"Even when great cities were attacked and seized, the defence was not stubborn and desperate except in the unusual case that a surrounding army cut off all means of retreat. The Dutch general Coen was told that "the Pangeran of Banten fears no Portuguese, Spanish, Hollanders, or Englishmen, but only the [King of] Mataram. From the latter, he says, no one can flee, but for the others the whole mountains are sufficient for us; they cannot follow us there with their ships." The river ports of eastern Sumatra, Malaya, or Borneo often shifted far inland in response to a seaborne attack. When an English party went to buy pepper at the once flourishing town of Inderagiri in Sumatra, they spent two days looking in vain for some trace of where it had been and then learned that the whole population had moved three days' journey up the river in response to an Acehnese invasion six years earlier."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Reid A (1988) Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450–1680, Yale University Press, New Haven, Vol. I., p. 122ff
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_Reid_(academic)
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Anthony Reid (academic)
1450 – 1680
Anthony Reid (19 June 1939 – 8 June 2025) was a New Zealand-born historian of Southeast Asia.
7 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Anthony Reid (academic) →
Related Quotes
"Similarly, Malaya lost much of its population as a result of the campaigns of Aceh in the period 1618-24."
"In densely settled wet-rice areas much of the loss of population was caused by destruction of food crops-either as a …"
"The Makassarese of Sulawesi were reputed in the sixteenth century to be resisting Islam because pork was their major …"
"According to the Hikayat Banjar (432-37), the Islamization of Banjarmasin was effectively determined when opposing cl…"
"The Malay population of the coastal low-lands of Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo gradually absorbed animist hill peoples …"
"Around 1500 Java was the largest single exporter of slaves, perhaps as a result of the divisive wars of Islamization.…"
"My very first job was teaching the JAWS screen reader when I was in college to another college student at the Univers…"
"I have worked at Vispero since June of 2018."
"I have always been excited about new technology, and it naturally led me to explore assistive technology I could use …"
"I wanted to do something with animals when I was a kid, which does not really compare to what I do now. Still, animal…"