Tidore was a rival of the Sultanate of Ternate for control of the spice trade and had an important historical role as binding the archipelagic civilizations of Indonesia to the Papuan world.

[3] In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sultans tended to ally with either Spain or Portugal to maintain their political role but were finally drawn into the Dutch sphere of power in 1663.

A story that arose after the introduction of Islam says that the common ancestor was an Arab, Jafar Sadik, who married a heavenly nymph (bidadari) and sired four sons, of whom Sahjati became the first kolano (ruler) of Tidore.

[6] The term kolano might be a Javanese loanword borrowed from the name of the character in Panji tales, pointing at early cultural influences from Java.

[8] The ninth, Ciri Leliatu, was reportedly converted to Islam by an Arab, Syekh Mansur, and named his oldest son after the preacher.

Ciri Leliatu's son Sultan al-Mansur ruled when the Portuguese first visited Maluku in 1512 and met the remnants of the Magellan expedition in 1521.

Though frequently at war, the Tidore rulers held a ritual precedence position since their daughters regularly married Ternatan sultans and princes.

[12] According to records in the Sonyine Malige Museum, the start of Tidore's influence in these quarters was due to his son, al-Mansur or Ibnu Mansur, who bonded a naval leader of Waigeo, Gurabesi from Biak (later known by the European title Kapitan), as well as with a Sangaji of Patani, Sahmardan.

[14] Historical tradition also relates that Tidore in 1498 attacked Sran centered on Adi island in West Papua and installed a vassal king (later known by the European title Mayor).

At the center was a state council consisting of 31 members including the 27 bobato, two hukum (magistrates), one kapiten laut (sea lord), and a jojau (chief minister).

[19] If these levies (which could be in the form of slaves or their value equivalent in massoy, nutmeg, turtle shell, and other goods) were not met, a punitive Hongi expedition would be launched on behalf of the sultan of Tidore, usually by other rajas of different regions under him.

[22] While there was much mutual distrust between the Tidorese and the Spaniards and Portuguese, for Tidore the Spanish presence helped resist incursions by their Ternatan enemy.

[23] In 1605, the Dutch of the United East India Company (VOC) took over Ambon as a part of their policy to control the lucrative trade in spices.

In the 17th century Tidore became one of the most independent kingdoms in the region, resisting direct control by Dutch East India Company (VOC).

As a result, he was widely respected by many local populations and had little need to call on the Dutch for military help in governing the kingdom, as Ternate frequently did.

This program, intended to strengthen the Dutch spice monopoly by limiting production to a few places, impoverished Tidore as well as its Ternate neighbour and weakened its control over its periphery.

A treaty in 1768 forced Sultan Jamaluddin to cede his rights to East Seram which had been granted Tidore in 1700, which created great anger among the elite.

The unrest caused the VOC authorities to depose Jamaluddin in 1779 and to force his successor Patra Alam to conclude a new contract that abrogated the old one from 1667.

[29] One of the exiled Jamaluddin's sons, Nuku, reacted to this by starting a rebellion in 1780, seeking support in the marginal areas of the Tidore realm.

The infamous hongi expeditions, which had eradicated unauthorized spice trees in Maluku and kept the Papuan lands in subordination, were finally abolished in 1859–1861.

The rights of Tidore in West New Guinea were formally upheld, but the Dutch Residents of Ternate tried to diminish Tidorese's influence in those quarters since it was not considered in the interests of the Papuans.