View source for Banda Islands

{{Short description|Volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, Maluku, Indonesia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox islands
|name = Banda Islands
|image_name = BandaBesarIslandSeenFromFortBelgica.JPG
|image_caption = Banda Besar island seen from [[Fort Belgica]]
|native_name = 
|native_name_link =
|location = [[Southeast Asia]]
|coordinates = {{coord|4|35|S|129|55|E|region:ID_type:isle|display=title,inline}}
|archipelago = [[Maluku Islands]]
|total_islands = 11 (7 inhabited)
|major_islands = [[Lontor (island)|Banda Besar]], [[Banda Neira|Neira]], [[Banda Api]], [[Hatta (island)|Pulau Hatta]], [[Ay (island)|Pulau Ay]], [[Run (island)|Pulau Rhun]]
|area_km2 = 172
|highest_mount = Gunung Api
|elevation_m = 641
|elevation_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://vsi.esdm.go.id/index.php/gunungapi/data-dasar-gunungapi/507-qetna-van-indonesiaq-menurut-drrdm-verbeek-1900|title=G. Banda Api|publisher=Badan Geologi|access-date=2022-01-28|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128054403/https://vsi.esdm.go.id/index.php/gunungapi/data-dasar-gunungapi/507-qetna-van-indonesiaq-menurut-drrdm-verbeek-1900|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|country = [[Indonesia]]
|country_admin_divisions_title = Province
|country_admin_divisions = [[Maluku (province)|Maluku]]
|country_largest_city = 
|country_largest_city_area = 
|population = 21,902
|population_as_of = mid 2023
|density_km2 = 127.3
|ethnic_groups =
}}

[[File:Maluku Islands en.png|right|250px|thumb|Location of the Banda Islands in the center of the [[Maluku Islands]]]]
[[File:Banda Islands en.png|thumb|250px|Map of the Banda Islands]]

The '''Banda Islands''' ({{langx|id|Kepulauan Banda}}) are a [[volcanic group]] of ten small islands in the [[Banda Sea]], about {{convert|140|km|0|abbr=on}} south of [[Seram Island]] and about {{convert|2000|km|0|abbr=on}} east of [[Java (island)|Java]], and constitute an administrative district (''kecamatan'') within the [[Central Maluku Regency]] in the [[Indonesia]]n province of [[Maluku (Indonesian province)|Maluku]]. The islands rise out of {{convert|4|to|6|km|adj=on}} deep ocean and have a total land area of approximately {{convert|172|km2}}; with associated maritime area this reaches {{convert|736.3|km2}}. They had a population of 18,544 at the 2010 Census<ref>Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.</ref> and 20,924 at the 2020 Census;<ref>Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.</ref> the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 21,902.<ref>Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2024.</ref> Until the mid-19th century the Banda Islands were the world's only source of the spices [[nutmeg]] and [[mace (spice)|mace]], produced from the nutmeg tree. The islands are also popular destinations for [[scuba diving]] and [[snorkeling]]. The main town and administrative centre is [[Banda Neira]], located on the island of the same name.

== Geography ==
There are seven inhabited islands and several that are uninhabited.  The inhabited islands are:
[[File:BandaVolcano.JPG|thumb|The active volcano [[Banda Api]] in the Banda Islands]]
[[File:Banda-0039.jpg|thumb|The main island, Banda Neira (centre) viewed from the peak of Gunung Api volcano. In the background is [[Lontar Island]] (Banda Besar).]]
Main group (formed from the drowned [[caldera]] of a former volcano, with Bandaneira and still-smoking Guning Api islands at the centre of the crater, and the crescent-shaped Lonthair, Pulau Pisang and Batu Kapal being the surviving above-water parts of the volcanic rim):
*[[Banda Neira|Bandaneira]], or Naira, the island with the administrative capital and a small airfield (which stretches across the whole island, splitting the southern third from the northern two-thirds) as well as accommodation for visitors. It contains six villages (''desa''), from south to north being Nusantara (that part not on Gunung Api Island, and containing the district administration), Kampung Baru, Dwiwarna, Rajawali, Tanah Rata and Merdeka. Present on Banda Neira is Fort Belgica, one of the largest remaining Dutch forts that are still intact in Indonesia, and Fort Nassau. 
*[[Banda Api]], an active volcano (Gunung Api) with a peak of about 650 m. It forms most of the land area of the ''desa'' of Nusantara.
*[[Banda Besar]], also called Lontar or Lonthoir, is the largest island (Indonesian ''besar'', big), {{convert|12|km|0|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|3|km|0|abbr=on}} wide. It has three main settlements, Lonthoir (in the west of the island), Selamon (which includes Pulau Pisang, and which with Cumbir Kaisastoren, Walling Spanciby and Boiyauw villages faces the islands in the centre of the caldera) and Waer (which with Dender to its north and Lautang and Uring-Tutra to its west face away from the caldera). The residual former Dutch fortifications of Fort Hollandia and Fort Concordia are on this island.

