Prosperity of the Makassar Trade Port

Name: Prosperity of the Makassar Trade Port
Start: 1590
End: 1600

Type Event Region Southeast Asia Time 1590–1600

In the 1590s, the port of Makassar, controlled by the Gowa-Tallo Sultanate, became a key hub linking the Moluccas with the Indian Ocean-China routes …

Timeline

1590–1595Gowa · IndonesiaAfter consolidating the Gowa-Tallo alliance, Sultan Alauddin implemented an open port policy at Makassar, imposing no heavy taxes on passing merchant ships, attracting Moluccan cloves and nutmeg for transshipment, and rapidly growing the port's population and warehouses.
1592–1598Port of Makassar · IndonesiaChinese, Malay, Arab, and early European merchants (including Portuguese and Dutch ships) traded spices, cotton cloth, porcelain, and metalware in Makassar. The port became a key transshipment station between the Moluccan producing regions and Malacca, Bantam, and Zhangzhou in China.
1596–1600Makassar Bay · IndonesiaMakassar's local shipbuilding industry flourished to meet trade demands, with large sailing vessels able to voyage as far as Java, the Malay Peninsula, and China. By the end of the 16th century, the port ranked among the busiest in Southeast Asia, foreshadowing later conflict with the Dutch East India Company.

Sources

Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680, Volume 2 — Anthony Reid (1993)
The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia, Volume 1 — Nicholas Tarling (ed.) (1999)