ABSTRACT
Perched at the tip of South Sulawesi, the region of Makassar was the most important trading entrepot in the eastern Indonesian archipelago during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During the course of these two centuries the small kingdom of Gowa rose to become the dominant polity, so dominant that to outside observers Gowa and Makassar seemed synonymous. During the first half of the seventeenth century Gowa was the chief rival of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) for control of the spice trading routes to Maluku (in present-day Eastern Indonesia). After three wars the VOC finally vanquished Gowa in 1669 with the help of Bugis allies, long-time historical rivals with the Makassarese.
