ABSTRACT
This paper attempts to narrate the geopolitics of Ambon in the first half of the 17th century. Using the historical method, the authors exploited both local and Dutch sources to describe (1) the Hitu-Dutch encounter and agreement, (2) the Dutch political economy in Ambon, and (3) the Hitu-Dutch wars. In the late 16th century, the Luso-Hitu dispute reached peak. Hitu and its Islamic league of Ternate and Jepara began to invade the Portuguese-Ambon. Unfortunately, their power was not enough to expel the Portuguese. They finally accepted the Dutch to expel the Portuguese in 1605 jointly. The Dutch captured the Portuguese fortress and renamed it. The Dutch began to administer the political bureaucracy and re-populated Ambon. They attracted foreigners, mainly the Chinese, to stay in Ambon. The Dutch also attempted to control and secure their commercial affairs in Ambon. For them, Hitu always complicated their trading interest. The Hitu-Dutch conflict heated and brought them to several wars. The Dutch did not have any choice but to destroy the sultanate. They tried to intervene in the internal politics of the Hitu Sultanate. The Dutch used the sultanate's inner conflict to divide it into some smaller political entities. The Hitu Sultanate came to an end in the mid of the 17th century.
