'The Muscles and Sinews of the Kingdom': Sama Bajo Sea Peoples in Early Modern Eastern Indonesia

This talk by Lance Nolde is based on historical and ethnographic research conducted in Indonesia and the Netherlands, 2007-2014.

The Sama Bajo (Bajau, Sama Dilaut) of eastern Indonesia are well known for their unique, semi-nomadic lifestyle and sea-centered culture. Popularly known as “sea nomads,” or “sea gypsies,” the Sama Bajo have long attracted the attention of those who crossed their path, and these encounters have resulted in a relatively large body of academic and popular literature. Much of what has been written about the Sama Bajo, however, lacks historical depth and rehashes familiar, and often inaccurate characterizations of the Sama Bajo which reflect the Sama Bajo’s contemporary marginalization more so than their historical significance.

In this talk Lance Nolde will present some of the findings from his research on the history of the Sama Bajo of eastern Indonesia during the early modern period (c.1400-1800) in an effort to highlight the importance of the Sama Bajo in earlier periods and thus provide an account that is quite different from such popular conceptions. Specifically, he will discuss the historical linkages between the Sama Bajo communities spread throughout the region, and the various political, economic, and social networks in which they played an essential role. To do so, Nolde will focus on one of the largest and most important groups involved in these networks, namely those Sama Bajo allied with the Makassarese kingdom of Gowa-Talloq (South Sulawesi). Under the leadership of powerful individuals and families of noble birth, between the 16th and 18th centuries large numbers of Sama Bajo peoples dispersed throughout the eastern archipelago and established thriving intermediary trading centers while playing a vital role in the collection of sea products, the capture and transport of slaves, as well as the movement of a variety of other important trade commodities.

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Every month, one of the IIAS researchers will present his or her work-in-progress in an informal setting to colleagues and other interested attendees. IIAS organises these lunch lectures to give the research community the opportunity to freely discuss ongoing research and exchange thoughts and ideas.