Sultanate Of Tidore

Sultanate of Tidore was a sultanate in Southeast Asia, centered on the island of Tidore, a rival of Sultanate of Ternate for control of the spice trade.

The Sultanate of Tidore ruled most of southern Halmahera, and, at times, controlled Buru, Ambon and many of the islands off the coast of New Guinea. Tidore established a loose alliance with the Spanish in the sixteenth century, and Spain had several forts on the island. Before the Spanish withdrawal from Tidore and Ternate in 1663, Tidore became one of the most independent kingdoms in the region, resisting direct control by Dutch East India Company (VOC). Particularly under Sultan Saifuddin (r. 1657-1689), the Tidore court was skilled at using Dutch payment for spices for gifts to strengthen traditional ties with Tidore's traditional periphery. Tidore remained an independent kingdom, albeit with frequent Dutch interference, until the late eighteenth century.