Introduction:An Oueruiew

I. KATHIRITHAMBY-WELLS
h

The euolutionof the SoutheastAsian lort polity

The singularlyinternationalorientationof SoutheastAsia throughoutits history

:as beendeterminedby the maritime configurationof the region and the important
: rle it hasplayedin mediatingtrade, first, betweenwest and eastAsia and, later,
:ettveen the west and China. By providing internationalemporia at strategic
.:,cationswhere high value local and imported productswere stocked,Southeast
! .+siabecamethe areaof convergencefor goodsmoving betweenthe orientaland
ccidentalregionsfrom as early as the third century A.D.1
Though local initiatives were significant and the cultures they generatedimpres-
::r-e1yvigorous,stimuli from external influenceswere integral to developments
','"'ithinthe region. In the autochthonousevolution of socialand political formations
::e lowlandareas,as distinct from the highlands,are observedto have acquired
a : greater capacityfor developmentduring later prehistorictimes, particuiarly with
::.e adventof iron technology.ZThe prehistoriccoastalsettlementsof the Malay
?eninsula,for example, acted as intermediariesin intra-regionalcommercial
.rchange,which providedthe materialbasisfor the gradualdevelopmentof inter-
:egionalcontacts.The idea that trade playedthe most importantrole in fostering
:egionalintegrationand the evolutionof politicalstructuresin SoutheastAsia has
:een increasinglysupportedby recent researchinto the prehistory and early history
,: the region.3
From at leastthe first millenniumB.C. into the first millenniumA.D. settlements
.merged as exchangepoints and servicecentresat strategiccoastaland riverine
.:cations.Someof theseenteredthe regionalexchangesystemas ports or entrepfits.
.\s well as commandinga hierarchy of local exchange,they transactedregional
::rd inter-regionaltradeato becomethe foci of commercialwealth and exchange
:rr the zonesof economicactivity that they serviced,whetherthesewere maritime,
:unter-gatherer,or agrarian.The two latter groupswere, to a large degree,self-
.ufficient but, dependingupon the specificnature of the ecosystem,all of them
:elied to a lesseror greater degreeon the local exchangeof salt, food supplies,

E::::':.
 I. Kathirithamby'We

develo
cloth and other necessities.At a more sophisticatedlevel of commercial
and forest produce entered the regional and, ultimately, the lon
ment, metal
for luxury, ceremonial a
distancetrade.The localiommoditieswere exchanged
predominantly cast bronze bells and gonS
prestigegoodsfrom within the region,
Mediten
bongr-ona^ms, and goodsfrom external sourcessuch as India, the
Anlntrep6t such as Oc-eo, Srivijaya or Melaka, located or
ura China.s
"*r] converged' had t
direct international route, on which regional trade routes also
commerce and not merely
addedadvantageof commandingan entire sector of
immediatehinterland.
Asi'a
The releuanceof the bort-folity as a historical mtegoryfor Southeast
phenome
The concentricityof entrep6tand polity was an almostuniversal
when port and polity were located separately, tl
maritime SoutheastAsia. Even
linked, as in the case of Funan and Oc-eo, Majapahit and the ri
were inherently
coa
;; Canggu,6seventeenthcentury Pegu and Syriam, or Al.utthaya and
Bangkok."i
cent
In SoutheastAsia the port-polity, origin.qtingsimply as a redistributive
graduallyassumeda numberof increasingly advanced forms contained within'
growth of sr
f,road siectrum of chiefdom, kingdom and state'7 Central to the 'l
and cultural contacts'
a politv was the entrepotwhich earnedadditionalwealth
..Gi ion bVlo-ca]chidfs of piestige and luxury goodsfrom trade and the redistri
of econo
tion of someof theseamongstclientsprovidedthe basisfor the exercise
authority in southeast Asia. There is now sufficient archa
influenceand political
to sugg6st that Southeast Asian port-polities had achieved so
logical evidence
role, even bef
a&.ee of economicini&ration, expressedin their redistributive
bei
Injianization.8But they awaited ihe accoutrementsof Hindu statecraft
stage of political evolution.e It was at this pt
,.passingon to a more ahvanced influencesv
if,"f pJ.t-polities functionedas venuesfor the synthesisof external
and recipro
locaiand hinterland cultural symbols.loThe rhythm of exchange
by shared cultural mores, wl
betweenthe centreand its hinterlandwas reinforced
- fucilitate<lthe assertion of rulership and authority'
South
The turning away from.,India-wardproclivities,'byWoltersand other
in recent years has resulted in a shift of interest to hithr
Asian scholars
neglectedsub-regionalhisiories. The result has been a more comprehen
of l'
of tire-*evolutiiinof indigenouspolitical institutions in terms
"ooi"i."f Hindu-Buddhist religious concepts brought by comme
iniliatives, nouiished by
of stateh
contacts. wolters rigirtty challenges the conventional attributes
discontinuity betu
identified in Funan and the implication of this for the
he has underscored the vital
prehistory and protohistory; but at the sametime
of "big men"
irltuiion of S"i.,,lt" influence towards enhancingthe "soul stuff
into beings of superior prowess. The latter pro
their gradual transformation
enabledthechiefstoenlargetheirentourageandtheirpowersofmobilizatio
or mand'a
ing them simultaneouslli to expand their sphere of influence
oniy a part of the social system of
territorial terms.1l Thoughlrade iepresents
society,onedistinctly.eglon"rfeaturewhichhasbeenidentifiedbys
importan<
searchof pristine Southeist Asian socio-culturalphenomenais the
 An Oueruieu
Introduction; J

the distribution of material largesseby a chief to sustain his spiritual aura.r2

From as early as our historical records show, as for example in Funan,13the
powerful chief or raja,withaccess to commercialwealth, was quick to assumecon- rflv*-
lrol oveJthe resourcesthrough initiating the organizition and expansionof trade
at the main port where he actually resided or to which he was in close proximity. '-
The port-polity was the most viable manifestation of SoutheastAsian statehood', -
as is demonstratedevenin the caseof agrarian Majapahit and Ayutthaya with their
maritime counter-faces.Conversely,even the Srivijayan emporium could well have
had an agrarian facet;14while in the case of the maritime entrepot of Makassar
we know that it was backedby a rice-richhinterland.The destructionof trade along 2
the Javanesepasisirby Mataram under Sultan Agung (1613-46) was an aberrant i
feature and an outcome of his inability to control and mobilize resources.
In attempting to clarify our perceptionsof SoutheastAsian political and social
structures,lsthe distinction between agrarianand maritime as separatehistorical
categoriesshould,as with the identificationof the former with Wittfogel's'Orien-
tal Despotism'orthe Marxian'Asiatic Mode of Production',be lesssharplydrawn
if we are to achievea more accurateunderstandingof the symbiosisbetweenthese
twin aspectsof economicwealth and power.16This is not to deny that many
SoutheastAsian polities and stateshad either maritime or afoarian leanings.What
is significant is that ports were as important to the agrarian-basedstates of Java,
for finding external markets for their produce,lTas they were for those of maritime
orientations for organizing its importation. Even the Khmer rulers, who derived
a stable income from the wet rice regions of Angkor, sought to augment their
rvealthfrom external trade, which was a vital sourceof fuxury goodssuch as cloth,
spices, gold and silver ornaments and aromatics for ritual and ceremonial
purposes.ls
Agrarian and maritime proclivities should be viewed as complementaryfeatures
'internally'and
of intra-regional cohesionand regional integration rather than as,
'externally'orienteddivergentforces. It must be acceptedthat the geographical
configuration of the SoutheastAsian region dictated that throughout history its
ports assumedthe undisputedrole of'cultural brokers'.Hence,chiefsand rulers
in control of strategicallylocatedmaritime centresfound themselvesin an eminently
favourableposition to administerwealth and exerciseinfluencein accordancewith
the SoutheastAsian mode.

