Oceania · The Islamic sultanates
Sultanate of Bima
1620–1958
The Sultanate of Bima occupied eastern Sumbawa; its native name was Rasa ro Dana Mbojo ("the settlements and lands of Mbojo"). A Hindu-Buddhist Bima (Mbojo) kingdom had existed for centuries (traditions cite an origin as early as the 8th century; the Wadu Paa rock-carvings).
- Existed
- 1620–1958
- Shown on the map
- 1626–1889
- Peak area
- 10k km²
- Region
- Oceania
Overview
The Sultanate of Bima occupied eastern Sumbawa; its native name was Rasa ro Dana Mbojo ("the settlements and lands of Mbojo"). A Hindu-Buddhist Bima (Mbojo) kingdom had existed for centuries (traditions cite an origin as early as the 8th century; the Wadu Paa rock-carvings). Tomé Pires (c. 1515) recorded Bima exporting cloth, horses, slaves, and sappanwood. Islamization came via Makassar (Gowa), which attacked Sumbawa in 1618, 1619, and 1626. The exiled prince La Kai allied with Makassar and accepted Islam on 7 February 1621, instructed by the missionary Dato' ri Bandang, and was installed as the first Sultan, Abdul Kahir (c. 1620–1640). Bima's court culture was modeled on Makassar and the Malays, cemented by intermarriage with Makassarese princesses.
Decline and legacy
After the VOC crushed Makassar (1667–1669), Bima lost its Makassar suzerain and surrendered to the VOC on 8 December 1669, subject to a sappanwood export monopoly but largely self-governing. Its sultans ran from Abdul Kahir through Abu'l-Khair Sirajuddin and a long 18th–19th-century line to the last sultan, Muhammad Salahuddin (1915–1951). The catastrophic 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora devastated the region with famine. Society was stratified into nobles (ruma, rato), free commoners (dou mardika), and slaves; its scripts progressed from Tunti Mbojo (Kawi-derived) to a Bugis-influenced Tunti Bou and later Arabic/Pegon. Bima joined the Dutch-sponsored State of East Indonesia (1946), then federal Indonesia (1949); the Sumbawan principalities were abolished by the Republic in 1958. The former palace in Bima is now a museum.
Common questions
- What was the Sultanate of Bima?
- The Sultanate of Bima occupied eastern Sumbawa; its native name was Rasa ro Dana Mbojo ("the settlements and lands of Mbojo"). A Hindu-Buddhist Bima (Mbojo) kingdom had existed for centuries (traditions cite an origin as early as the 8th century; the Wadu Paa rock-carvings).
- When did the Sultanate of Bima exist?
- The Sultanate of Bima existed 1620–1958. On this map it is drawn 1626–1889.
- How large was the Sultanate of Bima?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Sultanate of Bima covered about 10,000 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 Bima end?
- After the VOC crushed Makassar (1667–1669), Bima lost its Makassar suzerain and surrendered to the VOC on 8 December 1669, subject to a sappanwood export monopoly but largely self-governing. Its sultans ran from Abdul Kahir through Abu'l-Khair Sirajuddin and a long 18th–19th-century line to the last sultan, Muhammad Salahuddin (1915–1951).
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:
- Wikipedia — Bima Sultanate en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bima_Sultanate
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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