Tome Pires

Properties2
tagsperson, apothecary, envoy, portuguese, 16th-century
aliasesTomé Pires, Tom Pires, Pires

6 min read

Tome Pires — Tomé Pires (c. 1468–1540) — was the Portuguese apothecary and ambassador whose Suma Oriental, que trata do Mar Roxo até aos Chins (~1515) records the principal Portuguese-language account of the Javanese and Sumatran polities in the immediate pre-Atjeh-Aru war period. His account of Pate Rodin of Demak, of Pate Onus of Japara, and of the Javanese commercial network that linked Malacca to Pasej, Palembang, Jambi and Menangkabau is the principal external witness to the early-sixteenth-century Javanese-Atjehnese sphere.

The Suma Oriental (~1515)

Tome Pires’s Suma Oriental, written in Malacca around 1515 and rediscovered in the 1940s (published in the Hakluyt Society series, 2nd series, no. LXXXIX), records the principal Portuguese account of the Javanese and Sumatran polities in the immediate aftermath of the Portuguese conquest of Malacca of 1511. His account of the king of Java — “called Batara Voiyaya”, with the viceroy and chief captain Guste Pate holding the real power — and of the lords of Demak, Tuban, and Japara is the principal external witness to the early-sixteenth-century Javanese political order.

Pate Rodin of Demak and Pate Onus of Japara

Tome Pires’s account of Pate Rodin (i.e. Mansoer Ro-din, De Roo de la Faille notes — aroe…din) of Demak — “the chief pate in Java”, whose father and grandfather had married many daughters to the chief pates, and who “subjected all the land of Palembang and of Jambi and the island of Monomby and many other islands over against Tanjongpoura” — fixes the Javanese commercial-military network that linked Malacca to Pasej and Atjeh. His account of Pate Onus (i.e. Pati Oenoes) of Japara — “the knight of whom the Javans speak because they say he is a great warrior in Java and very prudent” — and of his grandfather’s rise from working-man in the islands of Lawé to the lordship of Japara, Bengka-lis and Tanjungpura — is the principal external witness to Pati Oenoes’s career before the 1513 attack on Malacca.

The Sumatran connection

Tome Pires’s account of the Javanese lords’ Sumatran connections — Pate Rodin’s subjection of Palembang, Jambi, and Monomby (Menangkabau), and Pate Onus’s jurisdiction over Bengka-lis and Tanjungpura — fixes the Javanese-Atjehnese commercial-military network against which the Atjehnese war on Aroe of 1539 is to be measured. The same network, De Roo de la Faille notes, is the political frame within which the Sunan Gunung Jati migration from Pasej to Java took place around 1523–1524.

Significance

For AcehWiki, Tome Pires’s importance lies chiefly in his Suma Oriental — the principal Portuguese account of the Javanese and Sumatran polities in the immediate pre-Atjeh-Aru war period — and in his record of Pate Onus’s Sumatran jurisdictions (Bengka-lis, Tanjungpura). His account fixes the Javanese-Atjehnese commercial-military network against which the Atjehnese war on Aroe of 1539 is to be measured.

See Also

Source

Historische Curiositeiten uit Malajoe en Java, by P. de Roo de la Faille (Den Haag: Maart 1954), chapter “Over Soenan Kalidjaga”, pp. 51-52. Citing Tome Pires, Suma Oriental (~1515).

Tome Pires — Tomé Pires (c. 1468–1540) — was the Portuguese apothecary and ambassador whose Suma Oriental, que trata do Mar Roxo até aos Chins (~1515) records the principal Portuguese-language account of the Javanese and Sumatran polities in the immediate pre-Atjeh-Aru war period. His account of Pate Rodin of Demak, of Pate Onus of Japara, and of the Javanese commercial network that linked Malacca to Pasej, Palembang, Jambi and Menangkabau is the principal external witness to the early-sixteenth-century Javanese-Atjehnese sphere.

The Suma Oriental (~1515)

Tome Pires’s Suma Oriental, written in Malacca around 1515 and rediscovered in the 1940s (published in the Hakluyt Society series, 2nd series, no. LXXXIX), records the principal Portuguese account of the Javanese and Sumatran polities in the immediate aftermath of the Portuguese conquest of Malacca of 1511. His account of the king of Java — “called Batara Voiyaya”, with the viceroy and chief captain Guste Pate holding the real power — and of the lords of Demak, Tuban, and Japara is the principal external witness to the early-sixteenth-century Javanese political order.

Pate Rodin of Demak and Pate Onus of Japara

Tome Pires’s account of Pate Rodin (i.e. Mansoer Ro-din, De Roo de la Faille notes — aroe…din) of Demak — “the chief pate in Java”, whose father and grandfather had married many daughters to the chief pates, and who “subjected all the land of Palembang and of Jambi and the island of Monomby and many other islands over against Tanjongpoura” — fixes the Javanese commercial-military network that linked Malacca to Pasej and Atjeh. His account of Pate Onus (i.e. Pati Oenoes) of Japara — “the knight of whom the Javans speak because they say he is a great warrior in Java and very prudent” — and of his grandfather’s rise from working-man in the islands of Lawé to the lordship of Japara, Bengka-lis and Tanjungpura — is the principal external witness to Pati Oenoes’s career before the 1513 attack on Malacca.

The Sumatran connection

Tome Pires’s account of the Javanese lords’ Sumatran connections — Pate Rodin’s subjection of Palembang, Jambi, and Monomby (Menangkabau), and Pate Onus’s jurisdiction over Bengka-lis and Tanjungpura — fixes the Javanese-Atjehnese commercial-military network against which the Atjehnese war on Aroe of 1539 is to be measured. The same network, De Roo de la Faille notes, is the political frame within which the Sunan Gunung Jati migration from Pasej to Java took place around 1523–1524.

Significance

For AcehWiki, Tome Pires’s importance lies chiefly in his Suma Oriental — the principal Portuguese account of the Javanese and Sumatran polities in the immediate pre-Atjeh-Aru war period — and in his record of Pate Onus’s Sumatran jurisdictions (Bengka-lis, Tanjungpura). His account fixes the Javanese-Atjehnese commercial-military network against which the Atjehnese war on Aroe of 1539 is to be measured.

See Also

Source

Historische Curiositeiten uit Malajoe en Java, by P. de Roo de la Faille (Den Haag: Maart 1954), chapter “Over Soenan Kalidjaga”, pp. 51-52. Citing Tome Pires, Suma Oriental (~1515).

Graph View

Backlinks