1.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
2.
Galley
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A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by rowing. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used in favorable winds, but human strength was always the primary method of propulsion. This allowed galleys to navigate independently of winds and currents, Galleys were the warships used by the early Mediterranean naval powers, including the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. They remained the dominant types of vessels used for war and piracy in the Mediterranean Sea until the last decades of the 16th century and they were the first ships to effectively use heavy cannons as anti-ship weapons. As highly efficient gun platforms they forced changes in the design of medieval seaside fortresses as well as refinement of sailing warships. The zenith of galley usage in warfare came in the late 16th century with battles like that at Lepanto in 1571, by the 17th century, however, sailing ships and hybrid ships like the xebec displaced galleys in naval warfare. From the mid-16th century galleys were in intermittent use in the Baltic Sea, with its short distances, there was a minor revival of galley warfare in the 18th century in the wars between Russia, Sweden and Denmark. The term galley derives from the medieval Greek galea, a version of the dromon. The origin of the Greek word is unclear but could possibly be related to galeos, the word galley has been attested in English from c. It was only from the 16th century that a unified galley concept came in use, before that, particularly in antiquity, there was a wide variety of terms used for different types of galleys. Ancient galleys were named according to the number of oars, the number of banks of oars or lines of rowers, the terms are based on contemporary language use combined with more recent compounds of Greek and Latin words. The earliest Greek single-banked galleys are called triaconters and penteconters, for later galleys with more than one row of oars, the terminology is based on Latin numerals with the suffix -reme from rēmus, oar. A monoreme has one bank of oars, a two and a trireme three. Since the maximum banks of oars was three, any expansion above that did not refer to additional banks of oars, but of additional rowers for every oar. Quinquereme was literally a five-oar, but actually meant that there were several rowers to certain banks of oars which made up five lines of oar handlers, for simplicity, they have by many modern scholars been referred to as fives, sixes, eights, elevens, etc. Anything above six or seven rows of rowers was not common, any galley with more than three or four lines of rowers is often referred to as a polyreme. Oared military vessels built on the British Isles in the 11th to 13th centuries were based on Scandinavian designs, many of them were similar to birlinns, close relatives of longship types like the snekkja. By the 14th century, they were replaced with balingers in southern Britain while longship-type Irish galleys remained in use throughout the Middle Ages in northern Britain, Medieval and early modern galleys used a different terminology than their ancient predecessors
3.
Junk rig
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The junk rig, also known as the Chinese lugsail or sampan rig, is a type of sail rig in which rigid members, called battens, span the full width of the sail and extend the sail forward of the mast. The junk rig is a simple and effective rig, the rig contrasts starkly with the Bermuda rig which is prevalent on Western sail boats. In its most traditional form the junk rig is carried on an unstayed mast however standing rigging of some kind is not uncommon, performance close-hauled is perhaps the strongpoint of the Bermuda rig - key to winning a race with an upwind leg or outmaneuvering an opponent in battle. The junk rig typically produces more drive than a similarly sized Bermuda rig when running downwind without a spinnaker, a junk rigged boat can let its sails out athwartships On a Bermuda rigged boat the shrouds interfere with sails if the sail was let out until it was athwartship. The junk rig is well suited to travel with its working sails. The junk rig appeals to shorthanded sailing crews for many reasons, to lessen sail all that is required is to let out the halyard. It is typical to run the halyards and sheets to the companionway on a junk rigged boat and this means that typical sailhandling can be performed from the relative safety of the cockpit, or even while the crew is below deck. Junk sails are carried on a mast which rakes forward a few degrees from vertical. The forward rake of the sail encourages the sail to swing out, another way to say this is that the sail is stable when swung out and doesnt return to the middle of the ship when the wind drops. Consequently, the airfoil developed in light wind doesnt have enough camber to develop much lift at low wind speeds, perhaps the chief shortcoming of the junk rig is that it typically produces poor drive to windward in light winds. The sail may remain almost entirely flat in light winds and develop unacceptable drive to windward The fully battened sail is much heavier than a sail made entirely of sailcloth with modern battens. The stiff junk battens disturb laminar wind flow over the sail -especially important when sailing to windward, Junk sails are relatively low aspect ratio, resulting in a lower lift-to-drag ratio, consequently the ship cant tack as close to the wind. A junk sail has more running rigging aloft, adding to weight, providing more wind resistance, a junk mast is normally of solid wood and very heavy for its short length. There were two types of ships with Junk Rig in the Malay Archipelago with local hulls instead of the Chinese Junk hull. A light boat used commonly in the early 19th century to carry goods along rivers, twakow, a type of vessel with one mast and junk rig. They were a common sight in the Singapore river in the mid 19th century, among the ships used on the coast of China, Lorcha, a light Chinese sailing vessel. This ship combined a western-style hull of Portuguese influence, with Chinese-style mast, the lorcha were found in the Gulf of Siam and in Philippine waters as well. The Vũng Tàu shipwreck consists of the remains of a late 17th century lorcha from the South China Sea off the islands of Con Dao, about 160 km from Vũng Tàu, each of the traditional sailing rigs can be achieved using the modern junk sail
4.
