The hybrid maritime actors of Southeast Asia

Abstract

This article describes the path of the Malayo-Polynesians who lived in the Malay Peninsula and the Southeast Asian islands. The crisis of the empire and the Ming takeover resulteds in significant Cantonese emigration towards Java, Champa, Brunei, and the Philippines due to the repression of the Sino-Muslims and Islamo-Chinese. In the 15th century, the development of the Chinese spice trade in the Maluku (Moluccas, or Spice Islands) was due to the mobilization of Malay and Javanese fleets. When in 1568 the empire again authorized private trade by issuing licenses, the Chinese communities that moved to the ports clearly showed their differences with the completely assimilated older generations. But the fleets of Chinese junks after 1568 and the European ships would take over long-distance trade while the archipelago communities weakened by the conflicts between the small states would end up with flotillas of small junks of less than 10-ton capacity used for the essential runs along the coasts between small and large ports. Show more