The maritime history of the Malay people is interesting, complicated, and more than a little mysterious.
Note: by “Malay,” we mean more than the inhabitants of present-day Malaysia. The term refers to probably the majority of the peoples of insular Southeast Asia.
It is theorized that the Malay peoples’ ancestors migrated to Southeast Asia by sea between 6,000 and 3,000 years ago. There are various models for this migration based on DNA analysis, linguistic research, geographical settlement pattern studies, and anthropology. We know, for instance, that Malay settlement was primarily on the coasts and up navigable rivers and creeks; there was an emphasis on boat-building and fishing, especially in areas where intensive rice cultivation was not possible.
One thing we can be sure of is that the Malay people developed seafaring skills early on, focusing on vessels built on the principle of a catamaran, using outriggers. DNA again provides clues for Malay colonization of the Pacific Islands and Madagascar, clear over on the other side of the Indian Ocean. Again, there are different models for these migrations. One theory is that the Malay undertook “downwind” voyages. Computer models, plugging in currents, winds, etc., demonstrate that while many of these attempts would have ended in certain death, enough ships managed to get through, and return, that a viable pattern of regular voyaging could have been established. We know that the Polynesians, thought to be descendants of the Malays, probably colonized much of the Pacific in this manner.
The Malays developed fairly large, sophisticated ships by around 700–1000 CE, one example being the famous Borobudur ship carved on the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Java.
Below: The famous Borobudur Ship. Note the stabilizing outrigger.
A British sailor who saw the Borobudur Ship, while visiting Java, teamed up with sailing enthusiasts and traditional Javanese boat-builders to recreate the vessel and then sail it from Java to Africa. Actually, they eventually took the ship to Europe and then all the way back to Java.
Below: Recreation of the Borobudur Ship.
Later, the Bugis - probably the preeminent sailors of Southeast Asia - perfected a type of ship called the prahu, which looks like a Chinese junk married an Arab dhow, and they had a baby ship. This was the preferred vessel of Malay pirates in the Early Modern period, right up to World War II, being relatively fast and maneuverable. Operating to a great extent below the Equator, the Bugis were fortunate in that they did not have to trade at the same time as their Indian and Chinese competitors, the prevailing winds, etc., having a different pattern south of the Equator.
Piracy was a problem, especially in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. European traders’ schooners were targeted because they were often poorly-manned, unable to really defend themselves, and carrying valuable cargoes of opium, rice, etc. In the 1820s, European navies began to deploy to Southeast Asian waters to team up against the Malay pirates. This resulted in systematic attacks on Malay coastal settlements and the destruction of hundreds of vessels and thousands of Malay sailors. Piracy was never fully eradicated, but there was a marked shift away from it, toward more peaceful pursuits.
Malay seafarers - like traditional sailors all across the Indian Ocean and China Seas - carried on in the interstices of modern technologies. When Europeans brought in inter-colonial schooners and steamers, traditional boats still played a key role as logistical support, assembling cargoes at strategic locations. Steamers could not call at every port, so traditional boats more or less monopolized the trade of all the lesser ports. Ultimately, there was a symbiotic relationship between the old and new technologies.
In due course, Malay sailors worked aboard European ships alongside Indian and Chinese sailors. They all tended to be lumped together under the term “Lascar.” There is some evidence that sailors moved between traditional seafaring and work aboard foreign ships, and then back. Shoveling coal in the engine-room of a steamer, for instance, may have been a means of amassing the capital needed to procure one’s own boat. More research, however, needs to be done on this subject.
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5 June 2024 > 27 Zulkaedah 1445H: 3.46 a.m
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