“Location, Location, Location” Location Isn’t Everything; the Mobility

of Southeast Asian Ports.

John N. MiksicDepartment of Southeast Asian Studies

National University of Singapore

• Different phases of Southeast Asian history have been marked by changing locations of major ports. Location is obviously not the sole determinant of successful ports.

• What other factors determine the rise and fall of ports?

• Technology [including port infrastructure, ship types, canals]• Political conditions both within and beyond Southeast Asia• Military organization and security• The state of the regional economy, • Bureaucracy and efficiency of port administration; cf Pires on

Melaka, O.W. Wolters.

Periods in Southeast Asian History

• Preclassic: 1000 – 1 BCE

• Protoclassic: 1 – 600 CE

• Early Classic: 600-900 CE

• Middle Classic: 900-1200

• Late Classic: 1200-1400

• Postclassic: 1400-1600

• Early Modern: 1600-1800

• Modern: 1800-now

Preclassic Period: Distribution of Dongson Drums; Preclassic and Protoclassic Ports

Oc-eoKhao Sam KeoSungai Batu

Air Sugihan

Cibuaya/BatuJayaSembiran

Early Classic Ports: Laem Pho, Khuan Luk Pat, Sungai Mas, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Butuan, Barus, Jambi, Palembang

Middle Classic Ports, 900-1200: Nakhon Si Thammarat, Bujang, Lamuri, Kota Cina, Bukit Hasang, Jambi

Late Classic Ports: Ayudhya, Kota Batu (Brunei), Lamuri, Singapore, Palembang, Tuban (Majapahit)

Postclassic Ports: Ayudhya, Manila, Kota Batu (Brunei), Patani, Johor Lama, Aceh, Palembang, Banten

Early Modern Ports: Ayudhya, Patani, Manila, Brunei, Jambi, Palembang, Aceh, Bencoolen, Batavia, Japara, Surabaya

How much of this variation is real, and how much results from biased information? The area from Borneo to New Guinea is still almost unexplored archaeologically, and we have few historical sources from those areas. We have more historical sources from the western part of Seasia, but little archaeological information.

[Next: archaeological heritage of port sites in Seasia.]

Western Han Sherds, Khao Sam Kaeo; Dongson drum, Chaiya

Khao Sam Kaeo: not an actual port site; a residential and workshop area on hills near a river mouth. Archaeological heritage of ports: mainly trade items, manufactured goods.

Khuan Luk Pad: ship coin, Indian intaglio, 1-2 C; carnelian beads, Roman beads

Brahmi script,Pallava script

Indian Objects

West Asia

Problem of Looting

Main Port Environments: Estuaries and Mangroves

Sungai Batu, Kedah

Batujaya, West Java

Romano-Indian Pottery

Sembiran, Bali

Muara Jambi

Kota Cina

Use of shipwreck sites: delineate routes, but not specific port sites. They tend to cluster around navigational hazards, not ports.

Oldest Seasian shipwreck: Pontian, Pahang: wood for the ship was felled between 260 and 430 CE (1657±60) making the Pontian vessel the oldest dated boat yet found in Southeast Asia. About 12 meters long. Pottery: from south Vietnam (Oc Eo).

Was Pontian a port? No further research has apparently been conducted there.

Belitung controversy: where was its intended port?

Ports After AD 1000

• Kota Cina, Pengkalan Bujang

• Kota Batu

• Tuban, Melaka, Ayutthaya, Martaban, Banten.

Candi Bukit Batu Pahat and the Cola Invasion of ca 1025Invasion recorded in India; Colas ruled from this site for 100 years; Indian

trading guilds were very active until decline of Cola empire in 13th century.

Chinese, Arab artifacts, but no Indian imports. Perishable?

Late Classic - Postclassic (1200-1600)

• India was mainly ruled by Muslims; Islam penetrated Southeast Asia; Chinese immigrants, both male and female, began to establish permanent settlements. Impact on ports?

Fort Canning Excavation

Compass: navigational aid, or for geomancy?

Archaeological sites

in Singapore

Archaeological

Excavations,

Heritage District

Singapore

Tuban – Port of Majapahit

Ming Gap

• After 1368, the Ming ban on foreign trade severely curtailed Chinese shipping, except for smugglers.

• Singapore, and other Southeast Asian ports do not seem to have been seriously affected. Melaka became a famous port in Europe, spurring the Portuguese to circumvent the Venetian spice monopoly by discovering the route around the Cape of Good Hope.

Displays:

Zheng He ship fabrication;

Souks of the 15th century

Jewel of Muscat

Typhoon Theatre

Artifacts of 14th-century Singapore

Bakau/Maranei shipwreck

Maranei shipwreck

Melaka World Heritage City

Banten/Bantam

Final Questions:

If port sites are impermanent, what is their heritage?

Is heritage inherent in particular places, or in a network? The institutions of the maritime silk road have been stable for 2,000 years, but port structures are usually perishable and utilitarian. Do ports lack architectural heritage, or local identity? How can we capture and represent maritime heritage to the public if port sites are impermanent?

What other kinds of maritime heritage institutions and displays in addition to static exhibitions can we devise [IT]? Can we identify and replicate characteristics of the most successful maritime heritage centres in the world?

If maritime heritage is dynamic rather than static, what is the best way to convey it to the public?

Our knowledge of maritime history and tradition is much weaker than our knowledge of land-based kingdoms in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Port sites are notoriously difficult to study and preserve, and funding for archaeological research on maritime traditions has been scarce. Will governments fill the gap? Are public-private partnerships feasible?