The poh-polity as a socio'culturalphenomenon

Their functions as nodal centresfor communicationand trade in a region which

was primarily jungle-coveredand swamp made the commercial capitals of Southeast
Asia, with their riparian and coastallocations,synonymouswith port-polities.The
rivers were often the only means of communicationwith the interior and, depen-
ding upon the coastal configuration, the presenceof swamps and navigability for
larger vessels,the capital city could in some cases,as with Funan and Ayutthaya,
be locatedseveralmiles upstream. Elsewhere,in small island locationssuch as the
Banda Islands and sulu, or as in the case of western Sabah, where rivers were
short and swift, waterways were negligible. commonly, however, port and capital

F--
 J. Kathirithamby-Welk

city merged into a single urban complex at the river mouth, as for example at
Sr*ij"Vul Mehka, Brunei, Aceh, Banten, Makassar and Jolo. Because of its
strategic location, the port-polity functioned as a "gateway city",le controlling
and political relations with the interior and surrounding regions. When
the royal capital was situated separatelyfrom the port, as with Funan, Majapahit
".onoti.
and Ayutthaya, it was at the former that the main policy decisionsregarding ad-
ministration and trade were made.
In SoutheastAsia, the ruler of the port-polity playeda uniquerole when compared
to rulers elsewhere.In China imperial commercialinterestswere subsumedwithin
thetributarysystem;2oinMughallndiathecommercialventuresoftherulerswe
a strictly private affair; and in Europe the cities of the Hanse, and such Mediterra-
nean statesas Venice and Genoa,were dominatedby the borrrgeoisie'In contrast,
furthermore,with India and china, where the commercialcentreswere far removed
from the imperial capitals,in SoutheastAsia capital city and maritime centre were
interlinked and thrived under the shadow of the ruler.2l Effective administration
was not via a centrally managedbureaucratic structure, but through the ruler's
exercise of patronage and reciprocal relations with the elite' Relations between
the centre and component parts of the state, which were inherently fragile and
fluctuating, were held in balance by the ruler's individual strength and wisdom,
which determined his Power.
The focus of the maritime capital,as in the agrariancapital,was the palace,which
stood in the vicinity of the royil mosqueor temple. Apart from the abundanceof
stonemonumentsfound in the agrariancapitals,the layout of townshipsthroughout
public
the region was generally similar, with the exception of the court, the
buildings, such as the mosqueor temple, and the dwellings of the royalty, nobility
and meichant elite, which were built in stone,the rest of the city was a conglomera-
tion of wooden structures, divided into separatequarters for the different com-
palms,
munities.22characteristically, the city was interspersedwith orchardsand
giving it a rural aspect. Quite apart from the hearryconcentration of population
Io"nJi" the agrarian rice plains, the wban centresalso supported a large population,
so that SoutheastAsian port-polities were demographicallyimportant as well.23
The internationality of port-polities like Srivijaya, Melaka, Brunei, A1'utthaya'
Banten and Ma[a$ai-#is a feafure of their general prosperity, They were not
only political and commercial capitals but the ctltural centres of-qheirrgspective
reaimsr_Under the patronage of the ruler, peop-leof diverse origins and creeds,
irif"aing priests, ambassadors,merchantsand craftsmen, caught up in the urban
milieu, used diplomacy and intrigue for individual advancementand profit. The
variety of linguistic communication, combined with the impressively numerous
community oi merchants and money-changers,facilitated commercial exchange
at these centres. As with the courts of RenaissanceEurope, the maritime capitals
of SoutheastAsia becamealso the "model and style setting centres."2aThe courts
of Hindu-Buddhist srrvijaya and Ayuithaia and the Islamic capitals of the region,
far from being exclusive sanctuariesremote from the daily concernsof the polity,
coordinatedinternal affairs and supervisedexternal relations,dealingdirectly with
every class of foreign agency, including many monks and priests. In this manner,
the ruler oversaw the material as well as the spiritual affairs of the state.
In the SoutheastAsian polity, where the ruler's military power was constrained
 Introduction:An Oueruieu

by his dependenceon the chiefs for manpowerresources,his spiritual mystique

as supremereligious patron served as an important counterweight to potential rivalry
from the elite. At the port-polity especially,his role as the fountainheadof religious
power was enhancedby the opportunities availableto him to mediateand regulate
external cultural influences.Clients and subjectssharedthe spiritual and material
wealth of the ruler so long as he validated his status by bolstering and sustaining
the prosperity of the port through whatever means appearedappropriate at the
time. At Srivijaya the ntahamjamaintaineda maritime basedesignedprimarily for
trade with China; in Melaka, Brunei and Makassarthe Sultansattracted commerce
by the provision of fair and equitable terms; and at Aceh, Ayutthaya and Banten
the monarchspreservedthe economicindependenceof the state by the exercise
of royal monopoliesand discriminatorytrade. The ruler at the helm of a prosperous
port had the full range of strategies availablefor the exercise of despotic power:
the tyranny of Sultan Iskandar Muda of Aceh (1607-36) and the absolutism
of King Narai of Ayutthaya (1656-88) are outstanding examples.The port-
polity was the pivotal centre for the composite affairs of the realm, with the
ruler as their chief exponent.Commercialsuccesswas dependentupon his skill
at mobilizing the material and human resources.In fact, despite having a regular
councilof advisers,the ruler relied ultimately on his own initiative, resourcefulness
and sagacity in making policy decisions.The splendour and wealth of the court,
the pomp and pageantry of public processions,the bustle of the port and market-
place, the size and variety of foreign communities,the ruler's elite following and
manpowerresourceswere commensuratewith the stability and prosperity of the
realm.
It has been argued that the period from about 1400 witnessed the emergence
of a rich cluster of maritime stateswhich fostered "the developmentof a new type
of SoutheastAsian society."zsThe spreadof Islam and simultaneoustrade expan-
sion did indeedproducea galaxy of prosperousurban centres,especiallyalong the
north coastofJava (Tuban, Gresik, Japara,Jaratan)and the east coast of Sumatra
(Pedir, Pasai, Aceh) which lay athwart the main sea routes. However, sufficient
evidence with reference to Srivijaya and fragmentary evidence on port-polities
beforeher time suggestthat they already displayedthe basic characteristicswhich
Reid has singled out as typical of the post-1400urban scene.26 These included
a dense population; a pluralistic society;27dependence on trade revenues; high
military organization;28a large-scale bulk trade in rice imports which supple-
mented the peddling trade in high value luxury goods;2eand their role as centres
for cultural dissemination.Far from being new characteristics,theseappearto have
been inherent features of the urban centres of the region, which simply became
more pronouncedwith the increasedvolume of trade and the proliferationof wealth
and commercial prosperity.

