THE COMING OF ISLAM AND MOLUCCAN-MALAY CULTURE TO NEW GUINEA c.1500–1920∗

This article deals with a neglected portion of the history of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago. According to European sources from the 16th and 17th centuries, Islam was found mainly in the Raja Ampat Islands which were under the suzerainty of the sultanate of Tidore. Tidore played a major role in spreading Islam to the coastal regions of northern New Guinea; it claimed suzerainty over coastal New Guinea, especially Bird's Head Peninsula, and demanded tributes until the late 19th century. Regular expeditions of Muslim traders and bird hunters into the region led to more intensive contact between Muslims and local populations, the growth of Muslim settlements and religious conversion among the locals. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Onin Peninsula was regularly visited by traders and slave raiders from the Geser-Gorom Islands, with similar patterns of interaction as occurred in the Bird's Head. By drawing on an array of contemporary European accounts, this article illustrates how and when Islam came...