Some distance to the west:
*Pulau Ay (formerly spelt Pulau Ai), 12&nbsp;km from Bandaneira, and containing the remains of the former Dutch Fort Revenge.
*Pulau [[Run (island)|Rhun]] (formerly spelt Run), another 8&nbsp;km further west again. In the 17th century, this island was involved in an exchange between the British and the Dutch, when it was exchanged for the island of [[Manhattan]] in New York.

To the north of Banda Besar:
*Pulau Pisang (Banana Island), also known as Syahrir.

To the southeast:
*Pulau Hatta (formerly Rosengain or Rozengain), 19&nbsp;km from Bandaneira, with its single village (of the same name) at its northern tip.

Others, all small and/or uninhabited, are:
*Naijalaka, a short distance northeast of Pulau Rhun
*Batu Kapal, a small island northwest of Pulau Pisang
*Manuk, an active volcano
*Pulau Keraka or Pulau Karaka (Crab Island), a short distance north of Banda Api
*Manukang or Suanggi, to the northwest of the main group
*Skaru Reef, a short distance south of Pulau Hatta

The islands are part of the [[Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests]] [[ecoregion]].

==Administration==
The Banda Islands District (''kecamatan'') is sub-divided into eighteen administrative villages (''desa''), listed below with their areas and their officially-estimated populations as at mid 2002.<ref>Badan Pusat Statistik, 2023, Kecamatan Banda, Katalog/Catalog: 1102001.8103010.</ref> All share the postcode of 97586.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Kode <br>Wilayah!! Name of <br> ''kelurahan''!! Area <br>in <br>km<sup>2</sup> !! Population<br>mid 2022<br>estimate
|-
| 61.01.09.2001 || Nusantara ||align="right"| 13.30 ||align="right"| 1,993  
|-
| 61.01.09.2002 || Dwiwarna ||align="right"| 1.40 ||align="right"| 947  
|-
| 61.01.09.2003 || Merdeka ||align="right"| 3.44 ||align="right"| 814 
|-
| 61.01.09.2004 || Rajawali ||align="right"| 2.95 ||align="right"| 824 
|-
| 61.01.09.2005 || Kampung Baru ||align="right"| 5.70 ||align="right"| 3,050 
|-
| 61.01.09.2006 || Pulau Hatta ||align="right"| 15.88 ||align="right"| 683 
|-
| 61.01.09.2007 || Selamon ||align="right"| 28.97 ||align="right"| 1,991  
|-
| 61.01.09.2008 || Lonthoir ||align="right"| 16.07 ||align="right"| 2,972  
|-
| 61.01.09.2009 || Pulau Ay ||align="right"| 15.19 ||align="right"| 1,577 
|-
| 61.01.09.2010 || Pulau Rhun ||align="right"| 13.16 ||align="right"| 1,572 
|-
| 61.01.09.2011 || Tanah Rata ||align="right"| 2.20 ||align="right"| 874 
|-
| 61.01.09.2012 || Waer ||align="right"| 7.99 ||align="right"| 1,407 
|-
| 61.01.09.2013 || Boiyauw ||align="right"| 7.15 ||align="right"| 625  
|-
| 61.01.09.2014 || Dender ||align="right"| 3.40 ||align="right"| 164  
|-
| 61.01.09.2015 || Lautang ||align="right"| 4.70 ||align="right"| 233 
|-
| 61.01.09.2016 || Uring-Tutra ||align="right"| 7.50 ||align="right"| 313 
|-
| 61.01.09.2017 || Walling Spanciby ||align="right"| 14.00 ||align="right"| 893 
|-
| 61.01.09.2018 || Combir Kaisastoren ||align="right"| 9.00 ||align="right"| 493 
|-
| '''61.01.09''' || '''''Totals''''' ||align="right"| '''''736.30''''' ||align="right"| '''''21,425 <sup>(a)</sup>'''''   
|}
Notes: (a) comprising 10,723 males and 10,702 females.

