Banda Islands
Banda Islands Before the arrival of Europeans, Banda had an oligarchic form of government led by orang kaya and the Bandanese had an active and independent role in trade throughout the archipelago. Banda was the world's only source of nutmeg and mace, spices used as flavourings, medicines, and preserving agents that were at the time highly valued in European markets. They were sold by Arab traders to the Venetians for exorbitant prices. The traders didn't divulge the exact location of their source and no European was able to deduce their location. The 1st written accounts of Banda are in Suma Oriental, a book written by the Portuguese apothecary Tomx Pires who was based in Malacca from 1512 to 1515 but visited Banda several times. On his 1st visit, he interviewed the Portuguese and the far more knowledgeable Malay sailors in Malacca. He estimated the early sixteenth century population to be 2500-3000. He reported the Bandanese as being part of an Indonesia-wide trading netwo...