Kelulus or kalulus is a type of rowing boat used in the Nusantara archipelago. It is typically small in size and propelled using oar or paddle. However, for long-distance voyages, this boat can be equipped with sails. It is not the same as ''prahu kalulis'' of the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago.

Etymology

The name ''kelulus'' seems to be derived from Javanese word "''lulus''", which means "to go right through anything". According to Hobson-Jobson, the literal translation would be "the threader".

Description

The earliest report of kelulus is from ''Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai'' (Chronicle of the Kings of Pasai) of the 14th century, in which they are mentioned as one type of vessel used by the

Majapahit empire Majapahit (; (eastern and central dialect) or (western dialect)), also known as Wilwatikta (; ), was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia). At its greatest ...

. Although they are not well described, kelulus is one of Majapahit's main vessel types after

jong Jong may refer to: Surname *Chung (Korean surname), spelled Jong in North Korea *Zhong (surname), spelled Jong in the Gwoyeu Romatzyh system *Common Dutch surname "de Jong"; see ** De Jong ** De Jonge ** De Jongh *Erica Jong (born 1942), Americ ...

and malangbang.Hill (June 1960). " Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai". ''Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society''. 33: p. 98 and 157: "Then he directed them to make ready all the equipment and munitions of war needed for an attack on the land of Pasai – about four hundred of the largest junks, and also many barges (malangbang) and galleys." See also Nugroho (2011). p. 270 and 286, quoting ''Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai'', 3: 98: "''Sa-telah itu, maka di-suroh baginda musta'idkan segala kelengkapan dan segala alat senjata peperangan akan mendatangi negeri Pasai itu, sa-kira-kira empat ratus jong yang besar-besar dan lain daripada itu banyak lagi daripada malangbang dan kelulus''." (After that, he is tasked by His Majesty to ready all the equipment and all weapons of war to come to that country of Pasai, about four hundred large jongs and other than that much more of malangbang and kelulus.) From Portuguese sources, they are transcribed as ''calaluz'' (''calaluzes'' for plural form), whereby they are described as "A kind of swift rowing vessel used in the

Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...

". In about 1500 CE, the

Sultanate of Malacca The Malacca Sultanate (; Jawi script: ) was a Malays (ethnic group), Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswa ...

opposed Siam with 200 boats, consisting of

lancaran ''Colotomy'' is an Indonesian description of the rhythmic and metric patterns of gamelan music. It refers to the use of specific instruments to mark off nested time intervals, or the process of dividing rhythmic time into such nested cycles. I ...

and kelulus. After Sultan

Mahmud Shah of Malacca Sultan Mahmud Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah (died 1528) ruled the Sultanate of Malacca from 1488 to 1511, and again as pretender to the throne from 1513 to 1528. He was son to Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah. As a monarch, he was kn ...

was deposed from

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

in 1511, he took over

Bintan Bintan Regency (originally the Riau Islands Regency; ) is an administrative area in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia. Bintan Regency includes all of Bintan Island (except for the city of Tanjung Pinang which is separately administered ...

. In 1519 and 1520 he had a fleet consisting of 60 and 100 boats respectively, both being made up of lancaran and kelulus. Tome Pires in 1513 reported that the pates (

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

s) of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

has many ''calaluz'' for raiding, and described:

... but they are not fit to go out of the shelter of the land. Kelulus were specialty of Java. They are carved in a thousand and one ways, with figures of serpents, and gilt; they are ornamental. Each of them has many of these, and they are very much painted, and they certainly look well and are made in a very elegant way, and they are for kings to amuse themselves in, away from the common people. They are rowed with paddles.