== History ==

===Pre-European history===
The first documented human presence in the Banda Islands comes from a [[rock shelter]] site on Pulau Ay that was in use at least 8,000 years ago.<ref name="Lape2013">{{cite journal|last=Lape|first=Peter|title=Die erste Besiedlung auf den Banda-Inseln: 8000 Jahre Archäologie auf den Molukken|trans-title=The first settlement in the Banda Islands: 8000 years of archeology in the Moluccas|journal=Antike Welt|date=2013|volume=5|issue=13|pages=9–13}}</ref>

The earliest mention of the Banda Islands is found in Chinese records dating as far back as 200 BCE<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hancock |first=James |title=Indian Ocean Trade before the European Conquest |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1800/indian-ocean-trade-before-the-european-conquest/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> though there is speculation that it is mentioned in earlier Indian sources. The [[Srivijaya|Srivijaya Kingdom]] had extensive trade contacts with the Banda Islands. Also during this period (from the late 13th century and onwards) Islam arrived in the region. It soon became established in the area.<ref>{{Cite book|title=International Dictionary of Historic Places|volume=5: Asia and Oceania|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |year=1996 |isbn=1-884964-04-4 |editor-last=Schellinger |editor-first=Paul |location=Chicago |editor-last2=Salkin |editor-first2=Robert}}</ref>

Before the arrival of Europeans, Banda had an [[oligarchic]] form of government led by {{lang|id|orang kaya}} ('rich men') and the Bandanese had an active and independent role in trade throughout the archipelago.<ref name="Ricklefs1993">{{cite book|last=Ricklefs|first=M. C.|title=A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1300|edition=2nd|publisher=Macmillan|date=1993|place=London|isbn=9780333576892}}</ref>{{rp|24}} Banda was the world's only source of [[nutmeg]] and [[mace (spice)|mace]], spices used as flavourings, medicines, and preserving agents that were at the time highly valued in European markets. They were sold by [[Arab]] traders to the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]]s for exorbitant prices. The traders did not divulge the exact location of their source and no European was able to deduce their location.

The first written accounts of Banda are in ''Suma Oriental'', a book written by the [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] [[apothecary]] [[Tomé Pires]] who was based in [[Malacca]] from 1512 to 1515 but visited Banda several times. On his first visit, he interviewed the Portuguese and the far more knowledgeable Malay sailors in Malacca. He estimated the early sixteenth century population to be 2500–3000. He reported the Bandanese as being part of an Indonesia-wide trading network and the only native Malukan long-range traders taking cargo to Malacca, although shipments from Banda were also being made by [[Javanese people|Javanese]] traders.

In addition to the production of nutmeg and mace, Banda maintained significant [[entrepôt]] trade; goods that moved through Banda included cloves from [[Ternate]] and [[Tidore]] in the north, [[bird-of-paradise]] feathers from the [[Aru Islands Regency|Aru Islands]] and [[Western New Guinea]], and ''massoi'' bark for traditional medicines and salves. In exchange, Banda predominantly received rice and cloth; namely light cotton ''[[batik]]'' from [[Java]], ''[[Calico (textile)|calicoes]]'' from [[India]] and ''[[ikat]]'' from the [[Lesser Sundas]]. In 1603, an average quality ''[[sarong]]''-sized cloth traded for eighteen kilograms of nutmeg. Some of these textiles were then sold on, ending up in [[Halmahera]] and [[New Guinea]]. Coarser ''ikat'' from the Lesser Sundas was traded for [[sago]] from the [[Kei Islands]], [[Aru Islands Regency|Aru]] and [[Seram]].

===Portuguese===
In August 1511, on behalf of the king of [[Portugal]], [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] conquered [[Malacca]], which at the time was a major hub of Asian trade. In November of that year, after having secured Malacca and learned of the Banda Islands' location, Albuquerque sent an expedition of three ships led by his good friend [[António de Abreu]] to find them. [[Malay (ethnic group)|Malay]] pilots, either recruited or forcibly conscripted, guided them via [[Java]], the [[Lesser Sundas]] and [[Ambon Island|Ambon]] to Banda, arriving in early 1512.<ref name="Hanna1991">{{cite book|last=Hanna|first=Willard A.|author-link=Willard A. Hanna|title=Indonesian Banda: Colonialism and Its Aftermath in the Nutmeg Islands|publisher=Yayasan Warisan dan Budaya Banda Naira|date=1991|isbn=9780915980918}}</ref>{{rp|7}}<ref name="Milton1999">{{cite book|last=Milton|first=Giles|author-link=Giles Milton|title=Nathaniel's Nutmeg|publisher=Sceptre|date=1999|place=London|isbn=9780340696767}}</ref>{{rp|pages=5,7}} The first Europeans to reach the Banda Islands, the expedition remained in Banda for about one month, purchasing and filling their ships with Banda's nutmeg, mace, and [[clove]]s, in which Banda had a thriving entrepôt trade.<ref name="Hanna1991" />{{rp|7}} D'Abreu sailed through [[Ambon Island|Ambon]] and [[Seram Island|Seram]] while his second in command [[Francisco Serrão]] went ahead towards the Maluku islands, was shipwrecked and ended up in [[Ternate]].<ref name="Ricklefs1993" />{{rp|25}}