The rise and demiseof the SoutheastAsinn port-polity

The present volume attempts to trace broadly the evolution of the port-pblity
as a historical phenomenonfrom its nascentstage, from the first millenium 8.C.,
focussing specifically on indigenous, pre-colonial polities. The chronological
representationof the essaysis, therefore, uneven, and only a few individual port-

F=:__
 J. Kathirithamby'W

politiesarediscussedfortheperiodbefore1600'Nonetheless,itishoped
of overall developme
il';;rry examples*ill [;a to a better understanding
and mature forms' were stud
than i{ only the later port-fotitles, in their advanced Asia did not evc
il[upp"i*t that, characteristically,port-polities Southeast
in
declinie was triggered by periodic chan
uniformly and their inOrvidualg"r,".i, and internal fact
trade.as well as local and
in the nature and pattern oiloig-ai.tun.e
the genesisof incipient states in
Thus, though it *^V U" pottiti" to argue for
in mainland SoutheastAsia dul
Peninsulaand their fuUvineAgedcounterparts
process doesnot appearto have occu
;h;;;;it centuriese.l- ttre c=omparable
untit'tiie taie titteenthcentury or, until even later, at the en
irirr",irr"l.lands
centralization' which culminr
the eighteenth century in Sulu' Likewise' economic
inroyalabsolutisminAcehandBantenduringtheseventeenthcentury,fo
onlv during the following century'
;;;;11;i Jevelopment in Terengganu
The rise and demise oi poilpofities in Southeast Asia was a sporadic
it lacn.oved througha cycleof growth' floresc
discontinuousphenomenon. "y
common features but' at the samet:
and decline, in the process,sharing some and.challenge
,*p""ai.g adoptingindepenJently!o:"y opportunities
"nd fusion of the two constituted an ov
maintaining continuityl'o-iit tft"ng"'to This problem of A
i-n cumulative advances' The
evolutionary process t;t;itfi
cultures..dominateduvco.mot*ogiesofstasisorequilibrium',,31within.af
could' at least in part' be resolv
of chronologicaland .p;;i"l ;[;"ttinuities32
the broaderperspectiveof the evol
the region'shistory *.tt ituit*td from
of its commercialcaPitals' of port-p
offera studyof a smallselection
in tiis volume
Thetwelveessays
fromabroadlocationalrange,treated'asfarasthematerialallows'chronolo
trading settlementswhicl
The precursorsof the port:polities were the.nascent
in So"ttt"att Asia' probably by the last centuries
believed to have
"-"'*""J these take a clearer form'33their sizt
But not until the thitd ;;;tttty A'D' did
between their location and
characteristic, a"t"r*in"J lv tn" interrelation
specific commercial functions'
-g";i.ni.g Chineseliterary sources
with evidencefrom archaeologicaland
I-"ong (pp'17-38) postulatesa preliminary I
referenceto the Malav-PenintUu,
have been necessarywithin the prel
of trading setttements which would
regional trade' Based a
geographical and economic framework to service
points'located inland, often dendritically
resourcecentres*"r" ti"-i""der These were I
of mineral and forest resources.
river valleys and in thel/i.rrrrv islandlor
rivermouth' or a convenient
by the river to a'cotteciingt"*tt'at the a superior stri
centres, with
like pulau Tioman. envin" of these collecting in relation to i
a commanding position
positionalongmaritimeirad" routesand an ent
potential to emerge as
points along the surrounding coasts' held-the
with regard to servicing trade at the local' re
The expansionof its utiiuiti-"t
with its overall commercialexpansi
and internationutt"u"i"*ur.oncomit"tit
trade routes'
the ultimate forging of links with international
Regionaltradeasu.ti.*ru'forthedevelopmentof.primary'or.pristine
is emphasizedby WissemanC
in SoutheasteSu, p,"-i"iing inai"ni'"tion'
the interior regions
(pp.39-60). Metals such as gold and copper from
courses the Peninsularrive
of
Sumatran chiefooms,and tin i'rom the lower
 lntroduction:An Oueruiew

',i'ithineasierreach of the coast,are thought to have constitutedimportant commo-

:ities in the developmentof intra-regionalexchange.In the caseof the Peninsula,
,pportunity for direct control by coastalsettlementsover interior suppliesis consi-
:ered to have contributed to the growth around th6 sixth and seventh centuries
,l metal industries at Tanjung Rawa, Kuala Selinsing,for example,involving the
:rocessingof metal and the manufactureof iron and copper implements,gold
'ervellery,beadsand bangles.Economicgrowth and the developmentof a network
: reciprocity,exchangeand redistributionthrough the dendritic movementof com-
:odities, involvingmarket and non-marketeconomieson the Polanyimodel,con-
:ributed to a corresponding hierarchical accumulation of wealth, influence and ;
euthority with the coastalchiefs at the apex._eThe more powerful of thesebecame
:he nuclei of 'pristin-e'' polities and, in time, establishedintra-regionaltrade with
. rhers in the samecategory.In the courseof doing so, they cameto shareelements
: a commonaesthetic,ideologicaland material culture; but as WissemanChristie
:oints out, "Trade with neighbouringcoastsaloneis unlikely to have provideda
.ifficiently substantialeconomicbaseupon which to form a state..."(p.52).Con-
:ectswith organizedstatesoverseasare thought to have providedthe additional
.npetus for the crystallization of authority, a basic ingredient for state formation.
?resent,however,were geographicaland physicalconstraintson the exerciseof
-:rect authority over the riparian and highlandpopulationsof Sumatra,for instance,
:articularly with the increaseddemand for forest produce from the fifth century
-\.D. At this stagethe processof accumulatingprestige,through the redistribution
: luxury goods obtained by long-distancetrade, would have been considerably
:lvanced by the adoptionof imported political and spiritual idioms.
Hindu-Buddhistcosmologicalideas,which inseparablylinked god, ruler and realm,
=r'identlyfostered the clustering of localizedtrading polities or circles of influence
'narydnry), within a larger sphereof authority under an overlord or paramountruler,
:s at Srivijaya. Within this system, the ruler's exercise of direct power did
.-,otextend beyond his immediate area of control.3s
The spiritual and charismatic influence of the Hindu-Buddhist ruler, acknowledged
:rrough a ceremonialoath, ensuredthe tributary servicesof the local ruler or datu
.rd the oranghut for the assemblyof essentialproduce at the entrepdt to service
::ie long distancetrade. Simultaneously,the manpower servicesthey rendered as
:art of the sametributary obligation to the ruler's superior authority were essen-
::al for the mobilization of forces for establishingthe commercial primacy of the
:ort and extendingthe hegemonyof the polity in areaswhere it was not voluntarily
Although a neat categorizationof Srivijaya's subsidiary trading centres
"ccepted.
:s not feasible, it appears,nonetheless,to have brought under its sway a range of
--entres,someof which had previouslyfunctionedindependentlyas coilectingcentres
and entrepOts,with their own network of feeder-points.Thus, upon the gradual
iisintegration of the Srivijayan maritime empire during the eleventh century, its
:omponentparts reverted to their original but still viable independentstatus. The
segmentary'nature of the empire36is further demonstratedby the evident lack
,,f integration or uniformity in the cultural and artistic traditions of the kingdom
\ik HassanSuhaimi,p.74).
Though gaps exist in our knowledge of the contribution of commerce to the
:rocesses of state formation during the early period in the western Archipelago,

