Mongondow
Mongondow live in northern Sulawesi on the Minahassa peninsula. Also known as the Bolaang-Mongondese, Bolaang-Mongondo, Mongondou and Bolaang Mongondow, they live in coastal areas and on highland plateaus, where they grow wet rice, sago, yams and cassava and raise of pigs, cattle, buffalo, goats, and chickens.. Their society has traditionally had three divisions: nobles, commoners and slaves. [Source:“Encyclopedia of World Cultures, East and Southeast Asia” edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, 1993) ~]
According to a 1983 estimate the population of the Bolaang Mongondow was over 1.5 million and about 90 percent are Muslims. According to the Christian group Joshua Project there were 312,00 Mongondow in the early 2020s and 55 percent were Christian. The Mongondow people consist of several sub-ethnic groups residing in North Sulawesi and Gorontalo, including: 1) Bolaang Mongondow; 2) Bolaang Uki; 3) Kaidipang Besar; 4) Bintauna; 5) Buhang; 5) Korompot; 7) Mokodompis. The Mongondow people commonly speak Mongondow, Bolango, and Bintauna languages in daily life. Linguistically, these languages belong to the Greater Central Philippine branch, alongside Gorontalo. Manado Malay is widely used for interethnic communication throughout North Sulawesi.
The Mongondow people are an Austronesian ethnic group. They have traditionally been concentrated in North Sulawesi and Gorontalo provinces. Mongondow villages were typically arranged along roads, particularly on upland plateaus. Islam was introduced around 1830. Most non-Muslims are Protestant Christianity. Descent is bilateral along both male and female lines.
History of the Mongondow
Historically, the Mongondow were united under a single political entity, the Kingdom of Bolaang Mongondow, which after Indonesian independence became the basis for the western regencies of North Sulawesi. According to Mongondow oral tradition, their ancestors descended from Gumalangit and Tendeduata, as well as from Tumotoiboko and Tumotoibokat, who lived on Mount Komasan in present-day Bintauna, North Bolaang Mongondow Regency. Their descendants eventually became the Mongondow people. As the population grew, Mongondow communities spread to areas such as Lombagin, Buntalo, Pondoli’, Ginolantungan, Passi, Lolayan, Sia’, Bumbungon, Mahag, and Siniow. During this early period, subsistence was based on hunting, fishing, sago processing, and gathering forest tubers, as agriculture had not yet developed. [Source: Wikipedia]
By the thirteenth century, local leaders known as Bogani—heads of Mongondow territorial groups—had united to establish a centralized authority known as Bolaang. The name reflected its maritime orientation. Through a council meeting (bakid), the Bogani appointed Mokodoludut, a Bogani from Molantud, as the first king (Punu’) of the Bolaang Kingdom.
In the sixteenth century, following the departure of King Mokodompit to Siau Island, the kingdom entered a period of political instability. Prince Dodi Mokoagow, the strongest candidate to succeed the throne, was killed in the interior of Manado. Governance was temporarily assumed by a Bogani from Mulantud named Dou’. When Mokodompit’s son reached adulthood in Siau, he returned and was installed as the seventh king of Bolaang Mongondow. Known by the princely title Abo (Tadohe or Sadohe), and born to a princess from the Kingdom of Siau, his reign marked the restoration of the kingdom’s governing system.
During the reign of King Salmon Manoppo (1735–1764), the Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom engaged in intense conflict with the Dutch. King Salmon was captured and exiled to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, provoking widespread unrest among the Mongondow population. Eventually, the Dutch returned the king, and from that period onward the kingdom became known as Bolaang Mongondow, combining the territorial name with the ethnic identity.
In 1901, the kingdom’s territory was formally incorporated into the Dutch colonial administrative system as the Bolaang Mongondow Subdivision (Onderafdeling), which included the administrative regions of Bintauna, Bolaang Uki, and Kaudipang Besar under the Manado Division. The Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom officially came to an end on July 1, 1950, when King Tuang Henny Yusuf Cornelius Manoppo abdicated and declared allegiance to the Republic of Indonesia. In contemporary usage, Mongondow generally refers to mountainous areas, while Bolaang denotes coastal regions. During the regency of Oemarudin Nini Mokoagow (1966–1976), a new village named Mongondow was established in Kotamobagu following the redelineation of Motoboi Village.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; National Geographic; New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books and other publications.
Last Updated January 2026