The sea people (Orang Laut) who camp on the beaches and live in boats at the south-eastern end of the strait: Karimun and Kundur, Batam and Bintan, Lingga and Singkep, the mouth of the Johor river and the water off Tioman.
They pilot ships through the channels, escort them, sell protection, and where it is not bought they take. The channels are a tangle in which only local men know which are clear, which is the whole basis of the pilotage and the plunder alike. Their role as servants of a great court at Palembang is a later tradition and the campaign board's inference; the first text that describes the sea people of the strait is Wang Dayuan's of the 1330s (finished 1349), a century and a half later.
In 1200 no ruler on either shore is shown to command them, and no port on the island or the peninsula has a hold on these channels. Customs are inferred from later practice.
Who holds it
- Title
- Headmen of the Orang Laut boat communities, not named
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No source names a holder for any date near 1 January 1200.
Overlord
None named.
What it holds
- Pilotage and escort in the Durian, Karimun, Riau and Lingga channels
- The beaches where they camp in the season
- The Johor river mouth and Tioman watering
Allies and rivals
Whoever passes: Jambi, Palembang, Kedah and the Chinese and Arab shipmasters buy their help or pay for their absence. Their role under Sanfoqi is inference.
How things stand that morning
Not recorded. Boat communities under their own headmen; no state attested.
Military
Boats and archers by position and later practice; no figure.
Threats
- None recorded
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board shows 'the sea people who work this water' on the peninsula side. The assignment asks for a belt for the same waters; the belt record is separate and is flagged as the campaign board's inference.
Evidence: Thin: later ethnography, the campaign board and geography; nothing dated near 1 January 1200 describes the people.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: The islands are modern regencies; the circles at the Johor mouth and Tioman are markers. The sea itself between them is not drawn.
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (English): Orang Laut
- OMNIA board note (a lead only, checked against the sources above)
- J. N. Miksic and Goh Geok Yian, Ancient Southeast Asia (2016) and J. Miksic, Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea (2013), read from memory, not rechecked
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.