Lantaka
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Lantaka were a type of bronze swivel gun mounted on merchant vessels travelling the waterways of Malay Archipelago. Its use was greatest in precolonial South East Asia especially in Malaysia, the Philippines, the guns were used to defend against pirates demanding tribute for the local chief, or potentate. Although most lantaka weighed under two hundred pounds, and many only a few pounds, the largest ones exceeded a thousand pounds with some weighing over a ton, many of these guns were mounted on swivels and were known as swivel guns. The smaller ones could be mounted almost anywhere including in the rigging, medium-sized cannon were frequently used in reinforced sockets on the vessels rails and were sometimes referred to as rail guns. The heaviest swivel guns were mounted on modified gun carriages to make them more portable, however, there were also double-barreled variants that were used extensively in the Philippines. In Malaysia, these variants are called Meriam Lela and appears to be longer than a typical Lantaka. The local population was unimpressed with the might and power of the heavily armed trading vessels from the VOC Dutch East India Company, de Barros mentions that with the fall of Malacca, Albuquerque captured 3,000 out of 8,000 artillery. Among those,2,000 were made from brass and the rest from iron, all the artillery is of such excellent workmanship that it could not be excelled, even in Portugal. - Commentarios do grande Afonso de Albuquerque, Lisbon 1576, the Dutch and Portuguese quickly learned that they could trade cannon not only for spices and porcelain, but also for safe passage through pirate-infested waters. Local foundries continued to produce guns, using local patterns and designs from other local brass, stylized crocodiles, dolphins, birds and dragons were common motifs. If a native vessel was unarmed, it was regarded by the local populace as improperly equipped. Whether farmers, fishermen or headhunters, the villagers who lived in the longhouses along Borneos rivers lived in fear of being taken by pirates who used both vessel-mounted and hand-held cannons. Villages and tribesmen that were armed with mounted or handheld cannon had an advantage over those who could only rely on bows and arrows, spears, blowguns. Land transportation in 17th and 18th century Java and Borneo was extremely difficult, such events ranged from yellow fever and cholera epidemics to the start or finish of religious holidays such as Ramadan. Distinguished visitors were ushered into longhouses with great ceremony, accompanied by the firing of the longhouses cannon and these cannon were a display of the status and wealth of the extended family that controlled the longhouse. All worked copper, brass and bronze had value and were used as items in early Borneo. Cannon were frequently part of the price demanded by the family of an exceptionally desirable bride or the dowry paid to the groom. Large cannon had the value of being used in both celebratory times and in warfare
5.
Culverin
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The culverin was used to bombard targets from a distance. The weapon had a long barrel and a light construction. The culverin fired solid shot projectiles with a high muzzle velocity, producing a relatively long range. Round shot refers to the solid spherical cannonball. The term culverin is derived from the Latin, colubrinus, or of the nature of a snake and it was originally the name of a medieval ancestor of the musket, used in the 15th and 16th centuries. The hand culverin consisted in a smoothbore tube, closed at one end except for a small hole designed to allow ignition of the gunpowder. The tube was held in place by a piece which could be held under the arm. The tube was loaded with gunpowder and lead bullets, the culverin was fired by inserting a burning slow match into the hole. These hand culverins soon evolved into heavier portable culverins, around 40 kg in weight, such culverins were further equipped with back-loading sabots to facilitate reloading, and were often used on ships. Many were immobile due to the heavy weight, there were three types of culverin in use, distinguished by their size, the culverin extraordinary, the ordinary, and the least-sized. There were also smaller versions, including the culverin, 7-pound shot. Overall, the culverin was a significant advance, since it fired a ball of iron and relied on gunpowder for propulsion, the heavy ball meant a relatively stable flight and the gunpowder propulsion meant a fast and long-range. A replica culverin extraordinary has achieved a velocity of 408 m/s. This velocity and mass imply that the cannonball had an energy of roughly 600 kilojoules when leaving the muzzle. The culverin was later replaced by the gun once technology had advanced to the point where cannonballs had become explosive
6.
