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This study discusses the relation between the Dutch and the Sultanate of Bima in terms of the legal aspects in the past. The relation is shown in the four Letters of Agreement of Sultanate of Bima (SPKB). These SPKB include SPKB 8.5, 8.6, 8.9, and 8.10, which were created in 1900s. Based on information from Katalog Naskah Bima (2007), SPKB 8.5, 8.6, 8.9, and 8.10 serve as the laws that state the rules and regulations on trade in Bima in the 20th century. The text was written in Malay-language with Jawi characters. The four SPKB manuscripts are translated using philology work. To reveal the legal aspects in the text, the content of the manuscripts is then analyzed with descriptive analytic methods using relevant reference sources. Based on the research on the four SPKB manuscripts, injustice of law happened in the Sultanate of Bima. Initially, the law was controlled by the customs of the people of Bima. However, the Dutch seized the customary and sovereign powers of the people of Bima. As a work from the past, the SPKB text will function as guidance in making Indonesia the global maritime axis.
Keywords: Bima, letter(s) of Agreement, law, and power