Spice Trading Network in Tomini Bay

Photo: Gorontalo before 1880, Woodbury & Page (Batavia), KITLV 26755.

Tomini Bay is not very popular with millennials or Indonesians in general. We are more familiar with Manado, Gorontalo, Makassar, Sulawesi, and other land-oriented areas. Tomini Bay is not well known not because of its position, which is quite far from the centre of Indonesia, but because, for some reasons, historians are not that interested in telling the stories of Tomini Bay when, in fact, Tomini Bay is one of the largest bays in the world and was an important part of the spice trade network. Tomini Bay is a marine area that connects the provinces of North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, and Central Sulawesi. This area acts as the “launchpad” for commodity trade trajectories in the three regions. Tomini Bay has 56 islands spread over an area of about 59,500 km2, with a coastline of about 1,179 km2. With a fairly large area, Tomini Bay holds quite a lot of historical complexity, especially regarding shipping and trade. Shipping and trade in Tomini Bay have a different character from the shipping and trade of the other parts of the archipelago. The differences in character are caused by geographical factors and various commodities, including turtle shells, resin, rattan, salt, gold, and various land products including spices. Geographical factors and the wealth of these commodities have invited many traders from various places; even Chinese traders often visit Tomini Bay.

The hectic activity in Tomini Bay made this region an important destination in the shipping and trade network of the archipelago. The network was known as the spice trade network and the Gulf of Tomini was in the spice trade network itself. The bay is bound in a network that extends from Malacca to Maluku.

The attachment of Tomini Bay to the archipelago’s shipping network is very possible because the Tomini Bay area is not only a producer of trading commodities but was also a supporter of commodity flows in the spice trading network. The support provided by Tomini Bay also covered many various in-demand commodities other than spices. For example, gold and precious metals. These commodities were brought to Maluku and used for the manufacture of weapons and tools to support the spice trade. Turtle shells are a rare commodity that was in great demand by the Chinese because they can make various kinds of merchandise with them.

Spices and Tomini Bay

Anthony Reid in Southeast Asia in the Commerce Period of 1450-1680: Southeast Asia Global Trade Network (2011) said that basically, spices were commodities that were in great demand by traders, especially Europeans and Chinese. Based on the records of Ghau Ju-Kua, pepper had become a commodity originating from Java in the 12th century. In addition, the Chola Kingdom which expanded its territory to Java and Bali aimed to control the spice trade centre in the 10th and 11th centuries, as written by Djoko Marihandono and B Kanumoyoso, in Spices, Spice Routes, and the Dynamics of the Archipelago Society (2016). Europeans finally arrived in the archipelago in the 16th century, then the Portuguese conquered Malacca in July 1511, followed by

Photo : Engels telegraafkabelschip Faraday in de Golf van Tomini (British Telegraph Cable Ship, Faraday, in Tomini Bay, 1913, Oud albumnr 3/113. Album afkomstig van C.H. de Goeje, destijds inspecteur van scheepvaart te Batavia. KITLV 94557.

Photo : Fishermen on Tomini Bay Beach (Vissers in de Baai van Tomini), Circa 1920, KITLV 34579.

Photo : Tomini steamship in Tomini Bay (Stoomschip Tomini in de bocht van de Golf van Tomini), circa 1900, KITLV 4574.

Gorontalo Bay (Baai van Gorontalo), circa 1927, KITLV 171162.

Antonio d’Abreau’s expedition to Maluku in November 1511 (LY Andaya, The World of Maluku: Eastern Indonesia in the Early Modern Period, 1993).

The conquest of Maluku became very important because it became the centre of the archipelago’s spice trade at that time. Moreover, the Portuguese also had control of Malacca. Practically this condition made the Portuguese control the spice trading network. However, Portuguese dominance began to decline when the Dutch managed to reach the archipelago and on February 25, 1605, and the Portuguese were subdued. The spice trade network was finally controlled by the Dutch, in this case, the VOC, and spices became a commodity that was monopolised by the Dutch and their trading network.

Tomini Bay, which was tied to the spice trading network, was also influenced by the Dutch rule of the Indonesian archipelago because Tomini Bay had great potential to become a shipping and trading area with the production of various commodities that were quite saleable in the international market. That was the plus point. One commodity that was quite popular in the 19th century was sea cucumbers. Tomini Bay was a supplier of trading commodities in the international route of the Sulu Zone, a route known as the main commodity of sea cucumbers which had been very popular with the Chinese since the 1500s because it could also be used as medicine. This was noted by H Sutherland in Trepang and Wangkang: the China Trade of Eighteenth-Century Makassar c. 1720s-1840s. Authority and Enterprise among the Peoples of South Sulawesi (2000).

In addition, traders from China could also obtain turtle shells from Tomini Bay. This condition made Gorontalo’s position important as a trade entry point in Tomini Bay. But spices were still the main international trade commodity obtained from the Moluccas.

Closed Trading Network

Iron, which came from Banggai, was also traded in large quantities in the Moluccas. In addition to iron, there were also iron weapons such as machetes, swords, and knives. Gold was imported from other islands, as written by Anggita Pramesti, Adrian Perkasa, and A Cortesao in Tome Pires’ Suma Oriental: A Journey from the Red Sea to China and Francisco Rodrigues’ Book (2005). Tome Pires revealed in his travel notes that gold was obtained from other islands. One island he was referring to was Tomini Bay. It was because, in the 8th century, this region was said to produce quite good quality gold, especially in Gorontalo and Moutong, referring to J.G.F. Riedel in De Vestiging Der Mandaren In de Tomini-Landen. In A. B. C. Stuart (Ed.), Tijdschrift Indische Taal, Land- En Volkenkunde. Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Westenschappen (1870). The VOC even established a military post to guard this area and was continued by the Dutch East Indies government by establishing several regional security posts.

After Mouton (Moutong) signed a contract with the Dutch East Indies on February 24, 1832, the Netherlands no longer made contact with the area, as if it was separated from the territory of the Dutch East Indies (S Kartodirdjo in the Summary of the Political Situation of the Dutch East Indies in 1839-1848. National Archives Republic of Indonesia, 1973).

The Tomini Bay large area was a huge potential for the Dutch East Indies government. Control was carried out to the neck area of Tomini Bay which consisted of the Sigentie, Kasimbar, Toriboelie and Ampibaboe areas. The aim was to control shipping routes and commodity distribution because the area was a producer of forest and gold commodities, under the Moutong administration (Besluit No. 14, Buitenzorg 27 August 1897, ANRI). The four areas are right on the east coast of Tomini Bay. Under these conditions, the position of Tomini Port became a transit port for commodities brought by seafarers to be distributed to Gorontalo. The following illustrates the position of the four regions that supported Tomini Harbor in the 19th century.

The three regions finally had their own roles and characters to support shipping and trade in Tomini Bay. Gorontalo was the entrepôt, Muotong was the gathering centre, and Parigi was the buffer point. Parigi could also be a collection centre for the surrounding area that supplied forest and marine products which were then distributed to the central port.

This condition became an important point that supported the formation of shipping and trade networks. The connectivity that occurred between these regions was supported by commodities distributed from one point to another. The points in question were Gorontalo, Moutong, and Parigi. The connectivity of the Tomini Bay area as a closed shipping and trade network made commodity flows to be centralised to Gorontalo.

The spice trade network ties were then connected through Gorontalo and Manado. That way, the spice network was connected to Tomini Bay which indubitably played an important role in the sustainability of the archipelago’s spice trade network (Abd. Karim, Makassar Religious Research and Development Center)

Parigi, Circa 1937, Reis van A.A. Cense door Midden-Celebes, KITLV 29438