Bantayan : An Early Makassarese Kingdom, 1200-1600 A.D - article ; n°1 ; vol.55, pg 83-123

Archipel - Année 1998 - Volume 55 - Numéro 1 - Pages 83-123
Wayne A. Bougas
This article describes the development of Bantayan (Bantaeng), a pre-Islamic,
Makassarese kingdom, on the south coast of South Sulawesi. The Nagara-
Kertagama, a count poem written in Majapahit Java in 1365 A. D., indicates
that Bantayan was one of the three most important centers in South Sulawesi at
that time.
The author uses four sources to explain Bantaeng' s rise : (1) an archaeological
field survey of Bantaeng (2) accounts of grave robbers who looted Bantaeng' s
major sites (3) myths describing the development of kingship in Bantaeng and
(4) pre-Islamic, religious beliefs and rites.
The author concludes that one of Bantaeng' s oldest kingdoms emerged along
the Biangkeke River at Gantarang Keke in eastern Bantaeng. This kingdom
may have traded with Majapahit. The expansion of wet rice agriculture and
increased trade in the 14th and 15th centuries A. D. saw the rise of another
powerful kingdom at Bissampole/Lembang Cina along the Calendu River in
central Bantaeng. A third center rose at Kaili in west Bantaeng. Lembang Cina
in central Bantaeng grew so powerful that it ultimately dominated the two
other centers to the east and west.
The article also explains how tomanurung veneration provided the religious
and ideological basis for kingship in Bantaeng. Dynasties there and elsewhere
in South Sulawesi were thought to have been founded by heavenly descended
beings known as tomanurung.
Finally, the paper concludes by providing some suggestions for Bantaeng' s
subsequent decline in the 16th century.
41 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.