Edit
- Department of History
National University of Singapore
11 Arts Link
Singapore, 117570
Republic of Singapore - +65 6516 6539
Peter Borschberg
National University of Singapore, History, Faculty Memberedit
- editdeleteUniversity of Greifswald, Historisches Institut, Visiting Professoradd
- Indonesia, Dutch East India Company, Singapore History, Singapore Studies, International Law, Malaysian history, and 52 moreMaritime History, Free Trade, Hugo Grotius, Malacca Straits, Colonialism, Imperialism, Empire, Southeast Asian Studies, International Relations, Diplomatic History, Social History, Portuguese Discoveries and Expansion, Johor, History of Malaysia, Islands Archaeology, Singapore, Port cities, Southeast Asian history, Colonial Philippines, World History, Global History, History of India, History of Slavery, Asian History, Indian Ocean World, Indonesian History, Indian Ocean History, Thai History, History of Cartography, Singapore History Before Raffles, History of The Netherlands, Maritime Archaeology, Naval History, Naval Warfare, Cheah Boon Kheng, Southeast Asia, Philippines, History of the Portuguese Empire, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Early Modern Portuguese History, Research Methodology, Material Culture Studies, Portuguese History, Portuguese Colonialism and Decolonizaton, Museum Studies, Early Modern History, Archival Studies, South China Sea Disputes, History Portuguese and Spanish, Globalization, Derecho Internacional Público y Derecho Internacional Privado, and Hugo Grócioedit
- Peter Borschberg is an award-winning historian who has published widely on global history and globalization, maritime... morePeter Borschberg is an award-winning historian who has published widely on global history and globalization, maritime history, Europe-Asian interaction, as well as the origins of international law. Peter's Asian focus is on Southeast Asia, but he also has an interest in trans-regional linkages, particularly Southeast Asia's historic commercial relations with the Indian Subcontinent, the Gulf Region, China and Japan.
Peter's on-going long-term research project examines the understanding(s) of maritime spaces from an interdisciplinary perspective, comparing ideas and practices in both Asia and Europe across the early modern period and into the 21st century.
Between 2011and 2013 Peter served as consultant to Pearson Education (South Asia) for their 19th and 20th-century World/Global History and Southeast Asian History school textbook projects commissioned by the Singapore Ministry of Education. He is currently also the review editor for the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (published by Cambridge University Press), and serves as a member of an advisory board of commercial and university presses, international peer-reviewed journals, as well as research institutes in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
In the past decade Peter has been a Visiting Professor at the Historical Institute of the University of Greifswald (2012-4) and a fellow-in-residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Social Sciences in Wassenaar (2005).
Peter has a long-term commitment as co-investigator in the Interdisciplinary Research Training Group (IRTG 1540): "Baltic Borderlands: Shifting Boundaries of Mind and Culture in the Borderlands of the Baltic Sea Region". This six million Euro inter-disciplinary research project brings together expertise from over twenty universities across the Baltic Sea region and Asia and is (co-) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The Baltic Borderlands project is based at the universities of Greifswald (Germany), Lund (Sweden) and Tartu (Estonia).edit
"In 1603, Dutch Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk plundered a Portuguese merchantman, the Santa Catarina, travelling from Macao to Melaka. The sale of the cargo at a public auction made traders across Northern Europe aware of the riches to be... more
"In 1603, Dutch Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk plundered a Portuguese merchantman, the Santa Catarina, travelling from Macao to Melaka. The sale of the cargo at a public auction made traders across Northern Europe aware of the riches to be reaped from Asian trade. However, the episode raised legal questions and the United Dutch East India Company (VOC) commissioned the young Hugo Grotius to defend Heemskerk's actions. Grotius produced two classic legal texts, The Law of Price and Booty and its spin-off, The Free Sea, among the greatest works in the history of international legal and political thought. His observations dealt with free trade in the East Indies, the Dutch Republic's military conflict with the Portuguese and Spanish in Asia, and the legal and moral grounds for attacking and plundering Portuguese and Spanish mercantile shipping.
This book considers the background to the treaties then content and significances, and what Grotius actually knew about Southeast Asian politics and Portuguese institutions of trade and diplomacy when he wrote them.
Grotius' work on the freedom of the sea was a cornerstone in his enduring reputation as one of the founders of modern international law. The present book provides a valuable resource for historians of Southeast Asia and for students of international relations, political theory, maritime history and public law.
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This book considers the background to the treaties then content and significances, and what Grotius actually knew about Southeast Asian politics and Portuguese institutions of trade and diplomacy when he wrote them.
Grotius' work on the freedom of the sea was a cornerstone in his enduring reputation as one of the founders of modern international law. The present book provides a valuable resource for historians of Southeast Asia and for students of international relations, political theory, maritime history and public law.
""""""
""This book offers annotated translations of documents touching on Dutch admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge and his voyage to Asia between 1605 and 1608. These translations are aimed at a contemporary English-speaking Asian readership... more
""This book offers annotated translations of documents touching on Dutch admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge and his voyage to Asia between 1605 and 1608. These translations are aimed at a contemporary English-speaking Asian readership interested in the early modern history of European trade, warfare and expansion in Southeast Asia with a focus on Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Researchers specialising in early European colonialism, international law, international relations, security studies, and diplomatic history will also find that the documents translated in this volume offer new and unfamiliar perspectives. Materlieff’s business acumen, military and diplomataic prowess as well as his vision of empire all have implications for examining not only European expansion into Southeast Asia, but also into other regions at large, including especially south Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Admiral Matelieff was a director of the Rotterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) formed in 1602. He was appointed fleet commander on one of the company’s first voyages to Asia. Matelieff’s mission was both commercial and military: he launched a major sea-borne attack on the Portuguese colony of Melaka, arranged for the signing of treaties with the rulers of Johor, Aceh and Ternate, and founded the first Dutch fort on the island of Ternate. His endeavours, however, to open the Chinese market for the Dutch company proved unsuccessful.
