Butonese Muslims also known as “Orang Butung or Orang Butuni”

The Butonese, also known as Orang Butung or Orang Butuni is a collective term that embraces diverse ethnic groups (such as the Tukang Besi, Muna* and Wolio) from the island of Buton and neighboring islands that constitute the Indonesian province of Sulawesi Tenggara (Southeast Sulawesi). The Butonese population (estimated at ~ 236,000) mostly professes Islam. Historically seafarers, the Butonese migrated from Johor (today's Malaysia) to the island of Buton and have subsequently immigrated to the Moluccas, the center of Indonesia's spice production in search of better economic opportunities. The Butonese Sultanate (founded ~ 1540), with the conversion of the Sixth Raja of Buton to Islam, occupied a strategic position in the coastal trade between Java and Makassar, on one hand and the Moluccas, on the other. The sovereignty of the Butonese Sultanate was challenged around the seventeenth century due to the power struggle between Makassar and Ternate for the control of the spice trade. By 1613, Butonese Sultan La Elangi liaised with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to free the Sultanate from the power struggle between Makassar and Ternate. But by 1669, the Sultanate was placed under the suzerainty of Pax Neerlandica by principle although in practice, the principality was independent until 1906. Subsequent to Indonesian independence (1945) and the transfer of power to the Indonesian Republic (1949), Buton continued to remain a Sultanate until 1960 when the principality was merged into the Indonesian republic. * Muna do not consider themselves Butonese although the Muna-Buton languages belong to the Celebic sub-group of Austronesian family to which Wolio belongs. So, it would be safe to generalize that Butonese refers to the inhabitants of the former Sultanate of Buton (prior to 1960).Non UBCUnreviewedFacult