Piracy and surreptitious activities in the Malay Archipelago and adjacent seas, 1600-1840

197 Pages·2014·2.07 MB·English

by  Y.H. Teddy Sim (eds.)

Y.H. Teddy Sim Editor
Piracy and surreptitious
activities in the Malay
Archipelago and
adjacent seas, 1600-
1840
Piracy and surreptitious activities in the Malay
Archipelago and adjacent seas, 1600–1840

Y.H. Teddy Sim
Editor
Piracy and surreptitious
activities in the Malay
Archipelago and adjacent
seas, 1600–1840
123
Editor
Y.H.TeddySim
NanyangTechnologicalUniversity
Singapore,Singapore
ISBN978-981-287-084-1 ISBN978-981-287-085-8(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-981-287-085-8
SpringerSingaporeHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014947534
©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaSingapore2014
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof
thematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,
broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation
storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology
nowknownorhereafterdeveloped.Exemptedfromthislegalreservationarebriefexcerptsinconnection
with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered
and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of
this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the
Publisher’slocation,initscurrentversion,andpermissionforusemustalwaysbeobtainedfromSpringer.
PermissionsforusemaybeobtainedthroughRightsLinkattheCopyrightClearanceCenter.Violations
areliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication
doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant
protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor
anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with
respecttothematerialcontainedherein.
Printedonacid-freepaper
SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com)
Foreword
IhavebeeninvitedtowriteaforewordforTeddySim’seditedvolume,Piracyand
surreptitiousactivitiesintheMalayArchipelagoandadjacentseas,1600–1840,and
Iamhappytodothathere.Thisvolumeisasmallcollectionofessaystriangulating
around an important theme – the rise and pursuit of piratical and other non-state
activitiesinSoutheastAsiaintheEarlyModernage.Thoughtherehavebeensome
important treatments of this subject in the past, it is always a good thing to have
more work appear on this complicated topic, which has interested scholars for a
long time now. Following the oeuvre of Nicholas Tarling, James Francis Warren,
Heather Sutherland and others, this book explores these phenomena on a region-
wide scale, and across two and a half centuries. The essays take in the Straits of
Melaka, the lower reaches of the South China Sea, the Sulu basin, and parts of
thewesternapproachesoftheJavaSea,allinoneembrace.Theseaconnects,and
thatisreadilyapparentinthisvolume.WorkingthroughsourcesthatcoverDutch,
English,andPortuguesecolonialarchives,aswellasthroughMalayandChinese-
languagematerials,thebookwillhelpscholarsseethearcofclandestineactivities
that were pursued in this arena in a new-found chiaroscuro, or in high relief. By
examiningtheseactivitiesasawholeandunderonecover,onehopesthatsomeof
theoverarchingpatternsofmovementandeconomicdecision-makingbecomeclear.
Piracyandsmugglinghappenedinallofthesephysicalspacesandacrossthisentire
temporal band-width, and this volume shows us how that happened in both cases,
geographicallyandoverthecourseoftime.
The definition of “clandestine activity” deserves a quick note here. While it
is clear that a number of regional and trans-regional peoples smuggled against
the wishes of emerging colonial states in Southeast Asia, and pursued maritime
programsofpiracyaswell,itislessclearwhythishappenedinindividualsituations.
Thereisatemptationtoreadresistanceintoalloftheseprojects:resistanceagainst
state-making and the foreign, as well as against the encroachment of the global
economy, which had always been present in this part of the world, but which
became more and more apparent as we move toward the temporal end-point of
v
vi Foreword
thisstudy.Oneofthevirtuesofthiscompendiumisthatitshowsushowlocalthese
reasonsfor“deviance”couldbe–piracyandsmugglingoftentookplaceundervery
specificcircumstances.Localconcernsoftentrumpedlarger,moresuper-structural
circumstances,inotherwords.WhenweseethePortuguese,Malay,orlocalChinese
angleonpoliticsoreconomicsinthesepapers,theyoftenshowusthisincleardetail.
Whileitisthejobofthehistoriantoplaceeventsincontext,therefore,itisalsothe
taskofinterpretersofeventstomakesurethatlocalmind-setsandreasoningfactor
intoexplanationsaswell.Thisisoneoftherealvirtuesofthisvolume.Takenasa
collective,theessayspresentedheregiveusastrongsenseofeverydaylogicsinthe
bucking of authority in maritime Southeast Asia, whether this took place through
piracy,contrabanding,orsomecombinationofthetwointheEarlyModernage.