Following his return to the Dutch Republic in September 1608, Matelieff penned a series of memorials and letters. In these he advanced recommendations for changing the way the company organized its fleets and conducted business. More importantly he offered his Dutch contemporaries a vision of empire in Asia. The materials contained in this volume offer important observations of a perceptive analyst who was also determined to grasp the political and economic structures of Asia, and also of inter-state relations in across this vast region. At a time of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, French and English engagement in Southeast Asia, Matelieff sought to critically assess and strategize on the ways in which Europeans were increasingly engaging with Asian polities and their rulers.
This book will be released for sale in Australasia and Europe in June 2014 and available in the Americas after September 2014
"""""
Admiral Matelieff was a director of the Rotterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) formed in 1602. He was appointed fleet commander on one of the company’s first voyages to Asia. Matelieff’s mission was both commercial and military: he launched a major sea-borne attack on the Portuguese colony of Melaka, arranged for the signing of treaties with the rulers of Johor, Aceh and Ternate, and founded the first Dutch fort on the island of Ternate. His endeavours, however, to open the Chinese market for the Dutch company proved unsuccessful.
Following his return to the Dutch Republic in September 1608, Matelieff penned a series of memorials and letters. In these he advanced recommendations for changing the way the company organized its fleets and conducted business. More importantly he offered his Dutch contemporaries a vision of empire in Asia. The materials contained in this volume offer important observations of a perceptive analyst who was also determined to grasp the political and economic structures of Asia, and also of inter-state relations in across this vast region. At a time of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, French and English engagement in Southeast Asia, Matelieff sought to critically assess and strategize on the ways in which Europeans were increasingly engaging with Asian polities and their rulers.
This book will be released for sale in Australasia and Europe in June 2014 and available in the Americas after September 2014
"""""
A native of Bruges (now part of Belgium), Jacques de Coutre was a gem trader who spent nearly a decade in Southeast Asia in the early 17th century. In addition to a substantial autobiography written in Spanish and preserved in the... more
A native of Bruges (now part of Belgium), Jacques de Coutre was a gem trader who spent nearly a decade in Southeast Asia in the early 17th century. In addition to a substantial autobiography written in Spanish and preserved in the National Library of Spain in Madrid, he wrote a series of memorials to the united crown of Spain and Portugal that contain recommendations designed to reverse the decline in the fortunes of the Iberian powers in Southeast Asia, particularly against the backdrop of early Dutch political and commercial penetration into the region. Translated into English for the first time, these materials provide a valuable first-hand account of the bigger issues confronting the early colonial powers in Southeast Asia, and deep insights into the societies De Coutre encountered in the territory that today makes up Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
"The Singapore and Melaka Straits are a place where regional and long-distance maritime trading networks converge, linking Europe, the Mediterranean, eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent with key centres of... more
"The Singapore and Melaka Straits are a place where regional and long-distance maritime trading networks converge, linking Europe, the Mediterranean, eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent with key centres of trade in Thailand, Indochina, insular Southeast Asia, China, Korea and Japan. The first half of the seventeenth century brought heightened political, commercial and diplomatic activity to this region. It has long been clear to both the Portuguese and the Dutch that whoever controlled the waters off modern Singapore gained a firm grip on regional as well as long-distance intra-Asian trade. By the early 1600s Portuguese power and prestige were waning and the arrival of the Dutch East India Company constituted a major threat. Moreover, the rapid expansion and growing power of the Acehnese Empire, and rivalry between Johor and Aceh, was creating a new context for European trade in Asia.
Drawing on maps, rare printed works, and unpublished manuscripts written in Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Latin, Peter Borschberg provides new information on the diplomatic activities of Asian powers, and shows how the Portuguese and Spanish attempted to restore their political fortunes by containing the rapid rise of Dutch Power in the region. Key documents, transcribed and translated into English for the first time, make up a series of appendices.
The product of more than two decades of research in European libraries, archives, The Singapore and Melaka Straits will be of great interest to readers in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, where little is known about this pivotal pre-colonial period. It is also an invaluable resource for historians and other students of early modern Europe and of the European presence in Asia.
""""
Drawing on maps, rare printed works, and unpublished manuscripts written in Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and Latin, Peter Borschberg provides new information on the diplomatic activities of Asian powers, and shows how the Portuguese and Spanish attempted to restore their political fortunes by containing the rapid rise of Dutch Power in the region. Key documents, transcribed and translated into English for the first time, make up a series of appendices.
The product of more than two decades of research in European libraries, archives, The Singapore and Melaka Straits will be of great interest to readers in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, where little is known about this pivotal pre-colonial period. It is also an invaluable resource for historians and other students of early modern Europe and of the European presence in Asia.
