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in early modern southeast asia, a large number of commercial city-states competed to provide various needs for merchants from all directions. but the shoals, estuaries or islands outside the city walls are the arenas for countless smuggling pirates. they attack each other, plot to invade, and barely maintain the trade ecological balance in the region.

among them are portuguese who came from afar, muslims who are widely distributed, and chinese allies who have mixed in in order to survive. the connections between the three often turn into short and fierce small-scale battles.

pahang located in the eastern part of the malay peninsula

in february 1540 ad, the pahang kingdom in northern malaya encountered an unexpected incident, and sultan muzaffar was assassinated because of his love affair. immediately, riots broke out in major areas, including the imperial city, causing serious losses to foreign merchants who settled there. for example, the portuguese lobo who opened a trading house was besieged by angry muslims. although he and a few companions resisted bravely, they could not prevent the mob from looting their property and losing all their gold, jewelry and diamonds. he himself was stabbed six times and managed to escape with the help of people around him. they were surprised to find that the turmoil was not directed at them, but rather a massacre between almost everyone.

portuguese business house robbed by suspected muslim pirates during riots

six days later, with the help of the adventurer pinto, lobo fled to pattani on a lancharan galley. it happens to be located just north of pahang city. it is also a trading port ruled by muslim princes and has a colonial community of 300 portuguese residents. angry at the muslims of pahang, they petitioned the local sultan for permission to retaliate. at that time, pattani adopted absolute neutrality in foreign policy and did not want any disturbance to affect commercial income, so he readily agreed.

carrack and fausta galley

as a result, 80 portuguese people volunteered to fight and set sail on two well-equipped small galleys of fausta and a large carrack. fearing that his actions would be reported to the south by the muslims, preparations were hasty. the commander of the temporary fleet was a descendant of the noble family named joao fernandez. his father had been the tutor of king john iii, so he was elected as a leader and personally commanded the larger sailing ship. the captains of the other two galleys were luo

gois and vasco both came from noble families in the country and had considerable experience in naval warfare.

the kelantan river in the northern part of the malay peninsula

according to a businessman who arrived in pattani later, the pirates who robbed the store also had three sailing ships. they originally planned to retreat north to find a suitable port to dump their loot. unexpectedly, due to the wind direction, we had no choice but to camp on the kelantan river near pahang. clearly, this behavior was very different from that of most muslims of the time. because the traditional southeast asian muslim sphere of influence is mainly distributed in the nanyang islands and the southern part of the malay peninsula, while in the north are siam and dai viet, which worship buddhism and confucianism. if you want to quickly launder or cash out stolen goods, you must give priority to johor, aceh, old port, brunei and banten.

muslim pirates in the malay peninsula preferred to use galleys for their operations

at the same time, the traditional muslim pirates' ship type selection is relatively fixed. in addition to the local arabian sailing boats, there are also sturdy and huge dieng sailing boats and lancharan galleys suitable for shallow water activities. even the chinese who have settled in siam, pattani and borneo for several generations often choose local-style boats. however, this group of pirates used relatively rare chinese-style sailing ships, and their behavior of blindly turning northward looked like they went out to sea without permission to avoid the ming dynasty's maritime ban. they can easily be slandered as japanese pirates in their hometown. they must also hold muslim identities overseas and face a completely unfriendly and miserable world with multiple faces.

in early modern times, chinese-style sailing ships were mainly used by people in the ming dynasty

soon, the revenge fleet led by fernandez arrived at the kelantan river and found three chinese-style sailing ships anchored there. this lack of precaution was also different from that of most muslim pirates at the time. the latter are often accustomed to dragging boats ashore to build relatively strong fortified camps to avoid direct water confrontations with westerners. some even go upstream and hide their deployment in a certain bend of the river. on the other hand, water thieves from areas ruled by the ming dynasty were afraid of institutions such as guard posts, water villages, and inspection departments distributed in a grid, so they always stayed at the mouth of the river where they could escape. however, when the battlefield shifts to the malay peninsula, where the situation is completely different, this helpless move can only add trouble to itself.

because they are worried about destroying the loot, they often jump into gangs to seize ships in fights between islands.

even so, the portuguese still found that the three pirate ships were closely guarded by a large number of soldiers. although they could be bombarded with the artillery of the karak sailing ship, they still chose to approach directly and launch a gang-hopping attack. the advantage of this is that it will not cause damage to the cargo in the cabin. the disadvantage is that there is no heavy fire support, and it is easy to form a stalemate. at that time, chinese smuggling merchants had not widely popularized advanced weapons such as muskets. they mainly relied on cold weapons such as swords and crossbows, and they did not apply poison to their arrows like the natives of southeast asia. therefore, if there are too many advantages but cannot be used, defeat is just a matter of time.

due to the asymmetry of weapons, ming dynasty pirates often did not have an advantage in nanyang.

two hours later, the tug-of-war on the water ended in victory for the portuguese. they killed 74 people with the loss of 3 people, and there were countless wounded on both sides. the chinese pirates chose to surrender and were taken back to pattani intact. later, through the local sultan, he was released on the condition that all looted goods were returned. in that zero-sum game era where everyone was stealing and doing business, and the blade of a knife was licking blood, such a warm and affectionate approach was rare.

it is worth mentioning that although the rulers of pattani adopted a complementary policy, the main control of the royal city and port was in the hands of muslims. faced with three shiploads of prisoners who also claimed to be muslims, these people actually just wanted to keep the stolen goods and did not intercede or defend their nominal compatriots. the following obvious differential treatment also reflects the disguised identity of the captives. in any case, half-hearted and two-faced people are always easy to get frustrated. their experiences are not only the tragedy of the times, but also the shackles of the environment that have been hanging over their heads all their lives...