The Orang Laut are several seafaring
ethnic group
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
s and tribes living around
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
,
peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...
and the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
n
Riau Islands
The Riau Islands ( id, Kepulauan Riau) is a province of Indonesia. It comprises a total of 1,796 islands scattered between Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo including the Riau Archipelago. Situated on one of the world's busiest shipping lan ...
. 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
Mergui Archipelago
The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago or ''Myeik Kyunzu''; my, မြိတ်ကျွန်းစု) is located in far southern Myanmar (Burma) and is part of the Tanintharyi Region. It consists of more than 800 islands, varying i ...
islands of
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, commonly known as
Moken
The Moken (also ''Mawken or'' ''Morgan''; ; th, ชาวเล, lit=sea people, translit=chao le) are an Austronesian people of the Mergui Archipelago, a group of approximately 800 islands claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand. Most of the 2,0 ...
.
Etymology
The
Malay term literally means 'sea peoples'. The Orang Laut live and travel in their boats on the sea. They made their living from fishing and collecting sea products.
Another Malay term for them, (literally '
Straits people'), was brought into European languages as ''Celates''.
Distribution
Broadly speaking, the term encompasses the numerous tribes and groups inhabiting the islands and estuaries in the Riau-Lingga archipelagos, the
Pulau Tujuh Islands, the
Batam Archipelago, and the coasts and offshore islands of eastern
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, southern Malaysia Peninsula and Singapore.
History
Historically, the Orang Laut played major roles in
Srivijaya
Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th ...
, the
Sultanate of Malacca, and the
Sultanate of Johor. They patrolled the adjacent sea areas, repelling real pirates, directing traders to their employers' ports and maintaining those ports' dominance in the area
[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] In return, the ruler gave Orang Laut leaders prestigious titles and gifts.
The earliest description of the Orang Laut may have been by the 14th century Chinese traveler
Wang Dayuan Wang Dayuan (, fl. 1311–1350), courtesy name Huanzhang (), was a Chinese traveller of the Yuan dynasty from Quanzhou in the 14th century. He is known for his two major ship voyages.
Wang Dayuan was born around 1311 at Hongzhou (present-day Na ...
who described the inhabitants of
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ...
(present day Singapore) in his work ''
Daoyi Zhilüe''.
Popular culture
In the story ''The Disturber of Traffic'' by
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work.
...
, 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
*
Piracy in the Strait of Malacca
*
Orang Laut in Singapore
*
Urak Lawoi’ people
*
Sampan panjang
Sampan panjang was a type of Malay fast boat from the 19th century. It was used especially by the sampan-men, or "Orang Laut" (lit. "sea people"). Historically, they can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. This type of boat was used ...
, Orang Laut racing boat
*
Loncong language
The Orang Laut language or ''Loncong'', is one of the Malayic languages. It is one of several native languages of Orang Laut ('Sea People') of the Bangka and Belitung
Belitung ( Belitung Malay: ''Belitong'', formerly Billiton) is an isla ...
References
External links
Pirates of the East1400s - The Orang Laut Warriors- a short documentary about the Orang Laut in the 15th - 17th century, produced for the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orang Laut
Ethnic groups in Indonesia
Ethnic groups in Sumatra
Ethnic groups in Malaysia
Ethnic groups in Singapore
Modern nomads