Kao Bay

Kao Bay opens into the northern Halmahera country, where coastal waters linked inland communities with the island sultanates of North Maluku. From the sixteenth century, Kao formed part of the eastern Halmahera zone into which Ternate's political and Islamic influence expanded. Archaeological remains in the Kao region include an older settlement in the Akejodo river basin, showing that its history extended inland from the present shoreline settlements.

The relationship with Ternate involved provisions as well as religious allegiance. Northern Halmahera supplied staple foods to the sultanate and neighbouring islands; dry-field rice cultivation and sago processing were important parts of this hinterland economy. Kao belonged to that productive landscape. The bay's historical setting therefore joined agricultural country, river settlements and the sea routes serving Ternate. Islamic communities developed within a wider pattern of settlement and exchange, while control of the Halmahera hinterland helped sustain a sultanate whose influence reached well beyond its own small island.