Abstract
Lying as they did between the Indian Ocean and the China Seas and thus forming the division between two regions which were geographically, anthropologically and economically distinct, the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian Archipelago had been destined from time immemorial to play an important role as a transition area. Not only were they transit countries for the products of East and West, they were also a meeting ground for merchants coming from either direction. Even the opposing wind systems met here, the monsoons of the Indian Ocean on the one hand and the trade winds of the China Sea on the other, so that ships were obliged to rest for a period before the next favourable wind enabled them to proceed on their voyages. Moreover, these regions produced many goods for which there was a ready market, and of these, gold, tin, spices, and certain valuable kinds of wood were in the greatest demand. Finally there were plenty of good harbours and roadsteads where incoming and outgoing ships could find safe anchorage. Ports grew up in these places and with their development the local inhabitants who had formerly engaged chiefly in fishing expanded their activities to take part in coastal and deep-sea navigation as well.
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Reference
G. Coedès, Les Etats hindouisés d’Indochine et d’Indonésie, p. 53, 54; Wang Gungwu, “The Nanhai Trade,” p. 22, 52, 56, 57. Ia. G. Coedès, “Le Royaume de Çrivijaya,” BEFEO XVIII (1918); Idem, Les Etats hindouisés d’Indochine et d’Indonésie; Idem, “A propos de la chute du royaume de Çrivijaya,” BKI LXXXIII (1927), P. 459–472; G. Ferrand, “L’empire sumatranais de Çrivijaya,” JA Ire série, XX (1922), p.1-x04, 260–244; J. Ph. Vogel, “Het koninkrijk Çrivijaya,” BKI LXXV, (1919), p. 626–637; K. A. Nilakanta Sastri,“ Sri Vijaya,” BEFEO XL (1940), p. 239–313; J. L. Moens, “Çrivijaya, Yava en Kataha,” TBG, LXXVII (1837), P. 327–486. On the basis of geographical data in the Chinese sources, the last-mentioned author differs with Coedès about the duration of the kingdom of Çrivijaya and the sites of its principal settlements. Since Moen’s views do nothing to change the general economic picture of the Indonesian Archipelago and since it is not possible to evaluate them properly here, it has been decided to keep to the currently accepted picture as given in Coedès’ Les Etats hindouisis d’Indochine et d’Indonlsie, published in 5948.
R. J. Wilkinson, “Early Indian Influence in Malaysia,” JRASMB, vol. XIII, part II (1935), P. 6.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 247; Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p.246, 268, 286, 287, 295.
Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 256; “Eredia’s Description of Malacca, Meridional India and Cathay,” translated from the Portuguese with notes by J. V. Mills, JRASMB vol. VIII (1930), part z, notes p. 94.
Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 256; Wilkinson, “Indian Influence,” p. so. According to S. R. Fatimi, In Quest of Kalah, Journal Southeast Asian History, vol. 1 no. 2 (1960), p. 62–501, Kalah, must be identified with Klang, not with Kedah. At the time of going to press, however, only the first part of this article by Fatimi had been published.
cardamon: pleasant-smelling spice, vulgo paradijskorrels (paradise grains), also called grain at times.
For the pronounced Persian element in those trading voyages and Persian influence on Arab nautical science see: G. Ferrand, “L’élement persan dans les textes nautiques arabes des XVe et XVIe siècles,” JA CCIV (1924). For Arab and Persian trade with China see: G. Ferrand, “L’empire sumatranais de Çrivijaya,” p. 56; G. Ferrand, “L’élément persan dans les textes nautiques arabes des XVe et XVe siècles,” JA CCIV (1924), p. 245–257; G. Ferrand, Introduction d l’astronomie nautique arabe (1928), P. 74; K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 250. The following publications also contain numerous Arab, Persian and Chinese reports about this Persian and Arab traffic: G. Ferrand, Relations des voyages et textes géographiques arabes, persans et lurks relatifs d l’Extrême Orient au VIII e—XVIIle siècle. 1953, 1914; W. W. Rockhill, “Notes on the Relations and Trade of China. TP. XV, XVI (1914, 1915); E. Chavannes, Mémoire composé d l’époque de la grande dynastie T’ang sur les religieux éminents, qui allèrent chercher la Loi dans les pays d’occident (1894); W. P. Groeneveldt, Notes on the Archipelago and Malacca Compiled from Chinese Sources. 1877. Suppl. TP VII (1896) p. 113–134; R. Reinaud, Relations des voyages faits par les Arabes dans l’Inde et la Chine (1845).
