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

Introduction

1 Introduction The Straits of Singapore and the nearby Strait of Melaka mark a crucial point of strategic interest in Southeast Asia. Regional and long-distance maritime trading networks converge in these maritime arteries, which link ports in Europe, the Mediterranean, eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent with key centres of trade in Thailand, Indochina , insular Southeast Asia, China, Korea and Japan. This is not just a modern truism. Drawing on familiar and unfamiliar source materials of both Asian and European origin, this book argues that the Straits of Singapore and Melaka have for centuries stood at the forefront of geostrategic concerns. Before the dawn of the 17th century, it had become clear to the officials of the Portuguese crown as much as to the directors of the Netherlands’ United East India Company, better known by its historic initials VOC (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie), that whoever controlled the waters off modern Singapore and the two Karimun Islands gained a firm grip on regional as well as long-distance intra-Asian trade. If tightened by regular naval patrols or by imposing blockades on key regional ports, this maritime stranglehold could be used to intimidate regional princes, enhance the prowess of early European colonial powers or, with reference to inter-European rivalry, serve as a nodal point at which to sever communications and trade between the far-flung ports of the Portuguese Estado da Índia.1 00b S&MS.indd 1 12/31/09 2:48:59 PM 2฀ The Singapore and Melaka Straits The Straits of Singapore and Melaka have long served as principal maritime arteries of commerce with consequences of geopolitical and geostrategic significance. Strategic interest in the region — seen either within the narrower confines of the historic powers surrounding the Straits, or even from the perspective of Europe’s princely courts and East India Company boardrooms — only makes sense against the backdrop of trade, trading networks and the perceived need to facilitate, guarantee or protect the flow of commerce. But strategic interest cannot be separated from trade and commerce. To better grasp the evolution of strategic perceptions and security policies, it is important to understand the scope and nature of regional geography as well as the political powers around the Straits. This book is about the geo-strategic and geopolitical interests of the European powers around Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. An understanding of this period entails an appreciation of the topographical sciences of the age, the style of diplomacy undertaken, the cooptation of local commercial and political elites, as well as the contemporary knowledge, physical control and protection of existing maritime trading routes. This book addresses a number of “big issues” — issues that are of concern in the 21st century and have proven to be of enduring historical value. These big issues involve trade and commerce, security, sovereignty, military hegemony and diplomatic engagement — all of which require a deeper understanding of the region and of the shifting powers that surrounded the Singapore and Melaka Straits. Readers will quickly appreciate that this volume is not an imperial history of the sort written during the 19th and early 20th centuries. While drawing heavily on surviving European colonial documents, the author does not intend to argue in favour of European dominance in terms of trade, political power, military prowess or even cultural values. While acknowledging the inherent limitations and challenges to the modern historian, the author hopes to let the primary documents speak for themselves. A distinctive feature of this book is the insistence that not only indigenous sources, but also non-Englishlanguage European source materials of the period are of an uneven quality, nature and intention; they also differ considerably in levels of formality. The Dagh-Register Batavia (Dairy of the Castle at Batavia) and correspondence between VOC’s factors consist in part of chatter and gossip that modern readers often find difficult to contextualise. Still, 00b S&MS.indd 2 12/31/09 2:48:59 PM Introduction 3 source materials such as the Dagh-Register also often contain useful nuggets of information on how traders, factors and visitors thought about a given situation or development at any point in time. In other words, these materials often have their finger on the pulse of emerging developments and act as a barometer of developing crises. It goes almost without saying that these materials were written by clerks...