THE IRANUN IN BORNEO: PIRATES OR HEROES FROM THE MARITIME PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

During the 18th and 19th century, the Iranun of the Philippines were well known as the 'conqueror' of the sea. They were feared by the European and Chinese sailors who travelled around Bornneo and the Southeast Asian waters. Their passion to raid the western merchants and to turn the crews of their ships into a commercial commodity for the slave trade changed the origin of their identity, which was once known as the Iranun of the Sulu Islands to the lanuns or pirates by the westerners. These people had long existed even before the arrival of the westerners, yet their identity was changed due to their marauding activities at sea. The re-identification of the Iranun had slowly taken away their original identity and the locals of the Malay Archipelago began to identify them as having a new identity during the 18th century. This article is to re-document the history of the Iranun around Borneo waters from the perspective of the 'maritime world' which was dominated by the Iranun of the Philippines.