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Maluku Clove Trade System
The Maluku clove trade system was a spice trade network centered on the Indonesian Maluku Islands as the production area and on a monopolistic supply…
Timeline
- 1590–1595Tidore and Ternate · North MalukuCloves grew only on a few islands; local sultans maintained scarcity through planting quotas, harvest seasons, and export bans, forming the technical-institutional foundation of the trade system.
- 1592–1600Ambon · MalukuThe Portuguese set up purchasing stations in Ambon and elsewhere, exchanging silver and firearms for cloves, and formed multi-layered transshipment chains with Chinese merchants and Javanese shipowners; competition intensified in the 1590s.
- 1598–1600Maluku Islands · MalukuAround 1598 Spanish and Portuguese forces contended in the archipelago; clove purchase prices and shipping routes fluctuated frequently, and the trade system became highly tense and militarized by the end of the 16th century.
Sources
- Cloves and the Spice Trade in the Early Modern Period — Anthony Reid
- Maluku (Moluccas) https://www.britannica.com/place/Moluccas