Majene Regency

It is said that the Mandar people were brave sailors who used their prowess on the sea to travel between Ternate and Singapore, safely shuttling spices and other rare commodities from destination to destination. Majene's strategic location as a remote "middle-ground" between the Spice Islands of Maluku and the Asian mainland made it an attractive target for Dutch intervention, which sought to intercept and monopolise the Maritime Southeast Asia trade routes.

Sunset over Majene

In 1667, the Gowa Kingdom of South Sulawesi and the Dutch signed the Bungaya Treaty, which not only promised cooperation between the local South Sulawesi people and Dutch forces, but also stated that every kingdom that has an existing treaty with Gowa must also acknowledge the Bungaya Treaty. As regular traders with the Gowa Kingdom, the Mandar people would thus be submitting to the Dutch by default. However, when the Mandar kingdoms collectively refused to adhere to the provisions of this treaty, the Dutch chose to intervene with force.

As a result, in 1674, the Bone king Arung Palakka arrived in Majene with the Dutch to attack the Mandar kingdoms for their violation of the treaty. The Dutch could not defeat the Mandar people on their first attempt. All the kingdoms were united by this common enemy and were galvanized to share resources to defend the homeland. Traditional warfare in Majene was led by Daeng Rioso and Raja Bangai using traditional swords, keris daggers, and spears.

On their second attempt to gain control over West Sulawesi, the Dutch Republic orchestrated another treaty between the king of Bone and some of the Mandar kingdoms stating that the Mandar kingdoms could no longer enter in agreements and contracts with each other and instead must work entirely through the Bone Kingdom, which at the time was controlled by the Dutch. There was also a provision stating that if anyone attacked the Bone Kingdom, the Mandar kingdoms would rush to their aid and vice versa. The treaty was signed near Pinrang and sought to divide up the kingdoms and make them less of a threat. Though this treaty was immediately ineffective, it was the beginning of the unraveling of the Mandar kingdoms in the face of the Dutch.

The Bone treaty allowed the Dutch to conduct business with the Mandar people through the Bone intermediary, and as stipulated in the agreement, the Dutch did not interfere in governmental affairs of the Mandar people - though they did have a heavy influence on business and commerce. However, the treaty only proved to be only marginally effective in keeping the Mandar people at bay, and the Dutch realized that only total control over the region would lead to the most successful trade monopoly.

So, in their third and final attempt to weaken the Mandar kingdoms, the Dutch fell back on their time-tested "divide et impera" strategy and hired Indonesian spies to foment revolution and weaken the kings from the inside. Rumors were started, the royal governing parties became insulted (in many cases, over the alleged beauty of Mandar queens), and provocations ensued.

Then, in 1905, the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army arrived in full in Mandar territory, where they fought the Mandar people for two years until the natives surrendered in 1907. Strong Mandar leaders were jailed in Makassar at Fort Rotterdam and the Dutch occupation in the newly termed "Afdeling Mandar" began. The territory was supervised by a single Dutch Resident Assistant (Governor), who at the time also controlled the entire island of Sulawesi.

The sub-Afdeling (or county) territorial boundaries outlined by the Dutch still stand today and denote the difference between Majene, Polewali, Mamasa, and Mamuju. Each area was led by a Dutchman called the "controller". During this period, kings were still present and had some power, but they were largely just puppet kingdoms controlled entirely by the Dutch. Majene inhabitants remember the Dutch era as being particularly harsh – a time where their culture was stifled and even suffocated. Mandar people were enslaved, stripped of all rights, forced to work on Dutch projects, and generally treated very poorly. Moreover, the colonizers did not acknowledge any of the local languages spoken by the inhabitants of the Mandar kingdoms and denied them access to education.

The Dutch era was followed by the Japanese era during World War II. Between 1942 and 1943, the Japanese arrived in West Sulawesi and seized all territory under Dutch control after the Netherlands capitulated to Japan. The Japanese strategy for ridding Asia of all western occupiers was to win the hearts and support of the locals by assuming the role of the "older brother" and promising to act in the best of interests for Indonesia upon arrival.

