Ternate - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

TERNATE 88 TOPOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL DESCRIPTIONS
This ruler died in 1856. On December 23, 1858, Kaicil Suwak was appointed in his
place. A contract was concluded with him on December 31 of that year. It was amended on
January 7, [p. 126] 1859, and ratified by the Government with a decree of October 27, with
the provision that in the future only acts of confirmation would be issued. Thus, the
sovereignty of the Netherlands Indies Government was explicitly acknowledged.
After the death of Suwak, the Jogugu Kaicil Nang, the son of Kaicil Tatutong, was
made rajah in December 1870. The act of confirmation concluded with him was approved
by the government order of July 2, 1872. He died in 1880 and was replaced on May 6, 1882
by the present rajah, Kaicil Tatul, son of Kaicil Suwak, who before that time had been
working as Khatib-Bangsa.
When there is a vacancy, the chiefs propose three candidates to the Sultan, who
chooses one of them. This choice then has to be approved by the Resident and ratified by
the Government of the Dutch Indies as suzerain lord. The one selected takes the oath and
receives an act of confirmation according to the form drawn up for this purpose. The
difficulties involved in making the long trip to Ternate often resulted in the position
remaining vacant for years. This did not, however, hinder the normal state of affairs which
now, because of the appointment of a post-holder, no longer occurs.
The capital, Banggai, where the rajah and the post-holder are situated, is on the
west coast of the island of the same name in a fairly large bay. On the whole it makes a
miserable impression. The houses, which stretch along the beach in the midst of trees and
shrubs, are made of light materials. Some are built on piles; others at ground level. They
are not well maintained, and the footpaths connecting the houses with each other are
overgrown with weeds, with some pieces of bamboo where the ground is more or less
marshy. This prevents the houses from sinking into the mud. The kadatu (palace, court),
built by one of the [p. 127] former rajahs to imitate the Sultans of Ternate, is on an
elevation and clearly visible from the sea. It looks like a ruin. The present rajah does not
seem to have plans to make it suitable for habitation. He himself lives in another house,
which has a spacious inner gallery, where visitors and officials with their retinues can be
received. For the rest, it looks rather ramshackle and has all the signs of having been built
in a hurry without proper supervision. There is also a ruined fort, called Kota Cina,
together with the surrounding quarters. The fort consists of a wall which has collapsed in
several places. Inside stand a few native houses belonging to the Ternatese officials
stationed here; several small cannons and other old pieces of artillery lie rusting.
The mosque, with its high roof, towers high above the other houses, but it is as
unsightly as the rest. There are plenty of coconut trees, but no fruit trees.
There are six kampongs, namely Kampong Raja (or Banggai proper), Kota Cina,
Tanah Bonua, Gonggong, Dodung, and Moisongan. 5 Fifteen hundred inhabitants live in
approximately three hundred houses. There are five more kampongs in various places in
5 [p. 127, n. 1] Bosscher and Matthijsen (TBG, p. 94) mention another kampong, Soasia, the
result of an error in the meaning of this word. Their “Bon-Tonge” was a mistake for Moisongan, and
the last five kampongs were not mentioned by them. This explains the difference in the population
figures.
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