Revisiting Malaya: Uncovering Historical and Political Thoughts in Nusuntara ed. by Show Ying Xin and Ngoi Guat Peng (review)

Abstract

second half of the 19th century, Spain fearing European encroachments into their sphere of influence, took civil and military measures to control the territory of the Sulu Sultanate. Warren concluded that Spain’s combination of cruises and blockades led by steam vessels against the Sulu archipelago and the Visayas forced their residents into submission and to adapt to agriculture as Chinese took over the maritime trade. The authors in this book present a strong case for the role of counter piracy in state monopolisation of violence. In the three chapters examined here, whereas Warren has extensively covered his topic over the past several decades, Ota and Satsuma have had more room to explore new material. Ota in particular could have expanded further especially on Raja Akil and the importance of individuals like him given the copious amounts of untouched material on counter piracy in the Dutch East Indies archives. It is debatable, however, that this period saw the conception of the notion that Malay states became responsible for suppressing piracy, though there was more urgency to that mission than before. This volume reinvigorates the discourse on piracy in Asia and hopefully more work will follow by these historians.