Distracted by hostilities elsewhere in the archipelago, such as Ambon and Ternate, the Portuguese did not return to the Banda Islands until 1529, when Portuguese trader Captain Garcia Henriques landed troops. Five of the Banda islands were within gunshot of each other and Henriques realised that a fort on the main island Neira would give him full control of the group. The Bandanese were, however, hostile to such a plan, and their warlike behavior was both costly and tiresome to Garcia whose men were attacked when they attempted to build a fort. From then on, the Portuguese were infrequent visitors to the islands, preferring to buy their nutmeg from traders in Malacca.<ref name="Milton1999" />{{rp|pages=5,7}}

Unlike inhabitants of other eastern Indonesian islands visited by the Portuguese, such as [[Ambon Island|Ambon]], [[Solor]], [[Ternate]] and [[Morotai]], the Bandanese displayed no enthusiasm for Christianity or the Europeans who brought it in the sixteenth century, and no serious attempt was made to Christianise the Bandanese.<ref name="Ricklefs1993" />{{rp|25}} Maintaining their independence, the Bandanese never allowed the Portuguese to build a fort or permanent post in the islands. Ironically, it was this lack of presence which attracted the Dutch to trade in Banda instead of the clove-producing islands of Ternate and Tidore.

===Dutch control===
{{main|Governorate of the Banda Islands}}
[[File:Fort Nassau 1646.jpg|right|thumb|[[Fort Nassau, Banda Islands|Fort Nassau]] in 1646]]

The Dutch followed the Portuguese to Banda but were to have a much more dominating and lasting presence. Dutch–Bandanese relations were mutually resentful from the outset, with Holland's first merchants complaining of Bandanese reneging on agreed deliveries and price, and cheating on quantity and quality. For the Bandanese, on the other hand, although they welcomed another competitor purchaser for their spices, the items of trade offered by the Dutch—heavy woolens, and damasks, unwanted manufactured goods, for example—were usually unsuitable in comparison to traditional trade products. The [[Javanese people|Javanese]], [[Arab]] and [[India]]n, and Portuguese traders for example brought indispensable items along with steel knives, copper, medicines, and prized Chinese [[porcelain]].{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

As much as the Dutch disliked dealing with the Bandanese, the trade was a highly profitable one with spices selling for 300 times the purchase price in Banda. This amply justified the expense and risk in shipping them to Europe. The allure of such profits saw an increasing number of Dutch expeditions; it was soon seen that in trade with the East Indies, competition from each would eat into all their profits. Thus the competitors united to form the {{lang|nl|Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie}} (VOC) (the [[Dutch East India Company|United East India Company]], referred to in English as the Dutch East India Company) in 1602.<ref name="Hanna1991" />

Until the early seventeenth century the Bandas were ruled by a group of leading citizens, the {{lang|id|orang kaya}} (literally 'rich men'); each of these was head of a district. At the time nutmeg was one of the "fine spices" kept expensive in Europe by disciplined manipulation of the market, but a desirable commodity for Dutch traders in the ports of India as well; economic historian [[Fernand Braudel]] notes that India consumed twice as much as Europe.<ref name="Braudel1984">{{cite book|last=Braudel|first=Fernand|title=Civilization and Capitalism: 15th–18th Century|volume=III: The Perspective of the World|publisher=William Collins Sons & Co Ltd|place=London|date=1984|page=219}}</ref> A number of Banda's {{lang|id|orang kaya}} were persuaded by the Dutch to sign a treaty granting the Dutch a monopoly on spice purchases. Even though the Bandanese had little understanding of the significance of the treaty known as 'The Eternal Compact',{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} or that not all Bandanese leaders had signed, it would later be used to justify Dutch troops being brought in to defend their monopoly.

In April 1609, Admiral [[Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff]] arrived at Banda Neira with a request by [[Maurice, Prince of Orange]] to build a fort on the island (the eventual [[Fort Nassau, Banda Islands|Fort Nassau]]). The Bandanese were not excited about this idea. On 22 May, before building of the fort had started, the {{lang|id|orang kaya}} called a meeting with the Dutch admiral, purportedly to negotiate prices. Instead, they led Verhoeff and two high-ranked men into an ambush and decapitated them and subsequently killed 46 of the Dutch visitors. [[Jan Pietersz Coen]], who was a lower-ranked merchant on the expedition, managed to escape, but the traumatic event likely influenced his future attitude towards the Bandanese.<ref name="VanOpstall1972">{{cite book|last=Van Opstall|first=Margaretha Elizabeth|title=De reis van de vloot van Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff naar Azië 1607–1612|trans-title=The journey of Pieter Willemsz Verhoeff's fleet to Asia 1607–1612 |publisher=Utrecht University|date=1972}}</ref>{{rp|pages=95–98}}

[[File:Fort Belgica 1824.jpg|thumb|Fort Belgica in 1824]]

===English–Dutch rivalry===
While Portuguese and Spanish activity in the region had weakened, the English had built fortified trading posts on tiny Ai and [[Run (island)|Run]] islands, ten to twenty kilometres from the main Banda Islands. With the English paying higher prices, they were significantly undermining Dutch aims for a monopoly. As Anglo-Dutch tensions increased in 1611 the Dutch built the larger and more strategic [[Fort Belgica]] above Fort Nassau.