lF.::_
 J. KathirithambY'Wells

t h e f u l l s c e n a r i o a s d e s c r i b e d b y V i l l i e r s ( p p ' 8 3 _ 1 0 5 ) ' w a s e nsixteenth

a c t e d i n ecen
as
the fifteenth.a-nd
donesiawith the gr";h ;;ih" .pice trade iuring
developedin responseto the
turies. on the basisof the cash-cropeconomy,which
gowthofthespicet,ua",tt'"'"evolvedintheBandalslandsamerchantoligarc
Maluku' to the north of Banda
of.orang hayacontrottingvili"ge confedetaji-ons'In
.o*mercial and politicat integration brousht abou
the same evolutionary f?o."..lf
rulers of Ternate and Tidore. A
a more advancedr"u"i oi unification under the
dictated the preservationof a higl
Ternate the insular .oniigor"tion of the region
at the centre by the ruler himself whos
degreeof provincial uuinJritv,,oordinated
political influence *"i-.on.ii".ably enhanced by his role as the Islamic spiritua
il;. ;it;;ilSriri:"v"r-*f"r whl was assistedby the orang laut, the sengajio
arm. The measureof his powe
warrior nobles of Tern"te for-ed the Sultan'sstrong
evident in his enforcement of the clove monopolvand the svster
;;;;;i;;as
through kora-kora expeditions' Deriving th
of compulsory collection of t'ibut"
.pi.it""r"'a-materialbasisofhispowerfromlslamandthetrad einclov
very powerful and achievedi
respectively,the Sultan of Ternate was potentially
tti.'p"f itv considerableroyal centralization and control'
the new era of port-politi
with the essayon Banien (pp.106-26) we enter
lv- Burop*n auring the sixteenth and Gveriteenth centurie
".ti"ity age of indigenousempirt
With fhe fall of Melaka to the Ptrtuguese in 1511, the
"'g"J","6
regional powers suc
in maritime SoutheastAsia gave way to contemporaneous
the case of Aceh and Banten' peppe
eift, Banten, Makassar and Johor' In
"t no longer collected in the wild state but was cultivate
lrr" U"ri. trr"
"r ".ono,ny,*as e, I.m:naar Muda (1607-36) demonstrated throug
intensivelyas a cash'Jrop.
in the face of western cor
the extirpation of pepper plantations in the Peninsula wr
surveillance and control over accessible areas
..t.i.r Jrt"ri.nseiz
"ii"titue political hegemony. B.4nten initiated tl
of far gteater i*portun." lrran extensive syste
of a stipulated number of vines as part of its
.on."it of forced .uiii rution
at Banten' By the time of Sult;
' of monopolyand rirrrrrit"n"outly ceniralizedtrade
A b d u l f a t h A b a u r r a t t a h a"su-atra
g""g(1651-82)therelationshipofthecentreto
."u.iJi".y regions in *utt had altered from one of tribute to taxatio
wherebythejennng,asrepresentativesofthemetropolitanpower,wereex male :
i" ."r]"i, tn. rJ chiefs, a minimum.amount of produce from each
"ii p.116).A[trade was centralizedin the handsof the ruler of Bantt
habitant(see the spiritr
;s overlord but as manager both of
who no longer functi"""J;a;"f'
andmaterialaffairsofthestate'Hispowerswereabsolute,thoughmainten
in the exercise of them'
of pro.p"rity at the port dem4ndeddiscretion
I n M a k a s s a r ( s e e p p . 1 4 3 _ 5 9 ) r o y a l s u p e r v i s i o n o v e r t r a d eport's ,essen
helped establishthe co
sisting western ur,".it. at monopoly control'
port capitalized on its strate
mercial pre-eminence in easte.nIndonesia.The
l o c a t i o n a n d t h e . " . . n a i p i t o . ' . u n i o n , i n t e r n a l l y , b e t w e e n t h e r i c e . r i c spi
ha
;;;t,; .;.;;; c"*" ine commerciailyshrewd rallo'. Though rice and
""J
w e r e t h e m a i n s t a y o f i t s i n t e r n a t i o n a l t r a d e t o t h e w e s t , Mpepper a k a s s fr a
an important centre for the collectionof sea produce from Sulu,
B o r n e o f o r e x p o r t t o C h i n a , a n d s l a v e s f r o m a l l o v e r t h e A r c h iprinc pela
islands became the
southern Philippines and the eastern Indonesian
 An Oaeruieu
Introduction: 9

