The Timber Trade in Pre-Modern Siak

Abstract

Situated in a region of seemingly endless lowland rainand mangrove forest in eastern Sumatra, the Siak river is the deepest in the Malay archipelago and an important conduit for trade in the region. Before European colonial rule encompassed much of Southeast Asia during the nineteenth century, the Siak river was home to a number of small villages that acted as stapling posts for the collection and transfer of a variety of trade products, ranging from camphor and bezoar stones to tin and gold. These communities were also exporters of timber, for which Siak was well-known throughout the Straits of Melaka and as far away as Java. Wood from eastern Sumatra was exported to other ports in the region, where it was used for construction and ship repairs, while a ship-building industry had been present along the Siak river for centuries. As mentioned in the best-known study of sixteenth-century Portuguese Melaka, The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires, a king of Siak has many paraos, and they are made in his country, because of the amount of wood there.2 The importance of Siak timber trade was enhanced by the nineteenth century as other regions of Southeast Asia, particularly those with easily accessible teak forests, became deforested.3 When supplies became low in Java, Siak continued to be covered with fine and durable timber for ships and houses,. . . [that], as far as I know, is not