Pong Tiku

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Pong Tiku (also spelled Pontiku and Pongtiku; c. 1846 – 10 July 1907), known among his Buginese allies as Ne' Baso, was a Torajan leader and guerrilla fighter who operated in southern Sulawesi, part of modern-day Indonesia. The son of the lord of Pangala', after Tiku captured the neighbouring kingdom Baruppu' he became its leader, later ruling Pangala' after his father's death. By exploiting the coffee trade and allying with the lowlands Buginese, Tiku was able to obtain large amounts of wealth, land, and power. During the Coffee War (1889–1890), his capital at Tondon was razed by another lord, but retaken the same day. When the Dutch colonials, based in Java, invaded Sulawesi in the early 1900s, Tiku and his soldiers utilised fortresses to withstand and launch attacks. Captured in October 1906, in January 1907 he escaped and remained at large until June. He was executed several days later. Tiku was the longest lasting resistance leader in Sulawesi, such that Governor-General J. B. van Heutsz considered him damaging the stability of Dutch control over the region and dispatched the Governor of Sulawesi to oversee his capture. Since his death, Tiku has been used as a symbol of Torajan resistance. Long commemorated in Sulawesi, he was officially declared a National Hero of Indonesia in 2002.