The Sandalwood Trade

Sandalwood was a trade item of considerable value in antiquity. Chau Ju-Kua (Zhao Rugua) stated concerning yellow (or "white") sandalwood (Santalum album) in the 12th century that "in burning it surpasses all other incenses."

In China and India, and generally among Buddhists and Hindus, sandalwood was prized as an aromatic, for carving, and as a medicine. The wood has been an important material for sacred sculpture among Buddhists and continues to be an important component of incense throughout East and South Asia.


Yellow Sandalwood

Santalum album was the primary sandalwood used in the ancient and medieval trade and was known as yellow or white sandalwood. The species is native from eastern Java to eastern Indonesia and was particularly abundant, in former times, in the islands of Timor and Sumba.

Timor appears to have been the main source of sandalwood prior to European colonization. Pigafetta exaggerated when he said "nowhere else is white sandalwood found" speaking about the island of Timor. De Orta stated that yellow sandalwood grew in Timor "where it is in greatest quantity and called chandam and is known by that name in all the lands around Malacca."

There is some confusion over whether Santalum album is native to South India. Early in the 20th century, C.E.C. Fisher, after studying the distribution and historical diffusion of the species, suggested that sandalwood was introduced into India during the pre-Christian era, and that it had to be reintroduced periodically. Fisher noted that yellow sandalwood in South India grew almost exclusively around villages or abandoned village sites. In other words, the sandalwood trees did not appear to grow in the wild.

Early Europeans like Duarte Barbosa, Cesar Fedrici, Ralph Fitch and Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, writing from the early to late 16th century, all agreed that Santalum album while in great demand in India, was generally shipped in from Timor. Barbosa, Fedrici and Rheede's Hortus Indicus Malabaricus all expressly suggest that yellow sandalwood did not grow in India.


Although yellow/white sandalwood is mentioned in both India and China in ancient times, the mention of Timor occurs only during the Sung Dynasty when it was called Ti-wu. Later in Ming times, Timor is known mostly as Ti-wen. This has brought up the question as to whether the ancient yellow sandalwood actually referred to some other wood like fragrant red sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus). However, the general lack of any literary evidence suggesting a medieval replacement of the ancient product; the description of yellow sandalwood and its unique properties, and the hoary differentiation of different types of sandalwood support the common view that Santalum album was traded in antiquity.


Medieval trade routes

As mentioned previously, including in the last blog post, Sanfotsi (Sanfoqi) had established something of a monopoly in sandalwood during at least some period of the Sung Dynasty.

However, a number of countries are listed in Sung sources as entrepots, possibly secondary to Sanfotsi, including Fo-lo-an and Tan-tan, both apparently located somewhere on mainland Southeast Asia.

Timor itself according to Sung sources was a dependency of Toupo, so Sanfotsi seems to have mainly acted as an entrepot for countries beyond this region. In Yuan times, both Sanfotsi and Toupo apparently disappear. At that time, Mindanao may have taken over the trade as successor to Toupo if we accept such an identification for the Yuan Dynasty country known as Min-to-lang.

Mindanao, possibly the Maranao and Cotabato nations, Butuan and Sulu were perfectly positioned to trade with areas like Maluku for cloves, nutmeg and mace; and with Timor for sandalwood. In latter times, they appear to have been middlemen for these southern areas in the trade with the northern entrepot of Luzon. From Luzon, these products reached the rest of Asia. This also seems to be the case during the Sung Dynasty with Toupo transferring the southern aromatics to the Sanfotsi entrepot.

During Spanish times, Luzon continued to act as an important sandalwood trading post, but with Santalum album going extinct in Timor, Pacific sandalwood species, particularly from Fiji, came into play in the Manila marketplace.



Sandalwood, princesses and goddesses

Sandalwood has an interesting connection with two goddesses -- Kuan-yin and Tara -- the two deities thought by many scholars to have a common origin.

Both Kuan-yin and Tara are viewed as emanations, forms, or as the female aspects of the god (Bodhisattva) Avalokitesvara by Buddhists. Both goddesses are seen as protectors of seafarers against harm from the ocean. Both have strong Tantric links, and both are specifically connected with stories of their origin in Southeast Asia.

