page_title: Saidi Berkat
section_title: Arrival of the Dutch
hierarchical_section_title: Saidi Berkat / Arrival of the Dutch
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Nederlanders te gast bij de koning van Ternate. De koning van Ternate gaf een feest voor de vloot van Jacob van Neck. Door het open raam is een schip te zien. De afbeelding is een gespiegelde kopie van de afbeelding in Begin ende Voortgangh / van de Vereenighde Nederlandsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie van Isaac Commelin. English: Dutch being entertained by the king of Ternate. The king of Ternate gave a party for Jacob van Neck's fleet. A ship can be viewed through the open window. The picture is a mirror image of the illustration in Isaac Commelin's Begin ende Voortgangh / van de Vereenighde Nederlandsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie
context_page_description: Sultan Saidi Berkat was the eighth Sultan of Ternate in the Maluku Islands. He succeeded to the extensive east Indonesian realm built up by his father Sultan Babullah, reigning from 1583 to 1606. The Spanish, who colonized the Philippines and had interests in Maluku, repeatedly tried to subdue Ternate, but were unsuccessful in their early attempts. Saidi's reign coincides with the arrival of the Dutch in Maluku, which indirectly caused his deposal and exile through a Spanish invasion.
context_section_description: The Dutch first arrived to Indonesia in 1596 and were, like the Portuguese, bent on controlling the spice trade. Their first visit to Ternate followed in 1599 with two ships under Captain Wijbrand van Warwijk. Sultan Saidi received them in a friendly mood, hoping to use the newcomers against his indigenous and European enemies. The Dutch described him as strong, big man of about 36 years, pleasant, humorous and very curious about new things. He was a renowned warrior and a devoted Muslim. Ternate was described as almost devoid of foodstuff apart from sago. Local society was only partly monetarized. The inhabitants had a "good and sweet" temper though they bore a mortal hatred for the Portuguese. When Van Warwijk departed he left some crew members on the island in order to stock cloves. A new visit under Jacob Cornelisz van Neck took place in 1601. Since Spain and Portugal were at war with the Dutch Republic in Europe, the presence of the newcomers alarmed the Iberian colonist. A Spanish-Portuguese force once again tried to conquer Ternate in 1603 but was heavily defeated by the Ternatans and Javanese mercenaries. This in turn prompted a Dutch counter-attack in 1605 under Cornelis Sebastiaansz, that captured the Iberian fort in Tidore after a furious fight. The defeated enemy was allowed to sail for the Philippines. With Saidi's consent, a Dutch token force was henceforth kept in Ternate.
caption: Saidi Berkat entertains Jacob van Neck and his men, illustration from about 1654.
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