LITMIR.BIZ

      Section of a 1960s block-printed cotton sarong from SAMASA Batik Sdn Bhd, one of the earliest workshops in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, made in imitation of Pekalongan batik from Java, the cockerel on the kepala (head) replacing the usual floral bouquet and the typical intricate background detail eliminated.

      Telling the story of batik is part of the process of telling the history of Southeast Asia, of the maritime trade that flourished between East and West, of the emergence of mighty trade-based kingdoms and centres of elaborate court culture and statecraft, and of the influence of imported textiles on the manufacture and design repertoire of indigenous cloths. While the study of the world’s textiles reveals an amazing diversity of techniques and styles, it is equally astonishing that cultures separated by vast distances have developed similar techniques, patterns and motifs for both handwoven and surface-decorated cloths.

      Telling the story of batik in Malaysia, in particular, is not only linked to the textile traditions of other regions in the Malay World and to their common origins but also to the geography of the Malay Peninsula and its location at the southernmost tip of the Asian mainland, midway along the ancient East–West trade routes. That the more remote northern peninsular states of Kelantan and Terengganu on the east coast have always been the bedrock of traditional arts and crafts, long known for their artistic achievements, including the most sophisticated of local handwoven cloths, is no accident of history. Although crafts have always been practised in the other Malay states, including those on the west coast of the peninsula, it was the comparative isolation of the east coast states, their proximity to neighbouring nation states, but also their role as royal centres of power and patronage that allowed the arts and crafts to flourish. Kelantan and Terengganu had their own cotton industries and later Terengganu was to produce silk thread. A substantial number of the female population was always engaged in the arts, and in the second half of the nineteenth century the ruler of Terengganu actively encouraged foreign artisans to settle there. Furthermore, British colonial interference was minimal up to the twentieth century as the east coast states were not easily accessible from the trade and administrative centres of the west coast, specifically Penang, Melaka and Johor. Although the east coast state of Pahang also had a substantial weaving tradition, it never took to the production of batik the way the more northern states did.

      Paths of Trade

      The earliest history of the Malay Peninsula, indeed the whole of the area that eventually came to be known as Southeast Asia, was shaped to a large extent by the crosscurrents of maritime trade. The strategic location of Southeast Asia as the nexus of the monsoons that straddled the major East–West maritime trade route greatly contributed to the region’s role as a transshipment point for cargoes from one end of Asia to the other, as well as the wider world.

      From time immemorial, trade links had been forged with ports in the Malay Peninsula via coastal shipping and overland routes as well as with trading partners located around the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea—the famed Malay Archipelago—via inter-island shipping. But trade was also forged with the great civilizations of China to the northeast of the peninsula and India, Arabia and Europe to the northwest, for whom products from Southeast Asia were highly desirable commodities.

      Maritime trade was largely driven by an insatiable demand for a variety of luxury goods and exotic rarities, what the eminent curator, ceramicist and author John Guy calls ‘the strange and the precious’. The region’s forests were a rich source of perfumed woods such as sandalwood, gharuwood and camphor for incense and aromatics as well as waxes, resins and rattan, while ivory, rhinoceros horn and kingfisher feathers from the forests were coveted for decorative purposes. The earth yielded tin, iron and gold. The seas supplied various kinds of shellfish, pearl oysters, tortoiseshell, cowrie shells and edible seaweeds. Most important of all were the spices, such as nutmegs, cloves, pepper and mace, that were so desirable and necessary for preserving and flavouring food.

      This flourishing maritime trade helped to stimulate the emergence of trading kingdoms and royal entrepôts, located mostly along the coastlines. They were mighty cosmopolitan emporiums and centres of culture and statecraft offering luxurious commodities from India, China and the Arab World as well as from the region’s own vast hinterland. Local rulers took advantage of the trade to acquire textiles, porcelain, bronze wares, lacquered items, beads and other rare objects such as silk yarns, gold threads, gold leaf and dyestuffs. All these items served as status symbols and tangibly demonstrated the rulers’ wealth and their access to international trade.