Tara, and to a lesser extent, Kuan-yin are often placed in the island of Potala in the "Southern Ocean." On this island is said to be a famed sandalwood forest. In Tibetan tradition, the goddess is particularly associated with this forest in the form "Tara of the Sandalwood Forest."

There was also a Sandalwood Forest located in or south of Shambhala in Tibetan Buddhist texts, so there may be some conflation or confusion between the locations of Potala and Shambhala.

In the medieval Sadhanamala and the 6th-7th century Astanga Samgraha, a Tantric adept known as Nagarjuna, possibly referring to the great Mahayana philosopher of the same name, is said to have brought Tara and the alchemical mineral mercury from across the sea into India. This Tara, or rather worship of Tara, is known as Mahacina-tara, "Tara from Mahacina."

While the location of Mahacina may have been confused and used differently at times, I have noted earlier in this blog that the evidence points to its primary and most common usage was to describe and area extending through and including Tibet and mainland Southeast Asia. One Tara myth found in Hindu Tantrism claims that the goddess arises from the Milky Ocean -- when that sea was churned by the Gods and Demons. This Milky Ocean was also viewed geographically as far to the east of India. In the Ramayana, when the Varanas search for Sita in the eastern regions they travel through the Milky Ocean and related areas like the Golden Isle.

Likewise, Kuan-yin in her early form is known as Kuan-yin-Nan-hai or "Kuan-yin of the South Seas," a reference to the region of Southeast Asia.

There is even a story that Kuan-yin originated from an actual Buddhist princess that lived in a kingdom south of China called Hsing Lin. The text containing this story dates to the mid-12th century and is derived from materials about 150 years older. The story, however, is said in the text to take place during the time of the 7th century BCE monk Tao-hsüan.

The southern kingdom, according to this account, was said to stretch from India in the West to Fo-ts'i (佛齊)in the East. It was at Fo-ts'i that the princess known as Miao Shan, and also as "South Seas Kuan-yin" and "Kuan-yin with the Horse Head" was born.

The land known as Fo-ts'i 佛齊 may be a shortened reference to what later is known as San-fo-ts'i or 三佛齊.

Sanfotsi, as noted, was an important country in the sandalwood trade. One of the empire's dependencies known as Fo-lo-an was also described as a sandalwood entrepot. Now the Miao Shan story states that the princess became a staunch Buddhist, but had a falling out with her father, the king. She was said to have taken refuge at a Buddhist monastery, which in the Chinese story is located in China.

However, there is some evidence that this location may have been in Fo-lo-an, thus explaining the connection with the Southern Seas (Nan-hai).

According to Chau Ju-Kua, the Sanfotsi princes made a journey to offer incense to a "Holy Buddha" in Fo-lo-an during the Full Moon of the 6th month. The Ming encyclopedia known as the San-tsai Tu-hui describes this "Buddha" instead as two copper goddesses whose birthday was celebrated again on the 15th day of the 6th moon. This same day of the 6th month was said by Chau Ju-kua to be a good day for return voyages to China from places like Fo-lo-an and Poni, i.e., the summer monsoonal winds blew ships toward the north. The goddesses are mentioned as protecting Fo-lo-an from threats, i.e., pirates, that come from the sea.

Now in some locations of China, Kuan-yin's festival was held on the 19th day of the 6th month, so quite close to the date mentioned by Chau Ju-kua and the San-tsai Tu-hui. Also, in some locations of Tibet, like Kham, during the summer retreat known as Yarney that begins on the 15th day of the 6th month, people worship and thank Tara by making the Four Mandala Offering. According to Nagarjuna, "in the sixth month one consorts with the divine women of the gods."


Tara images

The text of the San-tsai Tu-hui also contains two engravings that are said to resemble the form of "Kuan-yin with the Horse's Head." The images have three heads with the horse head placed on a triple crown. De Groot also noted that the goddess figures matched that of Mat-tsu-po, a form of Miao Shan.

Chau Ju-Kua mentions two Buddhas that came flying in to Fo-lo-an, one with four arms and one with six arms. The form of Kuan-yin addressed here is known in two principal forms, four-armed and six-armed, so we can say with some certainity that these goddesses of Fo-lo-an were representations of Kuan-yin/Tara.

Fo-lo-an is mentioned as belonging to the Western Ship Route along with Annam and Cambodia. This would seem to indicate the Upper Coast of Indochina, a noted source of cinnabar and mercury, but other notices may suggest a location further down the coast possibly in modern day Malaysia or Thailand.