In 1615, the Dutch invaded Ai with 900 men, whereupon the English retreated to Run where they regrouped. Japanese mercenaries served in the Dutch forces.<ref name="Bown2010">{{cite book|last=Bown|first=Stephen R.|title=Merchant kings: when companies ruled the world, 1600–1900 |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |place=New York |date=2009 |publication-date=2010 |isbn=9780312616113}}</ref> That same night, the English launched a surprise counter-attack on Ai, retaking the island and killing 200 Dutchmen. A year later, a much stronger Dutch force attacked Ai. This time the defenders were able to hold off the attack with cannon fire, but after a month of siege they ran out of ammunition. The Dutch killed  the defenders, and afterwards strengthened the fort, renaming it 'Fort Revenge'.

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Militairen bij het standbeeld van Koning Willem III op Banda TMnr 10018594.jpg|thumb|upright|Colonial soldiers standing guard next to the statue of [[King Willem III of the Netherlands]], representing [[Dutch empire|Dutch dominance]] on Banda.]]

===Massacre of the Bandanese===
{{main|Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands}}
Newly appointed VOC governor-general [[Jan Pieterszoon Coen]] set about enforcing Dutch monopoly over the Banda's spice trade. In 1621 well-armed soldiers were landed on Bandaneira Island and within a few days they had also occupied neighbouring and larger [[Lontar island|Lontar]]. The {{lang|id|orang kaya}} were forced at gunpoint to sign an unfeasibly arduous treaty, one that was in fact impossible to keep, thus providing Coen an excuse to use superior Dutch force against the Bandanese.<ref name="Hanna1991" /> The Dutch quickly noted a number of alleged violations of the new treaty, in response to which Coen launched a punitive massacre. Japanese mercenaries were hired to deal with the {{lang|id|orang kaya}},<ref name="Worrall2012">{{cite news|last=Worrall|first=Simon|date=2012-06-23|title=The world's oldest clove tree|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18551857|work=BBC News|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref> forty of whom were beheaded with their heads impaled and displayed on bamboo spears.<ref name="Unoki2013">{{cite book|last=Unoki|first=Ko|title=Mergers, Acquisitions and Global Empires: Tolerance, Diversity and the Success of M&A|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|place=Oxon|isbn=9781136215384|page=56|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UaeL64p-ukC&pg=PA56}}</ref> The butchering and beheadings were carried out by the Japanese for the Dutch.<ref name="Krondl2008">{{cite book|last=Krondl|first=Michael|title=The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice|date=2008|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=9780345509826|page=209}}</ref>

The islanders were tortured and their villages destroyed by the Dutch.<ref name="Raden2015">{{Cite book |last=Raden |first=Aja |title=Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World |publisher=HarperCollins |date=2015 |isbn=9780062334718}}</ref><ref name="Taylor2003">{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Jean Gelman|title=Indonesia: Peoples and Histories|publisher=Yale University Press|date=2003|isbn=9780300105186|pages=165–166}}</ref> The Bandanese chiefs were also tortured by the Dutch and Japanese.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu/nature-rambles/frigates-war-canoes-and-volcanoes/|title=Frigates, War Canoes, and Volcanoes |date=2015-10-26 |access-date=2022-01-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309040116/http://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu/nature-rambles/frigates-war-canoes-and-volcanoes/|archive-date=2016-03-09|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Turner2008">{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Jack |title=Spice: The History of a Temptation |date=2008-12-10 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=9780307491220|pages=290–291}}</ref>

The Dutch carved 68 parcels out of the islands after the enslavement and slaughter of the natives.<ref name="PrakWebb2005">{{cite book |last1=Prak|first1=Maarten|last2=Webb |first2=Diane|title=The Dutch Republic in the Seventeenth Century: The Golden Age|date=2005-09-22|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521843522 |page=119}}</ref><ref name="Milton2012p163">{{cite book |last=Milton |first=Giles |title=Nathaniel's Nutmeg |date=2012-04-12 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=9781444717716 |page=163}}</ref>