""""
"Four hundred years ago, the Dutch humanist and jurisconsult Hugo Grotius was commissioned by the United Netherlands’ East India Company (VOC) to write a defense of Admiral Jakob van Heemskerk’s seizure of a Portuguese merchant carrack in... more
"Four hundred years ago, the Dutch humanist and jurisconsult Hugo Grotius was commissioned by the United Netherlands’ East India Company (VOC) to write a defense of Admiral Jakob van Heemskerk’s seizure of a Portuguese merchant carrack in the Straits of Singapore (February 1603). At the time he was twenty-one years old. What Grotius produced between 1604 and 1606 is a comprehensive political and historical exposé on war. Today, this work is known as De Jure Praedae Commentarius, or “Commentary on Law of Prize and Booty”. Only part of this comprehensive manuscript was published during its author’s lifetime and is known as Mare Liberum or “The Free Sea” (1609).
Mare Liberum is essentially a propagandistic treatise and argues for Holland’s merchants to freely access emporia in Asia by unimpeded navigation across the high seas. The freedom of navigation forms a subset to the overarching arguments on the freedom of access and trade. This particular assessment of Mare Liberum stands in sharp contrast to past interpretations, insofar as these have placed the ‘freedom of the seas’ - and not the broader issues surrounding ‘free trade’ - at the forefront of scholarly attention. From this vantage point, Grotius was surprisingly consistent in his thinking on the broader issues of maritime trade and navigation.
During the first two decades of the seventeenth century, Grotius lent a helping hand in the process of forging political and commercial treaties between the VOC and Asian rulers. Far from championing peace and the freedom of navigation on the high seas for which the Dutch humanist is best remembered in modern times, Grotius should also assume a place among the intellectual fathers of Dutch colonial rule in Asia."""""
Mare Liberum is essentially a propagandistic treatise and argues for Holland’s merchants to freely access emporia in Asia by unimpeded navigation across the high seas. The freedom of navigation forms a subset to the overarching arguments on the freedom of access and trade. This particular assessment of Mare Liberum stands in sharp contrast to past interpretations, insofar as these have placed the ‘freedom of the seas’ - and not the broader issues surrounding ‘free trade’ - at the forefront of scholarly attention. From this vantage point, Grotius was surprisingly consistent in his thinking on the broader issues of maritime trade and navigation.
During the first two decades of the seventeenth century, Grotius lent a helping hand in the process of forging political and commercial treaties between the VOC and Asian rulers. Far from championing peace and the freedom of navigation on the high seas for which the Dutch humanist is best remembered in modern times, Grotius should also assume a place among the intellectual fathers of Dutch colonial rule in Asia."""""
"O artigo revisita o “Incidente do Santa Catarina”, o famoso episódio da primeira embarcação portuguesa capturada pelos holandeses nos mares asiáticos, inserindoo no contexto mais vasto da rivalidade luso-holandesa no mundo malaio, mais... more
"O artigo revisita o “Incidente do Santa Catarina”, o famoso episódio da primeira embarcação portuguesa capturada pelos holandeses nos mares asiáticos, inserindoo no contexto mais vasto da rivalidade luso-holandesa no mundo malaio, mais concretamente nos estreitos de Singapura e Malaca. Através de uma cuidadosa análise de fontes europeias efectua uma avaliação completa das maiores consequências deste evento e das suas subsequentes implicações internacionais. Depois de 1603, não só se consciencializaram os dirigentes da Companhia Holandesa das Índias Orientais e os governantes da República Holandesa de como poderia ser lucrativa a política de pirataria e de pilhagem do inimigo, como também as autoridades portuguesas do Estado da Índia se tornaram progressivamente mais cientes das suas vulnerabilidades devidas às condicionantes geográficas. Dedica ainda alguma atenção à defesa legal dos interesses holandeses orientada por Hugo Grotius, o jurisconsulto holandês por muitos considerado o “pai do moderno direito internacional”. Deste artigo resulta igualmente muito evidente a importância efectiva dos mercadores macaenses para o Estado da Índia, a profunda expansão das suas redes mercantis para o Sudeste Asiático bem como, não obstante o facto de terem sofrido alguns reveses em consequência da pirataria da Companhia Holandesa das Índias Orientais, o modo como conseguiram recuperar desses abalos, com extraordinária agilidade e perseverança.
Download for free from:
http://www.icm.gov.mo/RC/TextPE.asp?No=11&ID=555"
Download for free from:
http://www.icm.gov.mo/RC/TextPE.asp?No=11&ID=555"
"The Theses LVI belong to a series of hitherto unpublished early manuscripts of the Dutch humanist and jurisconsult Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) that were acquired by the University of Leiden in 1864. It is not certain when the Theses were... more
"The Theses LVI belong to a series of hitherto unpublished early manuscripts of the Dutch humanist and jurisconsult Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) that were acquired by the University of Leiden in 1864. It is not certain when the Theses were written, but preliminary research on the physical manuscript and the sources cited indicate two possible windows. The first is around 1602-1605, that is roughly at a time when Grotius was also working on his Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty (De Iure Praedae Commentarius). The second dating places the genesis of the manuscrbipt around 1613-1615.
In the context of Grotius’ writings, the Theses LVI assume an important position for several reasons: They raise questions about state formation, the duty of citizens to the state and the right of political resistance in far greater detail than in any other work of the celebrated Dutch humanist. The Theses LVI also feature important reading notes that yield priceless insights into the sources that Grotius directly consulted and their influence on his ideas. The manuscript grants modern scholars a unique glimpse into the working mind of its author. Evidence points not only to the ferocious haste with which Grotius wrote his works, but also the occasional sloppiness of his reading and research habits.""""
