Before the establishment of the kingdom, the region had been known as
Makassar and its people as
Makassarese. The first queen of Gowa was
Tomanurung Baine. The conversion of the kingdom to Islam is dated as 22 September 1605 when the 14th king of Tallo-Gowa kingdom,
Karaeng Matowaya Tumamenaga Ri Agamanna, converted to Islam, later changing his name to
Sultan Alauddin. He ruled the kingdom from 1591 to 1629. His conversion to Islam is associated with the arrival of three
ulama from
Minangkabau:
Datuk Ri Bandang,
Datuk Ri Tiro and
Datuk Ri Pattimang. The Sultanate of Gowa's patronage of Islam caused it to try and encourage neighboring kingdoms to accept Islam, an offer which they refused. In response in 1611, the sultanate launched a series of campaigns, called locally the "Islamic wars", which resulted in all of southwest Sulawesi, including their rival Bone, being subjugated and subsequently Islamized. The war later extended to
Sumbawa, which was invaded in 1618 and the rulers were forced to convert to Islam. Religious zeal from the rulers was an important factor behind the campaigns, as they saw the conquests as a justified religious act. However, Gowa also desired to expand the political and economic influence of Gowa as it experienced rapid political growth during the 17th century. Other scholars contend that the conflict with the Bugis was originally started due to the upholding of an old treaty that stated that the Gowa and the Bugis kingdoms were to share and convince the others if they were to discover "a spark of goodness" which in this case Gowa contended was the religion of Islam. Varying levels of resistance against Gowa from nearby states to consider Islam and its military forces determined the relationship the defeated state would have with Gowa, which were based on socially hierarchical kinship positions. This scheme of hierarchical relations and subordinate positions in relation to a more powerful state has ancient roots in the region which predate Islam.
War against the Dutch and Bugis From 1630 until the early twentieth century, Gowa's political leaders and Islamic functionaries were both recruited from the ranks of the nobility. led a Bugis revolt against Gowa, but failed. On the morning of 24 November 1666, the VOC expedition and the Eastern Quarters set sail under the command of Speelman. The fleet consisted of the admiralship
Tertholen, and twenty other vessels carrying some 1,860 people, among them 818 Dutch sailors, 578 Dutch soldiers, and 395 native troops from
Ambon under Captain Joncker and from Bugis under
Arung Palakka and Arung Belo Tosa'deng. and continued until 1669, after the VOC had landed its strengthened troops in a desperate and ultimately weakening Gowa. On 18 November 1667
the Treaty of Bungaya was signed by the major belligerents in a premature attempt to end the war. Since 1904 the
Dutch colonial government had engaged in the
South Sulawesi expedition and started war against small kingdoms in South Sulawesi, including Gowa. In 1911 the Sultanate lost its independence after losing the war and became one of the Dutch Indies'
regencies. Following the
Indonesian Independence from
Netherlands in 1945, the sultanate dissolved and has since become part of the Republic of Indonesia and the former region becomes part of
Gowa Regency. ==Government==