I have always been curious about the slave raiders. However, most papers dealing with the subject, especially Sarawak, are behind paywalls with some costing $50.00 to download. I scoured the Internet, found four books in my library and discovered one paper which had information. AI and Wikipedia were not used in this work.
Sarawak
When James Brooke became the first Rajah of Sarawak, ten per cent of the population of Sarawak were slaves. There were two sources of slaves in Sarawak. These include hereditary slaves and debt slaves. The hereditary slaves were passed down through the generations with their children also becoming slaves. The entire family lineage was part of the hereditary slaves.
The debt slaves were those who sold themselves or their children to people in order to repay a debt. The most common form of debt slavery came from gambling, to pay a bridal price or crop failures where the farmer would be advanced funds to plant his crop but the crop failed.
Brooke and his Free the Slave Philosophy
Hereditary slaves were considered to be real slaves. Claims of chiefs and others for large groups of slaves were examined on an individual basis. If the slaves were hereditary, they were to pay a charge of eight pounds per adult and 2-4 pounds per child for their freedom. These amounts were debts against the slave which they would have to work off.
The slaves could work off their 8 pounds ($12 Straits dollars) debt by working wood for house building, by boat building for the Borneo Company or for minerals owned by the Company or by farming but very few of the slaves trusted farmers. They could collect turtle eggs, trade in gutta-percha, Indian rubber, dried fish pineapples and many other efforts. In 1870, imprisonment for debt was banned.
The rationale was that if all the slaves were suddenly freed, they would become a burden on the government, and their masters or would become beggars. The ones who worked off their debt, it was believed, would become productive members of society by continuing to work. They would also feel pride in their accomplishments.
The Sarawak government allowed no import or export of slaves. A slave brought into Sarawak from another place had the same right to purchase his freedom through the debt clause as above.
Currently, one fisherman from Santubong told me of the slave raiders in the waters off of Santubong. My wife tells the story as a child she was said to be back in the house before dark or else the illano (pirates) would get her. Her mother is from Santubong.
Development of the slave trade
The development of the slave trade along the Borneo Rivers appears to have altered the ceremonial practice surrounding human sacrifices. In earlier times, preference had been given to killing young warriors or traders but the coming of the Taosug provided slaves, especially the elderly and the infirm.
The more slaves acquired by raiding resulted in a decrease in price which meant more were available for religious and spiritual uses. Mourning commoners could afford slaves to remember their relatives. The slave was purchased, bound with cloth and speared to death. Depending on the status of the individual a single or a whole household of slaves was sacrificed.
Slaves who were not purchased for ritual were absorbed into the slave class and used to find and process jungle produce. It is estimated four to five hundred slaves were processed each year by the Taosug, Iranumn and Balangingi in the first half of the nineteenth century. Who were the slave traders?
The Iranun (aka Illanun, Illananon, Lanun, Illano)
The Iranun (aka Illanun, Illananon, Lanun, Illano) settled on the north and east coasts of Jolo and Basilian. As an agriculturalist, they migrated to the seaside following the eruption and subsequent destruction of land and crops of the Maketering volcano in ~1765.
The Sulu archipelago witnessed the appearance of Iranum communities that specialized in slave raiding and established a relationship with the Taosug. In the 1780s many of the Iranians lived in distinct colonies having their own headmen and nakodahs.
From 1780-1800, the Iranun were responsible to the Datu Camsa and Datu Anti. Along with a relative of the Sultan, they were responsible for outfitting Iranun’s raiding craft.
The Sultan of Sulu maintained a tenuous relationship with the group although he knew it was in his best interest to provide a market for the returning slave prahs. The captured slaves were sold to the Portuguese.
By the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Taosug datus became “silent partners” in their raiding. They also helped outfit the raiders.
The direction of early Iranun marauding and expansion was to the west along the coast of Borneo and the island and delta regions of east Sumatra. It was at Jolo, Tempasuk and Retech that the Iranians were housed.
The pillaging was directed at the Malacca Straits, the Celebes, the Moluccas and the main islands of Borneo and the Philipines.
There was no scaling down of raiding activity in the 1790’s-only a change of targets. They used draught canoes to pluck unsuspecting fishermen and their families, traders, and travellers from isolated beaches and coasting boats.
The Balangingi Samal
The Samal lived in scattered villages in Southern Mindano, the southern shore of Basilan and on the islands of Samalese. The Taosung datus employed the Samal as slavers. They swept the coast from Luzon to Brunei and from Singapore to Menado.