sourcesof supply for slaves,with a significant sector of the trade handled by

\{akassar.38
Internationalexchangeat Makassarprovided a natural stimulus to inter-regional
trade. The importance of pepper and spicesfor the cash-cropeconomiesbrought
a ready circulation of currency, which created expanded markets for Indian
cloth.3eIn addition, Chineseporcelainof the cheaper'kraak'variety, as well as the
'martavan'jarssteadilygained
moreexpensivegrades,suchas the firnctionalbut rare
popularity during the seventeenth century.aoThe expansion of the cash-crop
economyalso meant an increase in the intra-regional rice trade to supply those
areaswhere labour was diverted partly or entirely to the cultivation of export crops.
As with Banten, Makassar's commercial pre-eminenceand its cultural leader-
ship as an Islamic power were closely related, the latter enhancing its friendly
relations with indigenous powers and local elements in the region. The ruler of
\lakassar, though protective of indigenous interests and fiercely guarding the
independenceof his port agairrstthe Dutch was obliged, like the ruler of Banten,
personally to participate in and encourage foreign trade, including that of the
English, the Danes and the Portuguese.International diplomacy became,indeed,
a prominent feature of the mechanicsof the seventeenthcentury port-polity.
Ayutthaya, discussedby Dhirawat na Pombejra(pp.126-42) offers a special
exampleof an agrarian-basedstate dependenton trade for augmentingits wealth.
External trade yielded ltxury goodsfor conspicuousconsumptionand ceremonial
display, essentialfor earning prestige and social standing. Wealth accrued from
erternal trade was alsonecessaryfor the acquisitionand maintenanceof manpower,
commensuratewith socialranking and the obligationto make merit. As in the great
nland agrarian states of central Java, and at Angkor and Pagan, considerablewealth
and manpower resources were expended in Ayutthaya on the building and
naintenance of temples and pagodas. With trade providing the material basis
:or social and political influence, it was in the interests of the ruler to curb the foreign
commercial activity of the khunnang, the Thai officials. Becauseof this and the
iact that the Thais were poor navigators, overseastrade was conductedlargely
cy foreigners and a high proportion of it was reserved as a royal monopoly. The
importanceof external trade as a sourceof wealth, and a heavy reliance on foreigners
ro organizeit, added a complex dimensionto court politics and diplomacy. Here,
rrore than in any other port-polity of the region, politics and trade were inextricably
intertwined. q,..,r,,
In SoutheastAsia the rise and demise of p6rt-polities was determined by the
interplay betwggg-lglernal Jfia- exiern4t.1-q-c-esApart from internal political
dirnamicsand shifts in economic control, there were changesin the direction of
trade routes, the increasein the demandfor sometypes of produce,and the decline
of marketsfor others,which decidedthe fate of individualport:polities.Two factors,
namely,the expansionof trade at the commercialnodesin the central and eastern
fuchipelago at Banten, Makassar and Manila during the seventeenthand eighteenth
centuries,and the expansionof the China trade during the latter century, brought
hitherto'peripheral'areas of trade into the mainstreamof international commerce.
In contrast with the politically sophisticatedstatesof Aceh, Alrrtthaya or Banten,
the polities of Magindanaoand Sulu were simpler in their organizationand were
impressivelyprecociousin their ready responseto economicstimulusand their adap-

F1=_
 [ Kathirithambt-Wells
10
challenge' ,
tation to external competition and
headed by d'atu' the evolution of the
Originating from trilii'cot'f"a"t"tiont
cam€ to full flowering during the seven-
Magindanaopolity in southernMindanao growth
teenthcenh'y. e..o.ou'!io"i--t tpp.160-gb)Magindanao'seconomic
"""r and supply centre for surrounding
was contingent upon its-role as a collecting
trade derived iiom the collection of inland
international entrepots."M"li"a"r""t
and sea produce such as pearls and
forest produce, mainly wax and cinnamon'
fio* Si*oav, in the vicinity of the main polity'
tortoise-shells,wfrictrwere ffirt"A control of
or from zamboanga"";il;;;;i' eu tr'"t" harbours were under the
gain pre-eminenceover the others' In the
the ruler, and none *"' p"t-iIt"d to a single entrepot, its inter-
not f-ocussedon
sameway that Ivruginauniot l.ua" *u. of commerce radiating
integrated network
island trade did not constitute a neatly
point, as *ith';;;;ih"' pottles discussedin this volume' Trade branched
from one
destinations' especially Ternate' Manila and
out in all directions t" "-t"ti"lv "f
external maikets was determined strictly
I Banten. The origin of exports to these
respective'feederpoints'inland,which
, accordingto the availab-iii&of produceat the
' export centres on the coast'
serviced the three main collecting and far
and external commerce at Magindanao
The accelerateagrowth of inteinal of produce,
for the collectionand exportation
outstrippedthe availaulei"uorrr ior."
the Sulu Sultanate a-century later' Attempts to alleviate
as experiencedalso by p*th":" and
ti,ro,,gt'tie a'iqi"ti1"t "itr"tes bvwavof pt"g."tism
theproblem li1Yarfare'
of the rulers
pioof of ttt"
was
the banning of the exportation of slaves,
ofMagindanao.Whilecapableofinnovationandadaptation,theyjealouslyguar
institutional t1"9llt:1r1^,Yoreover' the
their independence and autochthonous
lineagein matters p-ertammgto succes
precedenceof .ognut;kinthip over direct
sionamongsttherulingchiefs'andtheprevale-nceofcorporatedecision-ma
the royal absolutismencounteredin other
and group negotiations-contrastedwith
ways of organizing commercethan through
port-polities. tt e.e *eie evidently other the
autocracy - as indeed would have been
rigid political centratizationand royal period'
case for most of SoutheastAsia -inaduring an earlier
an Islamic
The confederutiorr .ii"i. attu witttin the bioad framework of
"J is ag11nmet with in the eighteenth century
state structure found ffi;;j;;;;"
(pp.ig6 -2r2).The Sulu Archipelago,whic
SuruSultanat"a"..rii"jru-warren Borneo
Mindanao to the northeast coast of
bridges the Sulu S"ul'o-'touthern teeming with trebang
uneven coastline
is sheltered tv .nariow waters and an allowed it to commandtht
p;;;i.. s"i;a sirategic location also
tortoise-shell.
"rd wax and camphor' and birds' nests fron
regional trade in tot"tl p'oaute' mainly
titt" Srivijaya' it was the entrepOtan
the coast and interiii t""""tli'g"*"o'.
a central position within a cluster o
redistributive rrrn.tiors of Jolo, occupying Samz
islands, which uroug;i,h";il;ry
-under ;.;iter"ea ana occupationally divergent
the Taosu
and Iranun (Illanun) the hegemonyof the Taosug. Significantly,
stap
Tapul group (Pataand Siami)' where the
occupiedJolo and tnelsfa"as of tie volcanic soils'
on the rich
rice suppliesof,n" t"giot were.cultivated generic appearto have bee
in S.fuiiuvu]ii"'oraig lautas a broad -group
Earlier, It was tl
able to provide tn" #;;lri t"u ptoaut" tor tne China market'
to Sulus rise an
unprecedenteO of this trade which contributed
"*p""'ion jungle produce which could not be met t
augmentedtn" a"'*nJior marine and
 An Oueruieus
Introduction; 11

the autochthonous population, despite their traditional maritime orientations.

