Bacan

Bacan was a kingdom of Maluku, ruling the islands south of Ternate; its early rulers resided on Kasiruta. In 1337 its people followed local beliefs, and its wealth came from the clove trade.

Portugal opened a trading post in 1513; a missionary converted the sultan and his court to Catholicism in 1557. Ternate's invasions after 1570 forced the ruler back to Islam in 1575. Dutch power followed in 1609, and Bacan became a protectorate under a clove monopoly. In 1705 officers at Fort Barnaveld detained English explorer William Dampier apparently for violating it.