Questions regarding the nature of the relationship of nomadic peoples to settled populations and ... more Questions regarding the nature of the relationship of nomadic peoples to settled populations and territorial states have attracted the attention of historians and anthropologists for many decades. In regard to Southeast Asia, scholars have typically viewed the relationship between mobile populations and agrarian states as mostly antagonistic and predatory. Yet, if we shift our focus to the coastal regions of island Southeast Asia, the enmity between mobile communities and territorial states is less evident. This talk will examine the relationship of the Sama Bajo—Southeast Asia’s largest group of “sea nomads”—to two of the most powerful states in the region, the kingdoms of Gowa-Talloq and Boné (South Sulawesi). An examination of a diverse range of Southeast Asian and European sources suggests that these semi-nomadic sea peoples did not avoid interaction with landed states, nor did they take to their boats as a means of evading state control. Far from avoidance, throughout the early modern period (c.1400-1800) the Sama Bajo actively sought alliances with powerful kingdoms and both parties benefited from their relationship.
Scholars have long remarked on the importance of the seas in Southeast Asian history. Following t... more Scholars have long remarked on the importance of the seas in Southeast Asian history. Following the well-known dictum that seas unite while the land divides, historians have looked to the seas as the most crucial conduit for human interaction and the principal medium by which foreign influences entered the region. Yet, for many Southeast Asians, the seas were much more than simply a void to be crossed. This statement is especially true for island Southeast Asia, where daily life for its inhabitants is closely calibrated with the rhythms of the monsoon winds and ocean currents, and where the vast expanse of the sea dwarfs in both size and significance the land that it envelops. There, the seas and littoral are the primary spaces of interaction and thus a crucial element in the history of the region.
Of the numerous ethnic groups in island Southeast Asia, the powerful influence of the sea on daily life is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the communities of Sama Bajo sea peoples that inhabit the region. For the Sama Bajo, the seas and littoral are the primary setting of their histories and the focal point of their culture.
Focusing on the sea-centred Sama Bajo communities of eastern Indonesia during the early modern period, in this seminar Nolde will discuss the pervasive influence of the sea in the lives of the Sama Bajo, and demonstrate how their unique relationship to the sea helped to shape the course of their history. While most scholars have characterized the Sama Bajo as timid sea nomads, marginal to the region’s important historical developments, based on extensive research in Sama Bajo oral and written traditions, Makassarese and Bugis manuscript sources, and the archives of the Dutch East India Company, Nolde argues that the Sama Bajo were in fact central to processes of state formation, commerce, and regional integration in eastern Indonesia.
Questions regarding the nature of the relationship of nomadic peoples to settled populations and ... more Questions regarding the nature of the relationship of nomadic peoples to settled populations and territorial states have attracted the attention of historians and anthropologists for many decades. In regard to Southeast Asia, scholars have typically viewed the relationship between mobile populations and agrarian states as mostly antagonistic and predatory. Yet, if we shift our focus to the coastal regions of island Southeast Asia, the enmity between mobile communities and territorial states is less evident. This talk will examine the relationship of the Sama Bajo—Southeast Asia’s largest group of “sea nomads”—to two of the most powerful states in the region, the kingdoms of Gowa-Talloq and Boné (South Sulawesi). An examination of a diverse range of Southeast Asian and European sources suggests that these semi-nomadic sea peoples did not avoid interaction with landed states, nor did they take to their boats as a means of evading state control. Far from avoidance, throughout the early modern period (c.1400-1800) the Sama Bajo actively sought alliances with powerful kingdoms and both parties benefited from their relationship.
Scholars have long remarked on the importance of the seas in Southeast Asian history. Following t... more Scholars have long remarked on the importance of the seas in Southeast Asian history. Following the well-known dictum that seas unite while the land divides, historians have looked to the seas as the most crucial conduit for human interaction and the principal medium by which foreign influences entered the region. Yet, for many Southeast Asians, the seas were much more than simply a void to be crossed. This statement is especially true for island Southeast Asia, where daily life for its inhabitants is closely calibrated with the rhythms of the monsoon winds and ocean currents, and where the vast expanse of the sea dwarfs in both size and significance the land that it envelops. There, the seas and littoral are the primary spaces of interaction and thus a crucial element in the history of the region.
Of the numerous ethnic groups in island Southeast Asia, the powerful influence of the sea on daily life is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the communities of Sama Bajo sea peoples that inhabit the region. For the Sama Bajo, the seas and littoral are the primary setting of their histories and the focal point of their culture.
Focusing on the sea-centred Sama Bajo communities of eastern Indonesia during the early modern period, in this seminar Nolde will discuss the pervasive influence of the sea in the lives of the Sama Bajo, and demonstrate how their unique relationship to the sea helped to shape the course of their history. While most scholars have characterized the Sama Bajo as timid sea nomads, marginal to the region’s important historical developments, based on extensive research in Sama Bajo oral and written traditions, Makassarese and Bugis manuscript sources, and the archives of the Dutch East India Company, Nolde argues that the Sama Bajo were in fact central to processes of state formation, commerce, and regional integration in eastern Indonesia.
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Of the numerous ethnic groups in island Southeast Asia, the powerful influence of the sea on daily life is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the communities of Sama Bajo sea peoples that inhabit the region. For the Sama Bajo, the seas and littoral are the primary setting of their histories and the focal point of their culture.
Focusing on the sea-centred Sama Bajo communities of eastern Indonesia during the early modern period, in this seminar Nolde will discuss the pervasive influence of the sea in the lives of the Sama Bajo, and demonstrate how their unique relationship to the sea helped to shape the course of their history. While most scholars have characterized the Sama Bajo as timid sea nomads, marginal to the region’s important historical developments, based on extensive research in Sama Bajo oral and written traditions, Makassarese and Bugis manuscript sources, and the archives of the Dutch East India Company, Nolde argues that the Sama Bajo were in fact central to processes of state formation, commerce, and regional integration in eastern Indonesia.
Of the numerous ethnic groups in island Southeast Asia, the powerful influence of the sea on daily life is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the communities of Sama Bajo sea peoples that inhabit the region. For the Sama Bajo, the seas and littoral are the primary setting of their histories and the focal point of their culture.
Focusing on the sea-centred Sama Bajo communities of eastern Indonesia during the early modern period, in this seminar Nolde will discuss the pervasive influence of the sea in the lives of the Sama Bajo, and demonstrate how their unique relationship to the sea helped to shape the course of their history. While most scholars have characterized the Sama Bajo as timid sea nomads, marginal to the region’s important historical developments, based on extensive research in Sama Bajo oral and written traditions, Makassarese and Bugis manuscript sources, and the archives of the Dutch East India Company, Nolde argues that the Sama Bajo were in fact central to processes of state formation, commerce, and regional integration in eastern Indonesia.