Portuguese Malacca
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Portuguese Malacca was the territory of Malacca that, for 130 years, was a Portuguese colony. The Airlele river was said to originate from Buquet China, eredia cited that the city was founded by Permicuri the first King of Malacca in 1411. The first European to reach Malacca and Southeast Asia, Sequeira arrived in Malacca in 1509, although he was initially well received by Sultan Mahmud Shah, trouble however quickly ensued. The general feeling of rivalry between Islam and Christianity was invoked by a group of Goa Muslims in the court after the Portuguese had captured Goa. The international Muslim trading community convinced Mahmud that the Portuguese were a grave threat, Mahmud subsequently captured several of his men, killed others and attempted to attack the four Portuguese ships, although they escaped. As the Portuguese had found in India, conquest would be the way they could establish themselves in Malacca. In April 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships, the Viceroy made a number of demands—one of which was for permission to build a fortress as a Portuguese trading post near the city. The Sultan refused all the demands, conflict was unavoidable, and after 40 days of fighting, Malacca fell to the Portuguese on 24 August. A bitter dispute between Sultan Mahmud and his son Sultan Ahmad also weighed down the Malaccan side. A fortress was designed and constructed encompassing a hill, lining the edge of the sea shore, on the south east of the river mouth, Albuquerque remained in Malacca until November 1511 preparing its defences against any Malay counterattack. Sultan Mahmud Shah was forced to flee Malacca, as the first base of European Christian trading kingdom in Southeast Asia, it was surrounded by numerous emerging native Muslim states. Also, with hostile initial contact with the local Malay policy and they endured years of battles started by Malay sultans who wanted to get rid of the Portuguese and reclaim their land. The Sultan made several attempts to retake the capital and he rallied the support from his ally the Sultanate of Demak in Java who, in 1511, agreed to send naval forces to assist. Led by Pati Unus, the Sultan of Demak, the combined Malay–Java efforts failed and were fruitless, the Portuguese retaliated and forced the sultan to flee to Pahang. Later, the sailed to Bintan Island and established a new capital there. With a base established, the sultan rallied the disarrayed Malay forces and organized several attacks, frequent raids on Malacca caused the Portuguese severe hardship. In 1521 the second Demak campaign to assist the Malay Sultan to retake Malacca was launched and he was later remembered as Pangeran Sabrang Lor or the Prince who crossed to North. The raids helped convince the Portuguese that the sultans forces must be silenced
7.
Javanese people
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The Javanese are an ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Java. With approximately 100 million people, they form the largest ethnic group in Indonesia and they are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of the island. There are also significant numbers of people of Javanese descent in most Provinces of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Suriname, Saudi Arabia, the Javanese ethnic group has many sub-groups, such as the Mataram, Cirebonese, Osing, Tenggerese, Samin, Naganese, Banyumasan, etc. A majority of the Javanese people identify themselves as Muslims, with a minority identifying as Christians, Hindu and Buddhist influences arrived through trade contacts with the Indian subcontinent. Hindu and Buddhist - traders and visitors, arrived in the 5th century, the Hindu, Buddhist and Javanese faiths blended into a unique local philosophy. The cradle of Javanese culture is described as being in Kedu. The earliest Sanjaya and Sailendra dynasties had their base there. The move was most likely caused by the eruption of Merapi and/or invasion from Srivijaya. The major spread of Javanese influence occurred under King Kertanegara of Singhasari in the late 13th century, the expansionist king launched several major expeditions to Madura, Bali in 1284, Borneo and most importantly to Sumatra in 1275. Following the defeat of the Melayu Kingdom, Singhasari controlled trade in the Strait of Malacca, Singhasari dominance was cut short in 1292 by Kediris rebellion under Jayakatwang, killing Kertanegara. However, Jayakatwangs reign as king of Java soon ended as he was defeated by Kertanegaras son-in-law, Raden Wijaya would later establish Majapahit near the delta of the Brantas River in modern-day Mojokerto, East Java. Kertanegara policies were continued by the Majapahits under King Hayam Wuruk. Various kingdoms of Java were actively involved in the trade in the sea route of the Silk Road. Although not major producers, these kingdoms were able to stockpile spice by trading for it with rice. Majapahit is usually regarded as the greatest of these kingdoms and it was both an agrarian and a maritime power, combining wet-rice cultivation and foreign trade. The ruin of their capital can be found in Trowulan, Islam gained its foothold in port towns on Javas northern coast such as Gresik, Ampel Denta, Tuban, Demak and Kudus. The spread and proselytising of Islam among the Javanese was traditionally credited to Wali Songo, Java underwent major changes as Islam spread. Following succession disputes and civil wars, Majapahit power collapsed, after this collapse, its various dependencies and vassals broke free
8.