The population of the Banda Islands prior to Dutch conquest is generally estimated to have been around 13,000–15,000 people, some of whom were Malay and Javanese traders, as well as Chinese and Arabs. The actual numbers of Bandanese who were killed, forcibly expelled or fled the islands in 1621 remain uncertain. But readings of historical sources suggest around one thousand Bandanese likely survived in the islands, and were spread throughout the nutmeg groves as forced labourers.<ref name="Hanna1991" />{{rp|54}}<ref name="Loth1995">{{cite journal |last=Loth.|first=Vincent C. |date=1995 |title=Pioneers and Perkeniers: The Banda Islands in the 18th Century |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/3130 |journal=Cakalele |volume=6 |pages=13–35 |hdl=10125/3130 |access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref>{{rp|18}}<ref name="Tarling1999">{{cite book |last=Tarling |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Tarling |title=The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia |volume=1, Part 2: From c. 1500 to c. 1800 |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521663700 |page=86}}</ref><ref name="Tarling1992">{{cite book |first=Nicholas |last=Tarling |title=The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia |volume=1: From Early Times to c. 1800 |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521355056 |page=430}}</ref> The Dutch subsequently re-settled the islands with imported slaves, convicts and indentured labourers (to work the nutmeg plantations), as well as immigrants from elsewhere in Indonesia. Most survivors fled as refugees to the islands of their trading partners, in particular [[Keffing]] and [[Guli Guli]] in the [[Seram|Seram Laut]] chain and [[Kei Islands|Kei Besar]],<ref name="Hanna1991" /> where, in the case of the latter, the Wandan people are descended from the original people of the Banda Islands.<ref>Jared Rydelek of Weird Explorer,{{YouTube|9mqerkFWjKU|NUTMEG: The Horrible History Behind The Popular Spice}}, Documentary on the history of the nutmeg trade. / Dec 2024, minutes 1:29:26–1:31:15.</ref> Shipments of surviving Bandanese were also sent to Batavia ([[Jakarta]]) to work as slaves in developing the city and its fortress. Some 530 of these individuals were later returned to the islands because of their much-needed expertise in nutmeg cultivation (something sorely lacking among newly arrived Dutch settlers).<ref name="Hanna1991" />{{rp|55}}<ref name="Loth1995" />{{rp|24}}

Whereas up until this point the Dutch presence had been simply as traders, that was sometimes treaty-based, the Banda conquest marked the start of the first overt colonial rule in Indonesia, albeit under the auspices of the VOC.

===VOC monopoly===
[[File:Banda Neira 1724.jpg|thumb|Banda Neira in 1724]]

Having nearly eradicated the islands' native population, Coen divided the productive land of approximately half a million nutmeg trees into sixty-eight 1.2-hectare {{lang|nl|perken}}. These land parcels were then handed to Dutch planters known as {{lang|nl|perkeniers}} of which 34 were on [[Lontar island|Lontar]], 31 on Ai and 3 on Neira. With few Bandanese left to work them, slaves from elsewhere were brought in.<ref name="Brown2004">{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Iem |title=The Territories of Indonesia |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135355418 |page=170}}</ref> Now enjoying control of the nutmeg production, the VOC paid the {{lang|nl|perkeniers}} {{frac|1|122}}nd of the Dutch market price for nutmeg; however, the {{lang|nl|perkeniers}} still profited immensely, building substantial villas with opulent imported European decorations.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}}

The outlying island of Run was harder for the VOC to control and they exterminated all nutmeg trees there. The production and export of nutmeg was a VOC monopoly for almost two hundred years. [[Fort Belgica]], one of many forts built by the [[Dutch East India Company]], is one of the largest remaining European forts in Indonesia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Dutch East Indies Company - The First 100 Years |url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/dutch-east-indies-company-first-100-years |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=www.gresham.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref>

===English–Dutch rivalry continues===
{{further|Invasion of the Spice Islands}}
Though not physically present at the Banda Islands, the English claimed the small island of [[Run (island)|Run]] until 1667 when, under the [[Treaty of Breda (1667)|Treaty of Breda]], the Dutch and English agreed to maintain the colonial [[status quo]] and relinquish their respective claims.
[[File:Banda1810Cole.jpg|thumb|View of the Island of Banda-Neira captured by the British on 9 August 1810]]

