In 1619, the Dutch VOC seized Jayakarta city, followed by port cities along the north coast of Java. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the Dutch controlled almost all port cities east of Jayakarta. Only through a bitter war and divide et impera tactic did the Dutch finally succeed in controlling Bantam in 1682. Other main trading ports in the Outer Islands underwent a similar tragic fate. A bitter war also marked the end of the supremacy of Makassar kingdom in South Sulawesi, seized by the Dutch in 1667. Makassar was viewed as the greatest enemy in the eastern part of the archipelago for establishing their trade monopoly. Various efforts were taken by the VOC
to destroy the shipping and trade hegemony of Makassar. Only after bloody conflicts did the Sultan of Makassar, Hasanuddin, finally sign the Bongaese Agreement. The VOC ultimately succeeded creating their Makassar monopoly. Several decades earlier, the VOC had successfully established its monopoly over the Maluku islands such as Ambon and Ternate in 1605, Banda in 1609. The seizure of small ports of the Outer Islands such as Palembang, Lampung, Pontianak, and Banjarmasin followed