Creatingand maintaining an efficient mechanismfor the acquisitionof slavesfrom
the Philippines and eastern Indonesia, and deployment of their labour for the
economy,constituted the main preoccupationof the sultanate.When, eventually,
Spanishefforts to halt the slave-raidingactivities of Jolo effectively destroyedthe
economicunderpinnings of the polity, much of its trade was dispersedand some
diverted to the new entrepOtat Singapore.
Terengganu,en routeto China and thus a haven for the English East Indiamen
andprivate vesselscollectingpepper,tin, birds'nestsand camphor,was yet another
port which reachedits political apogeeduring the nineteenth cenhyy (ShaharilTalib,
pp.272-30).As in other areasof cash-cropcultivation,thepopulation increasedand
expandedinland as new lands were openedup for cultivation. Far from losing its
pre-eminenceon the eastcoastwith the decline in the demandfor pepper,Tereng-
ganu proved impressively capableof turning to sugar-caneand coffee cultivation
,.vhilesteppingup its output of tin as demandfor this commodity rose. When faced
'.r'iththe meteoric rise of Singaporein the south, Terengganu ensuredits survival
'ry
making appropriate internal administrative arangements to sustain its role as
a subsidiaryport of the southern entrepOt.Where previously Kuala Terengganu's
unchallengedcommercial role had brought tribute and trade to converge auto-
natically at the capital,the rise of an alternativeentrep6tat Singapore,founded
n 1819,unleashedcentrifugal forces. In an attempt to check the trend and guarantee
rhe survival of Kuala Terengganuthe rulers set about replacingthe original district
chiefs of local lineage with appointeesfrom the capital. The Terengganu case
demonstratesthat political stability and economicprosperity were not necessarily
synonymouswith state integration, though the latter did in a number of instances
prove a prerequisite.
The rising tide of colonial expansionduring the nineteenth cenhry also threatened
rhe survival of other port-polities such as Brunei. Here the sultanate, which still
retained its hierarchically integrated provincial administration in the form of the
.iajahan,with the nobility at the helm, used the system to advantageon the west
:oast of Sabah(Ranjit Singh,pp.231-45). Sglu'sexpansionafter the mid-eighteenth
.entury and the wide dispersalof its maritime peoplecontributed to the shrinking
of Brunei's territories. Large numbers of the Sulu people settled on the fringe of
its once extensive empire in Borneo to establish basesfor slave raiding and sea
producegathering for servicing Jolo'strade. This did, however, bring a new leasb
of life to the economy of the west coast of Sabahby boosting strand and marine
activities. The new prosperity evinced itself in the form of the institution of the
tamu of periodic market. For Brunei, proximity to the west coast of Sabahfacilitated
the perpetuation of traditional commercial links with the area. The relationship
proved vital for its accommodationto the more modest role of servicing the trade
of Singaporein the face of competition from Labuan, which was occupiedby the
British in 1846 and to which it lost its valuable junk trade with China.
The political map of traditional SoutheastAsia was determinednot by peripheral
boundariesbut by the ext_gntof authority radiating from power centres -initially
locatedinland, along navigablestretchesof water and, as of the fifteenth century,
geneiallyiiong the littoral and at river mouths.alThe polity was thus nlore an area
of influence than a unit of territory. In practical terms, authority emanatingfrom

t-=,.-::
 12 J. Kathirithamby-Wells

the centie decreasedwith distance from the capital, so allowing for centrifugal
political tendencieson the outer fringes. But centripetal economicforces, fostered
'
byexchange,reciprocityandredistribution,solongastheyremainedviable,checked
disintegration and lent cohesivenessto the polity.a2 It is the varying tension
between these two opposite trends which largely accountsfor the cyclic rise and
fall of polities in the region.
For most polities in SoutheastAsia there was no separatebureaucraticotganiza
, tion. The administration of the polity and stability within it depended on the
reclp1lfAllg1atio,Is"maintained between the ruler and the elite community. Spiritual
rnvGtiq*l a"ii.t;ed f.otn genealogical, cosmological and relifious beliefs, com-
plemented material wealth in determining leadershipand power. The Southeas
\"o .ir' Asian ruler's capacityto control economicresourcesand accu$ulate wealth for
: j' '
redistribution among the elite chiefs and vassalsconstituted the basic mechanism
' for cementing and sustaining loyalties and thereby guaranteeingthe unity of the
state.
Ideally, the nobility and chiefs, by haying direct accessto.manpower and the
provincial segments of the economy, provided a check on royal despotism
Simultaneousiy,'ur-un"g"rs of the componentparts of the administrative infra-
structure, they determined the realignment of loyalties and resourceswhenever
centres of power declined or collapsedand others emerged in their place. It was,
in fact, the forces of local authority which guaranteedoverall historical continuity
"'-'within a region where power centres shifted at regular and frequent intervals.
The agrarian and maritime polity in SoutheastAsia were alike in their dependenc
on wealth and manpoweras the basisfor political authority. At the sametime, geo
'econoniic
- '' factors dictatedeither a unitary or a complementaryrelationshipbetween
agrarian and maritime activities, expressedin a single or two separatebut related
centres of port and polity. The gradual shift of populations and political centres
from prehistoric
"' generally from the piedmont to coastll and estuarinelocations,a3
into modern times, coincided with the entry of Southeast Asia into the wider circuil
of intra-regional and international trade. The proclivity of the populace to the
consumptionof luxury and prestige goods,stimulated by an insatiable demandir
the world market for the natural produce of the region, with concomitantimplica
tions for internal socio-cultural processes,gave a clear advantage to maritime
polities. The ports of SoutheastAsia were, in this sense,distinctly different fron
for example,which as van Leur noted
, their counterpartsalong the Indian coast,
were "for the most part politically isolated from the great inland areas."aaThc
developmentof port-polities from their preliminary stage as collecting centres tc
their more advancedforms as emporia reachedits apogeeafter c.1400,as tht
region's trade expandedand fused with the world economy. The unprecedente
growth of trade and the new opportunities available for political and diplomati<
manoeuvrings,particularly with increasedEuropeanintrusion after 1600,45strain
ed traditional power dynamics. Royal absolutismswere a significant symptom of this
Drawing upon the concentrationof material resourcesand rich cultural parapher
nalia at its strategic location, the port-polity in SoutheastAsia played an importan
role in initiating major historicalprocessesfrom the dawn of history to the establish
ment of Europeanimperialism in the region. By stimulating the economicpotentia
of its hinterland, it contributed towards regional integration and material and cultura
 An Oueruieu
Introduction: 13

enrichment.None of this could have been managedwithout the political sagacity

of the mlers at the frffi'and their ability to respondto external stimuli and challenge.
In the SoutheastAsian port-polity we find the everlasting model of SoutheastAsian
statehood,which struck an even balance between internal and external orienta-
tions.a6
From the secondhalf of the seventeenthcentury Europeaneconomicand political
intrusions brought about the gradual decline of indigenous port-polities in Southeast
Asia. The loss of their pre-eminencein commercedeterminedtheir political decline.
The conceptof the port-polity, however,found new meaningand renewedstrength
in the European maritime trading stations scatteredthroughout the Archipelago,
at the imperial capitals-cum-emporiaat Manila, Batavia, Singapore' Rangoon,
Bangkok and Saigon.Each serviced its independentsector of administration and
trade but was ultimately locked into the international network of commerceand
inter-state relations. Singapore'srise to pre-eminencewithin the regional system
of commerceand exchangewas, in fact, the nahyal outcome of the overall expansion
of long-distancetrade and the evolution of port-polities in SoutheastAsia. The
indigenousports fell from their positions of eminenceand acquired a reduced but
essen-tial?ole.at lower levels of the commercialhierarchy, dominatedby these
European trading capitals, at strategic positions along the main sea-routes.
ColoniblpolftiCdlinlluencedid little to alter the ecologicalrealitiespertainingto
the traditional characterand function of the polity in SoutheastAsia. Through about
two thousand years of evolution the port-polity witnessed changes in size and
location, shifts in the volume and emphasisof its trade, movement towards new
cultural orientations and the rise and ebb of political fortunes. In spite of this, it
never lost its relevanceas a fundamental feature of SoutheastAsian civilization.