In 1810, the [[Kingdom of Holland]] was a vassal of [[Napoleonic France]] and hence in conflict with Britain. The French and British were each seeking to control lucrative Indian Ocean trade routes. On 10 May 1810, a squadron consisting of the 36-gun frigate {{HMS|Caroline}}, [[French frigate Piémontaise (1804)|HMS ''Piedmontaise'']] (formerly a French frigate), 18-gun [[Cruizer-class brig-sloop|sloop]] {{HMS|Barracouta|1807|6}}, and the 12-gun transport {{HMS|Mandarin|1810|6}} left [[Chennai|Madras]] with money, supplies and troops to support the garrison at [[Ambon Island|Amboyna]], recently captured from the Dutch. The frigates and sloop carried a hundred officers and men of the [[102nd Regiment of Foot (Royal Madras Fusiliers)|Madras European Regiment]], while the ''Mandarin'' carried supplies. The squadron was commanded by Captain [[Christopher Cole (Royal Navy officer)|Christopher Cole]], with Captain Charles Foote on the ''Piedmontaise'' and Captain Richard Kenah aboard the ''Barracouta''. After departing from Madras, Cole informed Foote and Kenah of Cole's plan to capture the Bandas; Foote and Kenah agreed. In Singapore, Captain [[Richard Spencer (Royal Navy officer)|Spencer]] informed Cole that over 700 regular Dutch troops may have been located in the Bandas.<ref name="Adkins2008">{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Roy |last2=Adkins |first2=Lesley |title=The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-311392-8 |pages=344–355}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Annual biography and obituary |volume=21 |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown |place=London |date=1837 |pages=114–123 |chapter=Sir Christopher Cole, K.C.B. }}</ref>

The squadron took a circuitous route to avoid alerting the Dutch. On 9 August 1810, the British appeared at [[Banda Neira]]. They quickly stormed the island and attacked [[Fort Belgica|Belgica Castle]] at sunrise.  The battle was over within hours, with the Dutch surrendering [[Fort Nassau, Banda Islands|Fort Nassau]] – after some subterfuge – and within days the remainder of the Banda Islands. After the Dutch surrender, Captain Charles Foote (of the ''Piedmontaise'') was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Banda Islands. This action was a prelude to Britain's [[Invasion of Java (1811)|invasion of Java]] in 1811.<ref name="Adkins2008" />

Before the Dutch retook control of the islands, the British removed many nutmeg trees and transplanted them to [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]] and other British colonies. The competition largely destroyed the value of the Banda Islands to the Dutch.<ref name="Milne2011">{{cite news |last=Milne |first=Peter |title=Banda, the nutmeg treasure islands |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/16/banda-nutmeg-treasure-islands.html |work=The Jakarta Post |date=2011-01-16 |access-date=2022-01-28 |quote=But the economic importance of the Bandas was only fleeting. With the Napoleonic wars raging across Europe, the English returned to the Bandas in the early 19th century, temporarily taking over control from the Dutch. This gave the English an opportunity to uproot hundreds of valuable nutmeg seedlings and transport them to their own colonies in Ceylon and Singapore, breaking forever the Dutch monopoly and consigning the Bandas to economic decline and irrelevance.}}</ref>

===Recent history===
In the late 1990s, violence between Christians and Muslims spilled over from [[Maluku sectarian conflict|intercommunal conflict]] in Ambon. The disturbance and resulting deaths damaged the previously prosperous [[tourism]] industry.<ref name="WittonEtAl2003">{{cite book |last1=Witton |first1=Patrick |last2=Elliott |first2=Mark |last3=Greenway |first3=Paul |last4=Jealous |first4=Virginia |title=Indonesia |publisher=Lonely Planet |place=Melbourne |date=2003 |isbn=9781740591546}}</ref>

==Demographics==

===Language===
{{see also|Banda language (Maluku)}}
Bandanese speak [[Malay trade and creole languages#Bandanese Malay|Banda Malay]], which has several features distinguishing it from [[Ambonese Malay]], a Malay dialect that is a lingua franca in central and southern Maluku alongside [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]. Banda Malay is famous in the region for its unique, lilting accent, but it also has a number of locally identifying words in its lexicon, many of them borrowings or [[loanwords]] from [[Dutch language|Dutch]].

Examples:
* fork: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|forok}} (Dutch {{Transliteration|nl|italic=no|vork}})
* ant: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|mir}} (Dutch {{Transliteration|nl|italic=no|mier}})
* spoon: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|lepe}} (Dutch {{Transliteration|nl|italic=no|lepel}})
* difficult: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|lastek}} (Dutch {{Transliteration|nl|italic=no|lastig}})
* floor: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|plur}} (Dutch {{Transliteration|nl|italic=no|vloer}})
* porch: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|stup}} (Dutch {{Transliteration|nl|italic=no|stoep}})

Banda Malay shares many [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] loanwords with Ambonese Malay not appearing in the national language, [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]. But it has comparatively fewer, and they differ in pronunciation.

Examples:
* turtle: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|tetaruga}} (Banda Malay); {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|totoruga}} (Ambonese Malay) (from Portuguese {{Transliteration|pt|italic=no|tartaruga}})
* throat: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|gargontong}} (Banda Malay); {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|gargangtang}} (Ambonese Malay) (from Portuguese {{Transliteration|pt|italic=no|garganta}})

Finally, and most noticeably, Banda Malay uses some distinct pronouns. The most immediately distinguishing is that of the second person singular familiar form of address: {{Transliteration|ms|italic=no|pané}}.

