The Story of Pala that Went Viral

Tauhid Nur Azhar

Thanks to Pala, a sailor from Genoa born on October 30, 1451, and named Christoffa Corombo, got lost in the American continent. The continent that was already inhabited by Indian tribes and had been discovered by the Vikings in the 11th century, where they established a colony in L’Anse aux Meadows.

He crossed the Atlantic from Cardiz to the Canary Islands, and continued to the Bahamas, landing on the island of Guana Hani on October 12, 1492. Corombo named it San Salvador, or the holy savior.

Corombo’s journey from Cardiz at the behest of Queen Isabella of Castilla was also known to the Portuguese authorities; Afonso V, Dom Henrique, and King Joao II. All this happened because in 1453 the Ottoman Empire successfully defeated Byzantium East, and captured Constantinople. As a result, a trade embargo on spices, including Pala, which had been entering the European region through Constantinople via the Silk Road, was imposed.

Before the embargo was imposed on the border region between Europe and Asia, spices, including Pala, had been traded by Arab merchants through the Venetian route for a long time. In the 14th century, Pala had become one of the luxurious spices for the cuisine of the nobility. So luxurious was Pala that its price was equivalent to the price of 7 male oxen or Seven Fat Oxen.

Pala is indeed special, with its exotic flavor and aroma, as well as its various pharmacological properties. Pala (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) is a plant that contains Myristicin and Elymicin, which cause sedative and hypnotic effects. The seed of Pala (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) is known in Traditional Chinese Medicine as Rou Dou Kou. Its warm and spicy properties work directly to improve the function of the liver and stomach (Yanfu, 2000). This is in line with the TCM approach related to the syndrome that causes insomnia due to the failure of the liver and stomach organs to transform and transport nutrients. (Handayani A et al., 2024)

Historical data from Wiki shows that Nutmeg has been known by human civilization for around 3500 years before Christ, as explained in the following paragraph;

The earliest evidence of the use of nutmeg comes in the form of 3,500-year-old potsherd residues from the island of Pulau Ai, one of the Banda Islands in eastern Indonesia. The Banda Islands consist of eleven small volcanic islands, and are part of the larger Maluku Islands group. These islands were the only source of nutmeg and mace production until the mid-19th century. It was one of the spices traded over the Austronesian maritime spice trade network since at least 1500 BCE.

In the sixth century AD, nutmeg use spread to India, then further west to Constantinople. By the 13th century, Arab traders had pinpointed the origin of nutmeg to the Banda Islands, but kept this location a secret from European traders.

From the island of Pulau Ai in Banda, Nutmeg or Pala then became known worldwide. The nutmeg plant (Myristica fragrans) itself is endemic or originated from the Banda Islands in Indonesia. Nutmeg is a medium-sized tropical tree that grows up to 10–20 meters high. This plant produces two types of spices at once, nutmeg seeds (nutmeg) and mace (mace), which come from the aril layer that surrounds the nutmeg seed. The fruit is round and when ripe, the outer part splits, revealing the nutmeg seed wrapped in bright red mace.

Nutmeg has various active compounds, such as essential oils (eugenol and myristicin) that give a distinctive aroma and are used in traditional medicine. Since the Middle Ages, nutmeg has been used as a cooking spice, food preservative, and medicine. Nutmeg oil is also believed to have medicinal properties to overcome digestive disorders, insomnia, and even aphrodisiacs.

In medieval Europe, nutmeg became very valuable because it was considered a symbol of status and wealth. The use of nutmeg in food, especially in noble dishes, increased rapidly in Europe from the 14th to the 17th century. In addition to cooking, nutmeg was believed to be able to fight diseases such as the Black Death, although this claim has not been scientifically proven.

Due to the various advantages of this exotic spice, European nations, especially the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch, became very interested in spices from the Far East, including nutmeg, cloves, and pepper. Nutmeg became one of the most valuable commodities because it only grew on the Banda Islands. Control of these islands was considered the key to controlling the spice trade.

One of the key figures in the exploration of spices was Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer who in 1497 successfully discovered a direct sea route to India, opening up the spice trade route that was previously monopolized by Arab and Venetian traders. After the discovery of this route, the Portuguese established a base in Malacca in 1511 to control the spice trade from Maluku. However, the Portuguese were later expelled by the Dutch, who in the 17th century controlled the Banda Islands and monopolized the nutmeg trade.

The spice exploration focused on the sea route that cut across the Indian Ocean, passing through the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, then to India, and on to the spice islands in Indonesia. This route is known as the Spice Route and was one of the most important trade routes at that time.

Another important figure is Alfonso de Albuquerque, who played a key role in the conquest of Malacca in 1511, and Jan Pieterszoon Coen, the Governor-General of the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie), who was involved in the Dutch occupation of Banda in 1621. Under Coen, the VOC used a repressive/ violent approach to secure a monopoly on the nutmeg trade, including massacres and the forced relocation of the indigenous population of Banda. This attitude was also motivated by Coen’s traumatic experience of witnessing the death of his commander, Admiral Verhoeff, in 1609, who was attacked by the people of Banda.

