ofthe SAME TREE

Hamba Raja of Mapar, under whose jurisdiction belong all the so-called
Orang Laut from the islands in Lingga’s waters, and the Raja Long from the
island of Bulang, under whom are placed the Orang Laut of Galang, Bulang,
and some other islands lying in or near the entrance of the Straits of Melaka.”
For raiding expeditions, these two Orang Laut leaders and their people acted
under the orders of a Malayu with the title of “panglima,” who provided the
boats, weapons, and supplies for the expedition and shared in the booty. 49
The Malayu lords were quick to reward Orang Laut service but found it
difficult to punish insubordination because of the Orang Laut’s highly mobile
lifestyle. Acts of Orang Laut piracy without Malayu direction did occur and
were often condoned, but all this changed with the signing of the Anglo-Dutch
Treaty of 1824. Pressure from both the British and the Dutch to eradicate
piracy eventually forced the Malayu lords to make or be seen to be making
a greater effort to cooperate. The Tuhfat al-Nafis describes one expedition in
the mid-1830s led by a member of the Raja Muda family based in Riau. His
task was to visit the various Orang Laut groups between Riau and Lingga and
satisfy the Europeans that everything was being done to control Orang Laut
piracy:
186 Chapter 6
Where they [the Orang Laut] had behaved, they were administered fairly and
their services acknowledged; where things had been unsatisfactory, the law
for miscreants was applied and people were arrested and taken to Riau. All
their resources which had been used for their illegal activities, their heavy
artillery and large perahu [native boats] were confiscated. Some of the chiefs
were dismissed because their crimes were so blatant. They were replaced by
those whose goodness was obvious and who commanded the loyalty of their
followers. The conferences and consultations continued like this until Lingga
was reached.
Despite such missions, the British complained that in one such visitation,
piracy was “suspended” during the time of the tour but quickly resumed once
their Malayu lord had left. 50
The Laksamana of Melaka and Johor had especially strong ties with the
Orang Laut in his role as commander of the ruler’s fleets. But the relationship
may have been a far more intimate one if Pires is correct in claiming in
the Suma Oriental that the position of Laksamana had been held by Orang
Laut since the establishment of the Melaka kingdom. 51 Support for this claim
comes from the great Malayu epic the Hikayat Hang Tuah, where the hero
is depicted as a famous Laksamana born into a sakai or Orang Laut family.
Because of his extraordinary skills, he is adopted and brought to court, where
he demonstrates an exemplary loyalty to the ruler. 52 Although many have seen