Bintan Island
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Bintan Island or Negeri Segantang Lada is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, Bintans land area is 2,402.28 square kilometres. Its administrative region is designated the Bintan Island Regency, one of the six regions of the Riau Islands province. The city of Tanjung Pinang is an area within the Bintan Island. Bintans history is traced to the early 3rd century, in the 12th century, the Bintan island in the Strait of Malacca was known as the Pirate Island since the Malay pirates used to loot trading ships sailing in these waters. Singapore, the closest major city, is a 45-50 minute trip by motorised catamaran across the Singapore Strait from Bintan Resort area in the northwest of the island. The island has beaches with beach-front International hotels and resorts, the most prominent of these beaches is the Bintan Resorts set over an area of 300 hectares of tropical environment, the archipelago of the Riau islands is right opposite to this resort across the South China Sea. Indonesia is promoting Bintan as the next best tourist destination after Bali, on account of Bintan Islands strategic location and size on the India-China trade route, it has a rich history. Along with the local ethnic Malays and the Bugis, domination by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the Arabs, and the British at different times has been a part of Bintans rich history. Many local internal feuds between the Malays and Bugis, and battles in the sea, with and between foreign invasion forces, have been part of Bintans history and its straits. From mid-16th century, the Sultan of Johor-Riau kingdom had moved their kingdom between Johor, Riau and Lingga, the earliest history of Bintan is linked to the history of Nagoya Hills, which is integral with Batam, near Bintan island and other islands of the Riau archipelago. The Chinese chronicles have mentioned that Batam was inhabited by 231 AD when Singapore island was still called Pulau Ujung, Bintan came under the control of the Malacca kingdom from the 13th century. Later, the Sultan of Johor ruled from here and his reign lasted till the 18th century, Riau Islands were central to the greater Malay kingdoms or Sultanates, known as the Malay World, which had its control from eastern Sumatra to Borneo. For centuries, Riau was the home of Malay and Orang Laut people and these two communities were the backbone of most Malay kingdoms from the time of Srivijaya to the Sultanate of Johor. They had full control of routes going through the straits. Migrants from China and Indo-China, though came here later, settled in area of Asia. After the fall of Melaka in 1511, Riau islands became the centre of power of the mighty Sultanate of Johor or Johor – Riau. They were considered the centre of Malay culture, from the 12th to 13th centuries, the Srivijaya Empire of Sumatra held sway over Bintan island
9.