However, the islands of Run and Ai, which have a long history of being nutmeg producers and were considered strategically important at the time, also have a unique story related to the conflict and intrigue involving various parties seeking to control the region’s important commodity. Run Island is a 3.2-kilometer-long and 1-kilometer-wide island. It was here that the English established their first colony and formed the English East India Company in 1616, marking the beginning of English colonialism.

However, the English East India Company was only able to maintain control of Run Island for four years against Dutch attacks. Despite this, the English did not immediately relinquish the island. In 1664, as a retaliatory measure for the Dutch capture of Run Island, four English frigates were sent across the Atlantic to retake the territory, which the Dutch called New Amsterdam. The 2,000-strong population of the southern tip of Manhattan Island was quickly overrun.

Negotiations and diplomatic processes led to a treaty being signed in the small town of Breda in the Netherlands. The result of the Treaty of Breda in 1667 was that Run Island remained under Dutch/VOC control, while Manhattan remained under English control. Today, the area known as New Amsterdam or Manhattan has developed rapidly and is known as The Big Apple, or New York (NY).

The occupation of Run Island and the one-sided transfer of control over it by parties that were not entitled to do so can be understood as a tragedy. The series of conflicts and massacres that accompanied the search for spices have included a series of events that have exceeded the limits of humanity.

One of the tragic events recorded in history is the massacre in Banda in 1621 by the VOC under Jan Pieterszoon Coen. Coen used extreme violence to expel non-Belgian traders and impose a VOC monopoly on nutmeg. Thousands of Banda residents were killed or exiled, while their land was taken over by the Dutch to be used as nutmeg plantations.

The search for spices has also triggered a wave of colonialism in Southeast Asia. The competition between European powers, such as the Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Dutch, has ultimately led to a series of territorial conquests in Asia.

Control over spice-producing regions not only brought economic benefits but also provided crucial geopolitical control in the Indian Ocean and surrounding areas.

Nutmeg, as one of the most sought-after exotic spices, has played a central role in the development of global trade in the Middle Ages. It has even been attributed to the discovery of the American continent by European explorers and colonizers.

The search for spices is not only a representation of economic interests but has also driven the escalation of exploitation, violence, and colonization, which has had a lasting impact on the course of history in Southeast Asia and the pattern of relationships between East and West. Exploration, exploitation, manipulation, colonization, and competition among European powers to control the spice trade have created a historical impact that is still felt today.

Even the trio of Nobel laureates in economics in 2024, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson, through a series of articles and their book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, written by Acemoglu and Robinson, answer the important question of why some countries are successful while others fail. They also explain why some countries are more advanced than others.

Their work, based on research into statistical data over the past 500 years, is considered relevant and has made a significant contribution to explaining how institutional quality affects the level of well-being and inequality in a country. They also explain how democracy provides greater opportunities for a nation to be more prosperous.

The three Nobel laureates in economics in 2024 also noted that the value of wealth in the 20% of the richest countries is 30 times that of the 20% of the poorest countries. The increasing burden of debt in 26 of the poorest countries, which are home to 40% of the world’s poorest population, may still be related to the exploitative concept that occurred during the colonial era and the exploitation of resources by a select group of global powers at the time.

But let’s allow history to become a part of our lessons in the timeline of civilization that we can extract wisdom from to construct strategies for facing the future. Including, of course, continuing to explore with the help of technology, various potentialities that have been attached to various resources that have been the comparative advantages of Nusantara for centuries. Including nutmeg, right? Isn’t nutmeg a commodity rich in benefits and high economic value?

Prof. Keri Lestari, former Vice Rector for Research, Community Service, Cooperation, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at Universitas Pajajaran, holds a patent for the creation and use of nutmeg extract (Myristica fragrans Hout) as an anti-hyperglycemic agent for diabetes medication in type 2 diabetes patients, and a patent for the formulation of a substance for anti-dyslipidemic medication using nutmeg extract (Myristica fragrans Hout) and its manufacturing method. Similarly, several national researchers, including those from Universitas Airlangga, have elaborated on the potential of nutmeg and other indigenous Indonesian spices with promising results.

If we work together systematically and continuously to make smart efforts to optimize the use of various flagship endemic commodities of Nusantara until they have added value and broad utility, then the various comparative advantages that have long attracted and shaken the attention of the world will once again bring glory to this nation. May it be so.

Recommended Reading:

1. Milton, Giles. Nathaniel’s Nutmeg: How One Man’s Courage Changed the Course of History. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999.
2. Coates, Tim. The Sack of the Banda Islands: A Chronicle of Colonial Violence. Penguin, 2020.
3. Boxer, C.R. The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415–1825. Hutchinson, 1969.
4. Reid, Anthony. Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450–1680. Yale University Press, 1988.