I hope this interesting collection of essays will be read by those who find
the political and economic history of these seas to be complex and provocative
from a historiographical point of view. The editor has done an admirable job in
gathering these article-length studies and introducing them for a wider reading
public. One hopes that interpreters of the past of this part of the world will read
thesecontributions,andthenmakeuseoftheminwritingtheirownhistoriesofthe
region.Theytellusastoryofdeception,avoidance,andconfrontationonthehigh
seas,onethatisstilltosomedegreewithus,eventoday.
CornellUniversity,Ithaca,USA EricTagliacozzo
December2013
Preface
This edited book project is a result of three impulses. First, it is an extension of
theinterest(andresearch)IhaveofMacauandtheseaspacestretchingsouthwards
fromthePortuguese portenclave.Second, itisanattempttopositiontheresearch
of the South China Sea as part of the research of greater Southeast Asia. To this
initiative, I am greatly indebted to the encouragement by A/P P. Borschberg, an
accomplished scholar who has always had time for younger compatriots in the
profession. Third, it is part of the effort to seriously study the issues (of piracy
andsurreptitiousactivities)ofwhichIamrequiredtodiscussinaSoutheastAsian
courseIamteaching.
The process of the involvement in the project has increased my appreciation
of the region of Southeast Asia. Located between two culturally advanced regions
(IndiaandChina),itissometimesstilleasytooverlookdevelopmentsinSoutheast
Asia despite the fact that the region is receiving more attention from scholars
and research institutions. In relation to the phenomena of piracy and surreptitious
activities investigated in this book, the difference between mainland and island
Southeast Asia or between the western and eastern archipelagic island regions
Southeast Asia seems to confer a probable reason for distinguishing variant
culturalzones,impactingontheactivitiesoccurringintheregion.Similaritiesand
differencesexistedinthepiraticalandraidingactivitiesoccurringinthesub-regions
in Southeast Asia. Beyond the comparison, these activities from the different sub-
regionswerealsointimatelylinkedtooneanother.
This edited book project would not have been accomplished without the com-
mitmentandperseveranceofallthechaptercontributors.Dr.R.Fernandoprovided
feedbackandadviceontheentiremanuscript;tothis,Iamdeeplygrateful.A/PT.C.
WongintroducedmetoSpringerandprovidedadviceonaspectsofthebookediting
process.A/PJ.L.Huanghasalwaysbeenaconcernedmentorabouttheoutcomeof
anyprojectIundertakeandprovidedadvicealongtheway.Here,Iliketotakethe
chance tothank A/PBorschberg again forsuggesting metoprobe intothe area of
SoutheastAsianhistory.A/PC.G.AngandA/PM.Baildon,theexandcurrenthead
vii
viii Preface
ofacademicgroup(AG),respectively,havebeensupportiveoftheresearchworkI
do at the Humanities and Social Studies Education AG in the National Institute
of Education (Nanyang Technological University). The fruition of this project has
beenfortunatetoreceivetheendorsementandsupportofSpringer.Theanonymous
reviewers provided comments which helped improve the chapters. Miss Jayanthie
Krishnan,Mr.VishalDaryanomel,MrS.AbilashaandstaffatSpringerhavebeen
most supportive and patient in the editorial and typesetting process. An external
copy editor and cartographer, Miss Sunandini Lal and Mr. J. Chandrasekar, have
alsoprovidedhelpinthecraftingofamapandtheeditingofchaptersinthebook.
Finally, my wife has been a main pillar of support throughout the assembling and
editorialprocessofthebook.
Singapore,Singapore Y.H.TeddySim
February2014
Contents
1 StudyingPiracyandSurreptitiousActivitiesinSoutheast
AsiaintheEarlyModernPeriod........................................... 1
Y.H.TeddySim
2 Siak,PiracyandEarlyModernMalayWarfare.......................... 19
TimothyP.Barnard
3 From Self-Defence to an Instrument of War: Dutch
PrivateeringAroundtheMalayPeninsulaintheEarly
SeventeenthCentury......................................................... 35
PeterBorschberg
4 ViolenceandPiratical/SurreptitiousActivitiesAssociated
withtheChineseCommunitiesintheMelaka–Singapore
Region(1780–1840) ......................................................... 51
SandyJ.C.Liu
5 War-Making,Raiding,SlaveHuntingandPiracyinthe
MalukanArchipelago ....................................................... 77
ManuelLobato
6 An Exploration into the Political Background
oftheMaguindanao‘Piracy’intheEarlyEighteenthCentury ........ 105
ArielCusiLopez
7 RevisitingthePoliticalEconomyandEthnicityoftheSulu
SultanateandItsEntanglementwiththeSeafaringWorld ............. 121
ChungMingChin
8 Iberians in the Adjacent Seas: A Survey of Their
Piratical and Smuggling Activities in Relation to War
andthePoliticalEconomyoftheSouthChinaSea....................... 141
Y.H.TeddySim
ix