Pong Tiku Pong Tiku ( also spelled Pontiku and Pongtiku ; 1846 – 10 July 1907 ) , known among his Buginese allies as Ne ' Baso , was a Toraja n leader and guerrilla fighter who operated in southern Sulawesi , part of modern - day Indonesia . The son of the lord of Pangala ' , after Tiku captured the neighbouring kingdom Baruppu ' he became its leader , later ruling Pangala ' after his father ' s death . By exploiting the coffee trade and allying with the lowlands Buginese , Tiku was able to obtain large amounts of wealth , land , and power . During the Coffee War ( 1889 – 1890 ) , his capital at Tondon was razed by another lord , but retaken the same day . When the Dutch colonials , based in Java , invaded Sulawesi in the early 1900s , Tiku and his soldiers utilised fortresses to withstand and launch attacks . Captured in October 1906 , in January 1907 he escaped and remained at large until June . He was executed several days later . Tiku was the longest lasting resistance leader in Sulawesi , such that Governor - General J . B . van Heutsz considered him damaging the stability of Dutch control over the region and dispatched the Governor of Sulawesi to oversee his capture . Since his death , Tiku has been used as a symbol of Torajan resistance . Long commemorated in Sulawesi , he was officially declared a National Hero of Indonesia in 2002 . Early life and rise to power . Tiku was born near Rantepao in the highlands of Sulawesi ( now part of North Toraja Regency , South Sulawesi ) in 1846 . At the time , southern Sulawesi was home to a booming coffee trade and controlled by numerous warlords . Tiku was the last of six children born one of these warlords ; he was born to Siambo ' Karaeng , lord of Pangala ' , and his wife Leb ' ok . An athletic youth , Tiku was friendly with coffee traders who visited his village . In 1880 , a war broke out between Pangala ' and Baruppu ' , a neighbouring state led by Pasusu . Tiku took an active role in a successful campaign against the neighbouring state , and when Pasusu was defeated Tiku took his place as ruler of Baruppu ' . The newly annexed kingdom was rich in rice fields and easily defensible , giving Tiku great power . Although the Torajans traditionally valued manpower and did not kill more people than necessary , Baruppu ' oral history describes Tiku as killing men , women , and children with abandon . When , not long afterwards , Tiku ' s father died , Tiku became leader of Pangala ' . As a leader , Tiku worked to strengthen the economy with an increase in the coffee trade and strategic alliances with predominantly Buginese lowlands groups . The economic success this brought led nearby rulers to respect and envy Tiku . Coffee and civil wars . Fearing competition from the kingdoms of Luwu and Bone to the north and Sidareng and Sawitto to the south , Tiku worked on reinforcing his country ' s defences . The kingdoms eventually reached several trade agreements . However , Buginese encroaches led to renewed tensions between the states , climaxing in the Coffee War ( ) in 1889 . Tiku sided with the Buginese - influenced southern kingdoms . The Bone military leader Petta Panggawae and his Songko ' Borrong soldiers invaded Pangala ' and sided with Pong Maramba ' , a minor lord . Panggawae overtook Tiku ' s capital at Tondon and razed the city , leading Tiku and the civilian population to abandon the area . Tiku , having sided with the Sidenreng leader Andi Guru , was able to retake the remains of the capital that night . The war ended in 1890 , after Dutch scouts – representing the colonial government on Java – reached Bone . However , the remaining states soon began another series of struggles over the arms and slave trade , where states would exchange weapons for slaves ; Tiku also participated in the trade . Tiku eventually formed an alliance with nearby Buginese leaders , which reduced tensions and improved trade ; he also learned the group ' s writing system and language , allowing him to easily correspond with Buginese leaders . By this time Tiku had captured numerous lands . To avoid a repetition of the raze of Tondon , Tiku began construction of seven fortresses in his lands , as well as several surveillance outposts and storeholds . The Torajan fortresses were designed to prevent entry to the valleys leading to population centres , and Tiku ' s were divided between the eastern and western parts of his land . He instituted a tax system to fund these defensive measures : owners of rice fields were obligated to tax two thirds of their produce , while other farmers were taxed ten per cent . Dutch advances . By 1905 the previously fragmented Buginese and Torajan lands had united into four major areas , one of which was under Tiku . In July of that year the king of Gowa , a nearby state , began collecting soldiers to fight off the invaders and prevent the remainder of the Torajan lands from conquest . Ma ' dika Bombing , a leader from a southern state , approached Tiku for his assistance . A month after the messengers had dispersed , the leaders gathered at Gowa to make a plan of action . The result was that the local lords were to stop warring amongst themselves and focus on the Dutch , who had superior strength ; these internal conflicts , however , did not completely abate . By the time the meeting adjourned , the Dutch had already begun making advances on Luwu . Tiku , tasked with diverting the Dutch from the indefensible town of Rantepo , began to build his army and work on his defences . In January 1906 Tiku sent scouts to Sidareng and Sawitto , which the Dutch were invading , to observe their way of battle . When the scouts reported of the Dutch forces ' overwhelming strength and seemingly magical powers used against the Bugis soldiers , he ordered his fortresses to increase readiness and begin stocking up on rice ; that month , Luwu fell to Dutch forces , who then moved further inland . In February Tiku ' s men , sent to reinforce the southern kingdoms , reported that there was no longer coherent leadership and that both kingdoms were losing against the Europeans . This convinced Tiku to train more troops and form a nine - member military council , with himself as its leader . By March 1906 the other kingdoms