Amassing

Amassing lies on Bacan, one of the clove islands of the northern Moluccas. Bacan's sultanate was counted among the four kingdoms of Maluku, alongside Ternate, Tidore and Jailolo. Its rulers maintained connections extending to Seram and the islands off New Guinea, although the greater power of neighboring Ternate often overshadowed them.

In the sixteenth century Portuguese influence reached Bacan, and a ruler embraced Christianity in 1557. Religious allegiance and political alliances shifted amid rivalry between Ternate and Tidore and the arrival of European powers. After 1609 the Dutch East India Company became the dominant European influence, adding Bacan to its network of agreements and fortified positions in the spice islands. The archipelago included Kasiruta and Mandioli as well as Bacan itself, each linked to the sea routes around Halmahera.