\OTES

1. R.B. Smith & W. Watson(eds.),Earb sor.r.thEastAsia: Essays in Archneologt,Historyand

Historical Geographl(Kuala Lumpur/New York, 1979\,258; J. Miksic, "Archaeology,
Trade and Societyin NortheastSumatra"(PhD dissertation,CornellUniversity, 1979),
12, 59; O.W. Wolters, Eaily IndonesianCommerce:A Study of the Origins of Siuijaya
(Corne11, 1967), 37-42; J.K. Whitmore, "The Opening of SoutheastAsia, Trading
PatternsThrough the Centuries",EconomicExchangeand SocialInteractionin Southeast
Asin; Perspectiuesfrom Prehistory,History and Ethnographl, (ed.) Karl L 'Hutterer,
Michigan Paperson South and SoutheastAsia, No. 13 (Michigan, 1977),177'
2. Smith & Watson,Early Southeast Asia, 13.
3. Ibid.,passim.SeeespeciallyB. Bronson,"The Late Prehistoryand Early History of central
Thailand with Special Reference to Chansen",326, 332; A.H' Christie' "Lin-i,
Fu-nan, Java",ibid.,385. Peter Beliwood, Prehistorl of the Indo-MalaysianArchipelago
(Sydney,1985),136,271-79.
4. B. Bronson,"Exchangeat the upstreamand downstreamends:Notestowardsa functional
model of the coastalstate in SoutheastAsia", in EconomicExchangeand SocialInterac-

l*=:+-'
tA J. Kathirithamby-Wells

tion in Southeast Asia, (ed.)Hutterer, 39-52'

5. Bellwood,Prehistoryof the Indo-MalayianArchipelago,2T9'
(Honolulu,1985)
6. K.R. Hall, Maritime Tradeand StnteDeuelnfmcntin Early Southzast.Aszz
49,235.Majapahit'strade did not convergeon a singlecommercialcentre Although
Conggo."*i."d the hinterlandtrade of the Brantas,the coastaland internationaltrade
was handledby Surabayaand Tuban. Ibid ,329 n82'
7. G. Dalton, "Karl Polanyi: analysisof long-distancetrade and his wider paradigm"
(Albuquer
Ancient ciuilization and Trade,(ed.)J.A. Sabloff & c.c. Lamberg-Karlovskv
que, 1975),91_93;P. Wheatley,..Satyintra in Suvarnadvipa: From Reciprocity to
Redistributionin Ancient SoutheastAsia",ibid', 227-29'
8. See Leong Sau Heng, pp.23-26 and J. wisseman christie, p.42 in this volume.
g. p. Wheatley,The Kings of theMountains;An Indittn'Contibutionto Statecraftin %utheas
.4sra.SecondSri Lanka EndowmentFund Lecture deliveredat the University of Malaya
(KualaLumpur, 1981),5-11.
10. K. Hall "State and statecraft in early Snvijaya", E.xplorationsin Ear\ SoutheastAsian
History,(ed.)K. Hall & J.K. Whitmore, Michiganpaperson Southand SoutheastAsia
No. ti (Mictrigan,Ig76),65; N. Aeusrivongse,"Devarajacult and Khmer kingshipin
Angkor", ibid., 711-38.
(Singapore
11. O.W. Wolters, History, Culture and Regionin SoutheastAsian Perspectiues
1982),6-15; HermanKulke, "The Early and the ImperialKingdomin SoutheastAsia"
(Singapore
southeastAsia in the9th to the l{th c,enturies,(ed.)D.G. Marr & A.C. Milner
1986),2-3.
12. O.W. Wolters, The Fall of siuijay in Malay History(oxford, 1970),14-16; P. Wheat
(Chicago,1983
Iey,Nagdraanl commandery:origins of fuutheastAsian urban Traditbns
ZriS;e.C. Milner, Kemjaan, Malay Political Cultureon the Eueof ColonialRuLe(Arizona
1982\.20-28.
13. Hall, Maritime Trade and StateDeuelopment,53-54'
74. Ibid.,85,AtKaranganyar,tothewestofthemoderncityofPalembang,archaeol
excavationshave revealed"an elaborateand extensivecomplexof canals,tanks an
habitationsites",which could suggestsauah cttltivation.See E Edward McKinnon
,,Earlypolitiesin SouthSumatra:Somepreliminary observationsbasedon archaeoiogic
evidence",Indonesia40 (1985):15-16.
15. J. Wisseman-christie,"Negdra,Mandalaand DespoticState: Imagesof Early Java
T9;J. Stargard
in Marr & Milner (ed..),SoitheastAsia in the9th to the 14th Centuries,
SatingpraI: The Enuironmentaland EconomicArchaeologtof South Thailand, Britisl
ArchieologicalReports,oxford, and Institute of SoutheastAsian Studies,singapor
(1983),213-15;Wheatlev,Nagira and Commandery,278-79'
16. J. Kathirithamby-Wells,"Forces of regional and state integration in the wester
(1986):24-25
Archipelago,c.r'soo-tzo0", Journalof southeastAsian studies13, i
17. J. Wisseman,"Markets and Trade in Pre-MajapahitJava",in EconomicExchangean
SocialInteractionin Southeast Asin, (ed.) Hutterer, I97'212'
18. Hall, Maritime Trade and state Deuelopmentin Early southeastAsia, 177-72.
19. see A.F. Burghardt, "A hypothesisabout gateway cities", Assocrationof Amerim
Geographers'[nnals Gl, ii (1971):266-73: Miksic, "Archaeology,Trade and Societyi
NortheastSumatra",72-79.
20. Though Chinesediplomaticpolicy towardsSoutheastAsia was determinedby commerc
interests,it was wiih the aim of controllingand regulatingoverseascontactand discoura
ing private enterprise.It was less an economicthan a politicalstrategy.Thus, Chir
cto.ea lts ports from time to time for trade with SoutheastAsia. SeeWolters, The Fa
 Introduction:An Oueraieu, 15

