Sultan Hasanuddin is one of the kings from the east who is popular thanks to his tenacity against the Dutch during the colonial period. The big struggle that overwhelmed the Dutch was to reject the trade monopoly carried out by the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC).
During his leadership, Sultan Hasanuddin also succeeded in thwarting Dutch plans to control the Islamic Kingdom of Gowa. Not only that, he even united small kingdoms to unite to fight the invaders.
Sultan Hasanudin’s persistence earned him the nickname De Haantjes van Het Osten from the Dutch, which means Rooster from the East.
The following is a brief biography and history of the struggle of Sultan Hasanuddin.
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Sultan Hasanuddin’s Family Background
Based on the list of Gowa kings published in the book Islamization of the Gowa Kingdom from the XVI to the XVII Century written by Ahmad M. Sewang, Sultan Hasanuddin was the 16th King of Gowa, or the 3rd Sultan of Gowa since this kingdom began to embrace Islam.
Hasanuddin was born in Gowa on January 12 1631 with the name Muhammad Bakir I Mallombasi Daeng Mattawang Karaeng Bonto Mangape. He was the crown prince of Sultan Malik as-Said or Malikulsaid (1639–1653) with I Sabbe To’mo Lakuntu. Hasanuddin’s grandfather, Sultan Alauddin (1593–1639) was the first King of Gowa to convert to Islam.
His leadership spirit has been prominent since childhood. Apart from being known as an intelligent figure, he is also good at trading. This is what causes it to have a good trading network as far away as Makassar, even with foreigners.
Little Hasanuddin received religious education at the Bontoala Mosque. Since childhood, his father often invited him to attend important meetings in the hope of absorbing knowledge of diplomacy and war strategy. Several times he was trusted to be a delegate to send messages to various kingdoms.
When he was 21 years old, Hasanuddin was assigned the position of defense affairs for Gowa. There are two historical versions that explain his appointment as king, namely when he was 24 years old or in 1655 and when he was 22 years old or in 1653. Despite the difference in years, Sultan Malikussaid had willed that his kingdom be succeeded by Hasanuddin.
Apart from his father, he received guidance regarding government through the Mangkubumi of the Gowa Sultanate, Karaeng Pattingaloang. Sultan Hasanuddin was the teacher of Arung Palakka, one of the Sultans of Bone who would later collaborate with the Dutch to overthrow the Sultanate of Gowa.
As recorded in the book Events of the Historical Years of the South Sulawesi Region from the XIV Century (1985), Sultan Malikusaid died on November 6 1653. Hasanuddin ascended the throne as the new king and immediately brought the kingdom to the peak of glory, including controlling the main trade routes in Eastern archipelago.
However, these golden times began to be threatened when the Dutch under the VOC flag visited southern Sulawesi in the mid-17th century. The VOC was tempted to control trade in this very strategic area. The Dutch hoped that Sultan Hasanuddin’s policies would be softer than those of his late father.
According to research conducted by Sagimun Mulus Dumadi in the book entitled Sultan Hasanuddin Menentang VOC (1986), Hasanuddin gave permission to three Dutch people to live in Somba Opu, the capital of the Gowa Sultanate at that time.
It turns out that the sultan’s kindness was misused. The Dutch people were caught red-handed sending letters to Batavia. In the letter it was stated that the VOC was asked to make preparations to launch an attack on the Sultanate of Gowa the following year. Obviously, Sultan Hasanuddin was angry and felt he had missed out. He then rushed to order the construction of defensive fortifications to anticipate the invasion of Dutch troops which would most likely come soon.
The Arung Palakka Polemic in the Makassar War
In connection with the increasing pressure from the Dutch Company , one night, precisely in February 1660, Sultan Hasanuddin summoned Tobala Arung Tanette, an official trusted by the Makassar Sultanate to lead the Bone people . Sultan Hasanuudin asked Tobala Arung Tanette to gather the strength of the Bone people to strengthen the defense of Makassar when it faced the Dutch Company.
In the conversation, Tobala Arung Tanette said that he was the leader of the Bone Bugis people and in order to maintain the self-respect and dignity of the Bone Bugis people, Tobala promised that he together with the Bone Bugis people would fight with Sultan Hasanuddin against the Dutch Company who wanted to conquer Makassar as a the largest maritime trading dealer in the Eastern Archipelago at that time.
As proof, Tobala immediately led 1000 Bugis Bone people to go guard the areas behind the Makassar region in order to be alert for movements by Dutch Company troops . Apart from that, Tobala was also tasked with reporting every attempt by the Dutch Company to persuade the Bugis to unite against Makassar.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Company had received a report from a rebel from Bugis Mandar in Manado, that several Makassar nobles complained about the harsh attitude shown by Sultan Hasanuddin as their leader . This report from the Bugis Mandar people was further strengthened by the report brought by the Dutch Company envoy who came to the Makassar palace. This Dutch Company envoy was named Willem Bastingh.