Both G. Ferrand and L. de Saussure (in Introduction d l’astronomie nautique arabe, p. 745) assume that Arabs and Persians really did engage in shipping to the Far East. There is reputed to have been intensive shipping from Siraf in an easterly direction, even after the end of the 9th century. This view is criticised by J. Sauvaget in: “Sur d’anciennes instructions nautiques arabes pour les mers de l’Inde.” JA CCXXXVI (1948), p. 17.
In this connection it is worth noting the observation made by S. D. Goitein on the basis of the Geniza documents tto the effect that there were fixed shipping routes in the Indian Ocean linking two or, at the outside, three different ports. Thus a ship coming from Aden and crossing the Indian Ocean would not call at several ports on the west coast of India but at one or two at most. (S. D. Gotein, “The Beginning of the Karim Merchants,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient I (1958), p. 176, note 3). G. F. Hourani, Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times, Princeton, 5952, who assumes that as far as these long trips were concerned, the entire voyage was made in one ship (Hourani, pp. 70, 74, 75, 114–120), does not believe that Chinese ships ever came as far west as the Persian Gulf. This means that both the outward and homeward voyages were made in Persian or Arab ships (Hourani, pp. 46, 75), but Hourani does not provide a satifsactory explanation for the passages in the works of Arab writers which mention the presence of Chinese ships in the Persian Gulf. According to Chou K’ü-fei, traders from the land of the Ta-shi voyaged southwards to Quilon, where they transferred from small ships to big ones, then sailed to Palembang and so on to China by the same route as the ships of Palembang. ( Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 292 ).
Sauvaget, Anciennes instructions, p. 19.
A. T. Wilson, The Persian Gulf, p 95 et seq.
The proposed publication by S. D. Goitein of the Geniza documents promises to be of great importance in this connection. The documents concerned came from the Jewish synagogue in Cairo, and Goitein supplies provisional information about them in Speculum XXIX (1954) p. 181–197: “From the Mediterranean to India. Documents on the Trade to India, South Arabia and East Africa from the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries.”
J. J. L. Duyvendak, “Iets over de zeereizen der Chinezen,” in: Varia Historica aangeboden aan Prof. Dr. A. W. Byvanck, 1954, p. tot. See also: Wang Gungwu, “The Nanhai Trade,” p. 114.
G. Ferrand, “L’élément persan,” p. 251.
R. S. Lopez in: “East and West in the Early Middle Ages. Economic relations” (Relazioni III, X Congresso Internationale di Scienzi Storiche 1955), p. 125 quotes figures for the proceeds of the zo% tax on the maritime trade of Siraf in the loth century (between 253,000 and 316,000 dinars per year).
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 223.
Ferrand, Textes géographiques, p. 299, provided the Zabag mentioned in the Arab sources is identical with Çrivijaya. See also Winstedt, Malaya and its History, p. 25. Perhaps this Zabag has more the meaning of the whole archipelago (Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 269, 272 ).
Ferrand, “L’empire sumatranais,” p. 29 (extract from the History of the Ming dynasty 1368–1643) In view of the very fragmentary nature of the source material about Çrivijaya (Coedès, Etats hindouisés p. 7, 8), which consists of inscriptions, and Chinese and Arab texts even as late as 1948 Coedès was still unwilling to commit himself about the economic and political structure of that kingdom (Coedès, p. 7). Van Leur, on the other hand, who must have gained most of his information on the subject from Coedès’ earlier studies, draws much more far-reaching conclusions (Van Leur, “On early Asian trade,” p. 104–107).
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 53, 221, 240, 309, 341.
Schrieke assumes that there must have been a connection between the decline of Çrivijaya and the fact that international commercial traffic began to use the route via Egypt instead of via the Persian Gulf. It is doubtful, however, whether the diversion of the maritime trade route could have had such an effect on Çrivijaya, since the demand for eastern products did not diminish because of the diversion. It was just that the Red Sea route increased in importance.The only question is which people became the freight carriers now that Arab shipping began to be confined to the western half of the Indian Ocean. The Chinese used to voyage via Çrivijaya to the west, but it is not certain whether ships from the west coast of India were already sailing to the Malay Straits at that time.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. zzo, 244; Nilakanta Sastri,“ Sri Vijaya,” p. 264, 279, 280; Berg, “Geschiedenis van Pril Majapahit,” Indonesië IV (1950–1951), p. 483, 511, attaches little value to the theory of earlier imperialistic activity by Java in respect of Çrivijaya.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 159.
