Spice Islands are a group of Indonesian islands lying near the equator. They are now known as Maluku or the Moluccas. It was spices from these islands that first attracted European traders to the Indonesian region.
The most important islands of the region were Ternate, Tidore, Halmahera, Ambon (Ambonia), and the Banda Islands. The Portuguese first bought cloves in Ternate and Tidore in 1513. Later, they established trading settlements on both islands. In 1579, the British explorer Sir Francis Drake visited the Spice Islands and purchased a small quantity of cloves at Ternate. By 1600, Dutch vessels had reached the islands in search of spices. In 1605, the Dutch East India Company set up its first settlement at Ambon. The sultan of Tidore accepted Dutch rule in 1667. Ternate came under Dutch control in 1683. Under Dutch monopoly, the cultivation of cloves and nutmeg was confined to the Banda Islands and Ambon. The Spice Islands were eventually absorbed into the Netherlands East Indies, which is now Indonesia.
See also Spice trade.