The report added that Makassar mercenaries from Banda were also ready to assist the Dutch Company if the Dutch Company wanted to attack Makassar . With this report, the Dutch Company felt quite relieved that there was a way to conquer Makassar as the largest maritime trading port in the eastern archipelago , which had been a stumbling block for the Dutch Company in its efforts to achieve a position as sole authority over the spice trade in the Indonesian Archipelago. will come true soon .
After receiving this information, in the middle of 1660, the Dutch Company sent an expedition to test the strength of Makassar. The Dutch Company in that expedition succeeded in capturing Panakukang Harbor. After successfully seizing Panakukang Harbor from Makassar, the Dutch Company placed four fully armed warships and two lifeboats to secure Panakukang Fort from the Makassar authorities.
Apart from that, the Dutch Company had also prepared food supplies for five months to support the Dutch troops tasked with guarding and securing Panakukang Fort from the Makassar authorities. According to information from Speelman, Sultan Hasanuddin really blamed Karaeng Sumanna as the Makassar official who was responsible for handling the Bone troops under the leadership of Tobala Arung Tanete.
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On that basis, Sultan Hasanuddin replaced Karaeng Sumanna with Karaeng Karunrung. This policy was taken by Sultan Hasanuddin in the hope that the Makassar Sultanate would no longer be humiliated by the Dutch Company.
Karaeng Karunrung was very serious about mobilizing the Bone people. Karaeng Karunrung immediately gave orders to Tobala Arung Tanette to bring the Bone people to Makassar to work to help defend Makassar. On Karaeng Karunrung’s orders, Tobala Arung Tanette succeeded in bringing 10,000 Bone people to Makassar. The Bone people, numbering around 10,000, regardless of age, whether young or old, were all forced to walk across bumpy areas and high mountains towards Makassar.
When they arrived in Makassar, they were divided into groups and worked in turns based on their respective groups. They were given the task of digging trenches along the defense line on the coast of Makassar port, from the southernmost fort of Barombong to the northernmost fort of Ujung Tana. While in Makassar, the rights of the Bone people as workers were often violated by the Sultanate of Makassar and the suffering of the Bone people increased when the foremen who supervised their work were rude to the Bone people who were working.
As a result , many Bone people fell ill and fled , because they could no longer stand their suffering as trench workers . This problem was taken seriously by Karaeng Karunrung. Karaeng Karunrung took action by employing Bone nobles together with their people to achieve the desired targets.
Arung Palakka was one of the Bone nobles who was sent to supervise the Bone people in working on the ditch. One day, Arung Palakka witnessed with his own eyes and head the cruelty of the foreman towards the Bone people who were working. The foreman arrested and beat the Bone man in front of Arung Palakka.
Arung Palakka felt that he could not bear to see the suffering that the Bone people experienced while working. He tried to influence and convince Tobala Arung Tanette and other Bone nobles to run away from the job. Arung Palakka succeeded in influencing and convincing them. After agreeing to run away, they waited for the right time to escape .
The long-awaited day has arrived, namely the post-harvest holiday. On that day, Makassar people were celebrating harvest day which was held in the Tallo area. The foremen and Makassar people in general were busy with the crowds being held at Tallo. Under these conditions , the Bone people under the leadership of Arung Palakka and Tobala Arung Tanette managed to leave Makassar and move on towards Bone.
It took them four days to reach Bone. They traveled for four days, full of exhaustion. After arriving in Bone, with the agreement of all parties, plans were drawn up for a large-scale rebellion against the Makassar Sultanate regarding the inhumane treatment by the Makassar Sultanate of the Bone people who were working day and night digging ditches to strengthen the Makassar Sultanate’s defenses against the Company. Dutch.
The rebellion of the Bone people was led directly by Arung Palakka and Tobala Arung Tanette. Around 11,000 Bone and Soppeng Bugis people had been prepared by Arung Palakka and Tobala Arung Tanette to fight against the Makassar Sultanate which had treated the Bone people in less than humane ways.
After learning of this movement , Sultan Hasanuddin sent troops under the leadership of Karaeng Sumanna to crush it. At first, Arung Palakka and Tobala Arung Tanette succeeded in containing the Makassar troops under the leadership of Karaeng Sumanna. However, after the Makassar troops received assistance from Wajo, Arung Palakka and Tobala Arung Tanette suffered defeat. Arung Palakka and Tobala Arung Tanette made a retreat. Makassar and Wajo troops continued to chase There was another open battle in the North Bone area on October 11, 1660.
In this battle, Tobala died at the hands of Makassar and Wajo troops, while Arung Palakka managed to escape and fled to the Macini Mountains . Makassar and Wajo troops continued to chase Arung Palakka , but they lost track of him. Feeling unsafe hiding in the Bone area, because he was always targeted by the Makassar troops, Arung Palakka tried to get out of the Bone area.