In the context of Grotius’ writings, the Theses LVI assume an important position for several reasons: They raise questions about state formation, the duty of citizens to the state and the right of political resistance in far greater detail than in any other work of the celebrated Dutch humanist. The Theses LVI also feature important reading notes that yield priceless insights into the sources that Grotius directly consulted and their influence on his ideas. The manuscript grants modern scholars a unique glimpse into the working mind of its author. Evidence points not only to the ferocious haste with which Grotius wrote his works, but also the occasional sloppiness of his reading and research habits.""""
"This article examines the transition of the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) from a policy of self-defense into its full espousal of large-scale privateering and plundering. I argue that this shift was driven by both economic and... more
"This article examines the transition of the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) from a policy of self-defense into its full espousal of large-scale privateering and plundering. I argue that this shift was driven by both economic and political factors, and can be traced to the very formation of the Company as a unified trading venture. The taking of prizes became a cornerstone not only of the economic fortunes of the company, but the establishment
of the Dutch colonial empire in Asia. Of particular interest is not only the instructions emanating from the company directors and the Dutch government in the metropolis, but especially the implementation and adaptation of these directives on the ground. It is this local context that adds a crucial dimension to interpretations of the eager espousal of maritime violence by the VOC and its agents in Asian waters."
of the Dutch colonial empire in Asia. Of particular interest is not only the instructions emanating from the company directors and the Dutch government in the metropolis, but especially the implementation and adaptation of these directives on the ground. It is this local context that adds a crucial dimension to interpretations of the eager espousal of maritime violence by the VOC and its agents in Asian waters."
""The article revisits the “Santa Catarina incident”, the famous episode of the first Portuguese ship captured by the Dutch in Asian waters, placing it within the broader context of Luso-Dutch rivalry in the Malay world, particularly the... more
""The article revisits the “Santa Catarina incident”, the famous episode of the first Portuguese ship captured by the Dutch in Asian waters, placing it within the broader context of Luso-Dutch rivalry in the Malay world, particularly the Straits of Singapore and Malacca. Through a careful analysis of European sources, the author assesses the broader consequences of this event and the ensuing international implications. After 1603, the VOC directors and the regents of the Dutch Republic were alerted to how profitable the policy of freebooting and despoiling the enemy could be, while the Portuguese authorities of the Estado da Índia became aware of their vulnerability in the face of geographical constraints. There is also a discussion of the legal defence of the Dutch interests as presented by Hugo Grotius, the Dutch jurist who has frequently been upheld as the “father of modern international law”. What becomes very transparent in the course of the present account is how important the Macao merchants really were to the Estado da Índia, how far their networks of trade spanned deep into Southeast Asia, and how, despite suffering a number of severe setbacks as a result of VOC freebooting activities, they managed to recuperate from these blows with amazing agility and perseverance.
You can download this paper from
http://www.icm.gov.mo/RC/TextPE.asp?No=11&ID=555""
You can download this paper from
http://www.icm.gov.mo/RC/TextPE.asp?No=11&ID=555""
"This is a Chinese translation of Hugo Grotius' First Dissertation on the Origin of the American Indians, originally published in 1642 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Columbus. The Chinese... more
"This is a Chinese translation of Hugo Grotius' First Dissertation on the Origin of the American Indians, originally published in 1642 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Columbus. The Chinese were very intrigued at the time that Grotius had already known a) about migrations across the Bering Strait and b) about the possibility that the Chinese had visited the Americas before the Spanish with wrecks supposedly reported along the coasts of Peru/Chile
This article is a Chinese translation of a piece written on the social contract theory of Johannes Althusius.
"This article examines the transition of the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) from a policy of self-defense into its full espousal of large-scale privateering and plundering. I argue that this shift was driven by both economic and... more
"This article examines the transition of the Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) from a policy of self-defense into its full espousal of large-scale privateering and plundering. I argue that this shift was driven by both economic and political factors, and can be traced to the very formation of the Company as a unified trading venture. The taking of prizes became a cornerstone not only of the economic fortunes of the company, but the establishment
of the Dutch colonial empire in Asia. Of particular interest is not only the instructions emanating from the company directors and the Dutch government in the metropolis, but especially the implementation and adaptation of these directives on the ground. It is this local context that adds a crucial dimension to interpretations of the eager espousal of maritime violence by the VOC and its agents in Asian waters."
of the Dutch colonial empire in Asia. Of particular interest is not only the instructions emanating from the company directors and the Dutch government in the metropolis, but especially the implementation and adaptation of these directives on the ground. It is this local context that adds a crucial dimension to interpretations of the eager espousal of maritime violence by the VOC and its agents in Asian waters."
The present paper explores the shifting roles and understandings of the Singapore Straits from the latter Middle Ages until the opening decades of the eighteenth century. In pursuing this task, I will develop a set of basic questions that... more
The present paper explores the shifting roles and understandings of the Singapore Straits from the latter Middle Ages until the opening decades of the eighteenth century. In pursuing this task, I will develop a set of basic questions that historicize and problematize the roles, functions and understandings of the Straits across the centuries, and also tease out historical and historiographical paradigms shaping and underpinning the understanding of the region’s past. In pursuing this programme I will make use of a broad range of sources including chronicles and histories, letters and treaties, navigational instructions and travel literature, as well as (European) cartography of the 16th to 18th centuries. In order to gain deeper appreciation of the multi-faceted roles and understandings of the Singapore Straits across the longue durée, I not only adduce and evaluate materials of European colonial origin, but importantly also heed special attention to sources of Asian origin in general, and specifically to materials that have originally been written in Arabic, Malay, Chinese and have been made accessible to the wider reading public in various contemporary translations. The modes of enquiry and the insights brought to paper here differ both in terms of scope and objectives from my earlier findings expounded in The Singapore and Melaka Straits published in 2010.