Coconut shells drying in the sun

At the outset, the Japanese treated the Mandar people well. They offered them education, allowed them to speak their native language, and even trained the youth for war against the Allied Forces. Then, at the end of 1943, after they had gained their respect and trust, the Japanese forcibly took the land from the Mandar people as well as anything that was produced on it, effectively starving them and re-driving them into extreme poverty. Majenites say that in the transitional phase between occupations, they were passing "from the mouth of the crocodile to the mouth of the tiger". Many agree that the Asian occupation was far worse than the western one.

When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the Japanese, having lost the war, left Sulawesi. Shortly thereafter, the Allied Forces (consisting mostly of Australians and Americans) arrived in 1946 to temporarily restore order and move the remaining Japanese troops to Baruga, an area just outside Mandar territory. The Dutch accompanied them as well, even though they weren't technically members of the Allied Forces, in an effort to use this chaotic opportunity to regain the influence they had lost at the hand of the Japanese. In effect, they were trying for the fourth time to control Mandar territory. Even though Indonesia was declared independent in 1945, the Mandar people continued to fight the Dutch in the Majene region until they accepted Indonesia's sovereignty in 1948.

Pancasila Majene

Shortly before Indonesian National Revolution, there was a gathering of all of the coastal Mandar kings, where they all decided it was in their best interest to unite under the Indonesian Republic. The kings cooperated with the representatives sent from this new government and the kingdoms officially dissolved in 1948 when the global community finally acknowledged the sovereignty of Indonesia.

The kings still held the power in the kingdoms after the country became a republic, because it wasn't until 1961 that the Indonesian government fully formed the regional administrations, allowing the kings to remain the symbolic heads of their territories until that time. Royal familial blood lines can still be traced today and royal heritage is still coveted in society - less for political or authoritative roles and more for cultural ones instead. Furthermore, ceremonies such as weddings and Aqiqah communions for royal families are distinct from those for the non-royals.

A notable figure from Majene during this era was Baharuddin Lopa. Not only did he become the first Regent of Majene in 1959 at age 24, he would later go on to lead the struggle against corruption as district attorney during Soeharto Government. He became well-known for his notable bravery and uncompromising stance on corruption during the early Reform era.

Fresh fish (moon wrasse) from Dato Beach

The Mandar people continue to be avid fishermen (catching mainly tuna, layang, cakalang, ikan terbang, tongkol, and kakap), talented sailors, competent farmers (farming predominantly cassava, rice, coconut, and bananas), dedicated silk-weavers (especially Mandar sarongs), and creative dancers (Pattudu Tomuane for males and Pattudu Towaine for Females). They are an extremely proud people and still insist that only people of Mandar tribal origin can hold high office in the region.

Cell phone and computer repair shops have sprung up in response to the various technological needs of the people and internet cafes (warnets) are quick to open as soon as Internet services become available.

Traditional Mandar wedding

Cacao production and exportation has experienced significant growth in the region in recent years. Philippine and Chinese investors plan on building micro-hydro powered cacao processing plants near Majene by 2011.[5] With this acceleration in cacao production, Governor of West Sulawesi Anwar Adnan Saleh is optimistic that the region will help Indonesia to become the world's largest cocoa producer and exporter. Indonesia is currently the world's third largest cocoa producer after Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, contributing export earnings in excess of US$1.4 billion per year.[6]

Since 2006, Exxon Mobil began drilling offshore oil in the Majene regency in Makassar Strait.[7] However by 2013, Exxon Mobil returned Mandar Block to the government as they failed to find substantial oil after three exploration wells.[8]

On January 15 2021, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck east of Majene. The earthquake caused extensive damage in the town, destroying many homes, buildings and schools. 108 people were killed and over 3,000 were injured, most of them in Majene and Mamuju.[9][10]