Arung Palakka

Arung Palakka, or La Tenritatta to Unru' (1634 or 1635 – 1696) was a 17th-century Bugis prince and warrior. He supported the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in the Makassar War (1666–1669) against the Gowa Sultanate in his native South Sulawesi (today part of Indonesia). After the defeat of Gowa, he became the King of Bone and South Sulawesi's most powerful man.

Arung Palakka was born in 1634 or 1635 in the village of Lamatta, Mario-ri Wawo, Soppeng. His father was La Pottobune Arung Tana Tenga, a minor lord in Soppeng, and his mother was Datu Mario-ri Wawo We Tenrisui, granddaughter of the first Muslim ruler of Bone. Soppeng and Bone were autonomous principalities in South Sulawesi under the hegemony of the Gowa Sultanate. As a child he was known as La Tenritatta, "He who cannot be struck". In the 1644 Battle of Passempe, Bone was defeated by the Gowa Sultanate and his family became hostages living in Gowa. The family served under the Chief Minister (Tuma'bicarra butta) of Gowa, Karaeng Patinngaloang, who liked Arung Palakka and gave him a proper upbringing as a prince.

In 1660 Bone rose in rebellion against Gowa, and Palakka became one of its leaders, together with the Gowa-appointed regent of Bone, Tobala'. By August 1660 the army under Palakka's command grew to 10,000 men. The rebellion was ultimately crushed, and Palakka fled South Sulawesi. In 1663 he settled in Batavia, which was under control of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Subsequently, he allied himself with the VOC in the Makassar War against Sultan Hasanuddin of Gowa. Palakka's participation was an essential part of the VOC's plan. His arrival prompted the Bugis of Bone and Soppeng to rise in rebellion against Gowa. While the VOC fleet, under Cornelis Speelman, fought the Gowa fleet, Palakka led a "difficult" land campaign in South Sulawesi. The war ended in the victory of the VOC and Palakka's Bugis forces.

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