During the period of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Spice Islands, Prince Nuku of Tidore stands out as the local hero who successfully opposed the VOC’s oppressive trade monopoly at the end of the eighteenth century. This study analyzes how he succeeded in regaining independence for the Sultanate of Tidore by creating an alliance with the English and his Malukan and Papuan adherents. 'Scholars such as Widjojo and others participating in this TANAP project should be congratulated for bringing to light obscure and difficult historical materials that will form the building blocks for a re-examination of South East Asian history. (...) I can only hope that this book and this series will encourage yet more stimulating research in South East Asia's early modern period.' – Leonard Y. Andaya, South East Asia Research (2009)