Ibid., p. 220, 239, 244.
Ibid., p. 243, 246, 247.
According to Nilakanta Sastri, the onslaughts made by the Colas in the 11th century led to cooperation between Çrivijaya and Java (Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 285–288.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 240, 251; J. Ph. Vogel puts forward the suggestion that Javanese expansion westwards may have been closely connected with the attacks made by the Colas on Çrivijaya at the beginning of the 11th century, since these attacks weakened the Sumatran kingdom (“Çrivijaya,” BKI LXXV (1919), p. 637); see also Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 245.
Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-Kua, p. 23; Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 302.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 309, 317, 338, 343.
Wilkinson, “Influence,” p. 12.
Coedés, Etats hindouisés, p. 343.
For the extent and intensity of Siamese penetration southwards and the controversy on this subject see: Mills, “Eredia’s Description of Malacca,” notes, p. 9o.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, P. 300, 301.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 335, 336, 337.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 332.
Ibid., p. 341.
Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 229; Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 308, 332.
Berg, “De Sadeng-oorlog en de mythe van Groot-Majapahit,” Indonesia V (1951–1952), P. 387, 394, 403; “De Geschiedenis van Pril Majapahit,” Indonesia IV (1950–1951) P. 483–485, 498, 499, 193–198.
Berg, “Sadeng-oorlog,” p. 387.
F. D. K. Bosch, “C. C. Berg and Ancient Javanese History,” BKI CXII (1956), p. 1–24.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 338, 415.
Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” P. 295, 297, 299, 300–304.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 300, 301, 308, 309. Coedès, too, however, regards the simultaneous attacks by the Javanese and the Thais as a determining factor (Coedés, Etats hindouisls, p. 338).
Nilakanta Sastri, “Sri Vijaya,” p. 302, 303; Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, P. 330, 335, 336.
Ibid., p. 392.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 385, 391.
For the preservation of Çrivijaya’s commercial monopoly see Coedès, Etats hindouisls, P. 53, 240.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 365; G. P. Rouffaer, “Was Malaka emporium voor 1400 A.D. genaamd Malajoer?,” BKI LXXVII (1921), p. 142.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 338, 408; Rouffaer, “Malaka,” p. 147, 166. 5z. W. W. Rockhill, “Tao i chih lio (Description of the Barbarians of the Islands 1349),’ TP XVI (1915), p. 129–132; Rouffaer, ”Malaka,“ 1. 156, 158.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 365.
Ibid., p. 390.
Rouffaer, Malaka, p. 152; Coedès, Etats hindouisls, p. 383.
Winstedt, Malaya, p. 32.
See p. 24, note 7.
W. P. Groeneveldt, Notes, p. 86 (Ma Huan, 1425–1432, Fei Hsin 1436). This pepper, a variety with a large, hollow berry, was cultivated by the inhabitants in gardens, harvested when half ripe and then dried in the sun. Two Chinese sources even specify the price of this pepper, but they differ considerably on the subject. According to Ma Huan (1416 or 1425–1432) 100 kati of pepper could be obtained for z silver tael (1 tael = about 374 grams, 1 kati = 1/100 pikol or about 6 hectograms — Rockhill, TP XVI, p. 253; Groeneveldt, Notes, p. 86). According to Fei Hsin (1436), 1 bahar = 320 kati of pepper could be obtained for 20 pieces of silver weighing 6 tael (Groeneveldt, Notes, p. 88; Rockhill, TP XVI, p. 156 ). The price stated by Fei Hsin was therefore almost half that quoted by Ma Huan, but such isolated pieces of information tell us little in default of other material for comparison. Sulphur and silkworms were exported as well as pepper, and hill rice was grown for domestic consumption.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 407; Winstedt, Malay and its history, p. 32. Samudra and Pasé, situated one on either side of a river of the same name, succeeded each other as the centre of the small kingdom.
Professor Berg considers that Gajah Mada’s policy of extending Majapahit influence both inside and outside Java was a temporary departure from Kertanagara’s policy (“Sadeng-oorlog,” p. 387–389, 403, 415; “Pril Majapahit,” 198–202, 222, 223). According to Berg, no large-scale war was waged against any of the Nusantara after 1343 (“Sadeng-oorlog” p. 409), and Majapahit territory embraced only the central areas on Java and Bali, not Sunda (“Sadeng-oorlog,” p. 411). Berg attaches very little value to the list given in the Nagarakrtagamà of kingdoms subordinate to Majapahit. He considers that this is a document based on myths, simply reflecting the geographical knowledge of its framer, Prapança (“Sadeng-oorlog,” P. 413), and that it is a more or less mystical claim to sovereignty over all the Nusantara or “other islands” (Berg, “Pril Majapahit,” p. 512).
H. Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, WHS, series II, vol. XLI (vol. IV) “Ibn Batuta’s Travels in Bengal and China,” p. 95.
First in 1405, later regularly between 1407 and 1431. Rockhill XVI, p. 152–155; Groeneveldt, Notes, p. 85–99.
Pires, Suma Oriental I p. 145.
Ibid., p. 239, 163.
As this book was going to press, Professor Wertheim drew my attention to a paper by A. H. Johns (Conference of Southeast Asian History, University of Malaya, Singapore, Jan. 1961, stencil), Sufism as a Category in Indonesian Literature and history, in which great significance is attached to the influence of Sufi preaching on the Islamization of Indonesia. This would also explain why Islamization did not take place there until after the 13th century when the Sufis began to play an important part in the Islamic world. Although the Sufi orders maintained close relations with the merchants and craftsmen, the actual work of conversion is reputed to have been done by wandering preachers hailing from various Asian countries.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 336.
The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian, ed. Yule and Cordier, vol. II, p. 284.
J. P. Moquette, Rapporten Oudheidkundige Dienst in Ned. Indii, 1913. “De eerste vorsten van Samudra-Pasè,” p. 1–12; Encyclopaedia Ned.-Indii, “Mohammedaansche Oudheden,” III, p. 201 et seq.
Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 143. A tombstone from Cambay (Moquette, p. 9) which was placed some considerable time later upon the grave of Samudra’s first Moslem ruler Malik-al Saleh (d. 2297), does not rule out the possibility that Pasè was converted to Islam under Bengali influence. According to the Malay Annals, the conversion took place from Perlak after the latter place had been destroyed. (Moquette, p. 6). Pires’ chronology on the matter of the Islamization of Pasè is obviously at fault. He states that it had occurred x6o years previously, that is to say not before the middle of the x4th century, while the date on the tombstone of the earliest known Moslem sultan is 1297.
For the Islamization of Bengal see Enzyklopaedie des Islam (1927), t. I, p. 725. In 1x97 Buddhist Bihar was conquered and in 1199 the Moslem conquerors penetrated into Bengal itself.
G. E. Marrison, “The Coming of Islam to the East Indies,” JRASMB XXIV (1951), part I, p. 28–37.
Schrieke, Het boek van Bonang, p. xo, 11; “Shifts in Political and Economic Power,” p. 16, cf. Van Leur, who denies that this occurred (Van Leur, “On early Asian Trade,” p. 112, 363 note 122).
In northeastern Europe medieval merchants often took priests with them on their long journeys, partly to perform ministrations but also, since priests could read and write, in a secretarial capacity. The church founded by merchants in a trading centre could serve a double purpose: in a foreign country the priest was able to read mass in his own church and the merchant had a permanent meeting-place at his disposal (Hansische Geschichtsbldtter LXXVII (2959), p. 129, review by H. Weczerka of Paul Johansens’ “ Die Kaufmannskirche in Ostseegebiet”). Is it not possible that in Asia, where the Moslem preachers would usually be more cultured than the travelling merchants, an analogous development took place?
Yule, Marco Polo II, p. 294.
Schrieke, Bonang, p. 12.
According to Chinese sources dating from the early centuries of the Christian era, Javanese missions had already visited the Chinese imperial court at that time. For centuries tribute for the Chinese emperor was transported over the same route, which led through the straits between Bangka and Sumatra and along the coasts of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and Indo-China (G. Ferrand, “Le K’ouen-Louen et les anciennes navigations,” JA zie série, XIII (1919), p. 450,451,546; Ibid., XIV, p. 14). The Javanese must also have undertaken long voyages westwards, in fact Madagascar is reputed to have been colonized by them, and they also traded in the ports of East Africa. The tradition of Javanese long-distance shipping is encountered not only in the works of the Arab writers but even in those of the 26th century Portuguese writer, Diogo Couto (G. Ferrand, “Le K’ouen-Louen,” JA. ixe série XIV, p. 65; D. Couto, Dec. IV, Liv. III, chap. I, p. 169). In this connectionit is worth noting Pires’ observation that Javanese ships formerly sailed as far as Aden (Pires, Sema Oriental I, p. 174). The voyages made to this western Asian trading centre, however, must have been more commercial in character than those made in earlier days for the purpose of transporting booty or tribute.
