The only authors to give substantial information about Marhum are Europeans, namely the German botanist Georg Rumphius (1678), and the Dutch cleric François Valentijn in his comprehensive work Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien (1724–1726).
His island kingdom was one of the four realms that traditionally existed in North Maluku, the others being Tidore, Bacan and Jailolo.
Malay, Javanese and Chinese traders arrived in increasing numbers to the islands in eastern Indonesia to purchase spices.
[2] It was his son and successor Zainal Abidin who began to introduce certain Islamic institutions, at least among the elite of the kingdom, and to expand the political network of Ternate.
[4] Whatever the case, European accounts from the 16th century say that Islam had been introduced in North Maluku in about the 1460s or 1470s, which provides some support for the conversion stories.