Bima

Bima, locally called Mbojo, was a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom on eastern Sumbawa in the Lesser Sunda Islands. It preceded the Sultanate of Bima.

By the late fifteenth century Bima exported horses, slaves and sappanwood, and its influence reached Flores and other islands. Makassar attacked Sumbawa in 1618 and 1626. Prince La Kai accepted Islam in 1621 and became Sultan Abdul Kahir. After Makassar’s defeat in 1667–1669, Bima submitted to the Dutch East India Company, which monopolised sappanwood. Tambora’s eruption in 1815 brought famine.