Orang Laut
Template:Short description Template:Expand German Template:Short description Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
The Orang Laut are several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands. The Orang Laut are commonly identified as the Orang Seletar from the Straits of Johor, but the term may also refer to any Malayic-speaking people living on coastal islands, including those of the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar and Thailand, commonly known as Moken.
The population of the tribe in the 21st century is estimated to be 420,000 people.
Etymology
The Malay term Script error: No such module "Lang". literally means 'sea peoples'. The Orang Laut live and travel in their boats on the sea.[1] They made their living from fishing and collecting sea products.[2] Another Malay term for them, Script error: No such module "Lang". (literally 'Straits people'), was brought into European languages as Celates.
Distribution
<templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" />
Broadly speaking, the term encompasses the numerous tribes and groups inhabiting the islands and estuaries in the Ria Archipelago, the Pulau Tujuh Islands, the Batam Archipelago, and the coasts and offshore islands of eastern Sumatra, the southern Malay Peninsula and Singapore.[4]
History
Historically, the Orang Laut played major roles in Srivijaya, the Sultanate of Malacca, and the Sultanate of Johor. They patrolled the adjacent sea areas, repelling pirates, directing traders to their employers' ports and maintaining those ports' dominance in the area.[2][5] In return, the ruler gave the Orang Laut leaders prestigious titles and gifts.[2] The earliest description of the Orang Laut may have been by the 14th century Chinese traveler Wang Dayuan who described the inhabitants of Temasek (present day Singapore) in his work Daoyi Zhilüe.[6]
Popular culture
In the story The Disturber of Traffic by Rudyard Kipling, a character called Fenwick misrenders the Orang Laut as "Orange-Lord" and the narrator character corrects him that they are the "Orang-Laut".
See also
Script error: No such module "Portal".
- Piracy in the Strait of Malacca
- Orang Laut in Singapore
- Urak Lawoi’ people
- Sampan panjang, Orang Laut racing boat
- Loncong language
References
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b c Barbara Watson Andaya. Report of Three Residents of Jambi about the Threat of Johorese War Vessels in the Batang Hari River, 11 September 1714. Jakarta : Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia. 2013 https://sejarah-nusantara.anri.go.id/media/dasadefined/HartaKarunArticles/HK010/Doc_10_Eng.pdf
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Mary Somers Heidhues. Southeast Asia: A Concise History. London: Hudson and Thames, 2000. Page 27
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
External links
- Pirates of the East
- Where the spirits roam
- Riau in Transition
- 1400s - The Orang Laut Warriors - a short documentary about the Orang Laut in the 15th - 17th century, produced for the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019.
Template:Ethnic groups in Indonesia Template:Ethnic groups in Malaysia