Pahang
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Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, and the largest in Peninsular Malaysia. The state occupies the huge Pahang River river basin and it is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea. Its state capital is Kuantan, and the seat is at Pekan. Other important towns include Jerantut, Kuala Lipis, Temerloh and the resorts of Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Bukit Tinggi. The Arabic honorific of Pahang is Darul Makmur, based on Chinese records, Pahang was known to the Chinese as Phang or Pahangh, other variations include Pang-Hang, Pang-Heng, Pong-Fong, Phe-Hang, and Pang-Kang and others. In 1225, Chau Ju-Kua wrote the book Chu-Fan-Chi and mentioned that amongst the states controlled by San-Fo-Chi was one called Peng-Keng, supposedly modern day Pahang. The Arabs and Europeans at that time called it as Pam, Pan, Phang, Paam, Poa, Paon, Phamm, Paham, Fanhan, Phang, G. R Tibbets, a historian who commented the story written by Masudi thought that Fanjab was Pahang. He preferred to call it Fanhan, Panghang/Panhang, rather than Fanjab, the name Pahang has been said to originate from the language of a Siamese aborigines tribe, meaning ore. The aborigines used to live here and opened up several mining areas, according to an old Malay story, at the place near the Pahang River, on the opposite side of Kampung Kembahang, a large mahang tree fell across the river, thus the name Pahang originated. Evidence for nomadic tribes living in the Pahang area go back to the Mesolithic Era, after the Srivijaya empire collapsed, around the 1000, Pahang was claimed first by Majapahit, Siam, and then by Sultanate of Malacca. Pahang was fought over by the Portuguese, the Dutch, Johor, during this time, its population was mostly killed or enslaved, its rulers murdered and its economy ruined. After the decline of Aceh in the century, Pahang came under the rule of Johor. However, Sultans of Pahang, descended from the Malacca and the Bendahara Johor royal dynasties, have ruled the state almost continuously from 1470, from 1858 to 1863, Pahang was fought over in a civil war between the two sons of the reigning Bendahara. In 1896, Pahang joined Selangor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan in the Federated Malay States and this evolved into the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. Rainforest covers much of the highlands, but it tends to be thinner, ferns are also extremely common, thanks mainly to the high humidity and fog that permeates the area. The Cameron Highlands area in the west is home to extensive tea plantations, the area is the highest on the mainland, and the climate is temperate enough to have distinct temperature variations year round. The area is known as a major supplier of legumes and vegetables to both Malaysia and Singapore. Genting Highlands is known as Malaysias playground and it is home to several hotels, a theme park and Malaysias only casino
10.
Aceh Sultanate
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The Sultanate of Aceh, officially the Kingdom of Aceh Darussalam, was a Sultanate centred in the modern-day Indonesian province of Aceh. It was a regional power in the 16th and 17th centuries. Its capital was Kutaraja, the present-day Banda Aceh, in addition to its considerable military strength, the court of Aceh became a noted centre of Islamic scholarship and trade. Acehs early history is unclear, but in one version it was founded by the Cham people, the Acehnese language is one of the 10 languages of the Aceh-Chamic language group. The ruler of Aceh converted to Islam in the mid-15th century, the Sultanate was founded by Ali Mughayat Syah, who began campaigns to extend his control over northern Sumatra in 1520. His conquests included Deli, Pedir, and Pasai, and he attacked Aru, the Ottoman Empire sent a relief force of 15 Xebecs commanded by Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis. On 21 June 1599 a Dutch captain, Cornelius Houtman arrived at Acheen aboard the Lioness as the first of three planned voyages to the East Indies, the crew stayed for three months acquiring pepper and other spices. British crew member John Davis claims the party was attacked by the local warlord with the loss of 68 dead. After they arrived, they were permitted by the Sultan to purchase pepper The same year and he returned in 1602 bearing a letter from English Queen Elizabeth I. The Sultan from 1589 to 1604 was Alauddin Riayat Shah ibn Firman Shah, internal dissension in the Sultanate prevented another powerful Sultan from appearing until 1607, when Iskandar Muda came to the position. He extended the Sultanates control over most of Sumatra and he also conquered Pahang, a tin-producing region of the Malayan Peninsula, and was able to force the Sultans of Johor to recognise his overlordship, if temporarily. During his reign he created a code of laws known as Adat Meukuta Alam, Acehs forces were not destroyed, however, as Aceh was able to conquer Kedah within the same year and taking many of its citizens to Aceh. The Sultans son in law, Iskandar Thani, former prince of Pahang later became his successor, during his reign Aceh focused on internal consolidation and religious unity. After the reign of Sultan Iskandar Thani, Aceh was ruled by a series of female Sultana, Acehs previous policy of taking hostage from conquered kingdoms population made them eager to seek independence, the results were Acehs control weakened while regional rulers gained effective power. The Sultan ultimately became a symbolic title. Aceh saw itself as heir to Pasai, the first Islamic state in Southeast Asia and it was called the porch of Mecca, and became a centre of Islamic scholarship, where the Quran and other Islamic texts were translated into Malay. Its notable scholars included Hamzah Pansuri, Syamsuddin of Pasai, Abdurrauf of Singkil, Aceh gained wealth from its export of pepper, nutmeg, cloves, betel nuts, and, once it conquered Pahang in 1617, tin. Low interest rates and the use of gold currency strengthened its economy and it was always somewhat fragile economically, however, because of the difficulty in providing enough surplus food to support the military and commercial adventures of the state
11.