If we take the story of the princess as historical, then it would appear that a Fo-ts'i, i.e., Sanfotsi princess went to Fo-lo-an to practice Buddhism in a monastery. The latter country was a sandalwood trading partner with Fo-ts'i. Latter on after the death of the princess, Sanfotsi princes continued to come to Fo-lo-an during the summer (6th moon) to offer incense to icons of the ancient, probably related princess.

Tibetans also have a story of a princess known as Yeshe Dawa who embraces Buddhism and later becomes the goddess Tara. In connection with the sandalwood trade, according to a Buddhist story that explains Tara's role as sea goddess, a ship from the Isle of Jewels, loaded with a cargo of jewels, and one from the Isle of White Sandalwood, loaded with white sandalwood, were saved by Tara after a Buddhist layperson on board one of the ships prayed to the goddess. Note that the goddesses of Fo-lo-an also had a protective function against sea threats.

Thus, it can be suggested that at one time during the sandalwood trade when San-fo-ts'i and Fo-lo-an enjoyed a close relationship, a princess estranged from her father, the king, left to practice Buddhism on Fo-lo-an, somewhere on mainland Southeast Asia. In the story, she reconciles with her father later on, thus, explaining possibly the pilgrimage of the Sanfotsi princes to Fo-lo-an to offer incense to the images of the goddess. From Fo-lo-an, i.e., Mahacina, the goddess travels East and West as Tara and Kuan-yin. Nagarjuna is said to be the one that carries this form of worship to India. This goddess becomes closely associated with the Sandalwood Forest, an allusion to the ancient sandalwood trade.


Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Beyer, Stephan. The cult of Tārā: magic and ritual in Tibet. Berkeley [u.a.]: Univ. of California Pr, 1978.

Cordier, Henri, Gustaaf Schlegel, Edouard Chavannes, Paul Pelliot, J. J. L. Duyvendak, and Paul Demiéville. Tʻung pao. Tʻoung pao. International journal of Chinese studies. Leiden: E.J. Brill [etc.], 1890, 402-6.

Donkin, R. A. Between East and West : the Moluccas and the Traffic in Spices Up to the Arrival of Europeans. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, 248. Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society, 2003, 13-18, 160-2.

__. Dragon's Brain Perfume: An Historical Geography of Camphor. Brill's Indological library, v. 14. Leiden: Brill, 1999.

White, David Gordon. The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996, 65-6.

Willson, Martin. In praise of Tārā: songs to the saviouress ; source texts from India and Tibet on Buddhism's great goddess. Women's studies. Boston, Mass: Wisdom Publ, 1996, 181-2.

Zhao, Rukuo, Friedrich Hirth, and William Woodville Rockhill. Chau Ju-Kua: His Work on the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Entitled Chu-Fanchï. New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp, 1966.

More on the Clove Route

Cloves (Eugenia Caryophyllata) are mentioned in Chinese texts by the early Han Dynasty (3rd century BCE), which recommended chewing clove buds to freshen the breath before an audience with the emperor.

However, it was not until the 3rd century CE, that we hear from K'ang T'ai of some vague information as to the source countries of cloves. They are stated to come from the islands of Ma-wu somewhere to the east of Fu-nan, a name generally associated with the ancient kingdom of Cambodia. The Liang-shu states that Ma-wu was to the east of Toupo (She-po, Chu-po). This latter state has been mentioned in this blog as a main rival of Sanfotsi.

The 7th century monk I Ching (Yijing) states that cloves came from Kun-lun, which during this time was synonymous with the Sanskrit toponym Dvipantara, meaning broadly the insular Southeast Asian region. I Ching though seems to be referring to the area south of the Philippines.

From about this same time, we also hear from the Arabic letters of the Mihraj, the king of Zabag (Sanfotsi), who mentions the two rivers of his kingdom that irrigate aloes, nutmeg and camphor. This seems to be mainly an allegorical representation since nutmeg is found only in eastern Indonesia and the southern Philippines, while aloes are found only in the islands further north and on the mainland.

