Waigeo

Waigeo was an island kingdom in the Raja Ampat archipelago, northwest of New Guinea. The Portuguese navigator Jorge de Menezes reached the islands in 1526.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Waigeo's ruler Gurabesi and his descendants had close ties with the Sultanate of Tidore; his descendants became Ma'ya rulers on other islands. Local chiefs adopted Islam during this period, and Raja Ampat came to be regarded as part of Tidore.