Popular Mysticism and the Colonial State, 1811–1936

Abstract

In this chapter, I explain how Arung Palakka, the Bugis noble from Bone who allied himself with the VOC to defeat Sultan Hasan al-Din of Gowa in 1667, was transformed into Andi’ Patunru, the hero of a popular Makassar narrative called the Sinrili’ Tallumbatua, or Epic of the Three Boats. This transformation occurred in tandem with the decline of the royal houses of Gowa and Tallo’ and the continued prosperity of the royal house of Bone during the eighteenth century. By 1786, Sultan Ahmad al-Salih of Bone (1776–1812) had expanded his influence over all of South Sulawesi and had persuaded many Makassar that he was the rightful heir to the throne of Gowa. This enabled subsequent generations of Makassar to overlook the preceding conflicts between the royal houses of Gowa and Tallo’ and to regard Arung Palakka as a Makassar prince.