Barbara Watson Andaya

To live as brothers : southeast Sumatra in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Andaya (Asian studies, U. of Hawaii) examines how the arrival of the Dutch and English impacted the relationship between two kingdoms in Sumatra, the Jambi and the Palembang, who had a long history of cyclical hostility and reconciliation. She focuses on three themes culled from legends and folklore

Oceans Unbounded: Transversing Asia across “Area Studies”

Recent endorsements of maritime history as an integral part of world history should be central in any attempt to transverse the academic divides separating the study of “South”, “East” and “Southeast” Asia (AHA Forum. 2006; Buschmann 2005). Nonetheless, envisaging an interconnected maritime Asia that is not subservient to the boundaries of area studies and modern nations, and yet does not descent to the simplistic and overly general, is a formidable challenge. A number of studies have tracked trading diasporas and economic linkages, but the place of the oceans in the cultures of Asia’s littoral societies has received much less attention. It may not be difficult to locate the reasons. Although in simple terms, “maritime history” is the history of human interaction with the sea in all its facets (Finamore 2004, p. 1), most Asianists have reached adulthood located within a nation-state with identifiable territorial borders and carry inherent intellectual biases that privilege a land-based perspective.

Historicising “Modernity” in Southeast Asia

The term “modernity” implies Western influence and the weakening of beliefs and practices associated with traditional culture. Although it is increasingly used in reference to contemporary Southeast Asia because of the regions current economic growth, there seems little room for historical perspectives. This paper takes up the idea that if we broaden our understanding of modernity in Southeast Asia so that it is not restricted to recent history, we may see evidence of a modern spirit in earlier times. Although being modern became increasingly linked to Europe, Southeast Asians never rejected their own past. However the eclectic nature of “modernity” in Southeast Asia was undermined as “modern” ideas and practices came increasingly from Europe, to be inevitably associated with Europes political and economic control.

Localising the Universal: Women, Motherhood and the Appeal of Early Theravada Buddhism

This essay suggests that one reason for the success of Theravāda Buddhism in early Southeast Asia was its appeal to women. The maternal metaphor, a prominent theme in Buddhist texts, was both familiar and relevant to the lives of all females, regardless of their social standing. Translated into a local environment, the interaction between motherhood and merit-making provided new opportunities for lay women to display their piety and strengthened their links with the monkhood.

STUDYING WOMEN AND GENDER IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Historians of Southeast Asia have begun to consider the history of women and gender relatively recently, even though the complementary relationship between men and women has long been cited as a regional characteristic. In the last twenty years or so the field has witnessed some important advances, most notably in the study of the twentieth century but also in the preceding periods as well. Generalizations advanced in the past are now being refined through a number of new case studies. The second half of this essay, surveying recent publications primarily in English, focuses on pre-twentieth century history, identifying the areas where research has been most productive and suggesting lines of inquiry that might be profitable in the future.

The Heritage of the Past

Until the beginning of the fifteenth century AD, the history of what is now Malaysia is difficult to reconstruct with any real certainty. Because of the lack of information, historians have tended to regard the rise of a great entrepot, Melaka, on the west coast of the Malay peninsula, as an identifiable starting point for Malay history. There is a consequent inclination to consider the centuries before 1400 — the ‘pre-Melakan period’ — as being of relatively little importance in the evolution of modern Malaysia. But Melaka’s rise from a quiet fishing village to a world-renowned emporium and centre of Malay culture cannot be explained unless one realizes that behind the splendour of its court and the vigour of its commerce lay traditions of government and trade which had evolved over centuries. The story of Malaysia does not therefore begin at Melaka but stretches back deep into the past. An examination of Melaka’s heritage provides not only the context essential for an understanding of later events but throws up themes which continue to be relevant as Malaysian history unfolds.

