurbishment in the 1990’s it remains the best preserved of all forts scattered across ...

Written by Marco Ramerini Under Costruction… INDONESIA: Batavia: Netherlands: 1619 – Poelo Gontong (Sumatra): Netherlands: ? – 1765 On the tiny island of Poelo Gontong, in east Sumatra, the Company set up a guard post even before the Siak area had been conquered. This military outpost soon acquired a reputation as an unhealthy place with a high percentage of fatalities. ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. DUTCH EMPIRE: INDONESIA INDONESIA: – Various Authors, “A taste of adventure: the history of spices is the history of trade”, in: “The Economist”, 19 December 1998. – Various Authors, “Forten, Vestingen, Redoutes, Kastelen, Blokhuis”, list of Dutch forts in Indonesia sent to me by Donald F.M. Rugebregt. – Various Authors, ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. PORTUGUESE EMPIRE: INDONESIA, TIMOR INDONESIA, TIMOR: – Various Authors, “Portugis Aceh” ?, in: “Gatra” n° 34, 18 Jul. 1995, Era Media Informasi, Jakarta, Indonesia. pp. 51-64 – Various Authors, “East Flores: the Brotherhood of the Queen of Rosaries. Three and a half centuries of lament and celebration”, Internet article. – ...

Written by Mark Schellekens. Photos by Mark Schellekens and Greg Wyncoll. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. On January 7th I paid a visit to the island of Solor off Flores’ north east coast. My main goal was to have a birdwatching trip on an virtually unknown island combined with a visit to the ruins of the fort. Solor is ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. SOLOR AND THE LESSER SUNDA ISLANDS The early Portuguese contact with these islands was in the years about the 1520s. They frequented these islands mainly to purchase sandalwood. The early traders established only temporary warehouses. They did not build permanent trading posts, farms or fortresses, because this task was left ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. TERNATE AND TIDORE The first Portuguese expedition to the Moluccas under the command of António de Abreu arrived in Amboina and on the Banda islands in 1512. After an adventurous voyage he went back to Malacca. Francisco Serrão and other members of this expedition wrecked on a reef off Lucopino ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Geoffrey A. P. Groesbeck The islands formerly known as the Moluccas – the Spice Islands – are five islands of volcanic origin (Ternate, Tidore, Moti, Makian, and Bacan). They are found off of the west coast of the island of Halmahera, in the Indonesian archipelago. These islands were the only ones in ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. English translation of a small part of my work entitled “La presenza Spagnola alle Isole Molucche, 1606-1663”. In the propositions of the governor of the Philippines, Don Juan de Silva, a big joint expedition of Spaniards and Portuguese should succeed in getting rid of the Dutch forces present in Indonesian ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Ambon is an island located in the south of the Spice Islands in what is today the Indonesian archipelago. In the year 1569 the Portuguese Gonçalo Pereira Marramaque erected a wooden fort on the northern coast of the Ambon island. In 1572 the fort was moved to the southern side ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. The Portuguese fort of Ternate was founded by António de Brito in 1522, the foundation stone of the fortress was laid the day of the feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24, 1522, the fort was named “São João Bautista de Ternate.” The outer wall of the fortress enclosing ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. The Kingdom of Makassar at the time of Portuguese expansion in the Asian seas comprised the two Kingdoms of Gowa and Tallo. Portuguese merchants frequented Makassar intermittently during the 16th century, but it was only after the Islamization of the Makassar Kingdom (1600s), that their presence grew. During the 17th ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. In 1595, the Dominican friars led by Brother Simone Pacheco built a little Fort on the island of Ende Minor (Palau Ende) to protect local Christians from Islamic attacks. This small fort was named by the Portuguese as Fortaleza de Ende. Pero Carvalhais was its first captain. Within the walls of the fort was built the ...