ABSTRACT: Many discussions by the Western scholars on the history of traditional boats in the Malay archipelago focus on one specific territory or country. Apparently, there has been no effort in doing a total review on these discussions. Vague facts on the prehistoric history of maritime in the Malay archipelago, Pacific and Indian oceans as well as the blind passion of the countries in Southeast Asia in promoting their great historical “bahari” culture have made it difficult for us to solve the question on the actual origin of boats and outriggers that are still being used and become a proud maritime heritage of some countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Oceania Islands. Therefore, the objective of this article is to review the history of the early origin and culture of boat and outrigger in the Malay archipelago before the 15^th century during the reign of traditional governments and before the coming of Western powers such as Portuguese, Dutch, English and Spanish. According to archeological records and traditional maritime of the Malay archipelago, boats and outriggers were first used by sailors and traders in the Malay archipelago sea in order to carry various goods, mainly spices to be traded in other territories in the Malay archipelago as well as Madagascar and west coastal Africa.

KEY WORDS: culture of boat and outrigger, Malay archipelago, traditional governments, and native sailors and traders.

About the Author: Associate Professor Dr. Ismail Ali is a Senior Lecturer at the Programme of History, School of Social Sciences UMS (Malaysia University of Sabah), Beg Berkunci, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. He can be reached at: ismailrc@ums.edu.my

How to cite this article? Ali, Ismail. (2009). “The Culture of Outrigger Boat in the Malay Archipelago: A Maritime Perspective” in TAWARIKH: International Journal for Historical Studies, Vol.1(1) October, pp.57-70. Bandung, Indonesia: ASPENSI [Asosiasi Sarjana Pendidikan Sejarah Indonesia], ISSN 2085-0980.

Chronicle of the article: Accepted (August 8, 2009); Revised (September 11, 2009); and Published (October 28, 2009).

Bellwood, Peter. (1979). Man’s Conquest of the Pacific: The Prehistory of Southeast Asia and Oceania. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bellwood, Peter. (1985). Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago. Sydney, London: Academic Press.

Bellwood, Peter. (1987). The Polynesians: Prehistory of an Island People. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bellwood, Peter, James J. Fox & Darrell Tryon. (1995). The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. Canberra: Australian National University.

Bowood, R. (1976). The Story of Ships. Loughborough: Ladybird Book Ltd.

Chaudhuri, K.H. (1985). Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean: An Economic History from the Rise of Islam to 1750. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fernand, Braundel. (1988). Civilization and Capitalism, Vol. II: The Age of Commerce. London: Collins Fontana Press.

Coedes, George. (1975). The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Canbera: Australian National University.

Gibbon, Tony. (2001). The Encyclopedia of Ships from 5,000 B.C. to the Present Day. California: Thunder Bay Press.

Hall, D.G.E. (1988). Sejarah Asia Tenggara. Translation. Surabaya: Penerbit Usaha Nasional.

Hall, Kenneth R. (1985). Maritime Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.

Heekeren, H.R. Van. (1958). The Bronze-Iron Age of Indonesia. ‘s-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.

Heeren, H.J. (1972). Pelayaran dan Pengaruh Kebudayaan Makassar Bugis di Pantai Utara Australia. Jakarta: Bhratara Aksara.

Hill, Gibson. (1950). “The Indonesian Trading Boats Reaching Singapore” in JMBRAS, 23(1), pp.103-138.

Hornell, James. (1946). Watertransport, Origins and Early Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Horridge, Adrian. (1981). The Prahu Traditional Sailing Boat of Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.

Horridge, Adrian. (1979). The Konjo Boatbuilders and the Bugis Prahus of South Sulawesi. London: National Maritime Museum.

Kanumoyoso, Bondan et al. [eds]. Kembara Bahari: Esei Kehormatan 80 Tahun Adrian B. Lapian. Jakarta: Komunitas Bambu.

Kearney, Milo. (2004). The Indian Ocean in World History. London: Routledge.

Koestoro, Lucas Partanda. (1993). “Tinggalan Perahu di Sumatera Selatan: Perahu Sriwijaya” in Mindra Faizaliskandiar et al. [eds]. Sriwijaya dalam Perspektif Arkeologi dan Sejarah. Palembang: Pemda Dati I Sumatera Selatan.

