カンボジア王ラーマーディパティ1世（在位1642～58）のイスラーム改宗とマレー人の交易活動

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抄録

The main objective of this article is to show that Cambodian King Ramadhipati I (r. 1642−58) voluntarily converted to Islam under the circumstances surrounding the development of trade networks by Malay and Muslim Chinese merchants in Cambodia during the 17th century. After the fall of Malacca at the hands of the Portuguese in 1511, Malay and Muslim merchants, in order to evade the high handed trade policy implemented by the Portuguese there, began to look for new entrepôts. During the second half of the 16th century, many Chinese merchants advanced into Southeast Asia after the lifting of maritime bans by the Ming Dynasty. Under such circumstances, Pattani, which was located on the east side of the Malay Peninsula, began to flourish as a trading center from the latter part of the century. Meanwhile, Johor, the successor to the Malacca kingdom, regained its position after the Portuguese destroyed the Aceh navy in 1629 and was able to expand its influence by allying with the Dutch during the 1630s. Pattani and Johor strengthened their relationship through marriage bonds, and Malay trade networks expanded not only around the Gulf of Siam, but also throughout the inland regions of the Mekong River. Beginning in the 1590s at the latest, many Malay merchants traveled to Cambodia and Laos to obtain rice and forest products (deer skins, musk, suppan-wood, lacquer, etc.).

During the 1630s, the Dutch, who began visiting Cambodia to obtain those same forest products, especially for trade with Japan, and also rice for food, came into conflict with the Portuguese, who were in close association with the contemporary Cambodian king. The Dutch, on the other hand, enjoyed good relations with the Malay and Chinese merchants active in the region, and subsequently were able to expand their trading activities in Cambodia by 1640.

It was in 1642 that Ramadhipati I ascended the throne and converted to Islam, in order to develop closer ties with the Malay and Chinese merchants, half of latter having become Muslims because of frequent contacts with the Malays. The development of Malay trade networks, the fall of Portuguese Malacca at the hands of the Dutch with assistance from Johor in 1641, and the decline of the importance of the Portuguese and overseas Japanese under a maritime ban induced the Cambodian king to strengthen ties with the Muslims; and this alliance helped to keep Cambodia independent from Ayutthaya.

Although the relationship between Ramadhipati I and the Dutch deteriorated temporarily during the period 1642−44 over a disagreement about how to deal with the Portuguese in Cambodia, contact was revived due to the Cambodian king’s need of the Dutch in obtaining Indian-made cotton clothing, while for the Dutch, Cambodia was a very important trading partner in obtaining forest products and rice. It was the Malay merchants who mediated between Ramadhipati I and the Dutch. Although the research to date has been inclined to emphasize that the conflict the arose between the king and the Dutch, who endeavored to impose monopoly trade upon Cambodia, led the king to strengthen ties with the Malays and eventually convert to Islam, the Dutch sources suggest that the king generally endeavored to maintain ties with the Dutch through those Malay merchants.

Cambodian kingship was reinforced by Ramadhipati I’s steps to emphasize the importance of Cambodia’s relationship with the Malays, Chinese and Dutch, enabling it to export more goods than Ayuttaya, especially deer skin and lacquer, during the 1640−50s and play a very important role in connecting the inland regions with the maritime world.