18 ARCHIPELAGO
Chinese junks, under the auspices of a grandson of Jengiz Khan. The Sanscrit
names of many places in the Archipelago attest the influence and power of the
Hindus, although it is probable that some of these were bestowed, not directly by
themselves, but by those they converted—the Malays and Javanese. Such names
are by far the most frequent in Java, where they are often borrowed from the Hindu
legends. Here we find such names as Madura, the Madura or Mathura of India ;
Ayugya, its Ayudya or Aude; Indrakila, bolt of Indra; Indramaya, illusion of
ïv i/* ^aSa> -ame of a place, a corruption of Taraga, a reservoir ; Janggala,
the thicket, the name of an ancient kingdom ; Pranaraga, the desire of life, the name
of a province; Jayaraga, desire of victory; Wirasaba, hall of heroes, also names,of
provinces ; and Sumeru, Arjuna, and Brama, the names of mountains. In Sumatra,
we have Indrapura, the city of Indra; and Indragiri, the mount of Indra; in Bali
bwetyanagara, the city of well-being ; and Sukawati, city abounding in pleasure :
and in Borneo, Sukadana, parrot’s gift; Kuti (Coti), little fortress; and Darmapati,
king s bounty. Even as far as Celebes, we have an example in Andagili, which is
evidently, although much mutilated through the imperfect pronunciation of the
inhabitants of that island, Indragiri, or the mountain of Indra. See H indu and
H industan.
. 0n % arrival of Europeans in the Archipelago in the first years of the
sixteenth century, they found the Malays and Javanese along with Arabs and other
Asiatic nations, with their descendants who used the Malay language, conducting the
whole of its internal commerce, and they seem to have been so engaged for ages.
The extent of their trade and navigation is indicated by the names which they
bestowed on the places they visited, even up to New Guinea and the Philippines
mu -ai-i k s t Malay Was sP°ken 88 the medium of communication with all strangers!
The Malay words Tanjung, promontory, Ujung, point, Pulo, island, Sungaiand Ayar,
river, Katu, rock, Lant, sea, and Tanah, land, with the Javanese words Nusa, island,
foela, rock, and Kali, river, are of frequent occurrence throughout the Archipelago
usually prefixed to the names of places. These terms are found in parts of thé
Archipelago where Malay and Javanese are not vernacular, conjoined with other
words of these languages, or with Sanscrit or local ones. Thus we have in the
islands east of Java, and extending to New Guinea, such names of places as the
following—Pulo-buru (Boeroe), hunting island ; Pulo-wayang, shadow island ; Pulo
lim ur (Timor), castor island ; Nusa-lant, sea island; Nusa-kumba, elephant’s trunk
ffW fn Nusa-ringgit, puppet island ; Pulo arau (Aroes), cassuarina islands ; Pulo-
ubi (Pulo obi), yarn island; Pulo-lata, creeping island ; Pulo-gaja, elephant island ;
Pulo-putar, turning island ; Nusa-manuk, bird island ; Batu-china (a name of Gilolo),
mark or signal rock ; Ayar-aji, king’s creek ; Tanah-bugis, land of the Bugis, Celebes ;
Tanah-keke, land of sorcerers, name of a small island off the south-western peninsula
of Celebes ; Tanah-puwa-puwa, land of frizzle-haired people, New Guinea • Pulo
pandan, Pandanus islets in the Philippine group ; Pangasinan, salt or saline* plain
a province of Luzon ; Pulo-nila, indigo or blue island, in the Molucca Sea ; Kuta-
warmgin, m Borneo, fortress of the Indian fig tree ; Mas-sela, golden rock, in Sumatra ;
and the name of the island of Solor, lying immediately east (of Eloris, from thé
Javanese sulur, the sucker as of a fig-tree, which spontaneously strikes root and
figuratively a proxy or representative.
The ancients, it may bo safely averred, were nearly as ignorant of the existence of
the Indian Islands.as they were of the islands, and continent of America and the
European nations of the middle ages knew almost as little of them. The éxtent of
the knowledge of the latter may be judged from the fact that it was a moot question
with them whether Sumatra or Ceylon was the Taprobane of the ancients, although
the one was distant from the other by a navigation of 1000 miles. Even the names
of the principal islands had never reached them down to the moment of actual discovery.
They had a vague notion that there existed some far countries beyond
India that produced spices, gold, and tin, but this was in reality the extent of their
knowledge of the Archipelago. , The Arabians of the middle ages had a far earlier
and better acquaintance with it, although the written records be very imperfect.
They had navigated its seas, traded with it, and settled on it many centuries before
the arrival of Europeans. The earliest account we possess of their intercourse is
contamed in the travels of the two Arabian merchants of the ninth century.
