The Maluku Islands From The 16th To The Early 17th Century

The Maluku Islands,also known as the Moluccas,are tropical islands in the northeast of Indonesia.In 16th-17 th centuries they are famous for their cloves and nutmegs.In the sixteenth century,under the invasion of the colonial forces of Portugal and Spain,the original natural state of Maluku was broken.The spice trade began to be incorporated into the world market system and became part of international trade.At the same time,Maluku's politics,religious ecology has also undergone unique changes.This paper based on the original data from Portugal and Spain,combining other relevant materials from China and Southeast Asia,and Focusing on the Portuguese colonial period of Maluku(1522-1575)to explore the Maluku Islands' natural geographical environment,cultural customs,political and religious games,and the globalization of the spice trade in the early 16th-17 th centuries.The documents of the early sixteenth century on the Maluku archipelago were mainly written by Tomé Pires in 1512-1515,and Antonio Pigafetta's sailing diary in1521.There are also several books,Tratado de las yslas de los Malucos,which was left by the seventh governor-general Anthony Galvao in 1544,and Conquest the Maluku Islands,which was written in 1609 by Bartolome Leonardo de Ascoura.The first general overview of Maluku in the early sixteenth century was taken from the European Francisco Serrano who first visited Maluku in the literature.Maluku has superior natural and geographical conditions and abundant products.In the early sixteenth century,it was already out of its original state.The locals have already had ample food and clothing through trade with other parts of Southeast Asia and have their own set of management systems.After Serrano left,the Portuguese authorities made adjustments to the political ecology of Maluku,but in the end they had to adapt to the local situation.The Sultans of Maluku played with political balance in the struggle between Portugal and Spain over Maluku,but in the end it brought disaster.In the traditional sense,it is considered that Portugal and Spainconquered Maluku through force.In fact,the Malukuans also need the trade exchanges and the protection of military power brought by Portugal.Behind this protection,changing religious beliefs has also become a talisman to some Sudanese.At the same time,the conversion of religions made the Portuguese shortly became the king of Ternate.The intervention of Portugal and Spain not only opened the window of Maluku's foreign trade,but also broke through the re-export of spices that were monopolized by Muslim traders and promoted the globalization of the spice trade.However,the independence of politics and the opening of trade have always been the expectation of the people and rulers of Maluku.With the Portuguese being driven away by the Sultan of Ternate in 1575,Maluku entered a new era.Trade is also unprecedented prosperity.During the period from 1575 to 1620,the spice trade in Maluku reached its peak and it happened to be in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.However,the ensuing European colonialists never gave up their monopoly on dominance and trade here.As the Dutch monopolized the spice trade in Maluku in 1621,the fate of the Spice Islands went downhill all the way until it was finally forgotten.