The descendants of some of the Bandanese who fled Dutch conquest in the seventeenth century live in the [[Kai Islands]] (Kepulauan Kei) to the east of the Banda group, where a version of the original [[Banda language (Indonesia)|Banda language]] is still spoken in the villages of Banda Eli and Banda Elat on Kai Besar Island. While long integrated into Kei Island society, residents of these settlements continue to value the historical origins of their ancestors.

==Culture==
Most of the present-day inhabitants of the Banda Islands are descended from migrants and plantation labourers from various parts of Indonesia, as well as from indigenous Bandanese. They have inherited aspects of pre-colonial ritual practices in the Banda Islands that are highly valued and still performed, giving them a distinct and very local cultural identity.<ref name="Winn2010">{{cite journal|last=Winn|first=Phillip|title=Slavery and cultural creativity in the Banda Islands|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|date=2010|volume=41|issue=3|pages=365–389|doi=10.1017/s0022463410000238}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Indonesia|Islands}}
*[[1938 Banda Sea earthquake]]
*[[Dutch East India Company in Indonesia]]
*[[History of Indonesia]]
*[[List of earthquakes in Indonesia]]
*{{section link|List of volcanoes in Indonesia#Banda Sea}}
*[[Maluku Islands]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==General references==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Lape | first1 = Peter | year = 2000 | title = Political dynamics and religious change in the late pre-colonial Banda Islands, Eastern Indonesia | journal = World Archaeology | volume = 32 | issue = 1| pages = 138–155 | doi=10.1080/004382400409934| citeseerx = 10.1.1.500.4009 | s2cid = 19503031 }}
*{{cite book  | last1 =  Muller| first1 =Karl |editor-last=Pickell|editor-first=David| title =Maluku: Indonesian Spice Islands  | publisher =Periplus Editions  | year =1997  | location =Singapore | isbn = 978-962-593-176-0 }}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Villiers | first1 = John | year = 1981 | title = Trade and society in the Banda Islands in the sixteenth century | journal = Modern Asian Studies | volume = 15 | issue = 4| pages = 723–750 | doi=10.1017/s0026749x0000874x}}
*Warburg, Otto (1897) ''Die Muskatnuss: ihre Geschichte, Botanik, Kultur, Handel und Verwerthung sowie ihre Verfälschungen und Surrogate zugleich ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte der Banda-Inseln''. Leipzig: Engelmann.[https://archive.org/details/b28109119/mode/2up Die Muskatnuss : ihre Geschichte, Botanik, Kultur, Handel und Verwerthung sowie ihre Verfälschungen und Surrogate zugleich ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte der Banda-Inseln]
*{{cite journal | last1 = Winn | first1 = Phillip | year = 1998 | title = Banda is the Blessed Land: sacred practice and identity in the Banda Islands, Maluku | journal = Antropologi Indonesia | volume = 57 | pages = 71–80 }}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Winn | first1 = Phillip | year = 2001 | title = Graves, groves and gardens: place and identity in central Maluku, Indonesia| journal = The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology | volume = 2 | issue = 1| pages = 24–44 | doi=10.1080/14442210110001706025| s2cid = 161495500 }}
*{{cite journal | last1 = Winn | first1 = Phillip | year = 2002 | title = Everyone searches, everyone finds: moral discourse and resource use in an Indonesian Muslim community | journal = Oceania | volume = 72 | issue = 4| pages = 275–292 | doi=10.1002/j.1834-4461.2002.tb02796.x}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* [[Amitav Ghosh|Ghosh, Amitav]] (2021). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lK0GEAAAQBAJ&dq The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis]''. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 1529369479.
*[[Giles Milton]]. ''[[Nathaniel's Nutmeg]]: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History'' (Sceptre books, Hodder and Stoughton, London)

==External links==
{{Commons category|Banda Islands}}
{{wikivoyage|Banda Islands}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Banda Islands |volume=3 |short=x}}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090302023256/http://www.royal-navy.org/lib/index.php?title=Capture_of_Banda_Neira Capture of Banda Neira by the British Royal Navy 1810]}}
*{{WWF ecoregion|name=Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests|id=aa0102}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131020092430/http://www.spiceislandsforts.com/the-bandas/ Forts of the Spice Islands]

{{Maluku-islands}}
{{Dutch colonies|East India}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Banda Islands| ]]
[[Category:Portuguese colonialism in Indonesia]]
[[Category:Dutch East India Company]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Landforms of Maluku (province)]]
[[Category:Volcanic groups]]
[[Category:Banda Sea]]
[[Category:Central Maluku Regency]]
[[Category:Islands of the Indian Ocean]]
[[Category:Populated places in Indonesia]]