NUSANTARA SHIP WRECKAGE

Source : Sungai Batu 788 BC: The Great Kingdom of Kedah Tua

In a visit to the Muzium Arkeologi Lembah Bujang, a teacher who accompanied the students ask why and where the greatness of Malay Nusantara maritime supremacy gone. There should be the wreckage of those ships. Why at present time we can’t see the Malay shipbuilder that built the relatively giant ships.

To answer, I must posed the question first. What was the reason of Portuguese invasion on Malacca ? The answer is they want to control the maritime trade route and commodity. Not much on the land, riparian, hinterland or other territories or island that was under Malacca Sultanate like Riau in Sumatera. They do not bother much on the vassal state and other polity under the Malacca Sultanate. Once they control the Malacca port meaning the entire straits, trade, commodity exchange, taxes system etc that was so lucrative were now under their control. The regional commercial ecosystem still relied on Malacca port administrative regardless who was the ruler of Malacca then.

One of the earlier measures they applied in Malacca port was to prevent any military ambush from neighbouring land by imposed the law, maritime law to be exact. They determined the size of vessels that allowed to enter the port of Malacca or even the straits, to be relatively small. By doing so, it served the purpose to prevent a military ambush to the port. In reality, the law imposed was brutal,injustice and oppressive. (We can elaborate those points accordingly to what have been prophesised in Quran and how it connects to Contantinople conquest by Ottoman, but not in this posting).

By doing this, the immediate effect was, most of the Malay big ships which meant for trade were malfunction and kept at bay. The Portuguese only allowed a smaller ship as to transporting the trade commodity. Over the time, the demand to build Malay giant ships decreasing. When the demand decreasd, the numbers of skilled people involved decreased as well as the preservation of skills.

While the invaders were changed over the decades from Portuguese to Dutch to British, all those colonial impose the same law for centuries to Malay trade ships and shipbuilders were not allowed to build the giant ship that they used to built. By doing that, they prevent the Malay traders to excel and take charge of the trade activities that they used to participate and dominate.

Eventually, the colonial maritime laws has crippled three major Malay dynamisme, first, superior in shipbuilding. Secondly, excellence in international trade and voyage. Thirdly, knowledge and capability in administrating international port.

Over the centuries, for the modern Malays, all those three factors seems never been part of Malay identity and essence. Let us glorified those things again !! knowledge, technology and merchant. NOT & STOP the RHETORIC !!

Below are some of the Southeast Asia / Nusantaran ships wreckage found in Southeast Asia water. The maritime archaeologist have identied it was belong to Southeast Asia/Nusantara shipbuilder from the structure, technology and technic used. The wreckage were named after the place were found or associate with it. Anyway, the oldest watercraft wreckage was found in Malaysia, known as Pontian Boat dated 3 – 5 th century AD, and the same basic technic of built up were found in the wreckage below :-

Chau Tan Wreck

Date: late 8th century CE.

Cirebon Wreck

Date: late 10th century ce.

Intan Wreck

Date: late 10th century CE.

Java Sea Wreck

Date: early 13th century CE.

Jade Dragon Wreck

Date: c. 1300 CE.

Nanyang Wreck

Date: late 14th century CE.

Ko Si Chang III Wreck

Date: early 15th century CE

Longquan Wreck

Date: early 15th century CE.

Royal Nanhai Wreck

Date: 1450–1464 CE

Pandanan Wreck

Date: mid-15th century CE.

Phu Quoc Wreck

Date: late 14th–early 15th century CE

Brunei Wreck

Date: late 15th–early 16th century CE.

San Diego Wreck

Date: c. 1600 CE.

Wanli Wreck

Date: c. 1625 CE.

(combination of Nusantara, Chinese & Europe)

Ca Mau Wreck

Date: c. 1730 CE.

The list above taken from "Ships, Shipwrecks, and Archaeological Recoveries as

Sources of Southeast Asian History" by Derek Heng (2018)

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11 January 2023 > 19 Jamadilakhir 1444H: 8.54 pm