El presente artículo tiene por objeto hacer un examen preliminar de un manuscrito, hasta la fecha desconocido e inédito, del gran humanista y abogado internacional holandés Hugo Grocio. En dicho manuscrito, Grocio se ocupa, esencialmente,... more
El presente artículo tiene por objeto hacer un examen preliminar de un manuscrito, hasta la fecha desconocido e inédito, del gran humanista y abogado internacional holandés Hugo Grocio. En dicho manuscrito, Grocio se ocupa, esencialmente, de la formación de una sociedad civil basada en un arreglo contractual, y a su vez, examina los derechos y las obligaciones que emanan de ese pacto o contrato voluntario.
This paper takes a closer look at documents, memorials and briefs of Dutch, German, Portuguese, and Spanish-language origin to explore and reconstruct the dynamics of trade of Batu Sawar. This served as the royal residence of the Johor... more
This paper takes a closer look at documents, memorials and briefs of Dutch, German, Portuguese, and Spanish-language origin to explore and reconstruct the dynamics of trade of Batu Sawar. This served as the royal residence of the Johor rulers between the late 1580s and at least until 1609/12. I will argue that in the early 17th century political and economic life at the Johor court at Batu Sawar was dominated by the interests of Raja Ali Jalla bin Abdul Jalil’s four surviving sons, of whom two played an especially important role in forging Batu Sawar’s commercial life: Raja Siak in terms of the trade in pepper and bezoars from Sumatra and Raja Bongsu in terms of the trade in rough diamonds.
(with Cheah Boon Kheng) Raja Bongsu, Penulis dan Penaung Sejarah Melayu/Sulalat Us-Salatin: Peranan dan Nasib Malangnya Seorang Putera Johor (1571-1623) --Raja Bongsu, the writer and patron of Sejarah Melayu (The Malay Annals): An ‘ill-starred prince,’ and his tragic role in Johor, (b.1571- d.1623) more
This paper revisits conventional knowledge about the textual origins of the Sejarah Melayu and argues that it was crafted in its current textual form in or around 1612-13 as a joint project of Raja Bongsu, Tun Sri Lanang as well as... more
This paper revisits conventional knowledge about the textual origins of the Sejarah Melayu and argues that it was crafted in its current textual form in or around 1612-13 as a joint project of Raja Bongsu, Tun Sri Lanang as well as possibly the latter's son
Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge who also served as a director in the Dutch East India Company’s Rotterdam chamber for three decades during the early seventeenth century, set sail from the Dutch Republic in 1605. He launched an attack... more
Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge who also served as a director in the Dutch East India Company’s Rotterdam chamber for three decades during the early seventeenth century, set sail from the Dutch Republic in 1605. He launched an attack on Portuguese Melaka in 1606 and signed landmark treaties with Johor and Ternate in the same year. On his return to the Netherlands in the autumn of 1608 he began to write a series of epistolary reports and memoranda which were received and carefully studied by leading policy makers in the Republic at the time, including Hugo Grotius and Jan van Oldenbarnevelt. This paper provides an overview of the materials that survive in Dutch archives and specifically delves into his evolving conclusions about security, trade, and diplomacy in Singapore, Batu Sawar and the Johor River Region at large.
This paper examines Hugo Grotius’ ideas on the freedom of navigation on the high seas and Southeast Asian maritime practices in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In the past Charles H. Alexandrowicz (and closely following him Ram... more
This paper examines Hugo Grotius’ ideas on the freedom of navigation on the high seas and Southeast Asian maritime practices in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In the past Charles H. Alexandrowicz (and closely following him Ram Prakash Anand) had argued that Grotius’ position – which was admittedly unusual in a European legal context at that point in time – had been influenced by early Dutch experiences in the island world of Southeast Asia. Recent Grotius research, however, has debunked these positions as both speculative and false. At the time of writing or revising his treatise Mare Liberum for the press (ca.1604-9), Grotius possessed only a very shallow knowledge of Asian maritime practices. This paper aims to take the analysis a crucial step further: Did the polities of insular Southeast Asia really pursue a policy of Mare Liberum as has been generally surmised by some legal historians and IR theorists? What concepts of maritime space prevailed, and how do they compare with Grotius and some of his contemporaries? A careful scrutiny and comparison of key concepts will yield some unexpected results.
This paper revisits the history of the Malacca Sultanate during the second half of the 15th and first decade of the 16th century. At the centre of attention are two texts that are unfamiliar to many historians of early modern maritime... more
This paper revisits the history of the Malacca Sultanate during the second half of the 15th and first decade of the 16th century. At the centre of attention are two texts that are unfamiliar to many historians of early modern maritime Southeast Asia, namely two legal texts written in Malay known as the Undang-Undang Melaka (Malacca Laws) and the Undang Undang-Laut (Maritime Laws). Using these two texts in conjunction with the Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) as well as some early European testimonies, this paper discusses the sources and historicizes key issues relating to the conduct of business and public discipline. The materials paint an unfamiliarly problematic Malacca during its so-called “Golden Age” between c.1450-1511.
