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TERNATE 69 TOPOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL DESCRIPTIONS
VI
A Short Note Regarding the Other Districts of North Halmahera
[p. 103] In any comparison between the manner in which the sultanates of Ternate
and Tidore are governed, opinion is definitely against Tidore. Not that Tidore’s subjects are
exposed to more acts of arbitrariness or that other notions with regard to royal rights
prevail here, from the native point of view. But Ternate better maintains its authority by
appointing representatives who will execute orders from above and look after the interests
of the Sultan, whereas Tidore contents itself with instructing only those headmen whose
appointment is made by the crown.
Although for many reasons the policies of both sultanates have failed to form a
closer bond between overlords and natives on Halmahera, the Ternate administration still
has the advantage since within its territory there is at least a semblance of government.
This, if nothing else, helps in tracing crime—something Tidore seems to be completely
incapable of doing.
How little influence the oppressors have was brought to light in 1876 by a certain
Dano Baba Hasan [as corrected in Errata —Trans.], a descendant of the sultan’s house of
Ceram which had been set up in 1832 [as corrected in Errata —Trans.]. Baba Hasan
decided to found a new state called Jailolo in Halmahera. In a short time he had so many
followers that the continuance of the authority of Ternate and Tidore was seriously
threatened. Indeed, had it not been for the intervention of the Government of the Dutch
Indies, he would have caused a major change in the political situation here.
A single promise of exemption from taxes and statute labor was enough to see Baba
Hasan’s plan [p. 104] welcomed almost everywhere and to cause a revolt which rapidly
spread over the whole island.
That tradition attributes more power to Jailolo than it most probably ever had is in
itself not strange: legends, which so easily take on burdens and small oppressions, often
describe earlier centuries as eras of happiness and prosperity. Many people come to long
for these times without further thought. But only a deep-rooted grievance can explain this
infatuation with the empty promises offered by Baba Hasan, while they were indeed
presented in the most beguiling and vivid terms.
The people have grudgingly endured for years the levying of taxes and the demand
for unpaid labor, and the situation has been made worse by the high-handed way in which
the royal descendants have behaved when collecting taxes or selecting laborers. They think
only about their own gain and enforce their claim with brute force. No one and nothing is
safe from them.
Baba Hasan’s revolt was suppressed, and Baba Hasan himself was captured and
exiled to Muntok. The government took advantage of the prevailing confusion to put into
effect some changes that would prevent the repetition of such an event.
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