Raja Ampat has incredible natural beauty and fascinating historical stories to discuss. In ancient times, Raja Ampat was home to four Islamic kingdoms in West Papua: the Misool kingdom, the Salawati kingdom, the Waigama kingdom, and the kingdom of Waigeo.
This article will discuss one of the Islamic kingdoms in West Papua, the Waigeo kingdom. The kingdom of Waigeo locates on the island of Waigeo, or what people often call the island of Amberia or Waigeu. Precisely, this island locates between the island of Halmahera and the island of Papua.
Before discussing the Waigeo kingdom furthermore, here is the history of the Islamic empires in Raja Ampat:
Raja Ampat Island History
According to folklore in Raja Ampat. Once upon a time, there was a woman who found seven eggs. The egg she found was then taken and saved. Interestingly, according to folklore, the eggs that the woman found hatched into boys.
The story tells that of the seven eggs the woman found, only four hatched into boys. Then what about the other three eggs? According to folk tales, one egg hatches into a girl, and the other two become ghosts and stones.
After growing up, the four boys who hatched earlier were named War, Betani, Dohar, Misool, and Mohamad. As for the girl, she was called Pintolee. Each child that hatches becomes a king who leads four kingdoms in the Raja Ampat of West Papua.
War became the King who led the kingdom of Waigeo and Dohar became the King who ruled the kingdom of Misool. As for the other two sons, Betani became the King who led Salawati, and Mohamad became the King of Waigama.
Then what about the girl named Pintolee? The girl is said to be pregnant and placed in a Bia shell or a large shell by her four older brothers, drifting and stranded on the island of Numfor.
Waigeo Kingdom
There is not much information about the Waigeo kingdom of West Papua. However, the ruler of the Waigeo kingdom who often appears in the discussion of the history of the Waigeo kingdom is Gandzun. Based on available information, Gandzun ruled for approximately 18 years, from 1900 to 1918.
The Waigeo Kingdom is one of the kingdoms included in the mandala area of the Bacan Sultanate and the Ternate Sultanate in the Raja Ampat Islands. Therefore, the government system of the Waigeo kingdom is subject to Bancan.
The Economic Life of the Waigeo Kingdom
In their economic activities, most of the people of the Waigeo kingdom have a livelihood as traders since the location of the Waigeo kingdom has natural wealth, especially abundant spices. As for the Waigeo people who live in coastal areas, their livelihood is fishermen.
Furthermore, since the island of Waigeo is close to the Ternate and Tidore areas, trade and political relations are created between these three regions. For your information, the people of Ternate and Tidore have abundant mineral resources and food wealth.
The Collapse of the Waigeo Kingdom
There were several events and conflicts that influenced the collapse of this Waigeo kingdom. The first is the entry of the Dutch into Papua in the 17th century. Papua has a lot of natural wealth that is relatively abundant.
Seeing this, the Dutch government wants to take control of the land of Papua. Because of that, a huge conflict occurred, especially in the West Papua region. The battle in the West Papua region only ended after the Trikora incident.
The second cause of the collapse of the kingdom of Waigeo was a religious conflict. Even though at that time, Islam had entered Papua, the existence of wars and mass killings forced Muslims to follow the teachings of other religions. However, slowly, Islamic leaders began to re-enter and spread Islamic education in the Papua region, especially on the coast of Papua.