History in Singapore is alive and well. The past decade has seen a veritable surge in Singapore history both in terms of interest among the general public, as well as simple numerical output. Although these recent publications have... more
History in Singapore is alive and well. The past decade has seen a veritable surge in Singapore history both in terms of interest among the general public, as well as simple numerical output. Although these recent publications have focused chiefly on the post-World War II history of Singapore — and especially on the period leading up to and conditioning Singapore’s independence in 1965 — there has been a noteworthy surge in interest in Singapore’s history before 1819. This paper explains some of the reasons behind this surge, the paradigms underpinning recent pre-1819 studies, as well as some of the recent findings from this period that are likely to shape the broader historical reconstructions of Singapore in the future.
Research Interests:
History, Military History, Economic History, Naval Tactics (Military Science), Southeast Asian Studies, and 58 morePeace and Conflict Studies, Conflict, War Studies, Naval Warfare, Naval History, Imperial History, Race and Ethnicity, Colonialism, Southeast Asia, Spanish History, History Portuguese and Spanish, Eighteenth-Century British History and Culture, Philippines, British Empire, British Imperial and Colonial History (1600 - ), Diaspora Studies, Social History, History of Imperialism, British Imperialism, Peace & Conflict Studies, Philippine Studies, Philippine History, Spain (History), Diaspora and transnationalism, Southeast Asian history, Empire, History of the British Empire, Naval History (History), Seven Years War, Historia Social, Early modern Spain, Overseas Chinese, Historia, Colonialismo, Imperialism, Geschichte, The History of Manila, Historia Política y Social Siglos XVIII-XIX, New Spain, Colonial Philippines, British naval history, História, Histoire, Migration and Diaspora, Manila Galleon, Spanish colonialism in the Philippines, Guerra, European Imperialism and Colonialism, Colonial Studies, Filipinas, Manila, British East India Company, The Seven Years War, Imperio Español, España y Filipinas, Geschiedenis, Colonialismo Español, and Colonialism and Imperialismedit
This paper offers an historian’s view into one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of law and maritime navigation. If the first wave of European colonial expansion had seen the arrival of the Iberian powers in Asia in the 15th... more
This paper offers an historian’s view into one of the most fascinating chapters in the history of law and maritime navigation. If the first wave of European colonial expansion had seen the arrival of the Iberian powers in Asia in the 15th and 16th centuries, the second phase of expansion during the late 16th and early 17th centuries by their northern European competitors unleashed a violent struggle for market access to emporia and production centres via the high seas. Intellectually, this struggle took the form of a debate about the legal status of the seas and the ability of sovereigns to claim dominium over them. But important questions remain: Should all maritime spaces be treated legally the same? Just how unique or different were European positions and such central issues like the sovereignty of the sea? In drawing comparisons with maritime Southeast Asia during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, that is means contemporaneous with the apex of the debates in Europe, this essay will argue that far from being worlds apart, prevailing customs and basic attitudes were astonishingly similar.
"This presentation will examine why European states (including, at times, the Iberian powers) persistently used chartered companies and limited partnerships as their primary instruments for acquiring and exercising imperial control in... more
"This presentation will examine why European states (including, at times, the Iberian powers) persistently used chartered companies and limited partnerships as their primary instruments for acquiring and exercising imperial control in Asia. At first glance, such reliance is puzzling as these companies were only intermittently profitable – primarily when they were able to exploit conditions created by famines, wars or socio-political unrest - and all of them proved woefully inadequate to the tasks set for them. Still, as the history of Asia from 1600 to c.1800 clearly shows, chartered companies were founded time and again, and for many European imperial experiments proved to be the institution of choice. My paper at the workshop will survey the two main survivors - the EIC and VOC – as well as their many failed competitors in order to gain a clearer picture why chartered companies became the institution of choice. It will also identify some of their most distinctive common features (such as standing capital, tradable shares, and quasi-sovereign powers), and assess the extent to which markets or government policy/ interference ultimately sealed their fate or success."
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"Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge was a commander of one of the first fleets sent out in 1605 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) proper. Apart from the commercial instructions he received from the company directors, he also carried... more
"Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge was a commander of one of the first fleets sent out in 1605 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) proper. Apart from the commercial instructions he received from the company directors, he also carried with him secret military instructions which unfortunately are now lost. With more than 1400 men at his disposal, Matelieff imposed a blockade on Portuguese Malacca in 1606, fought the Portuguese armada at sea, forged an enduring alliance with the Kingdom of Johor and Aceh, and founded the Dutch fort at Ternate.
On his return to the Netherlands in 1608 Matelieff penned a series of memorials recommending major changes in the way the Dutch organized their operations on the ground in Asia. Importantly, he recommended the founding of a permanent base and the appointment of a supreme authority, a Governor-General. Matelieff also urged the forging of alliances with rulers in Asia to ensure ample supplies of spices and other goods for the company. Needless to say, these alliances were ostensibly also meant to contain the power and reach of the VOC’s European competitors and enemies.
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On his return to the Netherlands in 1608 Matelieff penned a series of memorials recommending major changes in the way the Dutch organized their operations on the ground in Asia. Importantly, he recommended the founding of a permanent base and the appointment of a supreme authority, a Governor-General. Matelieff also urged the forging of alliances with rulers in Asia to ensure ample supplies of spices and other goods for the company. Needless to say, these alliances were ostensibly also meant to contain the power and reach of the VOC’s European competitors and enemies.
