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Oceania · The Islamic sultanates

Sultanate of Bone

1330s/1512–1905

Bone (Boné, Bone Saoraja) was a Bugis sultanate on the southwest peninsula of Sulawesi, with its capital at Watampone. Bugis lontara manuscripts trace its origin to the early 14th century with the founder Manurunge ri Matajang (a "descended-from-heaven" tomanurung figure).

Existed
1330s/1512–1905
Shown on the map
1512–1858
Peak area
2k km²
Region
Oceania

Overview

Bone (Boné, Bone Saoraja) was a Bugis sultanate on the southwest peninsula of Sulawesi, with its capital at Watampone. Bugis lontara manuscripts trace its origin to the early 14th century with the founder Manurunge ri Matajang (a "descended-from-heaven" tomanurung figure). Islam became the state religion in 1608, when the ruler (the Arumpone) converted and adopted the title Sultan. Repeatedly conquered by Gowa (1611, 1640, and decisively 1644), Bone lost its independence to Makassar.

Decline and legacy

Its towering figure is Arung Palakka (La Tenritatta to Unru', 1634/35–1696), a Bugis prince who, resentful of Gowa's forced-labor policies (Bugis captives digging trenches at Makassar), fled and allied with the VOC in the Makassar War (1666–1669). His arrival sparked a Bugis uprising against Gowa; after Gowa's defeat and the Treaty of Bongaya, he became King of Bone (crowned 3 November 1672, r. 1672–1696) and the most powerful man in South Sulawesi, forging the Bugis into a dominant maritime power allied to the Dutch for nearly a century. Bugis society was governed by the siri' (honor/shame) code. Dutch military expeditions came in 1825, 1859, and 1860; when the Dutch dispatched a pacification force in 1905, the Arumpone fled into the jungle to fight, and Bone lost independence, becoming Bone Regency. A later ruler, Andi Mappanyukki, reigned 1931–1946.

Common questions

What was the Sultanate of Bone?
Bone (Boné, Bone Saoraja) was a Bugis sultanate on the southwest peninsula of Sulawesi, with its capital at Watampone. Bugis lontara manuscripts trace its origin to the early 14th century with the founder Manurunge ri Matajang (a "descended-from-heaven" tomanurung figure).
When did the Sultanate of Bone exist?
The Sultanate of Bone existed 1330s/1512–1905. On this map it is drawn 1512–1858.
How large was the Sultanate of Bone?
At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Sultanate of Bone covered about 2,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
How did the Sultanate of Bone end?
Its towering figure is Arung Palakka (La Tenritatta to Unru', 1634/35–1696), a Bugis prince who, resentful of Gowa's forced-labor policies (Bugis captives digging trenches at Makassar), fled and allied with the VOC in the Makassar War (1666–1669).

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity and its key rulers as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and UN sources, Pacific news organisations, and the scholarship of Ricklefs, Andaya, Coedès, Carey, Sri Margana and Smith & Smith. The article this entry is anchored on:

This entry was last updated .

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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