had all fallen , leaving Tiku as the last Torajan lord . The Dutch took Rantepao without a struggle , unaware that the city ' s surrender had been arranged by Tiku . Through a letter , the Dutch commander Captain Kilian told Tiku to surrender , a demand Tiku was unwilling to entertain . Aware of Tiku ' s gathered forces and numerous fortresses , Kilian did not attempt a direct attack . Instead , in April 1906 he sent an expeditionary party to Tondon . Although the party ' s approach was not resisted , after nightfall Tiku ' s troops attacked the Dutch camp in Tondon ; this forced the Dutch forces to retreat to Rantepao with Tiku ' s men in pursuit , suffering numerous casualties along the way . Tiku ' s military actions were based on the experience he had gained fighting the other lords . The Dutch and their mixed native forces , on the other hand , underestimated Tiku ' s forces and were unable to cope with the cold weather of the high altitudes . Initial struggle . The failed expeditionary force led to open warfare between Tiku , who went into hiding in his fortress at Buntu Batu , and Dutch troops . Tiku kept spies on the Dutch forces at Rantepao . On 22 June they reported that the preceding night a Dutch battalion consisting of roughly 250 men and 500 porters had departed the village , headed south towards Tiku ' s fortress at Lali ' Londong . Tiku ordered the road sabotaged , extending the travel time from one day to five . On the night of 26 June , Tiku ' s forces attacked the Dutch forces outside of Lali ' Londong , an attack for which the Dutch were unprepared ; nobody was killed in the attack . The following morning , the Dutch began a siege on Lali ' Londong , using hand grenade s and ladders . Unable to deal with the grenades , which the Dutch had not used on the other lords , that afternoon the fortress was captured . This loss led Tiku to reinforce his men . The Torajan troops were armed with rifles , spears , boulders , swords , and chili pepper extract , sprayed into enemy eyes with a device called a " tirik lada " , or blowgun , to blind them . Tiku himself was armed with a Portuguese rifle , spear , and " labo " . He wore protective armour , a " sepu " ( crotch guard ) , and a songkok with protrusions in the shape of buffalo horns , and carried a decorated shield . With his soldiers , Tiku dug pits filled with bamboo stakes along Dutch supply routes ; those who wandered over the pits would fall in and be impaled . However , these were not enough to stop the advancing Dutch . On 17 October 1906 , two more fortresses , Bamba Puang and Kotu , fell , after several unsuccessful Dutch attacks since June . As the campaign against Tiku , which had already lasted longer than most other campaigns in the occupation , was thought to undermine Dutch authority in Sulawesi , Governor - General J . B . van Heutsz dispatched Governor of Sulawesi Swart to personally lead the attack . After a long siege , Andi Guru and Tiku ' s former lieutenant Tandi Bunna ' – both by then working for the Dutch – approached Tiku on 26 October and offered a cease fire . Although initially unwilling , Tiku was reportedly convinced by civilians who reminded him that his mother – who had died in the siege – needed to be buried . After three days of peaceful intermingling , on the night of 30 October the Dutch forces took over the fortress , appropriated all weapons , and captured Tiku . He and his soldiers were forced to go to Tondon . Second struggle and death . In Tondon Tiku began preparations for his mother ' s funeral , preparations which , in Torajan culture , took several months . While taking care of the preparations , he had an advisor collect weapons secretly while another went to his fortresses in Alla ' and Ambeso . Tiku then made preparations to escape Dutch custody ; he also returned all property that he had taken as a lord , as he knew he would no longer use it . While in Tondon , Dutch forces may have harassed the Torajan leader . The night before his mother ' s funeral , in January 1907 , Tiku and 300 of his followers escaped Tondon , heading south . After he was told that the Dutch had followed him , Tiku ordered most of his followers to return to Tondon while he and a group of fifteen , including his two wives , continued south . They first arrived at Ambeso , but the fortress fell several days later , at which time they evacuated to Alla ' . This fortress fell at the end of March 1907 and Tiku began to work his way back to Tondon through the forest . He and the other leaders , Buginese and Torajan alike , were chased by Dutch troops . The other leaders capitulated to the Dutch and were sentenced to either three years in a prison in Makassar or exile to Buton . Tiku , meanwhile , stayed hidden in the forests . On 30 June 1907 Tiku and two of his men were caught by the Dutch forces ; he was the last guerrilla leader to be caught . After several days in prison , on 10 July 1907 Tiku was shot and killed by the Dutch soldiers near the Sa ' dan River ; some reports have him bathing at the time . He was buried with the rest of his family in Tondol , while his cousin Tandibua ' became the native rule of Pangala ' , serving under the Dutch ; Legacy . After Tiku ' s death , the colonial powers hoped that he would be forgotten , a hope which was not realised ; Tandibua ' rebelled in 1917 , and other local rebellions arose in different areas of Sulawesi until the Dutch withdrawal following the Japanese occupation . During the occupation , the Japanese forces used Tiku as a symbol of Torajan struggle against colonial aggression , working to unite the people against Europeans . However , this was poorly received in conquered areas such as Baruppu ' and Sesean , where Tiku was remembered as a man who killed others to steal their wives . The Tana Toraja Regency government declared Tiku a national hero in 1964 , and in 1970 a monument to him was built on the bank of the Sa ' dan . Tiku was declared a National Hero of Indonesia with Presidential Decree 073 / TK / 2002 on 6 November 2002 . On the anniversary of Tiku ' s death , commemorative ceremonies are held in the provincial capital of Makassar . Aside from several streets , Pongtiku Airport in Tana Toraja is named after him .