Page 280 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

Commercial sailing lanes of Malay traders initially followed those of the Majapahit
merchant fleet. However, due to their location in the Malay Peninsula, when the northwest
monsoon blew, they started their voyage down the east coast of Sumatra, exploring the
north coast of Java and continuing to enter the two trading Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda)
to Timor Islands, the producer of sandalwood. After that they waited for the southeast
monsoon to continue the voyage to the area that produced spices. After obtaining the
commodities, they waited for the monsoon winds to blow east to sail back to Malacca.
These commercial sailing lanes began to change in the early 16 century. This was
th
based on the information obtained from the Malay traders, expressed by Tome Pires. He
wrote that:
“The islands of Makasar are four or five days journey beyond the islands we have
described, on the way to the Moluccas. The islands are numerous. It is a large country. One
side goes up to Buton and Madura and the other extends far up north. ... They say that
these islands have more than, fifty kings. These islands trade with Malacca and with Java
and with Kalimantan and with Siam and with all the places between Puhang und Siam.
They are men more like the Siunnesethuu other races.” (Pires and Rodrigues, 1944: 226,
Poelinggomang, 2002: 21).
This not only describes the trade relations between Makasar and other trade centers,
but also provides the necessary information of a faster voyage to reach the spice-producing
areas. If you had followed the old path, the crossing would have started in October or
November. From East Nusa Tenggara, they had to wait for the southeast monsoon wind to
blow, which only began in June the following year to continue the journey to the Moluccas.
That was more than a seven or eight month voyage across the sea before reaching the
Spice Islands. This new route greatly reduced the travel time; within only four or five-day
voyage, they arrived in Makasar, and then they were able to sail to the Moluccas in a short
time, about three or four days.
The role played by Malay sailors and merchants enabled Malacca to maintain its position
as an internal transit port for the textile products from maritime trade zone of Bengal Bay;
for spices and sandalwood from maritime trade zone of Java Sea; for porcelain, silk, and
various jewelry from maritime trade zone of the South China Sea. Being the place where
the traders from three maritime trade zones met showed us how busy Malacca was in the
world of trade. This had lured Portuguese sailors and merchants who were looking for the
most important commodities in the world trade at that time, namely spices, to conquer
Malacca (1511) and then turned it their base in search areas that produced spices.

280 Chapter 7

MELANESIA BOOK FA LAYOUT 051216.indd 280 2/10/17 2:11 PM