When the World Came to Southeast Asia Malacca and the Global Economy by Michael G

Maritime Asia When the World Came to Southeast Asia Malacca and the Global Economy By Michael G. Vann Viewed from the sea, Malacca seemed a modest affair and not what one would expect from one of the world’s richest trade emporiums. Antique engraving published by F. Valentijn, titled De Stad Malacka, Amsterdam, 1726. Source: Wikimedia Commons at http://tinyurl.com/lhgmroj. ituated in the west coast of the Malay Pen- Despite the port’s tremendous importance of Sumatra get steadily closer as one travels into insula on the strait that bears its name, the and wealth in the fifteenth century, Malacca’s the strait. Tomé Pires, a Portuguese apothecary, port of Malacca is adjacent to one of the greatness was fleeting. After 1403, a Malay rul- referred to the strait as a “gullet,” and contempo- Sworld’s busiest shipping lanes. Today’s Malac- er rapidly transformed it from a sleepy fishing rary analysts use the term “choke point.”1 ca (Melaka in Malay) is a small port city with village to a center of world trade in less than a The Straits of Malacca connect the Indi- few obvious signs of its former glory. Despite decade, but in 1511, the dynamic trade empo- an Ocean basin to the South China Sea. Chi- a growing tourist trade, most visitors are igno- rium fell to Portuguese invaders who gradually na-bound maritime trade from India, Persia, and rant of the city’s spectacular maritime past as ran Malacca into the ground until they were the Arabian Peninsula must either pass by Ma- one of the most important trade centers in the conquered in turn by the Dutch in 1641. If it be- lacca or travel much farther to the south to the early modern global economy, a past that put came a backwater under colonial rule, a larger Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java. While Malacca in the same league with Venice, Cai- historical perspective on Southeast Asia shows the Sunda passage is appropriate for ships com- ro, and Canton. The average tourist is more that there has always been a hegemonic port city ing from the Cape of Good Hope, it is a major likely to mention the city’s food than its histo- similar to Malacca in its glory days. Geography, detour for Indian, Persian, and Arab merchants. ry. With centuries of trade with China, India, meteorological patterns, and the logistics of mar- Furthermore, the winds along the west coast of and the Arab world; being ruled by the Portu- itime commerce dictated that somewhere along Sumatra can be unreliable, and the open ocean guese, Dutch, and English; and its close prox- the Straits of Malacca, one city would serve as swells spawned by massive storms in the South- imity to many of the world’s spice producers, the regional center in the global economic order. ern Ocean provide for excellent surfing in the Malaccan culinary culture brings together East Land, Water, and Wind Mentawai Islands but dangerous sailing for small Asian, Indian Ocean, Halal, and European tra- French historian Fernand Braudel argued that craft. The placid waters between the northeast ditions into a Southeast Asian celebration of geography and climate structured the decisions coast of Sumatra and the west coast of the Malay global food. But tasty as they are, these dishes humans could make, placing human agency Peninsula are well-protected from ocean swells are artifacts of the city’s lost prominence. For- inside of certain environmental constraints. Al- and can seem like a lake when compared to the tunately, city leaders have funded several mu- though he studied the Mediterranean, his per- towering waves of the Indian Ocean. seums, restoration projects, and archeological spective is essential for understanding the histo- The monsoon wind cycle adds a final and sites to celebrate this Malaysian port’s role in ry of maritime Asia. A check of the map reveals historically decisive factor to the history of glob- the world system, its dynamic multicultural- Malacca’s importance. The land literally creates al trade patterns. In the Northern Hemisphere’s ism, and significance in maritime Asian history. a funnel, as the Malay Peninsula and the island summer months, a high-pressure system over 21 Maritime Asia option than Central Asia’s thousands of miles of unreliable roads, slowly crossed by camel cara- vans at a walking pace. The Rise of Malacca Following these precedents, the rise of Malacca was simply the newest phase of a centuries-old pattern. While specific details on the founding of the city remain murky and often the stuff of legend, we do know that prior to 1400, Malacca was a small fishing village. Malay, Portuguese, and Chinese sources hold that the displaced Ma- lay nobleman Parameswara (1344–1414) was in search of a kingdom. Finding a small river that met a beach in the protected waters of strait— all at the foot of a nearby hill that allowed one to observe the coming and going of ships— Parameswara must have realized that the site would make an ideal port that could both service trade and project