WI: Makassar empire survives

Doing a bit more research on the Makassar empire, which dominated eastern Indonesia in the 17th century. A few interesting facts:
  • Its capital, Makassar, had around 120,000 people by the mid-17th century. This would have made it the equal of some of the 10 largest European cities, like Rome or Moscow.
  • Its sphere of influence stretched from Borneo to the Moluccas, and from the southern Philippines to Timor.
  • It could raise an army of 36,000 troops almost instantly, and given enough time could supposedly raise an army of 160,000 from all its vassals.
  • Although a Muslim sultanate, it was very religiously tolerant. There were at least four Catholic churches in the city and many Makassar nobles liked to visit Catholic churches, especially during Christmas and Easter. One Makassar chancellor "was so well informed on all points of [the Catholic] religion that he often argued them against heretics [Protestants] and routed them completely."
  • One of the kingdom's chancellors, Pattingalloang, had a library of European books, knew a great deal of European history, and owned a world map, globes, and Galilean telescopes. Makassar was the only Indonesian empire to translate European books of technology in full.
  • It was one of only two Indonesian countries to mint its own coins, which remained stable for most of its existence.
However, the empire was destroyed in the Makassar War (1666-1669) by the Dutch East India Company, which hated Makassar. This was mainly because the Dutch allied with the powerful kingdom of Bone and its allies, who provided most of the troops in the war. Bone hated Makassar because the latter had abolished the monarchy of Bone and deported the entire nobility to Makassar. Nevertheless the war against Makassar was the most expensive and hard-fought war the Dutch Company had ever fought.

But Bone and Soppeng's monarchies were not destroyed until the 1640s. In 1630 there was supposed to be a marriage between a Bone princess and a Makassar prince, which failed to happen because the princess unexpectedly died. If she hadn't, the dynasties of Bone and Makassar would have merged, so the Dutch could never have conquered Makassar.

What if Makassar had survived?
  • The Dutch would never have gained a total monopoly on spices from the Moluccas. This would have weakened the Dutch East India Company significantly.
  • Makassar's adoption of European science and technology would have continued. Since the Makassar nobility was apparently well-aware of European history, maybe they would have realized the importance of the Americas to European domination and started their own 'voyages of exploration' into Australia and the Pacific?
  • Makassar might have started adopting Chinese technology, since the Qing opening of their ports in 1684 made sure there would be a lot of Chinese everywhere in Indonesia. What might this be? Printing? Civil service examinations?
Thoughts?

P.S. I will probably bump this over and over again.
 

Zachariah

Banned
Even if it had just endured longer, and still been annexed or forced into an unequal treaty to become a vassal state, it may well have been more feasible for the Dutch, or whichever other colonial power might wind up securing trading rights with them (the Portuguese would probably be the most likely candidates, and an alliance with the Portuguese would have been the most useful for both them and the Portuguese), to administer it as a separate territory, or leave it to administer itself for the most part, seeing as how they'd been the Makassar's primary European allies and trading partners prior to this war. However, the Makassar would probably have done a far better job of modernizing than most others did. Power projection would have been far more of a challenge over those distances for the European powers. And without the Makassar Empire converting to Christianity- if Makassar remained primarily Islamic, or retained its relatively tolerant and secular stance with regards to religion- then 'bringing it to heel' would have been far more of a challenge, and could well be unmanageable by the Portuguese. Their interaction with the Chinese would indeed have been interesting. And they would have almost certainly expanded into Northern Australia earlier than they did IOTL (prior to 1700), in greater numbers- establishing trading posts, and perhaps even a few colonial settlements of their own, along the coasts of Marege' (Arnhem Land) and Kayu Jawa (The Kimberley). If you're looking to do this as a TL, then I'd certainly be interested to read it.
 
the Portuguese would probably be the most likely candidates, and an alliance with the Portuguese would have been the most useful for both them and the Portuguese
They actually already had an anti-Dutch alliance with the Portuguese and the English. As part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War the English actually helped Makassar enter the calamitous Makassar War, claiming that the English had already beaten the Dutch in Europe and pointing out that the Dutch were such a treacherous people that they didn't even have a king.
 
Very interesting! Nice to see an SE Asian topic. Most of us here-including me-don't know a whole lot. Some questions:

Why did Makassar abolish Bones monarchy when they were willing to marry into the royal family not that long ago? Seems like a fairly drastic change of relations? Was Makassar actively trying to expand its hegemony?

Would the adoption of European technology have continued? What did they adopt on an institutional level (that is, not just one chancellor) in OTL? Did they show signs of adopting more?

What was there relationship with the other Muslim sultanates of SE Asia? Did they have other rivals besides Bone (you mention the name Soppeng)?

Did they have the resources to establish their own monopoly on spices? Did they have an interest in doing so?

As I recall, SE Asia history is actually @Ngabdulkamit's follower 's field of interest. Maybe he has something to add?
 
What if you drive out the VOC completely before they set up shop in the region using the Iberian union a few decades before Makassar's fall? Captain Juan de Silva (1609-1616) destroying the Dutch fleet at Malacca, and then trying (and failing) to subjugate the Moro sultanates, opening those southern regions to Makassar's influence. Or even subjugating the Moro sultanates and trying to conquer more before failing, forcing Makassar to fight to keep its hegemony.
 
What's the evidence of a city of 120,000 people? It just seems a bit large given how weak states were in the area.
 
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