Pinisi
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The pinisi or phinisi is a traditional Indonesian two-masted sailing ship. The large mainsails differ from western style gaff rigs though, as they often do not have a boom, instead it is reefed towards the mast, much like a curtain, thus allowing the gaff to be used as deck crane in the harbour. The lower part of the mast itself may resemble a tripod or is made of two poles, Pinisi may be 20 to 35 meters long and 350 tons in size. The masts may reach to 30 meters above the deck, there are two general types of Pinisi. Pinisi of a long and slender built, having a straight stern and this type of Pinisi is the one currently surviving in its motorized version. Older type of Pinisi with a stern and keel. They were usually smaller than the Lamba, the first pinisi ships are said to have been built after the example of the Dutch pinas introduced to the region by the V. O. C. These probably carried lateen or other type of sails, as the schooner rig did not become prominent before the 19th century. Traditional Buginese lontara manuscripts and stories document the use of pinisi by Buginese for transport, as a boat. During the alliance with the Dutch colonialists, pinisis were mainly used as ships, transports. Some sources say that at the time of the Indonesian National Awakening pinisi were used by Buginese, several parts of the pinisi are referred to by their original Buginese names, such as,1. Anjong, located at the front deck 2, sombala the largest sail in the ship 3. Tanpasere triangle-shaped, located at each mast 4, Pinisi often frequent traditional ports, such as Sunda Kelapa port in Jakarta, Surabaya, Banjarmasin, and the port of Makassar. As with many traditional types, pinisi have been provided with motors. This has changed the appearance of the ships, comparable to modern dhows, the masts have been shortened, or omitted as deck cranes vanished completely, while structures on deck, usually aft, have been enlarged for the crew and passengers. The pinisi is modified into diving charter boat by foreigner investors for tourism purposes, article by Horst Liebner about the traditional boats and ships of Indonesia
12.
Lingga Islands
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The equator goes through the northern tip of Lingga, the name of the main island in the archipelago. Administratively they form a Regency of the Riau Islands Province with an area of 2,205.95 km², the population are mainly Malay, Bugis and Chinese. Lingga derives its name from the profile of Mount Daik which is shaped like the Hindu lingam and this mountain has three sharp teeth as peak, one of them seems to have broken off at its base, and it was immortalised by Malay poets as the symbol of durability. The poem is Pulau Pandan jauh ke tengah, Gunung Daik bercabang tiga, Hancur badan dikandung tanah, nearby are the remains of the fort of Benteng Bukit Cening, overlooking the sea. The cannons are still lined up, as if they were awaiting another enemy attack, by size and population the most important islands in the archipelago are Lingga and Singkep, then Sebangka and Bakung. P. Selayar of Riau Islands between Lingga and Singkep, Singkep with P. Posik to the west, P. Serak to the SW, P. Lalang to the South. Sebangka and Bakung NW of Lingga, with town of Limas, islets Senayang, Kapas, Kentar, P. Lobam and Cempah to the west of Sebangka. Temiang and Mesawak in the north and these days the main industry is fishing. There are a number of beaches with some coral around the Archipelago. Singkep has two ports, Dabo near Dabosingkep and Jago near Sungaibuluh, service to the port of Muntok on P. Bangka of Sumatera Selatan ceased operating regularly with the demise of the tin mining industry. However, a high-speed ferry continues to connect Tanjung Pinang to Singkep, for Lingga, Daik is the major town and port. It can be reached in a day from Singapore transferring at Tanjung Pinang, Lingga Roads is an anchorage in the Lingga Islands, south of Lingga Island and northwest of Singkep. During World War II, Lingga Roads was used as an anchorage by major units of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was from Lingga Roads that the main Japanese southern striking force deployed for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Singkep Community Website Descriptions of all the major Riau Islands