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Jacques de Coutre was a young man from Bruges in Flanders who arrived in Southeast Asia in 1593. For the next decade he would use this Portuguese emporium of spice and trade as his base, taking trips to Pahang, Patani, Ligor, Ayutthaya,... more
Jacques de Coutre was a young man from Bruges in Flanders who arrived in Southeast Asia in 1593. For the next decade he would use this Portuguese emporium of spice and trade as his base, taking trips to Pahang, Patani, Ligor, Ayutthaya, Cambodia, Brunei and Manila. As was customary in the early modern period, merchants often fulfilled a dual role as purveyors of goods and presents as well as intermediaries in diplomatic incidents. What does De Coutre have to recount on this front and what were his responsibilities during his missions to Pahang, Siam and Brunei? The insights of this paper are based on the new annotated English source translation of his autobiography and memorials to the Iberian crowns.
"In 1602, the United Netherlands East India Company, better known by its historic initials from the Dutch V.O.C., was formed from six smaller trading firms known as the voorcompagnieën or predecessor companies. The immediate objective... more
"In 1602, the United Netherlands East India Company, better known by its historic initials from the Dutch V.O.C., was formed from six smaller trading firms known as the voorcompagnieën or predecessor companies. The immediate objective of this merger was to stabilize the prices – and consequently also the revenues from taxation – linked to produce from the East Indian trade, spices such as nutmeg, cloves, mace and also pepper. But the merger had another ostensible objective: to project the Dutch war against the Iberian powers of Spain and Portugal from the European theatre into Asia, thus creating a private “arm” in the broader war effort.
This paper traces the early steps in the transition from employing force or violence in self- defence (1590s) though key resolutions and developments that sought to transform the VOC into a privately-financed privateering and plundering machine. It will be shown that pressure was stepped up between the formation of the company in March 1602 and the resolution of the Dutch States General in early November 1603, after which VOC fleets departing from Europe were issued with express and detailed instructions that contained both commercial and military objectives. The geographic focus of this paper will be placed on attacks on Iberian targets and privateering activities around peninsular Southeast Asia, including significantly also the Singapore and Melaka Straits.
The paper is divided into three principal parts. The first explores the related but legally distinct concepts of piracy, privateering and freebooting, and how these evolved and became “inflated” in the course off the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The formation of the Dutch VOC and the stepped up violence exerted against the Iberian powers of Spain and Portugal in Asian waters straddles the first and second parts. Of particular interest will be the interaction of formal policy formulated in Europe with actual events on the ground in Asia. Instructions to Dutch fleet admirals departing after November 1603 feature a mixture of commercial and military objectives. The third part explores the views of other historians in the Netherlands and beyond to come to terms with the evolving modus operandi of the Dutch company from its foundation in 1602 up to the conclusion of the Twelve Years’ Truce (April 1609) and the dispatch of a first permanent governor-general (1609-10) for Asia.
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This paper traces the early steps in the transition from employing force or violence in self- defence (1590s) though key resolutions and developments that sought to transform the VOC into a privately-financed privateering and plundering machine. It will be shown that pressure was stepped up between the formation of the company in March 1602 and the resolution of the Dutch States General in early November 1603, after which VOC fleets departing from Europe were issued with express and detailed instructions that contained both commercial and military objectives. The geographic focus of this paper will be placed on attacks on Iberian targets and privateering activities around peninsular Southeast Asia, including significantly also the Singapore and Melaka Straits.
The paper is divided into three principal parts. The first explores the related but legally distinct concepts of piracy, privateering and freebooting, and how these evolved and became “inflated” in the course off the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The formation of the Dutch VOC and the stepped up violence exerted against the Iberian powers of Spain and Portugal in Asian waters straddles the first and second parts. Of particular interest will be the interaction of formal policy formulated in Europe with actual events on the ground in Asia. Instructions to Dutch fleet admirals departing after November 1603 feature a mixture of commercial and military objectives. The third part explores the views of other historians in the Netherlands and beyond to come to terms with the evolving modus operandi of the Dutch company from its foundation in 1602 up to the conclusion of the Twelve Years’ Truce (April 1609) and the dispatch of a first permanent governor-general (1609-10) for Asia.
