Tabariji or Tabarija (c. 1518–1545) was the Sultan of

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

Maluku Maluku may refer to: Places * Maluku Islands, an archipelago that is part of Indonesia ** List of the Maluku Islands * Maluku (province), a province of Indonesia comprising the central and southern parts of the archipelago * North Maluku, a provin ...

, whose realm also included

Makian Makian (also Machian), known to local people as Mount Kie Besi, is a volcanic island, one of the Maluku Islands within the province of North Maluku in Indonesia. It lies near the southern end of a chain of volcanic islands off the western coast ...

and other east Indonesian islands. He reigned from 1533 to 1535, when he was deposed by the dominant Portuguese and exiled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He later became a convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

under the name Dom Manuel.

Reign

Tabariji was the son of Sultan

Bayan Sirrullah Bayan Sirrullah (Jawi: ; d. 1521) was the second Sultan of Sultanate of Ternate, Ternate in Maluku Islands, Maluku. He is also known as Abu Lais (; in Portuguese sources, Boleife) or Kaicili Leliatu (). He ruled from perhaps 1500 to 1521 and is im ...

(also known as Abu Lais) and his first and primary wife,

Nyaicili Boki Raja Nyaicili Boki Raja (died after 1556) was a Queen of Ternate in Maluku Islands who served as regent of the kingdom in 1545-1546. She was later baptized by the Catholic missionary Francis Xavier and took the name Dona Isabel. Being the daughter, wif ...

. Nyaicili was the daughter of the King of

Tidore Tidore (, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island of Tidore (with three sm ...

; her brother

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

ruled that kingdom after the death of their father in 1526, which gave her increased political leverage. The Portuguese had previously arrived from

Melaka Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca. The state is bordered by Negeri Sembilan to the north and west and Johor to t ...

in order to secure the

spice trade The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices, such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove, and turmeric, were known and used in antiquity and traded in t ...

and built a fort on Ternate in 1522-1523. They soon came to dominate the Ternatan court and manipulated the succession. All this led to great resentment among the Ternatan elite. The Portuguese captain Vincente de Fonseca and the Ternatan regent Pati Sarangi planned to assassinate the boy king Dayal who however managed to flee to Tidore. Now Dayal's half-brother Tabariji was placed on the throne by Fonseca. His step-father Pati Sarangi acted as regent since the Sultan was barely 15 years old. After two years an incident occurred where Ternatan forces, opposing the interests of the Portuguese, attacked a newly Christianized settlement on

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

. This motivated the new captain Tristão de Ataide to depose Tabariji in favor of another half-brother,

Hairun Sultan Hairun Jamilu (Jawi script, Jawi: ; c. 1522 – 28 February 1570) was the 6th Muslim ruler of Sultanate of Ternate, Ternate in Maluku Islands, Maluku, reigning from 1535 to 1570. During his long reign, he had a shifting relation to the Port ...

in 1535. The ex-sultan was exiled to the center of Portuguese power in Asia,

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

Baptism and death

While in Goa he befriended the Portuguese official Jordão de Freitas who influenced him in his conversion to Catholic Christianity. His baptismal name was Dom Manuel which he henceforth used. In 1544 Freitas was appointed new captain in Ternate by the authorities in Goa. When he sailed for Southeast Asia to take up his new position, he brought Tabariji with him. The idea was to depose Sultan Hairun and reinstall Tabariji. With a Christian ruler over the leading Malukan kingdom, the conversion of Maluku would apparently be facilitated. Leaving Tabariji in Melaka, Freitas proceeded to Ternate where he imprisoned Hairun and the Kapita Laut (sea lord) Samarau and persuaded the notables of the kingdom to accept Tabariji back. Hairun was brought to Melaka, but just as he approached the city, Tabariji suddenly passed away on 20 October 1545. According to a rumour, Hairun had him poisoned. In his will he gave over his realm to the King of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, including Ternate and the dependent islands and territories

Moti Moti or MOTI may refer to: Names * Mordecai (disambiguation), a Hebrew given name, abbreviated Moti * Motilal (disambiguation), an Indian given name often abbreviated Moti People * Moti (DJ) (Timotheus "Timo" Romme, born 1987), Dutch DJ and ...

Kayoa Kayoa (also Kaioa), or in the native language Pulau Urimatiti, is a group of 66 islands, part of the Maluku Islands. It is located in South Halmahera Regency, part of North Maluku Province of Indonesia. Geography The Kayoa Islands are near the ...

and Moro.Leonard Andaya (1993), p. 124-5. The will was later used by the Portuguese to argue that the Ternate rulers were their lawful vassals.

References

Sources

*Moffett, Samuel Hugh (2014) ''A History of Christianity in Asia'', Vol. 2. Orbis Press. .
Taylor, Jean Gelman. ''Indonesia: peoples and histories''. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004) p. 137.
{{end 1510s births 1545 deaths Sultans of Ternate Converts to Roman Catholicism from Sunni Islam Indonesian former Sunni Muslims Indonesian Roman Catholics People from Maluku Islands 16th-century Indonesian people