Between 1430 AD and 1567 AD the Chinese were prohibited to
migrate from China. The Ming emperor T’ai-tsu had lost interest in
foreign countries. After its last expedition 1431 AD - 1433 AD the
once mighty Chinese fleet was dismantled. This had a tremendous
impact on the history of Southeast Asia. It must have weakened the
region’s overall position in the wake of European expansion. The
Chinese Muslims of Demak and other Javanese kingdoms as well as the
Malay, Aceh and other Sumatran Sultanates had to fight off the
Portuguese, Dutch and other European powers on their own with little
cohesion. Occasionally they succeeded in gaining a victory. Only in
the course of several hundred years did the European powers achieve
a state of near complete domination over various territories. It was
not a matter of superior powers defeating backward and chanceless
peoples.
In 1526-1527 the name of the port of Sunda Kalapa was changed
into the Sanskrit Jayakarta by Sunan Gunung Jati alias Fatahillah
alias Toh A Bo (Prince East, Pangeran Timur), the Muslim commander
of the Kingdom of Demak. He had conquered the place from the
Sundanese, the major tribe of West-Java, and had repulsed the
Portuguese who wanted to build a fortification in accordance with a
treaty they signed with the Sundanese. "Jaya" meaning conquest,
victory and "karta" performer, maker. Jayakarta is the present
capital of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta. Dutch historical
sources called the place Jacatra. After this feat Sunan Gunung Jati
became the Sultan of Banten, the most western part of West-Java. He
later relinquished the Sultanate of Banten to his son Hasanuddin. In
1552 he came to the Chinese Muslim community around Cirebon. He was
disappointed by the killings among Raden Patah’s grandchildren. The
kingdom of Demak had ceased to exist. He accepted the request of
Hadji Tan Eng Hoat alias Maulana Ifdil Hanafi to erect a sultanate
like formerly that of Raden Patah in Demak. He, the commander of the
former kingdom of Demak and already an old man, became the first
sultan of Cirebon, married the daughter of Hadji Tan Eng Hoat, and
their son became the second Sultan of Cirebon. Sunan Gunung Jati was
also one of the Wali Songo, the nine pious leaders who spread Islam
in Java. The founder of the Islamic Kingdom of Demak in Java was
Raden Patah (Al Fatah) alias Panembahan Jimbun (Jin Bun), Arya
(Cu-Cu) Sumangsang, Prabu Anom or for the Portuguese: Pate Rodin Sr.
According to Tome Pires he was a "persona de grande syso", a man of
great power of judgement, and "cavaleiro", a knight, a nobleman.
Two accounts of the Portuguese Pinto offers further insight in
the contemporary relations. When Pinto visited Banten to attend
business matters, a woman envoy of the king of Demak (offspring of
Raden Patah), Overlord of Java, arrived with an invitation for his
brother-in-law and vassal, the Tagaril (Sunan Gunung Jati), to join
an expedition against Pasuruan in East Java. On January 5, 1546, the
Tagaril set forth with seven thousand soldiers among whom forty of
the forty-six Portuguese who at the time were in Banten, and who
were enticed by the prospect of commercial gains. The expedition
failed when the king of Demak was stabbed to death by an insulted
squire. After a while Pinto asked the Tagaril for permission to
return to Banten with the remainder of his compatriots. The Tagaril
gave them rewards also for the heirs of the Portuguese killed, and
let them go.
Another testimony of Pinto states that after being shipwrecked he
(Pinto), five other Portuguese and two servants were captured by
Negroes, Javanese and Papuas. They were sold as slaves in Cherbom,
first to a trader from Celebes and later to the king of "Calapa".
The king set them free and sent them to the port of Sunda, where
they embarked for Siam with other Portuguese. It is not really
relevant whether this testimony of Pinto is exactly correct or not;
it illustrates that such stories were not regarded to be ridiculous.
In 1574 AD, i.e. sixty-three years after the Portuguese conquered
and built their first stronghold in Malacca, Ratu Kalinyamat, the
energetic queen of Jepara in Central Java, granddaughter of Raden
Patah, felt strong enough to send her fleet to attack the Portuguese
in Malacca. She was the widow of the Chinese Pangeran (Prince)
Hadiri alias Sunan Mantingan, and described by the Portuguese Couto
as a "senhora poderosa e rica", a mighty and rich woman.
