The Growth of Intra-Southeast Asian Trade in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century: The Role of Middlemen in Singapore

TheMiddlemen purpose of this paper is to study the growth of Southeast Asian trade in the first half of the nineteenth century through a focus on intra-regional tradeIntra-regional trade . According to the estimates of this study, the volume of intra-regional tradeIntra-regional trade centred on the British and Dutch colonies grew from 1828 to 1852, with the main focus of trade shifting from Java to Singapore. Catalysing the growth of intra-regional tradeIntra-regional trade was the gradual reduction, due to British diplomatic protests, of the Dutch protectionist tariffs imposed on imports of British cotton goodsCotton goods from Singapore until the late 1830s. The growth of trade was also facilitated by the rise of Chinese middlemenMiddlemen in Singapore. These Chinese middlemenMiddlemen , who purchased cotton goodsCotton goods from European merchants on credit, formed long-term relationships with Chinese traders through recurring transactions, while at the same time engaging in on the spot market transactions with local Malay and Bugis tradersBugis traders . The resulting multilateral trade relationships facilitated the distribution of European cotton goodsCotton goods throughout the region, thereby further stimulating Singapore’s intra-regional tradeIntra-regional trade .