Piracy, Smuggling, and Trade in the Rise of Patani, 1490 - 1600

Abstract

This article charts the rise of the Patani Sultanate as a commercial center in the sixteenth century through its connections to South China Sea trade networks. Patani’s ascendancy began with its pepper and porcelain trade with Ryukyu after 1490. Patani then emerged as one of a few major pepper ports after the fall of Melaka to the Portuguese in 1511 and maintained its position by engaging with “piracy” and “smuggling” trade networks along the Fujian coast. By the late 1560s, however, Ming officials were strong enough to chase the merchants from the South China Sea, after which they came to settle in Patani, bringing their immense economic capital to the city. Through this process, Patani not only experienced its greatest economic fortune but also attained the pinnacle of its political power at the dawn of the seventeenth century.