Tunku Azizah highlights interwoven cultural-maritime legacies in KL symposium
IN a captivating keynote address that echoed with the whispers of ancient trade winds, the Tengku Ampuan of Pahang, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, showed the profound connection between Malay textiles and the historic Maritime Silk Route.
Speaking at a symposium on Malay maritime history, Tunku Azizah wove a narrative that blended artistry, commerce and cultural exchange, highlighting the legacy of this vital maritime highway.
Based on the theme “Textile and Fashion in the Maritime Silk Route,” Tunku Azizah painted a vivid picture of the Malay world as a bustling hub where luxurious silks from China, fine cotton from India, and indigenous weaves from the Malay Archipelago converged.
This confluence, she emphasised, was more than just a trade exchange; it was a dynamic cultural dialogue that shaped the very fabric of Malay society.
“The Maritime Silk Route was not merely a channel for commerce but a vital bridge that connected civilisations, fostering cultural exchange and artistic development,” she said.
“The Malay world, positioned at the heart of this maritime highway, played a crucial role in the trade of textiles – one of the most sought-after commodities of the time,” Tunku Azizah said at the Colloquium on The Malay Maritime History in The World Map at the main hall of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (Istac-IIUM) in Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur.
The two-day event explored the historical movements of transport, trade, politics, intellectual exchange, science, arts and civilisation that took place along the waterways known as the Spice Route of the Maritime Silk Route.
The aim of the colloquium was to expose Malay maritime history to the public and create a platform for dialogue on the connections and role of the Malay World in global history.
The colloquium was held in anticipation of the development of the Pulau Beram Museum: Pahang and the Seas, currently in construction at the Pahang Museum in Pekan.
The gallery aims to introduce the maritime history of the Malay World, with a focus on Pahang’s role as a key stopover along the global maritime trade route.
The arrival of European powers in the 16th century, driven by the lucrative spice and textile trade, brought further changes.
Tunku Azizah detailed the historical context, including the Portuguese conquest of Melaka and the subsequent rise of the Johor Sultanate.
She also explained how the arrival of European trading companies, like the Dutch East India Company and British East India Company, and their trading of Indian textiles for local commodities further influenced Malay textile design, particularly the prized patola silk, or kain cindai.
In a presentation titled “Pahang in Maritime Trade Between Asia and Europe”, Singapore National Library Board researcher Ramon Vega Piniella emphasised that while traditional historiography often focuses on well-established sources, revisiting original documents and alternative records provides new insights into early trade networks.
“The arrival of the Portuguese, leveraging their Arab and Persian connections, marked a decisive shift in European access to South-East Asia and China,” he said.
A collector of antique maps and sea charts, Julian Candiah, also enthralled the audience with his presentation titled “The Straits of Malacca As Part of the Maritime Silk Road”.
Using maps and six nautical sea charts dating from the 1530s to the mid 1850s, he explained the historical journey along the straits.
“The Straits of Malacca was a contested maritime space and this is the case even now.
“We use maps as graphical evidence; these were not just printed for decoration,” he said.