... They go out in triumphal cars, and if they go by sea hey goin painted ''calaluzes'', so clean and ornamental, with so many canopies that the rowers are not seen by the lord;

In 1537, Javanese kelulus encountered in

Patani Pattani (or Patani in Malay spelling) may refer to: Places Continental Asia * Patani (historical region), a historical region in the Malay peninsula, in Thailand and Malaysia. * Pattani Province, modern province in southern Thailand ** Pattani, ...

was described as having two rows of oars: One was of short

paddle A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened end (the ''blade'') used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered watercraft by p ...

s, the other was "like a galley" (long oars); they carried 100 soldiers, with much

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

and

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s. Gonçalo de Souza reported that they have 27 oars and carried 20 soldiers. They are armed with

swivel gun A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...

s ( ''falconselhos'') at the bow and stern.Manguin, Pierre-Yves (2012). Lancaran, Ghurab and Ghali: Mediterranean impact on war vessels in Early Modern Southeast Asia. In G. Wade & L. Tana (Eds.), ''Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past'' (pp. 146–182). Singapore: ISEAS Publishing.

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

dictionary lists them as "Small boat used in the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in Eastern world, the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainl ...

". Portuguese historian

António Galvão António Galvão (c. 1490–1557), also known as Antonio Galvano, was a Portuguese soldier, chronicler and administrator in the Maluku islands, and a Renaissance historian who was the first person to present a comprehensive report of the leading ...

in 1544 made a treatise about Maluku, which lists the types of boats from the region, including the kalulus. He described the hull as being egg shaped at the middle but sloping upwards at both ends. At the prow they are shaped like high

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

neck with the head of a serpent and the horns of a

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

Usage

Kelulus were used as transport vessel or war boat. Majapahit overseas invasion used kelulus, usually in uncountable numbers. The pati of Java had many war kelulus for raiding coastal villages. During the

Demak Sultanate The Demak Sultanate () was a Javanese Muslim state located on Java's north coast in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day city of Demak. A port fief to the Hindu-Buddhist Majapahit kingdom thought to have been founded in the last quarter o ...

attack on

Portuguese Malacca Portuguese control of Malaccaa city on the Malay Peninsulaspanned a 130 year period from 1511 to 1641 as a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was captured from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to gain control of ...

of 1512–1513, kelulus were used as armed troop transports for landing alongside

penjajap Penjajap, also pangajava and pangayaw, were native galley-like warships used by several Austronesian ethnic groups in maritime Southeast Asia. They were typically very long and narrow, and were very fast. They are mentioned as being used by native ...

and lancaran, as the Javanese junks were too large to approach shore. Queen Kalinyamat of

Jepara Jepara is a town in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. Jepara is on the north coast of Java, northeast of Semarang, not far from Mount Muria, with a population of 85,970 in mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabup ...

attacked

in 1574 with 300 vessels, 220 of which are ''calaluzes'' and the rest were jongs weighing up to 400 tons burthen. The attack ended in failure for the Javanese.Marsden, William (1783). '' The History of Sumatra: Containing an Account of the Government, Laws, Customs, and Manners of the Native Inhabitants.'' London: W. Marsden. p. 350–351.Manguin, Pierre-Yves (1993). 'The Vanishing Jong: Insular Southeast Asian Fleets in Trade and War (Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries)', in Anthony Reid (ed.), ''Southeast Asia in the Early Modern Era'' (Ithaca: Cornell University Press), 197–213. In 1600, king Chiay Masiuro (or Chiaymasiouro) of Demak embarked in a ''calelus'' from

Blambangan The Blambangan Kingdom ( Indonesian: ''Kerajaan Blambangan'', Javanese: ꦑꦼꦫꦗꦲꦤ꧀ꦨ꧀ꦭꦩ꧀ꦧꦔꦤ꧀) was the last Javanese Hindu kingdom that flourished between the 15th and 18th centuries, based in the eastern corner of ...

which has been equipped with oar and sail, to the south. After 12 days, he arrived at Luca Antara or Java Major, which is believed to be

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. There he received by the

syahbandar Shahbandar (), was an official of the ports in Safavid Persia and one also known on other shores of the Indian Ocean. The Shahbandar (Port Master) was in charge of the traders and the collection of taxes. The office of shahbandar first appeared ...

, and stayed for several days. Chiaymasiuro found out that the inhabitants were Javanese, but with mixed culture of Java, Sunda, and Bali. After he returned to Blambangan, the news of the voyage made great astonishment and public notoriety in Java.

Etymology

Description

Usage

See also

References

Further reading