Koestoro, Lucas Partanda. (1995). “Penempatan Situs-situs Bangkai Perahu Indonesia dalam Sejarah Teknik Pembangunan Perahu di Asia Tenggara” in Hariani Santiko et al. [eds]. Kirana: Persembahan untuk Prof. DR. Haryati Soebadio. Jakarta: Intermasa, pp. 203–216.

Lapian, A.B. (1979). “Local Potentates and the Competition for Cloves in Early Seventeenth Century Ternate” in Proceedings Seventh IAHA Conference in Bangkok, 22-26 August 1977. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.

Lapian, A.B. (1987a). “Kebudayaan Bahari di Kawasan laut Sulawesi” Paper presented in the Seminar Kebaharian ASEAN di Museum Nasional. Jakarta: LIPI.

Lapian, A.B. (1987b). “Orang Laut — Bajak Laut — Raja Laut: Sejarah Kawasan Laut Sulawesi Abad XIX”. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Yogyakarta: Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Lapian, A.B. (1994). “Bacan and the Early History of Maluku” in L.E. Visser [ed]. Halmahera and Beyond: Social Science Research in the Moluccas. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Lapian, A.B. (2008). Pelayaran dan Perniagaan Nusantara Abad ke-16 dan 17. Jakarta: Komunitas Bambu.

Lapian, A.B. (2009). Orang Laut, Bajak Laut, Raja Laut: Sejarah Kawasan Laut Sulawesi Abad XIX. Jakarta: Komunitas Bambu.

Lewis, A. (1973). “Maritime Skills in the Indian Ocean, 1368-1500” in The Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol.16, pp.239-263.

Lewis, Edward V. & Robert O. Brien. (1985). Kapal. Jakarta: Tira Pustaka.

Lopa, Baharuddin. (1982). Hukum Laut, Pelayaran dan Perniagaan. Bandung: Alumni Manguin.

Mahan, A.T. (1965). The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783. London: Methuen University Papaerbacks.

McGrail, Sean. (2001). Boats of the World from the Stone Age to Medieval Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Meilink, Roeelofsz. (1962). Asian Trade and Eropean Influence in the Indonesian Archipelago between 1500 and about 1630. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.

Nontji, Anugerah. (1987). Laut Nusantara. Jakarta: Djambatan.

Nooteboom, C. (1972). Sumatera dan Pelajaran di Samudera Hindia. Translation. Djakarta: Bhratara.

Peacock, B.A.V. (1965). “The Drums of Kampong Sungai Lang” in Malaya in History, 10(1).

Pelras, Christian. (2006). Manusia Bugis. Translation. Jakarta: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

Pramono, Djoko. (2005). Budaya Bahari. Jakarta: Penerbit PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Purwaka, Tommy H. (1993). Pelayaran Antar Pulau Indonesia. Jakarta: Bumi Aksara.

Reid, Anthony. (1988). Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Reid, Anthony. (2004). Sejarah Modern Awal Asia Tenggara. Translation. Jakarta: Penerbit Pustaka LP3ES.

Renfrew, Colin & Paul Bahn. (1991). Archaeology Theories, Methods and Practice. London: Thames and Hudson.

Sather, Clifford. (1997). The Bajau Laut Adaptation, History and Fate in a Maritime Fishing Society of South-Eastern Sabah. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.

Shaffer, Lynda Norene. (1996). Maritime Southeast Asia to 1500. New York: Dova Publications.

Sopher, David E. (1972). The Sea Nomads: A Study Based on the Literature of the Maritime Boat People of Southeast Asia. Singapore: Memoirs of the National Museum.

Wallace, Alfred. (1962). The Malay Archipelgo. New York: Dova Publications.

Warren, James F. (1985). The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State. Singapore: Singapore University Press.

Wibisono, M.S. (2005). Pengantar Ilmu Kelautan. Jakarta: Penerbit PT Gramedia Widiasarana.

Wolters, OW. (1967a). Early Indonesian Commerce. Ithaca, New York: Cornel University Press.

Wolters, O.W. (1967b). The Fall of Srivijaya in Malay History. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.