Tomini

Tomini lies on the northern shore of the great gulf that bears its name, beneath the hills of Sulawesi's long northern peninsula. Its people belong to a region of related Tomini-Tolitoli languages, spoken in communities spread between coast and interior. By the early sixteenth century Tomini was one of the strategic points at which Ternate placed its dependants to secure supplies, including enslaved people. Raiding drove many inland; after Ternate's power declined, Bugis and Mandar rulers extended their influence over parts of the coast.