Straits of Malacca: Gateway Or Gauntlet?For centuries the Straits of Malacca, a narrow waterway between the Malay peninsula and the island of Sumatra, has been both a major conduit for long distance trade between Asia and the West and one of the most dangerous areas for commercial shipping. Casting a broad net across several disciplines, particularly geography and political economy, Donald Freeman examines the significance of the Straits as both a trade gateway and a choke-point that has forced generations of sailors to run the gauntlet. Rather than the more conventional historical-narrative approach, he offers an innovative adoption of an interdisciplinary, analytical perspective through his use of detailed case studies of trading systems and shipping hazards. |
Contents
Monsoonal Circulation and Revolutions in Shipping | 10 |
EconomicGeographic Concepts of LongDistance Trade | 28 |
Concepts and Perspectives from Political Economy | 45 |
AsianEuropean Trading Systems in the GrecoRoman | 69 |
The Portuguese Trading System in Monsoon Asia | 90 |
The Dutch Trading System and Hollands Ascendancy | 97 |
The British East India Company Trading System | 103 |
Japan Oil | 111 |
The Rise of Singapore as a Global Entrepot | 141 |
Changing Local Hinterlands and Products in the Straits | 152 |
Local Trade Hinterlands and Products on the Malay | 159 |
PART FOUR | 165 |
Piracy in the Straits of Malacca | 174 |
TwentiethCentury Military Conflicts | 189 |
Traffic Congestion Hazardous Cargoes and Pollution | 203 |
Emerging Roles of the Straits in Global and Regional | 224 |
PART THREE THE GATEKEEPERS | 123 |
The Founding of British Penang Pulau Pinang | 135 |
Conclusion | 231 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aceh Andaya archipelago Asian attacks British Bugis cargoes centre century Chinese Cleary and Goh coast coastal colonial commerce commodities Dutch early East India Company eastern economic emporium entrepot European exchange exports fleets force gateway geographic global Hamzah harbour hazards hemispheric hinterlands important Indian Ocean Indonesia Islamic Japan Japanese Java Johor junks Kelang kilometres Kuala Lumpur long-distance trade major Malacca and Singapore Malay Peninsula Malaya Malaysia Maluku maritime Melaka Melaka river merchants metres military monopoly monsoon Monsoon trade naval navigation nodes northern Palembang patterns Penang pepper percent period Persian Gulf piracy pirates port Portuguese praus production Pulau Pinang river role sail settlement Singapore Strait South China Sea Southeast Asia southern spatial Spice Islands Srivijaya straits area Straits of Malacca straits region strategic sultan Sumatra tankers Thailand tion trade routes trading system traffic transit transport vessels voyage waterway Western winds