Bayan Sirrullah

[2] Islam had been accepted by the local elites of North Maluku in the second half of the 15th century, as a consequence of the importance of Muslim traders in the archipelago.

[3] Ternate was an important center for the trade in cloves, and was transformed from a traditional domain under a Kolano (king) into a sultanate with selective Islamic features.

[5] Another contemporary writer, Duarte Barbosa (c. 1518), asserts that Bayan Sirrullah "was formerly king of all five [islands of Maluku], but now the four have risen against him and are independent".

[6] Pires describes Bayan Sirrullah ("Bem Acorala") as a good man with a sound judgment who kept the subjects in obedience.

[9] The rival sultans of Ternate and Tidore heard about the castaways; both were interested in inviting the white strangers to help them expand their power in the region.

The Europeans were cordially received on arrival, and the Sultan promised to deliver the cloves to the Portuguese, provided that they would build a fortress on Ternate.

[11] At this stage it was considered a mutually advantageous alliance: Portugal backed the strongest power in the region to control the spice trade, while their superior military equipment and large vessels would deter Ternate's enemies.

When the remnants of his expedition arrived to Maluku in late 1521, Bayan Sirrullah had died as well, supposedly poisoned by his own daughter whose husband, the Sultan of Bacan, had been ill-treated by his father-in-law.