Piracy in Southeast Asia
Piracy has been a feature of maritime Southeast Asia since it was first navigated. In 414 CE, a Chinese traveler, Fah Hsien, noted the perils of piracy in Southeast Asia (Miller 1970: 14). In ancient times, Southeast Asian kingdoms commonly used piratical violence to compete with one another. The trading empire of Srivijaya (established around 682 CE) was destroyed in this way by the Javanese kingdom Majapahit.
Piracy was a disruptive factor in the trading routes to India and China and came to be a major nuisance to the colonial powers on their arrival in the region. In earlier colonial times many acts of piracy enjoyed official sanction from sultans, princes, and aristocrats of the region. Some small kingdoms in Southeast Asia used pirates to plunder ships and coastal villages as a source of illegal revenue. Determining the identity of the pirates was difficult as established villages could resort to piracy to supplement income from other commercial activities such as fishing, farming, or trading.
From the point of view of the peoples of Southeast Asia, growing European incursions into their seas and lands represented subjugation, thus what constituted piracy could be said to be relative. The vessels of colonial nations were also known to engage in acts of piracy against each other and indigenous boats. Before the overall problem was brought under control in the latter half of the nineteenth century, local pirate fleets, sometimes consisting of thousands of men, could be used to devastating effect against colonial shipping. Using small ships (perahu) in hit-and-run raids, the pirates could easily hide in the myriad of bays, rivers, mangrove swamps, and forests. The problem areas were the Malay Peninsula, the Sekrang and Sarebus Rivers of Borneo, the Sulu Islands, and Mindanao. These pirates were feared for their ruthlessness (those from the South Philippines were infamous for their love of hand-to-hand combat) and accounts exist of their barbarity, which were taken from the few survivors. Many captives, whether from Europe or Southeast Asia, if not tortured and killed, were sold into slavery.
But considerable opposition was to come from the well-armed vessels of the colonial powers. The British, Dutch, and Spanish navies were only able to break the pirate threat by seeking out their inland bases. The British Royal Navy decided to destroy piracy on the high seas and put considerable effort into locating and eliminating pirates in many places around the world— even sailing up rivers or traveling deep inland. The advent of the steam warship made pursuit far easier regardless of wind direction, which was a considerable advantage over the small sailing craft of the Southeast Asian pirates. However, piracy has never disappeared from Southeast Asia. It enjoyed a revival in the chaotic aftermath of World War II but was under relative control again within the next few decades. Even so, the region remains the most dangerous area for piracy. Of 1,243 cases of reported piracy worldwide in 1998 (and there are many unreported cases), nearly half—579— occurred in Southeast Asia.
Further Reading
Miller, Harry. (1970) Pirates of the Far East. London: Robert Hale & Company.
Renwick, Neil, and Jason Abbott. (1999) "Piratical Violence and Maritime Security in Southeast Asia." Security Dialogue 30, 2: 183–196.
Rutter, Owen. (1930) The Pirate Wind: Tales of the Sea-Robbers of Malaya. Singapore: Oxford University Press.
Tarling, Nicholas. (1963) Piracy and Politics in the Malay World: A Study of British Imperialism in Nineteenth Century South-East Asia. Melbourne, Australia: Cheshire.
Tangliacozzo, Eric. (2000) "Kettle on a Slow Boil: Batavia's Threat Perceptions in the Indies' Outer Islands, 1870–1910." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 31, 1: 70–100.
This is the complete article, containing 593 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