o;fSnnijay, chapter5; K. Hall, "Small Asian statesin the shadowof the large: Early
Asian History through the eyes of Southeast Asia",Journal of the Economicand Social
Historyof the Orient 27, i (1983):58.
l1 D. Lombard,"Questionson the contactbetweenEuropeancompaniesand Asian societies",
in Companies and Trade,(ed.)L. Bluss€& F. Gaastra(The Hague, 1981),183.
)2 J. Kathirithamby-Wells,"The Islamiccity: Melakato Jogjakarta,c.1500-1800",Modzrn
Asinn Studies20, ii (1986):335, 340-41.
l3 A. Reid,"The structureof cities in SoutheastAsia, fifteenthto seventeenthcenturies",
/SE45 11, ii (1980):237-43.
N. Elias, StateFormationand Ciuilization(Oxford, 1982),5.
A. Reid, "Trade and state power in 16th and 17th century SoutheastAsia", Pro-
ceedingsof the SeuenthIAHA Conferezcc(Bangkok, 1977),396.
Ibid.. 386-87.
Allowing for the exaggerationof early travel accountsand for a smalleroverallpopulation
in SoutheastAsia at the time, a residentpopulationof 1,000Buddhistpriestsand an
army of 2,000 foot-soldiersis an impressiveone for Srivijaya,which is said to have
shelteredwithin its brick walls a cosmopolitantrading population.SeeHall, Explorations
in Early Southeast Asian History,69,95. Acco-rdingto the Arab writer, Ibn al-Faquih
(902),so cosmopolitanwas the kingdom of Srivijaya that "the parrots there talked
Persian,Arabic, Chinese,Indian and Greek." Even smallertrading ports of the ninth
and tenthcenturiessuchas Takuapa,thepasisirof Javaand LubukTua (west Sumatra)
harboured,amongothers,powerful Tamil merchantcorporationsto boot. Rita Rosedi
Meglio, "Arab Trade with Indonesiaand the Malay Peninsulafrom the 8th to the 16th
Century",Islam and the Tradeof Asia, A Colloquium,(ed.)D.S. Richards(Oxford, 1970),
11; G. Ferrand (ed. & trans.), Relationsde uoyageset textesgiographiquesarabes,Persans
et turcsrdlatifsd I'ExtuAme-Orientdu VIIIe au XVII( siicles,I (Paris, 1973-74),22-24;
Wheatley,"Satydntrain Suvarnadvipa",24l-42; WissemanChristie, "Markets and
Trade in Pre-Majapahitlava",208.
See D.G. McCloud, Systemand Processin SoutheastAsia: The Euolution of a Region
(London,1986),65, for a view on the importanceof milrjary force in the integration
of Funan. For a discussionof the military organizationof Srivijaya, seeNik Hassanbin
Suhaimi,pp.65,67,76 in this volume.
:. For Majapahit see Ha1l,Maritime Trade and StateDeuelofment,245-55
This phenomenonwas not peculiarto SoutheastAsia and hasbeennotedin the history
of the maritime centres of Europe. See Fernand Braudel, Ciuilization and Cafitalism,
1sth-I9th century:Ill, The Perspectiueof the World, translatedfrom the French by SiAn
Reynolds(London,1984),32-35.
I. Mabbett, Patternsof Kingship and Authority in Traditional Asilt (LondonlSydney,
1985),6.
This led Harry Bendato pioneerthe'structural'or genericapproach.See:"The structure
of SoutheastAsian history:Somepreliminaryobservations", JSEAH 3 (1958):106-38.
SeealsoA.H. Johns,"Islam in SoutheastAsia: Problemsof Perspective",Southeast Asinn
Historjtand Historiograpfu,(ed.)C.D. Cowan& O.W. Wolters, Essays Presented
to D.G.E.
Hall (Cornell,1976),306.
SeeWissemanChristie,pp.4l-52,54 in this volume.
Dalton,"Karl Polanyi:Analysisof long-distancetradeand his wider paradigm",Ancient
Ciuilizationand Trade,(ed.)Sabloff and Lamberg-Karlovsky,91. SeealsoBronson,"Ex-
changeat the upstreamand downstreamends:Notestowardsa functionalmodelof the
coastalstate in Southeast Asia",EconomicErchangeand SocialInteractionin Southeast
Asin, (ed.) Hutterer, 39-54.

-
 -
16 J. Kat hirit hambYWell s

as'a federationof trading ports",but in this

35. srivijaya has beendescribedby wolters
merely as a trading centre but a port-
context the term,port,neeJs toie interpreted not
unit'^See Wolters, The FatI of Srtuijaya.in Malay
polity within a ui"lr"
"conomic
History,9'Seealsomr"*i*.uai.o"sionofthe.segmentary'natureoftheSrivijayan
kingdom.
3 6 ' . S e g m e n t a r y , h e r e t s u s e d n o t a s i t p e r t a i n e d s p e c i political
f i c a i l y tunits"'
o t h e Slinked,
t r u c t u loosely
reofth
in South India but ir ti" -"." g...."1."r,r. of;localized recognised by local
,ou"r.igntv might for a time be
and symbolically, t" ki;;";;." south India (Delhi'
peasant State and Society in Medieual
chieftains.,,SeeBurton stein,
1980),44-45.FortheapplicationofthisconcepttosoutheastAsiaseeHermanK
"Early state to.-uti#'unJ ritual policy .in-East Java"' The -E-ighth^Conferen
International n..o.iuiiotioi Hiti"ii*t oi Atiu' Kuala Lumpur ' 25-28 August 1980
7 - 8 .
37.P.A.Tiele,..DeEurope€rsindenMaieischeArchipel'',BKIxxv(|877):245.
38'A'Reid,...Closed,and.open'slavesystemsinPre-colonialsoutheastLsia',,inS
Reid (Queensland'1983)' 170
Bondageana oe|enaei6-'in- ioutieast^Asia'.(ed')
.sruu.".v'"nJ'trr"ii"u" T.rde in South Sulawesi,1660s-1800s",fDid
H. sutherland,
267.
3g.SeeTapanRaychaudhuri,"JanCompanyinCoromandel'1605-1690"'IzK1
Hague, 1962),Passim'
porcelainin the inter-regionaltrade durinl
40. For an accountof the increasingimportanceof
Porcelain and the Dutch East Indies Compan
the seventeentit.."tutlt, tt; i' Vott"t'
in tn, oos;'-"ing;t;s of Batauincastle,... 1602- 1652 (Leiden, 1971\,lassim
as recorded
4 1 . D ' L o m b a r d , . . P o u r u n e h i s t o i r e d e s v i l l e s d u S u d - E s t a"European
s i a t i q u e ' companres
' , A n n a l e san
Ec
Societis-Ciailizattons (Paris, July 1970)' 847-48; Lombard'
Asian societies", 181'
integration in the western Archipelago
42. SeeKathirithamby-wells, "Regionaland state
22-24.
the eighteenthcenturiesonly two interit
43. Lombard has noted that during the fifteenth to
regionse*pe.ienced"n-u't"-nttnulttanceandtheseweretheupperreache
Irrawaddywithtt'".,."oteu",andcentralJava,-withthecapitalsofKartasura,Surak
and Jogjakarta.L";;;;p"u, un" ti.toi." des viiles du Sud-Estasiatique",848'
44.J.C.vanLeur,Ind'onesinnTradeandSociety:EssaysinAsiansocialandEconomic
(The Hasue, L95)' 77-78'
45'AlthoughinternationaltradehadbeenknownearlierduringtheHan-Pathan.Ro
period, the fung-atUlttia p"ti"i the Mongol period' it was the Europeanmaritin
""a
revolutionofthefifteenthandsixteenthcenturies,involvingthemassmoveme
open to the world economy. Phil
consumption go"ai^*i,l.tr uia sorrtrreast.Asia
"t l, world History (cambridge, 1984),105, 119; Bail
D. curtain, crou ciin oi'iroi
of the Portuguese Empire' 1415-15i
W. Diffie S C"org;"D. Wtniis, Foundntions
(Oxford, 1977)' 5-15'
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