Sultan of Ternate Mudaffar Sjah II Passes Away

Jakarta (Antara) - Sultan of Ternate Mudaffar Sjah (80) passed away at the Pondok Indah Hospital, here, at 1:47 a.m. local time, on Thursday. His remains were flown in from Jakarta to Ternate at 10 a.m. local time, a security officer of the Pondok Indah Hospital, stated here, Thursday. Mudaffar Sjah II, the 48th Sultan of Ternate ascended to the throne in 1975 and was also a member of the North Maluku Regional Representative Council (DPD). \"He was hospitalized here for quite a long time due to his prolonged illness, and he had developed complications,\" a nurse from the Pondok Indah hospital noted. Chairman of the National DPD Irman Goesman on his Twitter account, @IrmanGusman_IG, wrote: \"Innalillahi wa innailaihi rojiun, Senator of North Maluku\'s DPD Mudaffar Sjah passed away in the wee hours today at Pondok Indah hospital. Please pray (for him).\" The Sultanate of Ternate, one of the oldest Muslim kingdoms in Indonesia, was established by Baab Mashur Malamo in 1257. It reached its Golden Age during the reign of Sultan Baabullah (1570-1583) and encompassed most of the eastern part of Indonesia and a part of southern Philippines. Ternate was one of the leading producers of cloves in the world and a major power in the region from the 15th to 17th centuries. European colonizers such as the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch were drawn to occupy Ternate for securing their position in the global clove trade. The Ternate dynasty founded by Baab Mashur Malamo had fought the European colonizers and has been able to survive until now. (*)