page_title: Sibori Amsterdam
section_title: Rebellion
hierarchical_section_title: Sibori Amsterdam / Rebellion
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: De moord op de koning van Ternate in 1681. Het betrof de koning Kaitsjili Sibori of Kaitsjili Amsterdam. Deze had al veel onenigheid met de Nederlanders gehad en in 1680 een (mislukte) moordaanslag op Landvoogd Padbrugge beraamd. Nadien bleef het onrustig tussen beide partijen en in 1681 werd de koning zelf vermoord. De afbeelding is afkomstig uit het het werk 'Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën' van François Valentyn. English: Murder of the king of Ternate in 1681. The king in question was Kaitsjili Sibori or Kaitsjili Amsterdam. Under his rule there had already been much discord with the Dutch and in 1680 he had plotted an unsuccessful mass murder at Landvoogd Padbrugge. The unrest between the two parties persisted and in 1681 the king himself was murdered. The illustration is taken from the work 'Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën' by François Valentyn.
context_page_description: Sultan Sibori Amsterdam was the twelfth Sultan of Ternate in the Maluku Islands who reigned from 1675 to 1690. He participated in the last outburst of armed resistance against the Dutch East India Company in 1679–1681, but was eventually forced to sign a new treaty that reduced Ternate to a mere vassal of the Company. In that way he was the last formally independent Sultan before the onset of early-modern Dutch colonialism.
context_section_description: The Sultan gave proof of military prowess in an expedition to Siau Island in 1677, which turned out to be a success. This contributed in strengthening his royal authority to the detriment of older, consensus-based forms of governance. One aristocrat who felt threatened by Sibori Amsterdam's policy was his brother-in-law Kaicili Alam (d. 1684), the heir to the defunct Jailolo kingdom, who sought and found sanctuary at the Dutch Fort Oranje on Ternate, to the great irritation of the Sultan. Shortly after, the three most important officials of the kingdom, the Jogugu (first minister), the Kapita Laut (the sea lord) and the Hukum (magistrate), fled to Ternate's traditional rival, the Tidore Sultanate, after which Sibori Amsterdam abolished the Jogugu position altogether for a while. Later on, Kaicili Alam found favour with the Sultan because of his warlike feats and was made Jogugu of Ternate.
  In the meanwhile, the VOC policy of forcing the Ternatan elite to extirpate clove trees in the realm to ensure VOC monopoly, met with growing resentment. The ties between the center of the kingdom and its outlying dependencies became strained, which at length affected relations between the Sultan and the VOC. Sibori Amsterdam fell out with the VOC governor Robertus Padtbrugge, not least because of the latter's promotion of Christian missionaries in the staunchly Islamic kingdom. The Sultan reportedly circulated a letter in the Ambon Quarter enjoining the chiefs to massacre the Dutch. The errand was however discovered and cruelly executed by the VOC in Ambon. Next, Sibori Amsterdam invited Robertus Padtbrugge for a banquet in his palace. The atmosphere was tense and the European guests feared assassination. Eventually the governor's daughter simulated a swoon and so gave Padtbrugge and his entourage an excuse to withdraw. Next day, however, several Dutch soldiers were murdered. Sibori Amsterdam hastily brought his harem, Bobatos (chiefs) and artillery to Jailolo on Halmahera in open defiance of the Company. 
  The rebellion, which broke out in 1679, had a pronounced religious side, and Muslim preachers from Banten were active in inspiring anti-Dutch insurgency. Some areas, such as North Halmahera and Bacan supported the Sultan, while Ternate's old rival, the Tidore Sultanate, backed up the Dutch positions and contributed with korakoras (large outriggers used in warfare). Sibori's attempts to enlist support from the Muslims of Mindanao were unsuccessful. The main Ternatan strongholds in Halmahera, Sahu and Gamkonara, fell to the VOC forces in 1681, and internal divisions among the rebels spelled the end of the movement. Sibori Amsterdam, abandoned by most of his followers, was finally captured in a bath house in August 1681 while he was massaged with fragrant oils by ladies of his harem.
caption: The capture of Sibori Amsterdam in 1681.
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