Al-Mas'udi and other Muslim writers seem to indicate that the Mihraj controlled the trade in spices like cloves and nutmeg, which came from the same general region. Europeans thought that exotic eastern spices like cinnamon and aloeswood came from the Garden of Eden. Jean de Joinville in the 13th century includes cloves among these spices that were traded into Europe from Egypt but coming originally, so he thought, from the Terrestrial Paradise. The latter location during this time was considered part of the domains belonging to Prester John.

We have to wait until the Sung Dynasty sources to find much more detailed information about the clove trade and the routes taken by cloves, related spices like nutmeg and mace, and another related trade item, sandalwood.



Clove trade during the Sung Dynasty

Chau Ju-kua (Zhau Rugua) states that cloves and nutmeg were produced in two kingdoms that belonged to the southeastern empire of Toupo, which I have described previously as centered in the Cotabato region of Mindanao (southern Philippines).

Trading ships from Toupo headed to China, according to Sung Dynasty sources, used the following course:

1. Starting from Toupo, two weeks heading northwest before reaching Poni
2. A week northwest arriving at Mai (Mindoro)
3. A few days northwest to Sanfotsi (Central Luzon)
   
4. From Sanfotsi, ships could head due north for Quanzhou or northwest for Canton.

Click on image for larger view of area between the Paracel Islands and Spratly Islands in the central South China Sea. This area was dangerous for medieval shipping and was avoided due to the many shoals, reefs, rocks and low-lying islands. Ships from Quanzhou (top of map) during the Sung Dynasty sailed the Western Ship Route to reach Chiao-chih (Tonkin), Chan-ch'eng (Annam, northern Vietnam), Chen-la (Khmer empire, South Vietnam and Cambodia) and destinations further south and west. The Eastern Ship Route sailed due south from Quanzhou to Sanfotsi (Luzon), Mai (Mindoro), Toupo (Mindanao) and to the clove and sandalwood sources in Maluku and Timor further to the south.


Of course, this is the shortest route from the sources of cloves and nutmeg to the ports of South China.

During the Spanish Galleon trade, Central Luzon, i.e., Manila was the main entrepot for the clove trade to all of Asia. Portuguese and Asian traders carried cloves and related spices from Manila to ports extending from India to Japan. And there is indication that this was the case before the Spaniards came as well. Pigafetta reported Luzon trading ships as far south as Timor trading in sandalwood, and noted that a boat on the island of Samar was loaded with "cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmegs, mace, gold, and other things."

During the Sung Dynasty, cloves were offered as official gifts by Sanfotsi, Toupo, Butuan, Champa and the Chola empire. Whether these periodic "tribute" missions, generally undertaken at the ascension of a new monarch, can really indicate the totality of the spice trade is questionable. There are indications of a more regular yearly "unofficial" trade going on that was not clearly documented.

The large number of cloves offered as gifts to China by Champa is quite interesting.

Cloves as Official Gifts during Sung Dynasty

Country	Year	Quantity	Envoy
Champa	977	50 jin	Li Pai
Champa	986	50 jin	Li Chao-xian
Sanfotsi	988	50 jin	Pu Yao-tuo-li
Toupo	992	10 jin	Pu Ya-li
Champa	1007		Bu-lu-die-di-jia
Butuan	1007
Champa	1011	30 jin	Pu sa-duo-po
Sanfotsi	1017	30 jin	Pu Mou-xi
Champa	1018	80 jin	Luo-pi-di-jia
Champa	1072
Chola	1077
Sanfotsi	1156	30 jin

Notice that all envoys except two have the titles Pu (Apu) or Li (Ari). Possibly Bu-lu-die-di-jia has an error for "Pu" in the first syllable.

In the blog post, "On the Titles Ari and Apu," I mentioned the large number of Champa envoys that used what I suggested was the Sanfotsi royal title Ari, which was found in Chinese texts in the form "Li" 李.

I speculated that there may have been intermarriages between Champa and Sanfotsi royals that could account for the apparent use of the title in Champa. Now, I have come across some more information that could help explain the contacts between the two countries.

In the Song hui-yao ji-gao (宋會藥輯稿), the Champa envoy Bu-lu-die-di-jia (布祿爹地加) is said to have stated that Champa had "fled" to Fo-shi country -- apparently referring to the flight of the country's rulers. Later in the work it is stated, and alluded to also in the Sung-shi, that the Champa king Yang-tuo-pai (楊陀排) whose reign began in 990 CE, was born in Fo-shi country.