Pires states that a century before his time, that is to say, around 1415, Javanese sovereignty extended as far as the Moluccas in the east and over almost the whole island of Sumatra in the west (Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 174). Perhaps the vassal relationship in which Malacca stood to the Javanese Hindu kingdom in the sultans’ era (Pires, Sema Oriental II, p. 245) is a further indication of this sovereignty. Majapahit must have owed its supremacy over the Malay trading centres to sea power. As Majapahit withdrew further inland, these trading centres resumed their independent existence, and subsequently the Javanese seaports actually became economically dependent, to a certain extent, upon Malacca.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 402, 408, 409.
Ibid., p. 408.
Ibid., P. 409, 410, but cf. Berg, “Sadeng-oorlog,” p. 412.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 409.
Ibid., p. 410, 411.
Ibid., p. 412.
Ibid., p. 413.
Ibid., p. 412; According to Chinese chronology the attack by Hayam Wuruk took place in 1376 or 1377, according to the Javanese about 1361.
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 405.
Apart from the summary in the Nagarakrtagama, Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 417, also Krom, p. 390, according to G. Ferrand’s identification of the passage in Chau Ju-Kua, and provided Sou-ki-’tan may be identified with Java.
H J. de Graaf, “Tomé Pires ”Suma Oriental“ en het tijdperk van godsdienstovergang op Java,” BKI CVIII (1952) p. 145.
Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 182. Notably in Demak, Japara and Cheribon, although Malays were concerned here rather than western Asians. According to Chinese sources in Grise there may even have been a question of Chinese descent (see p. 107).
Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 191.
Groeneveldt, Notes, p. 40.
See p. 83, 84, x o8 et seq.
Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 46.
Ibid., p. 182.
Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche Geschiedenis, p. 426, 427. 449, 450, 451, 461.
Ibid., p. 433.
Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 182. Pires’ version supplies complete confirmation of Schrieke’s account (based on Javanese data) of the way northern Java was converted to Islam. (Schrieke, Bonang).
See p. 16o, 161.
Coedès, Etats hindouisls, p. 283; Ferrand, “Çrivijaya,” p. 66.
In the 13th century there was brisk shipping from the ports of southern China to the islands further south. This had already been observed by Marco Polo during his stay in China and he attributed the activity to trade in pepper and other spices (Yule, Marco Polo II, p. 272–275).
Coedès, Etats hindouisés, p. 405.
Enayklopaedie des Islam III, p. 1112. At the beginning of the x6th century small gold coins were in circulation in Pasè as well as small tin ones, and gold dust and silver were other media of exchange (Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 144). The gold mentioned by both Ibn Batuta and Pires may, of course, have come from the hinterland of Sumatra.
Encyclopaedie Nederl. Indie I, p. 73.
E. W. van Orsoy de Flines, “Onderzoek naar en van keramische scherven in de bodem van noordelijk midden Java x940–1942,” in Verstag 1941–1947 van de Oudheidkundige Dienst (Archaeological Service) in Indonesia (covers shards dating from. the 9th century and later). Cf. also H. J. de Graaf, De regering van Panembahan Senapati Ingalaga, 1954, p. 18 (about finds in the soil of Padjang, in east Java, dating from the 13th century and later).
Groeneveldt, Notes, p. 36; See also Wang Gungwu “The Nanhai Trade,” p. 118, 119.
Rockhill, TP XV, p. 442–446.
Groeneveldt, Notes, P. 47–53; Rockhill, TP XVI, p. 238, 245; Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche geschiedenis, p. 398.
Rockhill, TP XVI, p. 241; Groeneveldt. Notes, p. 47, 48 (Ma Huan 2425–1432). The founding of Grise on a deserted strip of seacoast must have taken place some time later than the mid-24th century, since a Chinese source from 2349 mentions nothing about a trading place on this spot (Rockhill, TP XVI, p. 236), (Wang Ta Yuan 1349 ).
Groeneveldt, Notes, p. 117–129; Rockhill, TP XVI, p. 256–260.
Pires, Suma Oriental I, p. 179.
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Meilink-Roelofsz, M.A.P. (1962). Trade and Traffic in the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula Prior to the 15th Century. In: Asian Trade and European Influence. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-8850-0_2
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