Kingdom of Namatota

The Kingdom of Namatota was one of the kingdoms in Papua. The center of power of Namatota was on Namatota Island. == Political relations ==

The Namatota began interacting with the Dutch in Papua in the 1820s, during the reign of King Sendawan. However, the Dutch only visited Namatota as a stopover for boats involved in the . During the reign of King Wolang Tua in the Namatota Kingdom, from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the Sultanate of Tidore assisted Namatota in expanding its territory, which resulted in the annexation of the southern coastal area of Arguni Bay. Subsequently, the territory of the Namatota Kingdom extended from Arguni Bay to Umar Bay. Because of the Sultanate of Tidore’s assistance in the territorial expansion of the Namatota Kingdom, the appointment of customary chiefs in the conquered territories of the Namatota was carried out in the name of the Sultan of Tidore. == Language and religion ==

The inhabitants of the Namatota spoke the Irarutu language. The Namatota was a kingdom whose rulers adopted Islam as their religion from the 16th century. The first ruler of the Namatota Kingdom to convert to Islam was Ulan Tua. In the Namatota, Islam functioned solely as an identity for the rulers, and there were no religious institutions to disseminate its teachings among the population, so Islam did not become the majority religion practiced by the people of Namatota. The rulers of the Namatota Kingdom used Islam only as an identity to legitimize their authority derived from the Sultanate of Tidore, which held extensive power in Papua. As a result, Islam did not become the majority religion in the Namatota until the end of the first half of the 20th century. == References ==