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Banda Besar

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A glimpse of everyday life beyond the spice legacy

While the Banda Islands are famed for their historic nutmeg trade, the rhythm of daily life on Banda Besar today is dictated by the sea. Fishermen set out before dawn in wooden perahu, navigating the same currents that once carried merchant vessels. The village markets are a mosaic of fresh catch, woven mats and modest stalls selling locally made batik, providing a more intimate view of the archipelago's craft culture than the grand colonial museums. Guests who linger over a coffee at a roadside warung will hear stories of inter‑island marriage ties and the subtle ways the community adapts to fluctuating tourism, offering a nuanced picture of resilience that rarely appears in guidebooks.

When the wind shifts – optimal months for sailing around Banda Besar

The monsoonal wind patterns that dominate the Banda Sea create a seasonal sailing calendar. From June to September, the southeast trade winds are steady, offering smoother passages for those keen to explore the surrounding reefs by boat. In contrast, the October to December window brings stronger gusts that challenge even experienced skippers but reward them with dramatically clearer water and a higher chance of spotting manta rays feeding near the coral drop‑offs. Planning a visit around these wind cycles not only enhances safety but also aligns with the island’s own agricultural calendar, when the fields lie fallow and the landscape opens up for longer walks along the coastal dunes.

What guidebooks miss: the subtle art of island hopping etiquette

Banda Besar sits at the centre of a tight cluster of smaller islands, each with its own informal network of host families and community-run homestays. Travelers accustomed to booking through international platforms often overlook the unwritten rule of offering a small token—traditionally a packet of dried fish or a handful of cloves—to the family that provides a boat ride. This gesture is more than hospitality; it acknowledges the shared stewardship of the marine resources that sustain the islands. Moreover, when visiting neighbouring islands, it is courteous to keep noise to a minimum during early mornings, as many residents rely on quiet for their daily prayers and the delicate rhythm of coral spawning.

Introduction

Island in Indonesia This article is about the island from the Banda Islands otherwise known as Lonthoir; not to be confused with the village of Lonthoir, located on the same island. Banda BesarBanda Neira and Banda Besar seen from Banda Api.Map of Banda IslandsBanda BesarLocation in IndonesiaGeographyLocationBanda SeaCoordinates4°33′S 129°55′E / 4.550°S 129.917°E / -4.550; 129.917ArchipelagoBanda IslandsArea26.37 km2 (10.18 sq mi)Length12 km (7.5 mi)Width3 km (1.9 mi) Lonthoir in the early 20th centuryLonthoir in 2019 Banda Besar (English pronunciation: /ˈbændə bəˈsɑːr/; 'Great Banda', Dutch: Groot-Banda), also known historically as Lonthoir (alternatively spelt Lonthor or Lontor), is the largest of the Banda Islands in Indonesia. It is administered as part of Banda District, Central Maluku Regency, Maluku Province.

Geography

[edit] Banda Besar is the largest of the Banda Islands and one of the three central Banda Islands, the others being Banda Neira and Banda Api at 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) and 0.8 kilometres (0.50 mi), respectively, to the north. Banda Besar is located on the south side of a submerged caldera with a diameter of around seven kilometers,[citation needed] inside which the islands of Banda Neira and Banda Api are located. A ridge runs along the length of the island with a maximum height of 510 metres (1,670 ft). The largest settlements are Lonthoir, Selamon and Waer. There are two partially ruined Dutch forts on the island: Benteng Hollandia in Lonthoir and Benteng Concordia in Waer.

History

[edit] Nutmeg is grown on the island and trade brought the inhabitants great wealth in the premodern period. Until the early 17th century, the Banda Islands were ruled by local magnates called the Orang Kaya. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to attempt to dominate the spice trade from the 16th century, but were replaced by the Dutch. Initially, the Dutch established friendly relations and a trading outpost in 1599, but in 1609 the Orang Kaya on Banda Neira rebelled against Dutch attempts to coerce a monopoly on the spice trade, killing 30 Netherlanders. This resulted in a brutal campaign against the people of Banda Islands by the Dutch including two punitive military expeditions in early 1611 against Lontor led by Piet Hein. The Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands cumulated with the Banda Massacre of 1621, in which Jan Pieterszoon Coen, with a fleet of 19 ships, 1,655 European troops and 286 Asian auxiliaries, invaded the islands and subsequently began a campaign to commit genocide against the local inhabitants. According to Coen's own account, "about 2,500" inhabitants died "of hunger and misery or by the sword", "a good party of woman and children" were taken, and not more than 300 escaped. Straver (2018) concluded that the Lontorese population would have been around 4,500–5,000 people, 50 to 100 of whom died during the fighting, 1,700 of whom were enslaved and 2,500 of whom died due to famine and disease, while an unknown number of natives jumped to their deaths from the cliffs; several hundreds escaped to nearby islands such as the Kei Islands and eastern Seram. To keep the archipelago productive, the VOC repopulated the islands (including Banda Besar), mostly with slaves taken from the rest of modern-day Indonesia, India, the coast of China, working under command of Dutch planters (perkeniers). The original natives were also enslaved and were ordered to teach the newcomers about nutmeg and mace agriculture. The treatment of the slaves was severe—the native Bandanese population dropped to one hundred by 1681, and 200 slaves were imported annually to keep the slave population steady at 4,000. The Dutch continued to rule the island until 1949, although the economic importance of nutmeg and mace declined greatly due to the loss of the Dutch monopoly after the British successfully planted nutmeg trees in other parts of the world (especially Penang and Grenada) following the Invasion of the Spice Islands in the Napoleonic Wars in 1810. Following Indonesian independence, the island has been administered as part of the Indonesian province of Maluku.