On December 25, 1660, Arung Palakka accompanied by Arung Bila, Datu Patojjo, Arung Appanang and his followers , around 400 people, managed to arrive at Palette Beach. Arung Palakka on this beach vowed to continue fighting to free Bone and Soppeng from Makassar rule. After taking the oath, Arung Palakka sailed with his followers towards the Buton region .
The Sultan of Buton welcomed the arrival of Arung Palakka and his followers and was willing to provide them protection. Arung Palakka later decided to go to Batavia to build cooperation with the Dutch Company in an effort to liberate Bone and Soppeng from
Makassar rule.
The Dutch Company accepted this offer of cooperation and placed Arung Palakka’s followers to settle in Muara Angke. Three years later, Arung Palakka and the Dutch Company were ready to face Makassar as their common enemy with different interests. Arung Palakka fought against Makassar because he wanted to free Bone from Makassar’s rule, while the Dutch Company attacked Makassar in order to establish itself as the sole ruler of the spice trade in the archipelago.
As planned, on November 24 1666, Cornelis Speelman and Arung Palakka sailed to Makassar from Batavia ready to attack Makassar. Speelman’s troops consisted of 21 ships and 1,870 soldiers ( 818 Dutch sailors, 578 Dutch soldiers, and 395 native troops). The main native troops came from Ambon under the leadership of Captain Joncker and from Bugis Bone under the leadership of Arung Palakka.
On December 19 , 1666, Speelman and Arung Palakka arrived at the port of Makassar. Arriving at the port of Makassar, Speelman immediately threatened Sultan Hasanuddin . Furthermore, Speelman raised a “red flag as a sign that the attack would soon begin” on December 21 1966. At the same time, two cannons were fired from a Dutch Company ship towards Somba Opu Fort, Sultan Hasanuddin’s main defensive fort .
Makassar troops responded to the Dutch Company’s attack by firing cannons from the forts of Somba Opu, Panakkukang and Ujung Pandang. Apart from that, Sultan Hasanuddin also deployed naval troops to attack the Dutch Company. This sea attack overwhelmed Speelman because it was beyond his calculations.
Due to the unfavorable weather and the strength of Sultan Hasanuddin’s defenses, Speelman abandoned his intention to attack first. Speelman continued his voyage to the east to strengthen his forces in order to overthrow Makassar. Speelman sailed on and finally arrived in Buton in January 1667. However, a battle broke out between Speelman’s fleet and the Makassar troops under the leadership of Karaeng Bontomarannu. In this battle, Speelman managed to achieve victory.
Speelman managed to achieve absolute victory in Buton because the Bugis Bone and Soppeng people who were under the command of Karaeng Bontomarannu turned against the Makassar troops. They knew that in Speelman’s troops there was Arung Palakka who had come from Batavia to free them from Makassar rule .
Seeing this unfavorable situation , Sultan Hasanuddin tried to normalize his relationship with Bone. Sultan Hasanuddin issued a statement that the Bone Kingdom was free from the Makassar Sultanate. This statement was followed by actions to restore La Maddarameng as the rightful King of Bone. In February 1667, La Maddarameng was again the legitimate King of Bone as before.
Sultan Hasanuddin’s policy has not been able to make Bone trust Sultan Hasanuddin again. After being reappointed as King of Bone, La Maddrameng told the people of Bone that he was only king for a while, namely until Arung Palakka came to replace him.
In a situation like this, Speelman and Arung Palakka departed with their troops from the Buton area and were ready to wage open war with Sultan Hasanuddin and Karaeng Karunrung. On June 19, 1667, they all sailed to Makassar with a clear goal, namely to destroy the glory of Makassar.
Arriving in the Makassar area, war immediately broke out. This war lasted for two years. Sultan Hasanuddin suffered total defeat after Speelman and Arung Palakka succeeded in razing and controlling Somba Opu Fort on June 24 1969.
In historical records , the Dutch Company admitted that the Makassar War was a great war in an effort to become the sole authority over the spice trade in the Archipelago. Sultan Hasanuddin’s toughness and tenacity in the Makassar War was highly recognized by the Dutch Company. They called him a special nickname, namely “Rooster from the East”, De Haantjes van Het Osten .
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Some historians interpret that if the Dutch had not been assisted by Arung Palakka’s troops, they would not have been able to defeat the Makassar Sultanate at that time. This is because Makassar has a very strong navy.
So, that’s a brief explanation of the Biography of Sultan Hasanuddin: Family Background and History of His Struggle . Appreciate the services of national figures, such as Prince Diponegoro, not only by remembering them silently and giving thanks, but also by imitating their attitudes and actions.
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