Loloda Kingdom

Loloda Kingdom was one of the kingdoms that existed in the North Maluku region in the 13th century. This kingdom is located in the northern and western parts of Halmahera Island.^[1][2]

From the 19th century to the early 20th century, Loloda held the status of a district governed by a leader known locally as a sangaji.^[3] As a district under Dutch colonial administration, it was located in the Darume area and later became the first district capital after integration into the Republic of Indonesia. One known ruler from this period was Alferis Banggai (born 10 April 1895), who ruled Loloda during that era.^[4]

Territory areas

The Loloda Kingdom was not one of the four main kingdoms in the spice archipelago (Bacan, Jailolo, Ternate, Tidore). The entire territory of Loloda's power was along the northwest coast to the southwest coast of Halmahera Island. Including two island clusters, namely South Loloda which is currently included in the administrative area of West Halmahera and North Loloda which is included in the administrative area of North Halmahera.^[5]

Government system

The system of government that led the power of the Loloda kingdom was initially kolano which was replaced by sangaji when the king was dismissed by the Dutch Colonial Government.^[6] Notably, the Loloda Kingdom was not invited to the Moti Treaty negotiations, which were dominated by the four major kingdoms. In local tradition, Loloda’s late arrival to the Moti meeting resulted in its political status being downgraded to sangaji, making it subordinate to the sultans or kolano of the larger Maluku kingdoms.^[7]

Religion

Before Islam entered North Maluku, the people of Loloda and some other Ternate Island did not embrace any religion.^[8] Although Loloda was once known as an Islamic kingdom, it was not part of the Moti Alliance (Motir Verbond), and its rulers never bore the title of sultan, instead retaining the titles kolano and later sangaji.^[9]