Selayar is a long thin island hanging off the tip of South Sulawesi, on the line from Java to the eastern seas.
Chinese ceramics have come ashore on it for a very long time, and a large bronze drum of western Indonesian type was found there (the campaign board). The drum is older than 1200 by centuries (the usual reading, as we recall; not pinned) and shows old contact with the bronze-drum trade of the mainland and the western islands, not a court of the twelfth century. 'Salaya' is among the eastern places of the Nagarakretagama (1365).
In 1200 it is an island of anchorages with village chiefs.
Who he is
- Title
- Village and harbour chiefs of Selayar (no title known)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source names a chief of this place for 1200. Every title in this record (datu, to manurung, kolano, momole, orang kaya) comes from traditions or reports written down centuries after 1200. No source names any chief of this place for 1 January 1200.
What it holds
- The island's anchorages
- The strait on the Java to Maluku line
- The sea-product ground of its reefs (not described)
Allies and rivals
Tied to its neighbours by marriage, trade, feud and raid; nothing above it that any source shows.
How things stand that morning
Not described for 1200.
Wealth
Provisions and sea products; no figures.
Military
Not known; boats, spears and shields in the later record. No numbers.
Threats
- Raiders from the next coast
- Volcanic eruption, earthquake or storm
- A change in the trade that comes by sea
Places of note
- Selayar (Benteng): Modern chief town; the campaign board's dot is at the island.
Where the sources disagree
- The identification of the drum's date and type rests on recall; the campaign board gives only 'western Indonesian type'.
Evidence: A drum, ceramics, a 1365 name and the geography. The campaign board marks Selayar 'likely'.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: The island, drawn as one block.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia, 'Nagarakretagama' (read in this pass): the cantos 13 and 14 lists of Borneo and the eastern islands, written 1365
- The OMNIA board (September 2026) note for this place: a lead only, not a source
- Background knowledge of Southeast Asian history (Wolters; Hall; Bellwood; Scott; Junker; Reid), recalled and not re-read in this pass
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.