The Balangingi Samal were a small nucleus whereby other people joined and adopted their language, customs and religion. In 1836 it was estimated only .1% were true Balangingi while the rest were Visayan, Tagalog and other captives.
The Taosug
Slave trading was related to power and wealth. The datu who could acquire a large number of captives could then use these captives for trade and other activities.”Their principal passion appears to be a lust for power and the object is to increase their number of slaves”. Thus the slaves acquired by the Iranun and Balangingi could be converted into wealth by sales to the Portugese.
The Sultan of Sulu
The Sultan of Sulu had different arrangements with different raiders. Some were equipped by the Sultan and his relatives, some were independent raiders but with the encouragement of the Sultan while others were not associated with the Sultan. The raiders handed over to the Sultan a certain number of slaves to pay for the outfitting of the boats, harbour fees and his assistance to the raiding parties.
The Sultan could also declare people within the lower classes as slaves. He usually targeted those with large families who were taken as slaves.
The Bajau
The Bajau maintained good relations with the Sulu Sultans. They raided and kidnapped children for sale to the Sultan. They were also feared by the Dusun people. The Dusun group was forced to move from the coast inland because of fears from the Baju. They were also forced to pay a tax of ten bushels of rice to the Baju.
The Murut
The Murut often purchased the children of those who could not pay off their debts. Their children will become indebted to their creditors. However, the practice of child slaves is not practised by other groups.
Brunei
The nobility of the Brunei people valued slaves as a symbol of wealth, alongside followers, kris, and cannons. The Brunei people residing in Brunei Papar also practised slavery obtained through war captives from raiding the interior. Slavery among the Brunei upper class is said to own slaves.
“Around 1500, Java was the largest single exporter of slaves. Through the still Hindu posts of Sunda Kelapa and Balambangan, Java supplied much of the labour for the Malay cities.
Islamization created a major change in the nature of fellow Muslims. Shari’a law forbade the sale or enslavement of fellow Muslims. Once Islam completed its conquest of Java, that island ceased to export its people. Slaves were then acquired from beyond the frontier of Islam.”
Slave trading in Brunei dates back to 1599 (probably before) when slaves were traded to Manila for Spanish wine, rice and cotton fabrics. Brunei sent an ambassador to Batavia loaded with camphor and slaves. In the 1640s, Fernando de Lima Pacheco tried to poison the Brunei Sultan but was caught and executed. His slaves were resold to Batavia.
In 1770, Filipino captives were held on the Mamburo River until they could be sold to Brunei slavers. In 1811, the British assumed control of Java and were confronted with Pangeran Anom at Sambas. He partnered with Iranum bands (see below) and Bruneians to prey on junks taking slaves. By the 1840’s the tables had turned and the Balangingi (see below) began to raid and take people from Brunei.
Slaves in Batavia, where Brunei slavers seem to sell them, were destined for the brothel trade. Batavia was the centre of a sex industry (both male and female) where soldiers and office workers were stationed. During the 17th and 18th centuries between 200,00-300,000 slaves were transported to Java. When the British took over Batavia in 1813 slave trading virtually ceased because it was illegal and the market from Brunei also halted.
Singapore
The slave market in Singapore was best described by Munshi Abdullah in 1823. “I went out to the harbour to have a look. I found 300 slaves, men, women and children. The majority of slaves were Balinese and Bugis. They were purchased by men of all races. There were Malay boats bringing slaves from the hinterland of Siak, Menangkabau and Pekan Baru. The young girls were in great demand.”
Part Two Next time on BorneoHistory.net
The following sources were used in the essay.
Allen, Richard European Slave Trading in the Indian Ocean Athens Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2014
Aping Sajok Perhambaan Tradisional di Borneo Utara Zaman Kesultanan Sulu & Brunei in Sains Insani 2017, Vol 2 No 02: 20-28
Bosma, Ulbe Being Dutch in the Indies Singapore: NUS Press, 2008
Munshi Abdullah Hikayat Abdullah Kuala Lumpur: MBRAS, translated from Jawi, 1849
Vienne, Marie Sybille Brunei: From the Age of Commerce to the 21st Century Singapore: NUS Press 2015
Warren, James The Port of Jolo and the Sulu Zone Slave Trade: An 1845 Report in THe Journal of Sophia Asian Studies, (25), pp.65-80 2007
Warren, James The Sulu Zone 1768-1898 Singapore: NUS Press, 1981
Tom McLaughlin for BorneoHistory.net