military power. Accordingly, he forged an alliance with the nomadic orang laut (known as “sea people,” they were literally a floating population of pirates and merchants) to crush his rivals, scare off other pirates, and en- courage merchants into his harbor. If he strong- Now a sleepy tourist attraction, the banks of the Malacca River once saw the flow of the world’s trade. Source: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen armed some ships into his port, once there they via Wikimedia Commons at http://tinyurl.com/nzswbp9. found reliable trading practices and security in a dangerous area. Siberia pulls wet and warm air off the Indi- (1293–1527). Initially, the kingdom of Funan Malacca’s just and uniform trade practices an Ocean, bringing heavy rain and dominant (first through seventh centuries), in what is now quickly gained notoriety throughout maritime winds that blow toward the northeast. In winter, Southern Việt Nam, Cambodia, and Thailand, Asia. Under the watchful but protective eyes of the pattern is reversed, with Siberian low pres- established maritime trade connections between the fierce orang laut, merchants who came into sure pushing relatively cooler and dry air to the India and China, with the city of Oc-Eo serv- Malacca found that the city offered safe and southwest. In the age of sail, it was next to im- ing as the main port. However, with the Straits secure warehouse facilities. Ensuring smooth possible for boats to travel against these winds. of Malacca home to various pirate bands, mer- transactions, Parameswara established a system Mariners sailed downwind from India or China chants in the age of Funan used the overland with clear rules on the percentage of incoming toward the southern edge of the Straits of Malac- route at the narrow Isthmus of Kra near the pres- cargo that would be taxed. Avoiding opportuni- ca from November to April. From May to Octo- ent-day Thai-Malaysian border. ties for graft and petty corruption, the local gov- ber, they used the monsoon winds to push boats In the seventh century, Srivijaya opened ernment had a hierarchy of officials with four northward to India or China. This wind pattern up the Straits of Malacca. Using naval power to harbormasters, each for an ethnically defined combined with Malacca’s geographic location to crush pirates and rivals, the kingdom grew from group of merchants such as Gujarati, Bengali, make it an ideal place to await the change of the the region around present-day Palembang in Malay, or East Asian. An executive officer stood wind cycle. As merchants going from South Asia South Sumatra Province in Indonesia to claim above them all to arbitrate interethnic disputes to China realized that it was easier and quicker control over most of Sumatra, the Malay Pen- and ensure harmonious multicultural com- to simply exchange goods with each other at a insula, much of Java, and thousands of smaller merce. Serving as a marketplace for imports to halfway point in the straits, ports in the region islands. For centuries, Srivijaya expanded the be traded amongst foreigners, the city produced developed into trade emporia where goods from volume of trade through the straits as it led mil- and consumed relatively little. afar could be imported, stored, and exchanged itary expeditions against potential rivals while Within a few years, the successful system amongst foreign merchants. Such a system al- ensuring foreign merchants safe passage and made Malacca the most important trading cen- lowed Indians and Chinese to bring goods from necessary port facilities. After half a millennium ter in Southeast Asia. With this prosperity, the home, exchange them for foreign goods, and re- of power, the maritime empire fell to the rising young city grew. Merchants, laborers, and slaves turn home in close to six months, rather than the Javanese Majapahit kingdom. Another sea-go- from throughout Southeast Asia, East Asia, and almost two years it would take to travel the full ing empire, Majapahit controlled an even larger South Asia soon filled Malacca. Cultural diversi- distance. amount of territory at its imperial zenith in the ty became the norm, and one could hear dozens The Braudelian factors of geography, ocean fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Javanese of languages spoken in the cosmopolitan city’s patterns, and wind cycles made the Straits of combined access to the spice islands of the Mo- bustling streets. Malacca a natural pivot point of commerce in luccas with domination of the Straits of Malacca. Tribute State and Sultanate maritime Asia. These thalassocracies set the example of in- Parameswara solidified Malacca’s position with Pre-Malaccan Thalassocracies credible wealth that would come from servicing institutional and personal connections to the Before Malacca, there were two great thalassoc- the maritime Silk Roads between China and the great economic engines of his world, China racies, or sea-going empires: Srivijaya (eighth Indian Ocean basin.

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