The Sultanate of Bacan (كسلطانن باچن) was a state in Maluku Islands, present-day Indonesia that arose with the expansion of the spice trade in late medieval times. It mainly consisted of the Bacan Islands (Bacan, Kasiruta, Mandioli, etc.) but had periodical influence in Ceram and the Papuan Islands. It fell under the colonial influence of Portugal in the 16th century and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) after 1609. Bacan was one of the four kingdoms of Maluku (Maloko Kië Raha) together with Ternate, Tidore and Jailolo, but tended to be overshadowed by Ternate. After the independence of Indonesia in 1949, the governing functions of the sultan were gradually replaced by a modern administrative structure. However, the sultanate has been revived as a cultural entity in present times.
Early history
According to a legend known from the 16th century, the kings of Bacan, the Papuan Islands, Banggai and Buton descended from a set of snake's eggs which had been found among some rocks by the Bacan seafarer Bikusigara. On account of this, Bacan could claim to be the origin-point of the Maluku political order. The myth also points at early relations with the Papuans. However, there are conflicting legends according to which Jailolo in Halmahera was the oldest kingdom of Maluku. A third legend departs from the Arab immigrant Jafar Sadik who came to Maluku, ostensibly in 1245, and married the heavenly nymph Nurus Safa. From this pair, four sons called Buka, Darajat, Sahajat and Mashur-ma-lamo were born, who became ancestors of the rulers of Bacan, Jailolo, Tidore, and Ternate. In this story, too, Bacan has a precedence position. The ruler was nevertheless known as Kolano ma-dehe, Ruler of the Far End (i.e. in relation to Ternate and Tidore).
According to the Dutch writer François Valentijn (1724), the Bacan kingdom was established in 1322. He mentions an early king of Bacan with a Muslim name, Sidang Hasan in about 1345 who suffered an invasion from Ternate. Later on, in 1465 a prince called Bakar expanded Bacan's influence on the north coast of Ceram and even in Hitu in Ambon. However, Valentijn claims that the first Muslim ruler was actually Sultan Zainal Abidin who allegedly flourished in 1512. In one version, his brother Jelman was acknowledged as Raja of Misool, one of the Papuan Islands. From early European accounts it appears that the kings in Maluku Islands began to accept Islam in about the 1460s or 1470s as the result of the increasing trade in cloves, that attracted merchants from the Muslim world.
The indigenous chronicles of Bacan are difficult to evaluate as their stories of persons and events do not fit with contemporary sources up to the late 16th century. They say that the Bacan Islands were originally governed by a plethora of chiefs or ambasaya. By the time, Said Muhammad Bakir alias Husin, who was one of the sons of the Arab newcomer Sidna Noh Jafar, took up residence in Makian north of Bacan, an important center for clove production. He subsequently became acknowledged as lord in Kasiruta in the Bacan Archipelago. Muhammad Bakir sired seven children of whom Zainal Abidin succeeded his father in Makian and Kasiruta. His six brothers and sisters ended up as rulers or consorts in Misool, Waigeo, Banggai, Loloda, Ceram and Bacan Island, which thereby became tied to the dynastic network of the sultanate. Zainal Abidin married a Ternate princess who gave birth to Bayan Sirrullah who was made sub-ruler in Makian; he later left it and instead inherited his father’s throne in Kasiruta. After this, Makian was apparently lost to the Bacan kings. After a prosperous and peaceful reign Bayan Sirrullah died and was succeeded by Alauddin, known to have reigned in 1581-c. 1609. Contemporary European sources mention other names before 1581 (see below).