Selayar Island history: from the spice route to green gold

By Selayar Island Editorial Desk

Selayar Island history turns on location. Ships bound for Maluku passed through the Selayar Strait for water, supplies and repairs, and the record runs from a Dongson drum through Islam at Gantarang in 1605, rule by Ternate after the Makassar War, Dutch control of cotton and, from about 1880, a copra trade reaching Europe.

What does the Selayar Island history timeline look like?

The dates below for Selayar Island come from named sources, and two of them openly disagree. Where a source calls something a claim, we have kept it as a claim. Read the rows as a guide to who says what, because the early entries rest on objects and later attributions and no continuous written chronicle sits behind them here.

Why did Selayar matter on the spice route?

Because ships had little choice. A maritime historian quoted by Kompas says spice ships bound for Maluku had to pass the Selayar Strait, the safest route, and stopped for water, supplies and repairs. That one sentence explains most of what follows: the island sat on a road, so people wanted to control it.

The objects support the point. Kompas says Museum Nekara holds Chinese ceramics of the 8th to 15th centuries. It also says two large anchors and three cannons from the 17th century at Kampung Padang came from a Chinese merchant ship, and they are now kept at the Giant Anchor Museum in Bontosunggu, Bontoharu. The regency's tourism plan attributes the anchors to a merchant of the late 17th century and gives shank lengths of 226 cm and 229 cm.

The seabed adds to the record. A 2022 Atlantis Press paper reports six locations with underwater archaeological findings in Selayar waters: ceramics, coins, shipwrecks, bottle fragments and anchors. Tempo reported in 2021 that a fisheries ministry official named this sunken-vessel heritage as a marine tourism asset for Selayar. If you dive, our page on Selayar dive sites covers the reefs in use today.

The oldest object is the drum, and it is also the most argued over. Kompas attributes it to the Dongson culture at 300 BC and says it is claimed as one of the largest in the world. The Ministry of Tourism calls it the largest outright. The find date is a straight conflict: Kompas says farmers found it in 1868 at Papanlohea, and The Jakarta Post says a farmer found it in 1686 at Papaniohea. We do not choose between them. The Selayar kettle drum page goes further into its decoration.

Why is it called Selayar and Tana Doang?

Two explanations sit on the regency's own websites. Its government history page, which says it draws on Wikipedia, derives Selayar from a Sanskrit word, cedaya, meaning one sail, because many single-sail boats are said to have called here, and says the word appears in the 14th-century Negarakertagama. It explains the other name, Tana Doang, as a land for praying, where sailors asked for a safe onward voyage.

The tourism office page reads Tana Doang differently: doang means shrimp in the Selayar language, and the island is shaped like one. We found no linguistic study that settles it, so treat both as local accounts. The name survives in Puncak Tanadoang, the viewpoint on the regency's attraction list.

Which kingdoms ruled Selayar?

Gantarang is the kingdom with the clearest written trail. A Tata Loka study says it received Majapahit influence in the 13th century, and The Jakarta Post describes old tombs of the Gantarang kingdom around the mosque. The regency plan adds the Silolo tomb complex of the Buki and Bontoangun kings, with 256 graves about 20 km from Benteng, so Gantarang was evidently not the only local court. The plan also describes the Bontobangun fort, built of coral stone 2.5 m high and 1.5 m wide, with a cannon, a ruined mosque and tombs. We found no full list of rulers or founding date for these courts.

From outside, two powers wanted the island. Kompas says Selayar became contested between Makassar and Ternate. After the Makassar War of 1666 to 1669 it was ruled by Ternate, the Dutch ally. The regency itself, according to Wikipedia, marks its anniversary on 29 November 1605, the same year as the conversion at Gantarang described below.

How did Islam reach Selayar?

The date on record is 1605. The Tata Loka study says the raja of Gantarang formally accepted Islam that year through Datuk Ri Bandang. The word "formally" matters, since it describes a ruler's decision and leaves open how long Muslim traders had been passing through. The Jakarta Post dates the Awalludin Mosque at Gantarang to the same year.

The story is still performed. A 2022 article in the journal Catharsis describes a Friday theatrical tradition about Dato' Ri Bandang at Gantarang Lalang Bata, along with community cooperation such as lifting a house on stilts and moving it together. The regency plan records other practices with Islamic roots elsewhere on the island, including Anrio' Sappara, a cleansing ritual of bathing in the sea on 27 Syafar led by a Kadi, and a traditional Mauludan with decorated eggs. The old village survives at a modest scale: the study counts about 40 households, all Muslim, on 4.82 hectares, about 15 km by road from Benteng, and the plan notes a stone fort wall 70 cm high and heirlooms including a sword and iron armour.

What happened under the Dutch?

The clearest economic claim concerns cotton. The Ministry of Tourism says the Dutch monopolised Selayar's blue-white cotton, forcing it to Fort Rotterdam in Makassar. It also says a Dutch prison from the 1890s stands on Benteng's town square, and the regency plan says the building has kept its function since Dutch times.

