Biography of Sultan Hasanuddin – Sultan Hasanuddin was one of the eastern kings who became popular thanks to his persistence against the Dutch during the colonial period. The big struggle that overwhelmed the Netherlands was rejecting the trade monopoly carried out by the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC).
During his reign, Sultan Hasanuddin also succeeded in thwarting the Dutch plan to control the Islamic Kingdom of Gowa. Not only that, he even united small kingdoms to unite against invaders.
Sultan Hasanudin’s persistence earned him the nickname De Haantjes van Het Osten from the Netherlands, which means the Rooster from the East.
The following describes a brief biography and history of the struggle of Sultan Hasanuddin.
Family Background of Sultan Hasanuddin
Painting of Sultan Hasanuddin.
Based on the list of Gowa kings contained in the book Islamization of the Kingdom of Gowa XVI to 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 under 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 embrace Islam.
His leadership spirit has been prominent since childhood. Besides being known as a smart person, he is also good at trading. This is what causes it to have a good trade network to Makassar, even with foreigners.
Little Hasanuddin received his religious education at the Bontoala Mosque. Since childhood, he was often invited by his father 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 a will that his kingdom be continued by Hasanuddin.
Apart from his father, he received guidance regarding government through the Mangkubumi of the Sultanate of Gowa, Karaeng Pattingaloang. Sultan Hasanuddin was the teacher of Arung Palakka, one of the Sultans of Bone who would later partner with the Dutch to bring down 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 took the throne as the new king and immediately brought the kingdom to a peak of glory, including controlling the main trade routes in Eastern Archipelago.
However, these golden times began to be threatened when the Dutch flagged by the VOC 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 more lenient than those of his late father.
According to research conducted by Sagimun Mulus Dumadi in a book entitled Sultan Hasanuddin Against the VOC (1986), Hasanuddin gave permission to three Dutch people to live in Somba Opu, the capital of the Gowa Sultanate at that time.
Apparently, the kindness of the sultan was abused. The Dutch people were caught red-handed sending letters to Batavia. The letter stated that the VOC was asked to make preparations to launch an attack on the Sultanate of Gowa the following year. It’s clear that Sultan Hasanuddin was angry and felt cheated. He then ordered the construction of fortifications to anticipate the Dutch troop invasion which would most likely come soon.
Polemic Arung Palakka in the Makassar War
In connection with the increasing pressure from the Dutch Company , one night, in February 1660 to be precise, Sultan Hasanuddin summoned Tobala Arung Tanette, as an official trusted by the Sultanate of Makassar to lead the people of Bone. Sultan Hasanudin requested that Tobala Arung Tanette be able to gather the strength of the people of Bone to strengthen Makassar’s defense against the Dutch Company.
In the conversation, Tobala Arung Tanette said that he was the leader of the Bugis Bone people and in order to protect the self-esteem and dignity of the Bugis Bone people, Tobala promised that he, together with the Bugis Bone people , would fight with Sultan Hasanuddin against the Dutch Company who wanted to conquer Makassar as the largest maritime trading port in the Eastern Archipelago at that time.
As proof, Tobala immediately led 1,000 Bone Bugis to go guard the areas behind the Makassar area in order to be alert to the movements of the Dutch Company troops . Apart from that, Tobala was also tasked with reporting on 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 tough attitude shown by Sultan Hasanuddin as their leader . This report by the Bugis Mandar people was further strengthened by a 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 launch an attack on Makassar. With this report, the Dutch Company felt quite relieved because it had a way to conquer Makassar as the largest maritime trading port in the eastern part of the Archipelago , which had been a stumbling block for the Dutch Company in its efforts to gain a position as the sole ruler over the spice trade in the Archipelago . will come true soon .
After receiving this information, in the middle of 1660, the Dutch Company also sent an expedition to test Makassar’s strength. The Dutch Company in the expedition managed to seize Panakukang Harbor . After succeeding in seizing Panakukang Harbor from the hands of 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 a five-month food supply to support the Dutch troops whose job was to guard and secure the Panakukang Fort from the Makassar authorities. According to information from Speelman, Sultan Hasanuddin heavily blamed Karaeng Sumanna as the Makassar official who was responsible for handling the Bone troops under the leadership of Tobala Arung Tanete.
On that basis, Sultan Hasanuddin replaced Karaeng Sumanna with Karaeng Karunrung. This policy was taken by Sultan Hasanuddin with the hope that the Sultanate of Makassar would not be humiliated again by the Dutch Company.
Karaeng Karunrung was indeed very serious about mobilizing the people of Bone. Karaeng Karunrung immediately gave orders to Tobala Arung Tanette to bring the Bone people to Makassar to work to help Makassar’s defense. 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 old or young, were all forcibly dragged across the undulating terrain and high mountains towards Makassar.
Arriving in Makassar, they were divided into groups and worked in shifts based on their respective groups. They were given the task of digging trenches along the defense line on the coast of Makassar harbour, 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 them at 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 bear their suffering as trench workers . This problem was taken seriously by Karaeng Karunrung. Karaeng Karunrung took action by employing the nobles of Bone together with their people to achieve the desired target.
Arung Palakka belonged to the Bone aristocrats who were sent down to supervise the Bone people in working on the trenches. One day, Arung Palakka witnessed with his own eyes the cruelty of the foreman against the Bone people at work. The foreman caught and beat the Bone man in front of Arung Palakka.
