sultanate · Maritime Southeast Asia
Ternate Sultanate
Origins
Ternate, a small volcanic island off Halmahera, was one of the few places in the world where cloves grew. Its kings, part of the Moloku Kie Raha alliance with Tidore, Bacan and Jailolo, grew rich supplying Javanese and Malay traders. Sultan Zainal Abidin, who had studied Islam at Giri in Java, formally adopted Islam in the late 15th century.
Rule and society
The Portuguese built a fort on Ternate in 1522. In 1570 they murdered Sultan Hairun, and his son Babullah besieged the fort until the Portuguese left in 1575. Babullah then claimed authority over 72 islands from Sulawesi to Papua, and received Francis Drake in 1579. Ternate's power rested on clove revenues and war fleets of kora-kora galleys.
Decline and legacy
From 1607 Ternate allied with the Dutch East India Company against Spain, but gradually became its vassal, accepting the destruction of clove trees outside Ambon. The Dutch deposed and exiled Sultan Muhammad Usman in 1914 after unrest. The sultanate survives today as a cultural institution in North Maluku.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (7)
- Buton Sultanate was a vassal of Ternate Sultanate1332 CE – 1613 CE
- Bacan Sultanate was a vassal of Ternate Sultanate1450 CE – 1914 CE
- Ternate Sultanate was a vassal of Portuguese Empire1522 CE – 1575 CE
- Jailolo Sultanate was conquered by Ternate Sultanate1551 CE
- Kedatuan of Dapitan was conquered by Ternate Sultanate1563 CE
- Ternate Sultanate was a vassal of Dutch East India Company territories1683 CE – 1799 CE
- Ternate Sultanate was a vassal of Dutch East Indies1800 CE – 1914 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ternate Sultanate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ternate-sultanate
- MLA
- “Ternate Sultanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ternate-sultanate. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Ternate Sultanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ternate-sultanate.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ternate Sultanate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ternate-sultanate (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