The manuscript of the earliest of these is dated in the year 851, and of the'
latest in 903. The first of these dates carries us back 440 years before the visit to
the Archipelago of Marco Polo, and 768 years before the actual discovery by the
Portuguese. The two Arabian travellers make no mention of any trade with the
| Indian islands conducted by their countrymen; but as they give very authentic
I accounts of the Arabian trade with China, they must, of necessity, have passed
1 through them, and at least touched at them for wood and water. The earliest of the
I two travellers indeed indicates, although very obscurely, that the usual route was
¡i through the Straits of Malacca, the countries on each side of which were, probably,
’ at the time in a barbarous state, for the ancient Singapore and Malacca had not yet
I been founded. The Arabian commerce with China, at the time, was conducted with
? the Persian Gulf, the trades of Bagdad, Basra, and Oman centering at the island of
BK is and afterwards at Ormus on the Persian side, towards the entrance of the
K; Gulf, owing to the difficult navigation of its upper portion. The trade was in fact B carried on both by Persians and Arabs, and this fact will account for the number of
B Persian words intermixed with Arabic that are found in the Malay language. Of the
■ settlement of the Arabs in the Archipelago, the earliest date we possess is that of the
B conversion of the Achinese to the Mahommedan religion, which is recorded to have
B happened in the year of the Hegira 601, corresponding with 1204 of Christ, or
B 353 years subsequent to the voyage of the earliest of the Mahommedan travellers.
B The progress of conversion through the rest of the Archipelago was gradual and
■ slow. The Malays of Malacca were not converted until 1276) the inhabitants of the
B Moluccas not until 1465, the Javanese not until 1478, and the people of Celebes not
fk until 1495, the year before Vasco de Gama passed the Cape of Good Hope, and only
Sis) fourteen years before the discovery of the Archipelago by the Portuguese. With
s . the exception of a few of the more southerly islands of the Philippine group, the
inhabitants of the rest continued unconverted down to the arrival of the Spaniards
•• in 1521.
I The Arabs, unlike the Hindus, have imposted no names on places within the
,* Archipelago, for their work was that of mere trade and propagandism. I t is certain,
i), however, that Arabian intercourse gave a great impetus to the civilisation of the inhabi-
B tants, and'that Mahommedan merchants, of Arabian, Persian, and Indian origiD, carried
■ on trade in the waters of the Archipelago long before the arrival of the Portuguese.
B The Spaniards and Portuguese, in fact, seem to have been indebted to them for
R their first rough knowledge of the geography of the Archipelago—a knowledge, indeed,
B which they could not have acquired so early as they are found to have done, nor
i have acquired from any other source, since the native inhabitants could not supply
I it. Some examples are worth quoting : Ludovico Barthema, a native of Bologna, who
I states that he was at Cairo on his way to the East in 1503, and who, at all events,
■ visited Malacca before its conquest by the Portuguese, describes it as situated on the
1 mainland of Asia. He mentions Sumatra by its name, as it is now written, and is
I probably the first European that did so. He calls it an island and gives it an
B exaggerated circumference, and he refers to the strait which divides it from the
I continent, but underrates its breadth. He also names Borneo by its correct name
I of Burnai. This island he had visited, and he describes it as being by 200 miles
j larger than Sumatra. He also mentions Java, in a passage worth transcribing, from
I the curious account it renders of Mahommedan navigation. “ Here ” (in Borneo)
I says he, “ my companion freighted a small vessel for a hundred ducats. Being pro-
■ Visioned we took our course towards the fine island (bella isola) of Giuva, where we
I arrived in five days, sailing southward. The master of the vessel carried a compass
I with magnet after our manner, and had a chart marked lengthwise and across with
■ lines.”—Ramusio, vol. i.
j Barbosa, the most accurate and intelligent of all the early Portuguese travellers,
K gives not only the names of many places in the Archipelago, but describes also their
R productions. His narrative is dated 1516, but his travels evidently refer to a period
B some years previous to the conquest of Malacca and discovery of the Moluccas. He
B describes Malacca, which he had seen, with fidelity, and he names all the spice islands
■ with their productions. His account of Sumatra is even surprisingly accurate, while
R he shows the source from which he derived it. “ Having passed,” says he, “ the
■ above-mentioned island (Navacar, Nicobar), there is a very great one called Sumatra,
K which is in circuit 700 leagues, equal to 2500 miles, as reckoned by the Moors who
■ have sailed all round it. It runs north-west and south-east, and the equinoctial line
H passes through the middle of it.” He mentions, moreover, several of the neigh-
| bounng countries, and nearly by the same names by which they are still known to
Europeans, these names being unknown to the inhabitants themselves, although still
I eign Mahommedan nations. In this manner he gives us Pegu, Verma
| (Lurma), lernasseri (Tenasserim), Siam and China.—Ramusio, vol. i.
Rigatetta, the companion of Magellan, seems to have given to several of the
o 2