The Dutch took Jakarta in 1619, 23 years after their first
arrival at Banten in West Java "to carry on trade in all amity", and
one-hundred and eight years after the Portuguese stronghold of
Malacca was established. Banten, according to Portuguese
descriptions, was a walled city equipped with good guns. The
ramparts had three floors. Banten had allowed the Dutch to take
Jakarta with the purpose of creating a buffer against the stronger
Mataram of Central Java. It turned out to become "senjata makan tuan".
The weapon turned against oneself.
After capturing Surabaya in 1625, the king of Mataram considered
foreigners residing in the whole of Central and East Java and Madura
to be his subjects, and he demanded that envoys be sent annually to
offer him presents. He closed the north coast ports to all traffic
and attacked the Dutch at Batavia (Jakarta) from sea and land in
1628. During the second attack in 1629, his forces brought forward
heavy artillery. Colonial subjugation in Southeast Asia had been a
matter of slowly creeping further and further, taking a generation’s
time to get used to every new situation. Just imagine the
possibility that the present shift of the world’s economic centre to
the Pacific Basin would be a sign that Europe has passed by its
summit (inevitably a summit will be reached one day after which it
always goes down), and that in the long run, i.e. in the next few
centuries Europe would gradually, although masked by ups and downs,
degenerate into a state of domination and subjugation by others, and
that the present question is only when will the snowball begin to
roll down? Nobody in Europe would believe such now, like nobody in
Southeast Asia was likely to have believed the course of events
would take then.
The fleet
Seven expeditions between 1405 and 1433 under admiral Cheng Ho
brought impressive Chinese fleets to Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, India,
Persia, Mecca and Africa’s east coast. And there are indications
that the Chinese have sailed beyond the Cape of Good Hope. The last
expedition of 1431-1433 had a crew of 27.550 officers and men. It is
ascertained that a number of the ships must have measured 140 meters
in length. Columbus’ ship about sixty years later measured thirty
meters. See the illustration. The expeditions had a peaceful mission
with presents being exchanged. They had not been perceived for the
conquest of territories, nor for the establishments of colonies.
Australia was possibly visited by Chinese merchants or explorers in
the 15th century and, there are also traces pointing to a possible
Chinese presence in South America. The existence of eastern winds
and currents in the Pacific were in every respect known to the
Chinese. They used watertight bulkheads as far back as the 2nd
century A.D., a design introduced to Europe only one thousand six
hundred years later. The list of China’s nautical inventions, many
of which were in use one thousand years before Europe, is too long
to be mentioned here. People may wonder what happened to China’s
fleet and China’s advanced navigation-techniques? The most plausible
theory for its disappearance is that since China’s self imposed
isolation from the rest of the world, it was regarded undesirable,
at least unnecessary. It was dismantled.
In 1574 a Chinese outlaw named Lim Ah Hong besieged the Spanish
garrison in the citadel, and nearly took Manila, making the Spanish
governor to wish for a good relationship with an empire whose
pirates were able to rock the Spanish power in Asia. In 1661,
Koxinga, the Chinese patriot and rebel against the then Chinese
Manchu emperor, and who thus by no means had the backing of the
imperial forces, was strong enough to drive the Dutch out of Taiwan.
One year later he sent the Spanish in the Philippines an ultimatum
to submit to his rule or be wiped out. However, the same year news
was received by the Spaniards who were feverishly fortifying Manila
and Cavite, that Koxinga had died.
It could be argued what course history would have taken in
Southeast Asia if China, in the past often requested by smaller
Southeast Asian kingdoms to render protection, had joined the fight
against the Europeans from the beginning. A tug-of-war in Southeast
Asia starting as early as the 16th century between China and the
newcomers from Europe would have kept China awake and alert.
Probably the balance of power would have been tipped over to the
Southeast Asian side. As it turned out to be, China was taken by
surprise several centuries later at a moment when her strength had
fatally eroded. Falsely fostered with the idea of being
invulnerable. (SHT/IM)
lit.:
Hoesein Djajadiningrat "Critische
beschouwing van de sadjarah Banten", 1913
Peregrinacao pinto
Victor Purcell "The Chinese in Southeast
Asia", 1951
De Graaf en Pigeaud, "De eerste Moslimse
Vorstendommen op Java", 1974
H.J.de Graaf and Th.G.Th.Pigeaud "Islamic
states in Java 1500-1700", 1976
Amen Budiman "Masyarakat Islam Tionghoa di
Indonesia", 1979
Catalogue D/1988/2111/06 of the exhibition
"China Heaven and Earth. 5000 Years inventions and discoveries"
Royal Musea for Art and History. Brussels 16
Sept 88 - 16 Jan 89.
Sie Hok Tjwan "The 6th overseas Chinese
state, Nanyang huaren", 1990
