ofthe SAME TREE

In the first millennium CE the ports on the Sumatran coast of the Straits
of Melaka appear in Chinese but rarely in Indian documents. One explanation
may be that the southwest monsoon winds that brought traders and other
travelers from India and points west had a natural landfall on the Isthmus of
Kra and the Malay Peninsula. They would have then either chosen to make the
transpeninsular passage or sail directly through the straits with a single stopover
at a port in “Kalah.” The Chinese, on the other hand, would have entered
the southern entrance of the straits and proceeded northward along the coast.
Their interest would have focused on the small ports that served as outlets for
aromatic woods, resins, gold, and tin from the interior of Sumatra. The two
most prominent toponyms appearing in Chinese sources by the middle of the
first millennium CE are Barus and Pulo or Bulo, both of which were located
in northern Sumatra.
Wolters believes that the sixth-century Chinese mention of Barus refers
to a port on east coast Sumatra somewhere between Aceh Head and Diamond
Point, and not to present-day Barus on the west coast. 74 From the ninth century
onward the extreme north coast of Sumatra contained the chief harbors,
with a few also along the northeast coast. 75 Proximity to the much-valued
forest products of camphor and benzoin from the Batak lands in the interior
of northern Sumatra may have been a consideration in the location of these
ports. Arab and Persian ships stopped regularly to obtain camphor at a port
called “Ramni,” which scholars identify with Lamuri in northern Sumatra. 76
The camphor would have come from the interior, probably in the hinterland
of present-day Barus, hence the association of Barus with the east coast port.
Another well-known site was Pulo or Bulo, which is mentioned as a cannibal
area and a center for perfume. 77
On both shores at the northern end of the Straits of Melaka and on the
coastline of the Bay of Bandon lived the core of communities of the Sea of
Malayu. This was the midway point of the trade route from India/the Middle
East to China and benefited fully from its location. In addition to serving as a
transit point, the Sea of Malayu provided Southeast Asian products that were
valued in both India/the Middle East and China. From the Isthmus of Kra and
Malay Peninsula, traders proceeded eastward to the Lower Mekong and central
Vietnam—the eastern edge of the Sea of Malayu—before finally entering
China.
40 Chapter 1
The Eastern Edge of the Sea of Malayu
In the days when longitude was not yet known and navigators relied almost
entirely on latitudinal readings, ships coming from the west would sail in a
straight line from southern India or Sri Lanka across the Bay of Bengal and