← Explore on the interactive map

Makassar trading port

Type Object Region Southeast Asia Time 1600–1667

Makassar (capital of Gowa) was one of 17th-century Southeast Asia's most important free ports, gathering Malay, Chinese, Arab, European, and archipel…

Timeline

  1. c. 1610–1640Makassar · SulawesiThe Gowa Sultanate developed Makassar into an open commercial port, allowing merchants of all peoples to anchor and trade freely; the port excelled in gold and clove transshipment and inter-island shipping, becoming a key free port challenging European monopoly trade.
  2. c. 1641–1650Makassar port · SulawesiIn the 1640s Makassar's port swarmed with merchant ships; Chinese, Malay, and Arab merchants transshipped Moluccan cloves and archipelagic goods here, friction with the VOC's spice monopoly policies intensified, and the sultanate maintained the port's independent commercial status by force and diplomacy.
  3. c. 1660–1667Makassar · SulawesiThe Dutch East India Company allied with the Bone Sultanate to besiege Gowa–Makassar; after the 1667 conquest the port was burned and residents forcibly relocated, ending Makassar's era as Southeast Asia's free trade hub.

Sources