COLONIALISM IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO: Civilisational Encounters

by Osman Bakar, Ahmad Murad Merican (Editor), Wan Ali Wan Mamat (Editor)

In this book fourteen leading scholars and intellectual-activists provide a collective treatment of the theme of colonialism in the Malay Archipelago from the as yet little explored perspective of civilisational encounters. The centuries-long Western colonial presence in the Archipelago had generated both peaceful and violent encounters that were to prove consequential on the civilisational history of the region. The book’s chapters attempt to present new insights into the nature and multidimensional character of these civilisational encounters and their significance for the life and thought of contemporary Malay Archipelago that now comprises the modern nation-states of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, and Timor-Leste.

360 pages, Paperback

Published April 13, 2021

About the author

Listed in Top500 list of influential Muslim, Osman Bakar is currently Al-Ghazali Chair of Islamic Thought at ISTAC-International Islamic University Malaysia and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Science at University of Malaya. He was formerly Distinguished Professor at Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies (SOASCIS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia Chair of Southeast Asian Islam at the Prince Talal al-Waleed Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington DC.

Dr Bakar is author and editor of 38 books and numerous articles on various aspects of Islamic thought and civilization, particularly Islamic science and philosophy and interreligious and inter-civilizational dialogue. His writings have been translated into many languages. He has served as advisor and consultant to a variety of international academic and professional organisations, including UNESCO, the Qatar Foundation, and The European Science Foundation. He was awarded a Datukship by the Malaysian King in 2000.

Reviews

[Ruby Jusoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Reflection) A book that provides an overview of the colonial situation in the Malay Archipelago, covering Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. Most of the articles are informative. Overall, though, I feel they are NOT presented in a detailed manner that challenges my thinking. What I like about it is that it clarifies many vague parts of history – the colonisers versus the colonised. The book itself is a compilation of conference papers and can serve as an introduction to many more fascinating postcolonial and political topics.
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Colonialism in the Malay Archipelago: Civilization Encounters, edited by Osman Bakar, Ahmad Murad Merican and Wan Ali Wan Mamat
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There are 13 articles in total with themes as follows – 1) Europeans in the Malay Archipelago, the Hispanised Malay and Magellan, Resisting Colonialism and the Impact of Colonialism on Public Policy, Culture and Identity. There are a few articles that I really enjoyed reading. Not all. I think one about economy and trade really bored me. But that’s me. Yeah. Not a big fan of economics.
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1) Portugal’s Conquest of Malacca and Spice Monopoly: Manueline Imperial Policy as the Motivating Factor. A superb essay by Professor Osman Bakar. He contextualises why colonisers colonised, basically. The Portoguese King wanted to materialise his vision of Christian kingship by dominating other countries. It is fascinating to know that the Portuguese traders were received cordially by Melaka, initially, before the Portuguese military came and literally destroyed everything.
2) Banda Islands and the Treaty of Breda 1667 by Bondan Kanumoyoso. I am not familiar with anything Banda. Hence, it was enlightening to read about the egalitarian nature of Banda leadership in native villages. The European colonisers could not fathom living in such a non-hierarchical society and labelled them as chaotic and of course proceeded to ruin things, like always.
3) Antonio Pigafetta’s Description of Filipino Women by Maria Luisa T. Camagay. OMG LOVE THIS! Filipino scholars have to resort to a lot of historical texts to uncover how life was before the Spaniards came. The author unpacked how Filipino females – queens, court ladies and priestess (YES!) lived back then, attached to land, commanding in public spaces with power of their own.

[Derrick Khoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of essays related to the encounters of european powers with pre-colonial civilisations in modern Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. As well as arguments against colonial stereotypes of the lazy native being a particularly enjoyable read