There has been much scholarly discussion over what name "Fo-shi" was meant to transcribe. Paul Pelliot had suggested that Fo-shi was the Chinese rendering of Sanskrit Bhoga, while Georges Coedès thought it should instead by Vijaya.

In interpreting the aforementioned linkages between Champa and Fo-shi in the Song hui-yao, it is generally suggested that incidents refer to the temporary relocation of the Cham capital from Indrapura to the city of Vijaya after the invasion of the Vietnamese emperor Lê Hoàn.

However, there is a possibility that Fo-shi is actually an island kingdom located to the southeast of Canton mentioned by I Ching, which has been discussed previously in this blog. The Song hui-yao uses the term Fo-shi-guo (佛逝國) with the word "guo" possibly indicating another country (other than Champa). The text also mentions Sanfotsi, so it could be that Fo-shi refers to the original old country within the new Sanfotsi empire. In any case, the name "Fo-shi" is not used by other Chinese texts for the city of Vijaya in Champa.

We could propose that these events, as interpreted here, led to intermarriage between the royal familes in the two regions faciliating the trade in cloves, and also the use of the title Ari by many Champa envoys.


Sandalwood trade

Pigafetta mentions Luzon ships loading sandalwood from Timor during Magellan's circumnavigation voyage.

His note is important not only because it indicates how far the Luzon kingdom was trading to the South, but also due to the close link between the sandalwood trade and that of spices like cloves and nutmeg.

According to the Canton Stories (Pingzhou Ketan) of Zhu Yu (1118-9 CE), Sanfotsi had established a monopoly on the sandalwood trade:

In recent times Sanfotsi established a sandalwood monopoly and the ruler orders merchants to sell to him. The product's market value increases several times. The subjects of that country do not dare sell privately. This is an effective system. The country is right in the center of the Southern Sea. Ta-Shih [Perso-Muslim] countries are far to the West. Chinese bound for Ta-Shih reach Sanfotsi and repair their ships and exchange goods. Distant merchants congregate here and therefore it is considered the most prosperous place.

According to Chau Ju-Kua, the main source of sandalwood was Ti-wu, the Chinese name for Timor (also Ti-wen). Official sandalwood gifts to the Chinese emperor throughout history are thought to have almost exclusively originated in Timor. As with cloves, Chau Ju-kua states that Sanfotsi acted as an entrepot of sandalwood. He further states that sandalwood together with cloves were shipped from Sanfotsi to Nan-p'i (Malabar). Muslim texts generally agree with the Chinese sources as they list sandalwood as one of the products traded in Zabag.

During the Yuan Dynasty, sandalwood was said to come from a location known as Min-to-lang situated in the "East Ocean" mentioned together with well-known kingdoms like Butuan and Sulu. Some have speculated that this name could refer to Mindanao or Mindoro, but it is far from certain.

During the Ming Dynasty though, it is clear that Luzon was involved in the sandalwood trade. Pigafetta states: "All the sandal wood and wax that is traded by the inhabitants of Java and Malaca is traded for in that region [Timor]. We found a junk from Lozon there, which had come thither to trade in sandal wood."

According to a Brunei navigator who spoke with Legaspi during the Spanish invasion of the Philippines, the Luzon and Brunei trading ships dealing between the Manila Bay and points southward were considered "Chinese junks" because they acted as middlemen selling Chinese goods.

During Spanish times, Manila also acted as an entrepot of sandalwood, although unlike the situation with cloves where it had acted as the main trading source for Asia, it competed in the sandalwood trade with Batavia due to Dutch influence in Timor.

The route of cloves and sandalwood from their source lands to ports in South China was a natural one, the shortest route, and the one described in medieval texts using the Eastern Ship Route to avoid the treacherous shoals, reefs, rocks and islands of the central South China Sea.


Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Junker, Laura Lee. Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2000, 192-8.

Lach, Donald F., and Edwin J. Van Kley. Asia in the Making of Europe: Volume III, the Century of Advance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998, 37.

Ptak, Roderich. China's Seaborne Trade with South and Southeast Asia, 1200-1750. Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998.

Wade, Geoff. "Champa in the Song hui-yao" ARI Working Paper, No. 53, 2005, www.nus.ari.edu.sg/pub/wps.htm.