FROM PORT KINGDOMS TO ENTREPÔTS
Beads of glass and semiprecious stones, including a 3-cm-long carnelian bead (top left), were found at the port site of Kota Selingsing, Perak, where trade products dating from 200 BCE to 1100 CE have been discovered.
Before the emergence of the Melaka Sultanate in the early 15th century, Malaysian ports ranged from minor supply depots to large entrepôts specializing in international trade. The formation of small ports began during the Bronze Age, as evidenced by finds of bronze drums and bells, believed to originate from North Vietnam, at Malaysian sites, including Kuala Terengganu, the Tembeling River Valley of Pahang, Klang and Kampung Sungai Lang in Selangor, and Muar in Johor. These ports emerged because their hinterlands provided minerals, such as tin, which was necessary in the production of bronzeware. Traders probably travelled to the Malay Peninsula expressly for this mineral.
Over time, some supply ports grew into large trading ports handling the trade of early Malay kingdoms, and eventually they evolved into port kingdoms involved in East–West trade between India, China and West Asia. According to Chinese sources, port kingdoms such as Qie zha (Kedah), Ji lan dan (Kelantan), Fo-lo-an (Kuala Berang, Terengganu), Deng ya nong (Kuala Terengganu), Pang geng (Pahang) and Le yue (Johor) were already in existence in the 5th century CE. During this port kingdom period, other small ports which may have been founded by then, include Kuala Selinsing in Perak, Jenderam Hilir in Selangor, the Bernam Valley of Perak/Selangor and Karimun Island in the Riau Archipelago.
The pace of long-distance and international trade heightened during the 7th century bringing large-scale change to port kingdoms strategically located along the East–West trade route. Some of these ports became increasingly stronger and wealthier as almost all vessels plying the route would call in to trade and stock up on supplies of firewood, water and food before continuing to their destinations in China or India. Because of the volume of trading vessels in these ports, other merchants from neighbouring ports also came to trade, thereby eliminating the need to wait for vessels to call on their ports.
From the beginning of the 7th century, the port kingdom at Sungai Mas in Kedah's Bujang Valley had begun to expand its operations into entrepôt trade, as did other port kingdoms in the north of the Malay Peninsula, including Takuapa on Thailand's west coast, Chaiya, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Patani on Thailand's east coast, and Santubong in Sarawak. Evidence of these changes comes from finds of imported porcelain, beads, glass, mercury and amber which indicate the level of international relations and the entrepôt role of such ports from the 7th until the 14th century. In Borneo, Santubong acted as an entrepôt, supplying imports to other smaller Borneo ports and the interior. Imported goods, such as bronzeware, pottery, beads and textiles, were exchanged for rainforest and sea products which were highly sought after by traders from South and West Asia, as well as from China. The lists of products produced by the various areas in Southeast Asia were recorded in Chinese documentary sources and included aromatic woods, resins, spices and pharmaceuticals. Because this entrepôt trade also involved local traders, Malay ships were a familiar sight on the East–West trade route.