Women and economic change: the pepper trade in pre-modern southeast Asia

Women in Southeast Asia are traditionally said to have occupied a “high status”, especially in comparison with China and India. As yet, however, little research has been undertaken on the pre-modern period. This paper examines the development of the pepper trade in Sumatra during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and explores the manner in which this new cash crop affected the position of women. Prior to the introduction of pepper, females dominated horticulture and local marketing. Initially pepper was incorporated into household gardens, but increased production made its growing and marketing less easily allied with domestic tasks. The arrival of Europeans accelerated the process whereby control of pepper resources fell into male hands, both local and foreign. Declining prices meant peppers popularity declined, but the Dutch and English East India Companies still tried to persuade local rulers to enforce cultivation. On the east coast of Sumatra the pepper areas were far from coastal centers of control, and compulsion proved impossible. On the west coast, however, the pepper districts were closer to English posts, and the changes brought about by forced cultivation were therefore more far reaching. Women were particularly affected, since Europeans saw plantation agriculture as a male preserve, with females occupying a secondary position. Growing local resistance to pepper growing is normally attributed to the low returns it offered from the mid seventeenth century onwards. As a case study, this paper suggests that another element was the cultural disruption that European policies introduced, and especially the effects on the traditional roles of women in the domestic economy.

Aspects of Warfare in premodern Southeast Asia

It would be extremely di cult to construct the premodern history of the region delineated as ÒSoutheast AsiaÓ without reference to warfare. Early inscriptions and carved reliefs acclaim the achievements of powerful kings, while oral chants and indigenous legends laud the victories of great warrior chiefs against their enemies. Albeit expressed in a different mode, military matters are equally prominent in European documents, where pages upon pages cover descriptions of wars fought against one or another native opponent. Because the outcome of any con ict, whether local raid or full-scale battle, could have far-reaching effects, these sources continue to attract historical interest. As their questions become more nuanced, scholars have begun to consider not merely the political and diplomatic results, but other matters such as the symbolic capital attached to the warrior culture and the ways in which the conduct of warfare changed following the introduction of new technologies. These essays were originally presented at a panel entitled ÒAspects of Warfare in Premodern Southeast AsiaÓ suggested by Gerrit Knaap and organized by Barbara Watson Andaya for the April 2002 Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies in Washington, D.C. The participants in the panel, specialists on different areas of Southeast Asia, were well quali ed to speak on the subject. Noelle Rodriguez received her Ph.D. from the University of the Philippines, and is currently writing a book on Philippine warfare in the seventeenth century. Michael Charney obtained his doctorate from the University of Michigan, and has worked extensively on Arakan and the early Burmese states. Gerrit Knaap completed a Ph.D. at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and has a wide-ranging knowledge of the VOC sources, especially relating to eastern Indonesia.

Response to Prasenjit Duara, “Asia Redux”

In his provocative essay, Prasenjit Duara argues that prior to the nineteenth century, the web of maritime trade networks infused the ill-defined area we call “Asia” with a genuine coherence, providing a conduit for cultural flows that readily permitted interactive relationships and the mutual adoption of new beliefs and practices. By the late nineteenth century, however, the imperial powers sought to ensure their global dominance by creating regional blocs consisting of territories that were economically subservient to the metropole. The consequent focus on the establishment of territorial boundaries encouraged a “nationalist congruence between state and culture” that gathered pace over the next hundred years. Only now are we beginning to see an Asia where interdependence and increasing cultural contact, carrying echoes of past connectivities, have opened up new opportunities by which a “transnational consciousness” can and should be encouraged.

Malaysia's Original People: Past, Present and Future of the Orang Asli ed. by Kirk Endicott (review)

Notwithstanding this observation, the comparisons between the different periods combine detailed scholarship on specific case histories, showing how social history scholarship enlightens past and present understanding of contemporary social and environmental issues. Overall, Nature Contained: Environmental Histories of Singapore provides new insights into Singapore’s changing environment and environmental history and demonstrates the growing interest in environmental history globally.