Rigel Kent

I want to draw your attention to an old map prepended by a Dutch pastor named François Valentyn (b. 1666, d. 1727) before he began his Book VII in Volume 5 1 : A description of the island of Sumatra and our trade there. Sincapoera in Valentyn (1726). Old and New East India, Volume 5, Book 7: Sumatra Valentyn's map clearly shows a number of bandars 2 dotting the southern end of the peninsula. The names given by him were: Senasur, Djohor, Passir, Sincapoera, and Tantan Velha. The site of Passir is likely closely related to modern Pasir Gudang and it was separated by the Johor River and Rio Falco (probably Tebrau River). Sincapoera, on the other hand, was positioned between the Oude Straat (probably the mouth of Pulai River, present day Tanjung Pelepas) and Rio Falco. A distinctive feature of the map is that modern Singapore appears as an unmarked block, whereas Bintan is clearly labeled. This implies that modern Singapore held rel...

For decades, the precise location of Longya Men 龍牙門 remains a subject of dispute in the maritime history of Southeast Asia. The earliest 1 description of the place was given by a Yuan Chinese traveler named Wang Dayuan 汪大淵 (b. 1311, d. 1350?) and the text is usually 2 parsed this way: 門以單馬錫番 兩山 相交若龍牙狀 中有水道以間之 This arrangement is optimizable since Wang's delineation can be made clearer if the two mountains 兩山 are removed from the first line and added to the second line: 門，以單馬錫番 (i) 兩山 相交，若龍牙 (ii) 狀 門 中有水道，以間之 (iii) The first description is relatively easy to handle. Since 門 men 2 is a shorthand for 龍牙門, the first line essentially means: The insular gateway (i) was inhabited by the native people 番 not unlike that of Temasik 單馬錫. This line suggests that in the 14th century, the ancient Srivijaya kingdom remained a maritime power, spanning a vast hydrographic region across S...

The following names are listed by Reid (1993) as examples in his description of the Indian merchantile caste and Chettiar community in Southeast Asia: Naina Chatu, Naina Suradewana, Naina Kurapan, Naina Tirivanga Any history enthusiast with an interest in the medieval Malay world should recognize one or two of the Nainas on the list. Naina (நைனா) is, in fact, a masculine honorific title. The term, rendered as nāyana in Telugu, signifies a father or patriarchal leader. In modern terms, Naina Chatu simply translates to Chief Chatu, Tuan Chatu, Dato' Chatu or Boss Chatu. Neak Praptos: Spean Praptos or the Bridge of Judgement in Siem Reap, built during Jayavarman VII's reign. The bridge is decorated with four nine-headed neak (or naga) and is featured in the 5000-riel bill issued by the National Bank of Cambodia. The bridge design was commonly employed in 12th century Khmer architecture and it was described by Zhou Daguan 周...

In 1680, Andreas Müller (b. 1630, d. 1694) published a small book containing a collection of the Lord's Prayers in 83 languages. The work was later revised and expanded by other authors in 1700, 1705, and 1713. The following discussion examines the Malay and Chinese texts as presented in the revised edition published in 1713. The Lords Prayer in above a hundred languages, versions, and characters, published in 1713. Oratio Dominica ΠΟΛΥΓΛΩΤΤΟΣ ΠΟΛΥΜΟΡΦΟΣ. Nimirum Plus Centum Linguis, Versionibus, aut Characteribus Reddita & Expressa. Editio Novissima. Speciminibus variis quam priores comitatior. The work is built upon the earlier publication of Müller although the title page of the book did not explicitly mention any editor or author. In the Malay text, the Lord's kingdom 國 was rendered as ra'jat, using an old spelling system devised by Van Ophuijsen. It is...