The VOC needs a separate word. These sources speak of "the Dutch" without always separating the company from the later colonial state, so we have not assigned particular acts to the VOC. Colonial spelling left a trace too: Wikipedia records the Dutch spelling Saleijer, and Britannica lists the alternative names Salayar, Selajar and Kabia, which helps if you search older documents.

Why does the regency date itself to 29 November 1605?

Because the date joins two events 340 years apart. The government history page takes the day and month from 29 November 1945, when about 200 young people led by a former Heiho soldier walked into the colonial police office at 06:45 and took over from the Dutch. The year comes from 1605, when the raja of Gantarang accepted Islam. The same page dates Dutch rule from 1739 and counts 87 Dutch residents or equivalent officials before the first local head of government took office in 1942, under the Japanese. It dates the regency to Law No. 29 of 1959 and its present name to Government Regulation No. 59 of 2008. Kompas has Ternate, a Dutch ally, ruling after the Makassar War of 1666 to 1669, so 1739 marks direct Dutch rule on this account, not the start of Dutch influence.

What was Selayar's green gold?

Coconuts, or more exactly copra, the dried flesh traded for its oil. An article in the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, whose title uses the phrase, follows Selayar's coconut trade from 1820 to 1950 and links the rise of copra from the 1880s to soap and margarine. Kompas says copra was first shipped from Selayar to Europe around 1880 and that sea cucumber was the main commodity before it.

The scale has lasted. Kompas reports 19,416 hectares of coconut palm on regency data, in an older article, and says coconut trees can form part of a bride service, which shows how far the crop reached into family life. The physical remains of the trade can still be looked for: The Jakarta Post described old Dutch copra warehouses on Gusung islet in 2016.

What is left to see today?

More than a small island might suggest, though you will need to check opening times and the state of each site locally.

• Museum Nekara: Chinese ceramics of the 8th to 15th centuries, 300 m from the drum's find site, according to Kompas. Ask whether the drum itself is on view.
• Giant Anchor Museum, Bontosunggu: the anchors and cannons.
• Gantarang: the 1605 mosque, the tombs and the old wall.
• Silolo and Bontobangun: royal graves and a coral-stone fort, on the regency plan's descriptions.
• Benteng: the Dutch-era prison on the square, seen from outside. Our guide to Benteng Selayar covers the town.
• Gusung: the copra warehouses, described in 2016. Our page on Pasi Gusung Island explains the crossing.

What else do readers ask about Selayar's past?

What is the history of Selayar Island?

In short, a strategic stop on the sea route to Maluku, a local kingdom at Gantarang that accepted Islam in 1605, rule by Ternate after the Makassar War, Dutch control of trade, then copra from the 1880s.

Why is Selayar historically important?

A maritime historian quoted by Kompas says spice ships bound for Maluku had to pass the Selayar Strait, stopping for water, supplies and repairs. That position made the island worth contesting.

When did Ternate control Selayar?

Kompas says Selayar came under Ternate, an ally of the Dutch, after the Makassar War of 1666 to 1669.

What was the VOC's role in Selayar?

These sources speak of the Dutch generally. Kompas calls Ternate a Dutch ally after 1669, and the Ministry of Tourism says the Dutch forced Selayar's cotton to Fort Rotterdam in Makassar.

When was Gantarang Old Mosque built?

The Jakarta Post dates the Awalludin Mosque at Gantarang to 1605, the same year a Tata Loka study gives for the local ruler's formal acceptance of Islam.

How old is the Selayar Nekara drum?

Kompas attributes it to the Dongson culture at 300 BC, and the Ministry of Tourism says it is 2,000 years old. Its discovery date is disputed between 1686 and 1868.

Which sources support this page?

• Kompas: traces of the spice route in Selayar, November 2023
• Kepulauan Selayar tourism master plan, RIPPARKAB 2023-2025 (PDF)
• Atlantis Press: underwater archaeology in Selayar waters, 2022
• Tempo: shipwreck tourism, 2021
• Indonesia Ministry of Tourism: Selayar
• The Jakarta Post: Selayar Islands, April 2016
• Tata Loka: study of Gantarang old village
• Wikipedia: Selayar Islands Regency
• Catharsis journal: Gantarang Lalang Bata, 2022
• Wikipedia: Selayar Islands
• Britannica: Selayar
• Journal of Southeast Asian Studies: Selayar and the green gold, 1820-1950
• Kompas: Selayar's green gold
• Selayar regency government: history page
• Selayar tourism office: about Selayar

How do I reach the desk?

Corrections are welcome. If you hold a better source for any date above, or want a heritage day worked into a trip, write to the desk on WhatsApp +62 811-3941-4563 or at bd@juaraholding.com. We are a travel guide and not a historical authority. Trip requests can lead to a paid booking, so we have a commercial interest, which our disclaimer sets out.