The Singapore and Melaka Straits: Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century

3 Naval Security and Forts for the Straits, c. 1584–1630

117 C H A P T E R 3 Naval฀Security฀and฀ ฀ Forts฀for฀the฀Straits,฀ ฀ c.฀1584–1630 Portuguese฀Security฀Plans,฀c.฀1584–1609 Plans for fortresses or citadels around the Straits of Melaka, Singapore and Kundur (Sabam) were conceived in direct response to developments that adversely affected the Estado da Índia’s security, particularly the security of its merchant shipping. Initial plans were designed to cope with changes in Portuguese relations with local overlords, particularly Aceh, Johor, Pahang and Jambi. Already before the Portuguese set out to destroy Johor Lama in 1587,1 the fragile political conditions and the instability this brought to the flow of trade evoked an initial suggestion to build a fort around Aceh and also in the Straits of Singapore. One such proposal was devised in 1584.2 At this time Johor and Aceh were on good terms, and their efforts against the Portuguese led to serious difficulties for Lusitanian trade with ports in Japan, China and around the Gulf of Siam. Rumour in Portuguese circles had it that the Johoreans and the Acehnese were planning to build a fortification of their own. If constructed, such a fort could have had serious repercussions on Portugal’s long-distance trade with the Far East, the Malukus and Makassar. The Portuguese scholar 03 S&MS.indd 117 12/31/09 2:54:50 PM 118฀ The Singapore and Melaka Straits Manuel Lobato claims that he has not retrieved any credible evidence to substantiate these rumours. He contends that Johor was conceivably unwilling to consent to such a scheme, especially since this would have given the Acehnese a presence very close by, if not in Johorean territory as such.3 Johor and Aceh had become bitter enemies by the turn of the century, and Lobato’s deliberations certainly retain validity. In Chapter XLVI of his Roteiro das Cousas do Achem, Dom João Ribeiro Gaio, bishop of Melaka, who may well have been aware of these rumours, floats the idea of constructing a fortaleza, or fort, in the Straits of Singapore4 but fails to mention a specific location for this enterprise. He simply states that it would be of great benefit to navigation to, and commerce with, the regions in East Asia.5 He suggests that the crown dispatch to the region 5,000 men who could then help open markets. Judging from his description of the current conditions, the capital and fortress at Johor Lama were still standing.6 About a decade later, Johor Lama was destroyed and the fortaleza in the Straits of Singapore was still not constructed. The project appears to have been now placed in the hands of the Portuguese viceroy in Goa, Dom Francisco da Gama, who was evidently of the opinion that such a fortification would prove ineffective. In a letter addressed to the king of Portugal and Spain, dating from about 1597, he expressed his clear preference for dispatching an armada to the region. The task of this fleet was to patrol the waters around the Straits.7 With the hindsight of history, the implementation of the viceroy’s recommendation was certainly the more cost-effective and flexible solution pursued by the Portuguese. However, the Lusitanian authorities viewed Dutch and also English commercial penetration and freebooting in Southeast Asia with considerable alarm.8 Local princes and overlords began to conclude treaties with parties hostile to the Portuguese cause, and entertained diplomatic relations with other European powers for the first time. For example, the archbishop of Goa lamented in a letter to King Philip III/II, dated 6 April 1603, that Johor had dispatched an ambassador to the Dutch Republic and separately established contacts with Queen Elizabeth I of England.9 The Portuguese proposed, at the instigation of Manuel Godinho de Erédia in 1604, to build a Portuguese fortress in the vicinity of Johor Lama or somewhere in the region of the Johor River estuary.10 This would have enabled them to control the flow of trade on the river and to enhance the protection of their China fleets, which were periodically looted near the Straits of Singapore by local pirates and, increasingly 03 S&MS.indd 118 12/31/09 2:54:50 PM Naval Security and Forts for the Straits, c. 1584–1630 119 since the “Santa Catarina incident” of 1603, also by Dutch “traders”. As Gibson-Hill highlights in his important article “Johor Lama...