The aim of this book is to explore ethnic, cultural and material changes in the transformative history(s) of oceans and seas, commodities and populations, mariners and ships and raiders and refugees in Southeast Asia, with particular reference to the Sulu-Mindanao region, or the "Sulu Zone".
Between 1880 and 1930 colonial Singapore attracted tens of thousands of Chinese immigrant laborers, brought to serve its rapidly growing economy. This book chronicles the vast movement of coolies between China and the Nanyang, and their efforts to survive in colonial Singapore.
The Sulu Zone has become a classic in the field of Southeast Asian history. The book deals with a fascinating geographical, cultural, and historical "border zone" centered on the Sulu and Celebes Seas between 1768 and 1898, and its complex interactions with China and the West.