Arung Palakka couldn’t bear to see the suffering that the people of Bone experienced while working. He tried to influence and convince Tobala Arung Tanette and other Bone nobles to run away from the job. Arung Palakka managed to influence and convince them. After agreeing to escape, they waited for the right time to escape .
The long awaited day has come, namely the post-harvest holiday. On that day the Makassar people were celebrating the harvest day which was held in the Tallo area. The foremen and Makassar people in general were busy with the crowds held in Tallo. Under these conditions , the people of Bone 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 get to Bone. They traveled for four days, exhausted. After arriving in Bone, with the agreement of all parties, plans were drawn up for a large-scale rebellion against the Sultanate of Makassar in connection with the inhumane treatment of the Makassar Sultanate against the Bone people who were working day and night in digging ditches to strengthen the defense of the Makassar Sultanate against the Company. Dutch.
The rebellion of the Bone people was directly led 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 Sultanate of Makassar who had treated the Bone people in inhumane ways.
Upon learning of this movement , Sultan Hasanuddin sent troops under the leadership of Karaeng Sumanna to quell it. At first, Arung Palakka and Tobala Arung Tanette succeeded in holding back the Makassar forces 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 backwards motion. Makassar and Wajo troops continue to chase and 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 flee to the Macini Mountains . The Makassar and Wajo troops continued to chase Arung Palakka , but they lost track. Feeling unsafe hiding in the Bone area, because he was always targeted by Makassar troops, Arung Palakka tried to get out of the Bone area.
The Sultan of Buton welcomed the arrival of Arung Palakka and his followers and was willing to provide protection to them. Arung Palakka later decided to leave for Batavia to establish 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 live 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 Makassar because he wanted to liberate Bone from Makassar 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 24 November 1666, Cornelis Speelman and Arung Palakka sailed for 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 Captain Joncker and from Bugis Bone under Arung Palakka.
On December 19 , 1666, Speelman and Arung Palakka arrived at the port of Makassar. Arriving at the port of Makassar, Speelman immediately gave a threat to Sultan Hasanuddin. Furthermore, Speelman raised the “red flag as a sign that the attack will begin soon” on December 21, 1966. At the same time, two cannons were fired from the Dutch Company’s ship towards Fort Somba Opu, as the main stronghold of Sultan Hasanuddin.
The Makassar troops responded to the Dutch Company’s attack by firing cannons from the Somba Opu, Panakkukang and Ujung Pandang forts. Apart from that, Sultan Hasanuddin also mobilized sea troops to attack the Dutch Company. This sea attack overwhelmed Speelman because it was beyond his calculations.
Due to the unfavorable weather and the strong defense of Sultan Hasanuddin, Speelman discouraged him from attacking first. Speelman continued sailing eastward to strengthen forces in order to undermine Makassar. Speelman sailed on and finally arrived in Buton in January 1667. However, there was a battle between Speelman’s fleet and the Makassar troops under the leadership of Karaeng Bontomarannu. In this battle, Speelman managed to achieve victory.
Speelman succeeded in winning a landslide victory at Buton because the Bugis people of Bone and Soppeng who were under the command of Karaeng Bontomarannu turned against the Makassar forces. They knew that in Speelman’s army was Arung Palakka who had come from Batavia to liberate them from Makassar rule .
Seeing this unfavorable situation , Sultan Hasanuddin tried to normalize his relationship with Bone. Sultan Hasanuddin issued a statement that the Kingdom of Bone was free from the Sultanate of Makassar. This statement was followed by the act of reinstating La Maddarameng as the legitimate King of Bone. In February 1667, La Maddarameng was back to being the legitimate King of Bone as before.
Sultan Hasanuddin’s policy has not been able to make Bone trust Sultan Hasanuddin again. After being reinstated as King of Bone, La Maddrameng told the people of Bone that he would only be king for a while, that is, until Arung Palakka came to replace him.
In this situation , Speelman and Arung Palakka departed with their troops from the Buton region and were ready to wage open war with Sultan Hasanuddin and Karaeng Karunrung. On June 19, 1667, they all sailed to Makassar with a unanimous goal, namely to destroy Makassar’s glory.
Arriving in the Makassar area, the war immediately raged. This war lasted for two years. Sultan Hasanuddin suffered a total defeat after Speelman and Arung Palakka succeeded in tearing down and controlling the Somba Opu Fort on June 24, 1969.
Sultan Hasanuddin’s tomb in Sungguminasa, Gowa.
In historical records , the Dutch Company acknowledged that the Makassar War was such a great war in an effort to become the sole ruler of the spice trade in the Indonesian Archipelago. Sultan Hasanuddin’s toughness and persistence in the Makassar War were highly recognized by the Dutch Company. They called him with a special nickname, namely “Rooster from the East”, De Haantjes van Het Osten .
Some historians have interpreted that if the Dutch had not been assisted by Arung Palakka troops, they would not have been able to defeat the Sultanate of Makassar at that time. This is because Makassar has a very formidable navy.
So, that’s a brief explanation of Sultan Hasanuddin’s Biography: Family Background and His Struggle History . Appreciating the services of national figures, like Prince Diponegoro, is not only by remembering and thanking them in their hearts, but also by emulating their attitudes and actions.
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