Orientation, navigation and seafaring in Malay Islamic historiography from the 14th to 19th centuries

Abstract

Southeast Asia with the Malay world being a part of it, is one of the most important center of human civilization, known by many names: Yavadvipa, Malayadvipa, Suvarnadvipa, Suvarnabhumi from Indian Ramayana and Jataka text; Jabadiu, Chryse, Argyre, Golden Khersonese, in Ancient Greek and Latin tradition; Ch’ih-t’u, Shih-li-fo-shi, Tun-Sun, Ko- Lo etc, in early Chinese historical sources. The Nusantara, being composed of an archipelago and a long, relatively narrow peninsula with many navigable rivers, was provided with thousands of miles of coast line, which made it one of the ancient world’s ideal locations for local and long- distance trading. The involvement of Malays in the world trading system would be impossible without the existence of some well-developed tradition of seafaring, navigation, shipping and boat-building. The spread of Islam led to the fundamental changes not only in religious, but also in the economic life of the population of the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago. Gradually the Malays became a part of the world system of free trade and international seafaring developed within the framework of Islamic civilization. A significant amount of information regarding seafaring, ships, navigators and navigation may be found in Malay Islamic historical texts, including mentioning regarding toponyms, natural subjects, weather, monsoons, references to the special fields of knowledge related to the seafaring and navigation, travels and travelers etc. This essay explores this information to show that navigation and seafaring was a very important part of the Malay Muslim tradition from very early time until now.