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"The Singapore History Anthology Project (or SHAP for short) has been spearheaded at the Department of History of the National University of Singapore to heighten awareness of the region’s history before the founding of the British... more
"The Singapore History Anthology Project (or SHAP for short) has been spearheaded at the Department of History of the National University of Singapore to heighten awareness of the region’s history before the founding of the British settlement in 1819. The project foresees the identification, translation into English and inclusion into the anthology deliverable documents of European and Asian origin, including especially also documents translated from Portuguese
and Dutch. This paper casts a glance at the specifically Portuguese materials that have been found and discusses some of the key issues pertaining to selection, translation and arrangement of materials for inclusion. The paper will also address how the materials taken as
a whole fit into the evolving historiographical discourses in Singapore at large. "
and Dutch. This paper casts a glance at the specifically Portuguese materials that have been found and discusses some of the key issues pertaining to selection, translation and arrangement of materials for inclusion. The paper will also address how the materials taken as
a whole fit into the evolving historiographical discourses in Singapore at large. "
The Southeast Asian spice trade involved an evolving network of trade as well as the meaning of the term "spice". This paper takes a snapshot of the spice trade in Southeast Asia at large as well as specifically in the royal Johorese... more
The Southeast Asian spice trade involved an evolving network of trade as well as the meaning of the term "spice". This paper takes a snapshot of the spice trade in Southeast Asia at large as well as specifically in the royal Johorese capital Batu Sawar around the year 1600. The backbone for this study is formed by hitherto unknown or sparsely known materials that include so-called rutters as well as the Batu Sawar factory records of the Dutch East India Company
"In 1593, a young Fleming from Bruges named Jacques de Coutre arrived at Melaka. For the next eight years, Melaka would be his home, and from there he travelled extensively throughout the region. In almost three decades in Asia, Jacques... more
"In 1593, a young Fleming from Bruges named Jacques de Coutre arrived at Melaka. For the next eight years, Melaka would be his home, and from there he travelled extensively throughout the region. In almost three decades in Asia, Jacques made and lost fortunes, and embarked on two overland voyages from Goa to Europe. His autobiography and other writings, now translated into English, offer important insights on Asian societies, customs, trading networks, and objects of trade. They are also the most expansive surviving eyewitness testimony of Singapore before 1800. This lecture will introduce the new translation and edition, and reveal what grand plans Jacques de Coutre had for Singapore around 1625 – about two centuries before Thomas Stamford Raffles.
About the speaker
Peter Borschberg is associate professor in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore. He has published several books and articles on topics relating to early colonial expansion and the origins of international law in Southeast Asia during the 16th and 17th centuries. These include The Singapore and Melaka Straits. Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century (2010) and Hugo Grotius, the Portuguese and Free Trade in the East Indies (2011).
This lecture is free. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. No registration is required.
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About the speaker
Peter Borschberg is associate professor in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore. He has published several books and articles on topics relating to early colonial expansion and the origins of international law in Southeast Asia during the 16th and 17th centuries. These include The Singapore and Melaka Straits. Violence, Security and Diplomacy in the 17th Century (2010) and Hugo Grotius, the Portuguese and Free Trade in the East Indies (2011).
This lecture is free. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. No registration is required.
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"Although readers of Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch have been familiar with the writings of Jacques de Coutre since the 1980s, scholars and researchers in Southeast Asia have yet to familiarize themselves with his autobiography (Vida) and... more
"Although readers of Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch have been familiar with the writings of Jacques de Coutre since the 1980s, scholars and researchers in Southeast Asia have yet to familiarize themselves with his autobiography (Vida) and his petitions. De Coutre, who was a native of Bruges in Flanders, spent roughly one decade in Southeast Asia between 1593 and 1603, and in this time was based in Melaka and Manila. From here he made lengthy trips to other parts of the Malay Peninsula – such as Pahang and Patani, and especially also to Siam and Cambodia. This paper which is held on the occasion of the launch of the first published English translation of a selection of De Coutre’s writings asks two very fundamental questions: Why should we bother to read this source and of what value might it be to Southeast Asian researchers today?
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The story of the first Siamese embassy to the West in 1608 is a gripping tale of death, embezzlement and hard-nosed commercial diplomacy. The embassy sent to the Dutch Republic by King Ekathotsarot was carried in the flagship of Cornelis... more
The story of the first Siamese embassy to the West in 1608 is a gripping tale of death, embezzlement and hard-nosed commercial diplomacy. The embassy sent to the Dutch Republic by King Ekathotsarot was carried in the flagship of Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge, the Dutch admiral who launched a seaborne-attack on the Portuguese colony of Malacca in 1606 and founded a fort on the island of Ternate in the Moluccas in June 1607. The Dutch were hoping to use Siam as a springboard into Yunnan Province. This talk marks the launch of a book on Admiral Matelieff, including a letter to King Ekathotsarot drafted by Hugo Grotius, translated here for the first time.
"This workshop will address such topics as: How to increase your chances of your journal article being accepted. How to choose which journal to publish in. How important is article style and word limit? What to do if your paper is... more
"This workshop will address such topics as: How to increase your chances of your journal article being accepted. How to choose which journal to publish in. How important is article style and
word limit? What to do if your paper is rejected. Matters to consider before submitting your book proposal. What should you include in your proposal. How can you increase your chances
of your book proposal being accepted. What happens after you submit your proposal. Followed by a Question and Answer session."
word limit? What to do if your paper is rejected. Matters to consider before submitting your book proposal. What should you include in your proposal. How can you increase your chances
of your book proposal being accepted. What happens after you submit your proposal. Followed by a Question and Answer session."
This paper examines the vision of Empire spelled out in the memorials of Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge written between 1608 and 1612. Matelieff was the third fleet commander to set sail from Europe under the flag of the Dutch East... more
This paper examines the vision of Empire spelled out in the memorials of Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge written between 1608 and 1612. Matelieff was the third fleet commander to set sail from Europe under the flag of the Dutch East India Company in May 1605 and is best remembered today for his accomplisments in battle and not for his business acumen. Among his most memorable achievements are his seaborne-attack on the Portuguese colony of Malacca in 1606 and his founding of the first fort on the island of Ternate n June 1607. Matelieff’s memorials offer a both vision of Empire and a blueprint for fundamentally reforming the way the company operated across the Indian Ocean and West Pacific. Most of Matelieff’s recommendations were implemented over the course of about a decade and arguably set the stage for the first Dutch Empire in Asia.
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