Ternatean–Portuguese conflicts

Ternatean–Portuguese conflicts
	Part of Portuguese colonization in Indonesia
	; The Dutch and Ternatans conquer the Portuguese fort in Tidore in 1605, from India Orientalis (1607)
Date	1530–1605 (intermittently)
Location	Moluccas
Belligerents
Sultanate of Ternate; Dutch East India Company;	Portuguese Empire; Spanish Empire; Sultanate of Tidore;
Commanders and leaders
Sultan Hairun X; Babullah; Saidi Berkat; Steven der Hagen; Cornelis Bastiaensz;	Diogo de Mesquita †; Nuno de Lacerda; Gaspar de Mello; Pedro de Acuña; Gapi Baguna;

The Ternatean–Portuguese conflicts were a series of conflicts in the Spice Islands in eastern Indonesia between the Portuguese and their allies on one hand, and the Sultanate of Ternate and its allies, on the other. Hostilities broke out from time to time after the establishment of Portugal in Moluccas in 1522. The strongly Catholic and Muslim identities of the combatants gave the struggle elements of a war of religion, although this aspect was frequently blurred by cross-faith alliances. It was also an economic war since the Portuguese aim was to control export of the profitable trade in cloves. Portuguese-Ternatean rivalry later merged with attempts of expansion by the Spaniards in the Philippines. The Portuguese were eventually defeated in 1605 by an alliance between the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and Ternate, ending their active involvement in Moluccas affairs. However, they were soon replaced by the Spanish who maintained an Iberian presence in the region up to 1663.