The suppression of piracy and other forms of maritime violence was a keystone in the colonisation of Southeast Asia. Focusing on what was seen in the nineteenth century as the three most pirate-infested areas in the region – the Sulu Sea, the Strait of Malacca and Indochina – this comparative study in colonial history explores how piracy was defined, contested and used to resist or justify colonial expansion, particularly during the most intense phase of imperial expansion in Southeast Asia from c. 1850 to c. 1920. In doing so, it demonstrates that piratical activity continued to occur in many parts of Southeast Asia well beyond the mid nineteenth century, when most existing studies of piracy in the region end their period of investigation. It also points to the changes over time in how piracy was conceptualised and dealt with by each of the major colonial powers in the region, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Stefan Eklöf Amirell is Associate Professor in History at Linnaeus University, Sweden. He is also the President of the Swedish Historical Association and Sweden’s delegate to the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS/CISH). Among his previous works are Pirates in Paradise: A Modern History of Southeast Asia’s Maritime Marauders and several articles on piracy in Southeast Asia.
Author(s): Stefan Eklöf Amirell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 266
City: Cambridge
Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Contents
List of Maps
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Piracy and Colonial Expansion in Southeast Asia
Piracy in the Colonial Lens
Moral Relativism and Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Toward a Connected History of Piracy
Method and Sources
Disposition of the Book
1 Piracy in Global and Southeast Asian History
Classical and Mediaeval European Understandings of Piracy
Piracy and the European Overseas Expansion
Piratical Imperialism
The Rise of the Piratical Paradigm
Asian and European Concepts of Piracy
Summary
2 The Sulu Sea
Piracy, Raiding and the Moro Wars
The Suppression of Piracy in Sulu
Imperial Rivalry
Naval Destruction
Moro Resistance
The United States and the Philippines
Transfer of Power in the South
Petty Piracy
Colonial Rule and Economic Expansion
Piracy Resurgent
Jikiri and the Last Wave of Sulu Piracy
A New Pearl-Fishing Regime
Summary
3 The Strait of Malacca
Dutch Expansion and Notions of Piracy
Piracy and British Expansion in Southeast Asia
Anglo–Dutch Rivalry and the Suppression of Piracy
Chinese Piracy
'Highway Robbery at Sea'
Resurgence of Piracy in the North
The Selangor Incident
The Aftermath of the Selangor Incident
Piracy and Civil War in Perak
Intervention in Perak
'The Most Daring and Bloodthirsty of All'
The End of Piracy in the Straits Settlements
Piracy and the Aceh War
Summary
4 Indochina
Chinese, Vietnamese and French Pirates
Colonial Expansion and River Piracy in Cochinchina
Piracy and Banditry in the North
Intervention in Tonkin
Piracy and Trafficking
Piracy and Colonial Expansion in Tonkin
Sino–French Rivalry
The Golden Years of Tonkinese Piracy
Pirates of the Land and the Sea
Summary
Conclusion
Piracy in Asian and European Perspective
Race and Religion
Explanations
Sovereignty, Security and the Suppression of Piracy
Maritime Violence and the Civilising Mission
Epilogue: Piracy and the End of Empire
Bibliography
Manuscripts and Archival Sources
France
Centre des Archives d'outre-mer (CAOM), Aix-en-Provence
Service historique de la Défense (SHD), Vincennes
Spain
Archivo General de Indias (through the online Portal de Archivos Españoles (PARES))
United Kingdom
The National Archives (TNA), Kew
Colonial Office
Foreign Office
United States
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Washington, DC
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (MDLC), Washington, DC
Legislation, Official Print and Reports
Compilations of Legislations and Treaties
United Kingdom: Parliamentary Papers (PP) and Debates
United States: Official Reports
Other Miscellaneous Official Print and Reports
Newspapers and Periodicals
Other Printed Sources
Literature
Index
