User:Mhatopzz/Spanish conquest of the Maluku Islands

The Spanish conquest of the Maluku Islands was an expedition led by the Spanish Empire to capture the fort São João Baptista de Ternate (also known as Gammalamma) at Ternate in 1606, after the Dutch successfully captured Ambon from the Portuguese in 1605 during the Dutch-Portuguese War and the Portuguese-Ternatean Wars. The Gammalamma fort was the main headquarter of the Portuguese Empire to secure the spice trade in the region until its capture by the Sultanate of Ternate in 1575 after five years of siege.

The conquest
Iberian power in Maluku was now entirely depleted, since the Portuguese stronghold in Ambon had also been captured. These losses inspired the Governor of the Philippines Pedro Bravo de Acuña to dare a larger enterprise. This time more than 3,000 men were sent on 37 larger and smaller vessels, departing from Iloilo in January 1606.

Helped by 600 Tidorese auxiliaries, on March 31 the fleet set out for Ternate from Tidore, the Spaniards undertook a well-coordinated attack on Ternate on 1 April, captured the town and fort of Ternate, the Dutch fled and the Moros were quickly overwhelmed and Sultan Saidi escaped to Halmahera with a number of followers. Leaving garrisons at Tidore (100 soldiers) and Ternate (500), With Ternate in their hands again after 36 years, the Iberians demanded the surrender of Saidi as a condition for peace.

The Sultan of Ternate with other individuals including his family were taken as hostages by the Spanish to Manila, they were treated well by the Spanish. Ternate was now under the control of the Iberian forces again, the Governor of the Spanish Philippines sent a Spanish Captain Juan de Esquivel to command the garrisons left in Ternate and Tidore. The captured fort Gammalamma was renamed as Ciudad del Rosario and they modified the fort that housed several churches. The Spanish forces will remain in the Maluku Islands until their departure in 1663.