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'Orang laut' are a group of Malay people living in the Riau Islands of Indonesia. More broadly the term is used to encompass the "numerous tribes and status groups inhabiting the islands and estuaries in the Riau-Lingga Archipelagos, the Pulau Tujuh Islands, the Batam Archipelago, and the coasts and offshore islands of eastern Sumatra and southern Malay Peninsula."^[1]
The Malay term orang laut literally means ''sea people''. They wander in their boats upon the sea.^[2] Other Malay terms for the orang laut were Lanun, Celates or Orang Selat (straits people).
Historically, the orang laut were principally pirates, but they also played important roles in Srivijaya, the Sultanate of Malacca as well as Johor. In these roles they policed the straits, repelling pirates, directing traders to their employers' port, and maintaining that port's hegemony in the area.^[3]

Contents

See also

References

External links

See also

★ Piracy in the Strait of Malacca

References

1. "The Malay Peninsula and Archipelago 1511–1722" ''The Encyclopedia of World History'' 2001;
2. Cross Currents of Culture in Indonesia, Adriaan J. Barnouw, , , The Far Eastern Quarterly,
3. Mary Somers Heidhues. ''Southeast Asia: A Concise History''. London: Hudson and Thames, 2000. Page 27

External links

★ Pirates of the East

★ Where the spirits roam

★ Riau in Transition