Bugis, people of southern Celebes (Sulawesi), Indonesia. Their language, also called Bugis (or Buginese), belongs to the Austronesian language family. The Bugis are the culturally dominant ethnic group of the island and are often linked with the closely related Makassarese. At the turn of the 21st century the Bugis numbered about five million. Although their village economy is based on rice cultivation, they are also a maritime people, having for centuries engaged in interisland trade.
The Bugis originated in the southwest limb of Celebes, where they were well known for their adventurism and maritime skill. They levied nominal customs duties in the city of Makassar, which made it a prosperous trading port. By 1667, however, Makassar had fallen to the Dutch East India Company, and the Bugis began to emigrate from Celebes to places in the Malay Archipelago not yet reached by western European powers. During the 17th century they established settlements along the banks of the Kelang and Selangor rivers, in the southwestern segment of the Malay Peninsula. By 1710 they had created a Buginese state in the Selangor region, and by 1722 they had established themselves in Riau, an area spanning the east-central part of the island of Sumatra. The expansion of the Bugis jeopardized the Dutch East India Company’s position, especially in the tin trade. By the 1770s Selangor, assisted by Riau, had attacked the Dutch in Malacca (now Melaka). The Bugis leader Raja Haji personally led a fleet to the Malay Peninsula and was killed in June 1784. The Dutch were able to control Riau until the end of the 18th century, when the British intervened; a Malay sultan was reinstated, and the Dutch garrison was removed from Riau. The Bugis Raja Ali subsequently seized power and drove away the Malay sultan, which caused trouble for many years in the Malay world. Conflict between the Bugis and the Malay states weakened both powers and led to the demise of Bugis supremacy after 1800.
The Bugis were among the early converts to Buddhism in the Malay Archipelago, and they accepted many Indian customs. Among these were a hierarchical society—ranging from the raja at the top through district officers and princes to village heads—as well as an Indian form of writing in which a rich literature was recorded. Early in the 17th century, however, the Bugis, like the Makassarese and many other peoples of the region, were converted to Islam.