Ambon, a Spicy Hub: Connectivity at the Fringe of the Indian Ocean

Abstract

This chapter discusses why and how the prominence in the global trade networks between the sixteenth and eighteenth century has deeply shaped current social and political life of the small island of Ambon. The argument will be that the global interest in particular natural resources at a particular point in time, combined with its geopolitical position and regional and global changes in political constellations, account for the rise and fall of Ambon as a hub in the Indian Ocean. The spice trade and clove cultivation made the island particularly important from the sixteenth till the eighteenth century, when its role slowly faded due to shifting economic interests in the direction of other natural resources. The rise of prominence typically brought about a substantial increase in connectivity, but the connections did not fully disintegrate when Ambon lost its dominant position. Rather, these early connections had long-term effects and shaped the connectivity of Ambon’s population up to the present in a specific way.