Buginese

The Bugis, who call themselves To Ugi, are the largest Austronesian people of South Sulawesi. Between 1200 and 1600 their chiefdoms grew into rival kingdoms, such as Luwu and Bone, rich from rice and Malacca's trade.

In 1590 Bone and its neighbours formed the Tellumpocco'e alliance against the Makassarese power of Gowa. Minangkabau missionaries brought Islam: Luwu's ruler converted in 1605, and after Gowa's wars of 1608 to 1611 the Bugis kingdoms were drawn into the faith. Bone's prince Arung Palakka allied with the Dutch East India Company, and victory in the Makassar War of 1666 to 1669 and the Treaty of Bongaya made Bone the leading local power.

From the late seventeenth century Bugis seafarers built a trading network and founded dynasties abroad, while their homeland entered a literary golden age around the La Galigo epic. Their Basa Ugi language uses the Lontara script.