13Jun The Story of Bintan Island
It was the year 1126 when Admiral Ching Lo, a high ranking naval command officer from the Sung Dynasty chanced upon an island south of Temasek. The once powerful flowing sails of his war ships were now just rags of torn cloth; the vessel’s dark wooden hull resembled a giant tree which was split showing splinters of white. With rations running low due to a prolonged storm and an unfavor able attack by a small fleet of pirates, the 2 ships under the Chinese flag was forced to seek refuge as it was virtually impossible to sail back to China and battle the high seas in this vulnerable condition.
Admiral Ching Lo was left with no option, although at a glance the island of Bintan seemed relatively calmsomehow he felt a danger given his years of seaward experience. The winds of Temasek had blown him further south and now as he neared land, he decided to anchor in a bay, away from the view of the open sea, where there could be remnants of the pirates he fought just hours ago.
The Admiral was extremely careful on this voyage for his ships a thousand wooden chests containing what he thought was at least half of what he had seen in the imperial treasure chamber in Xian. The booty from a decade of fighting and gifts from the warlords in East Asia and Persia as a pledge of peace to the mighty Emperor contained gemstones of every hue, ivory from the largest elephants, silver, diamonds, exquisite fabrics, rare spices and huge golden statues, all were placed in these discreet boxes. So discreet that only a handful of trusted men knew its precious contents.
As he dropped anchor, he and several men rowed inward, heading for a river opening that was partly hidden by mangrove. It felt good when he finally reached the shore and the air around him smelled fresh and clean. Certainly a reprieve from the musk and dampness of his ship.
Sudden movements on the ground made him draw his dagger. He moved cautiously inland and found the reason – a large lizard-like creature, with scales and looked like a dragon without wings. It stared at the Admiral with its tongue flicking as if to warn the men that it was not to be trifled with. It would be a bad omen to kill it so soon after landing and besides he had already seen too much blood the last few days, so Admiral Ching side-stepped the curious creature and together with his men continued their exploration.
The sound of laughter and music filled his ears. It was a strange mix of drums and flutes which was now joined by a chorus of chants. As he ventured toward the music, the Admiral did not notice the slippery ground. He landed with a mighty thud on his head.
He slowly opened his eyes and immediately felt the dull pain at the back of his head, which was heavily bandaged with cloth and leaves. His sharp senses told him that the light cloud of smoke in the room was incense with a sweet smelling fragrance, and, he could see through the small cracks that it was daylight.
Although the room was darkened by layers of tree bark. He searched around for his shoes and clothes with a soft and colourful clothe drapped around his waist, which he later learnt was called a sarung. “Don’t think I want my men to see me like this!” he thought to himself.
He opened the door of his hut and was blinded by the intense light of the mid day sun. As he adjusted by squinting his eyes, he saw his crew, almost all of them, under the shade of trees. Some were sleeping, others eating and drinking and a few with the local villagers, trying to communicate. “Admiral, Admiral! You’re awake!” he heard a voice behind him. It was Sun Wai, his trusted lieutenant.
Sun Wai told him that it has been four days since they landed and he had ordered most of the crew to rest at the village. Ten imperial guards were on the ship guarding the treasure, he assured Admiral Ching. The village head had invited them to stay and also tended to the injured, just as they had cared for the Admiral. “I have never seen the injuries heal so fast, it’s amazing!” exclaimed Sun Wai.
He quickly searched for the Village Head, Asmadi or Pak Di as he was fondly called by the villagers. Pak Di assured Admiral Ching that he and his men could stay as long as they like provided they did not create any trouble. “I will stay until we have enough rations and my ships are repaired. I will pay you for your troubles and protect your village as long as I am here.” Ching told Pak Di. The village head informed the admiral that there have never been any attacks on his village but they were many pirates in the waters. They were armed black men who would not think twice about cutting off a person’s head just for the fun of it.
From his excursions around the island, Ching found that the village was near a riverine called Sebung and that the bay offered a natural shelter for mariners. On the northern point of Sebung were miles and miles of pristine sandy white beaches the likes of which he has not seen in terms of mesmerizing beauty.
The hospitality offered by the villagers was the most generous he had ever experienced in his years of travel. Their sincere warmth and care had even rubbed off onto his battle-scarred and travel-weary crew, turning large angry muscled rowers into soft spoken and gentle men. Legendary-accurate archers who once aimed their sharp arrows on men now trained their spiked angels of death on deer and rabbit for food for the whole village.
The crew made small boats to travel along the riverine and often brought the children along for trips. It was the highlight for all of the village children if they could go in the same boat as Admiral Ching, because along the journey, he would astound them with tales of China and other parts of the world like Egypt. To make the journey more interesting, the crew tied special wooden bowls with rags in them on both sides of the river and would light them up with fire so that the whole length of the river was magically lit up like a gathering of fireflies atop every bowl.
After a tiring excursion or hunt, the crew would be treated with a floral bath of unusual fragrances and then rubbed with oils from plants which soothe their aching joints. Their hardened weathered faces were washed with a sprinkling of sand and oils, and soon the darkened skin peeled off to show the young faces of the sailors.
And then after six months of rest, the terrible happened. A boatful of pirates had spotted the Chinese ships harboured at the bay and the next night brought with them a flotilla of eight ships, each filled with sixty hungry and angry killers all armed with swords, daggers, and hammers.
Pak Di’s eldest son, Sukandi was returning from his nightly fishing trip when he spotted the flotilla just around the bay. He quickly ran and informed his father and Admiral Ching. The Admiral gathered his men and rowed back to the ships. Luck wasn’t with them as the waves were rough that night and the row back was longer than anybody wanted, except the pirates of course. By the time they boarded the ships, the first wave of pirate attacks started. The Admiral knew that if they stayed in the bay, they will be trapped. He had to sail out to the open sea to have a fighting chance. Again the waves were too strong for a quick get-away. And this time a storm had started brewing.
Wave after wave of pirate attacks rained upon the Admirals’ ships. Several cannon balls had already ripped apart the stern of both ships. The Admiral and his courageous crew had managed to capsize all but two pirate ships. As the storm grew greater, the Chinese crew was fighting 2 fronts – the weather and the pirates.
After 3 hours, the inevitable happened. The treasure laden Chinese ships, heavy with gold and gems were now on fire. Slowly but surely sinking, an injured Admiral Ching ordered his men to jump, leaving the fate of the ships now in the hands of the pirates. With waves crashing on the weakened ships’ structure and fire engulfing the whole vessel, the black pirates were trapped under the deck, still trying to unload the treasure chests.
Only a handful of the Chinese crew survived. Admiral Ching swam back to the village. What he saw moved him to tears, more than the loss of his precious ships. The whole village was burnt to the ground, but to his surprise, there were no bodies to be found. It was as if everyone had just disappeared without a trace.
What then happened to the good Admiral and his crew, no one was the wiser, or rather wanted to tell. Some said he built a small boat and sailed to Temasek where he returned to China. Others said that he stayed on the island and married some locals. Local tales have him staying on the island where he retrieved the parts of the treasure under the waters of the bay, and the ones he found he buried in a few locations around the area.
The legend of the treasures is known all around the sea faring world. An Arabian explorer Ibni Batutta wrote about it in the 13th century: “Here there are little islands, from which armed black pirates emerge, possessing armed warships…” The royals of the Srivijaya Empire of Sumatra to the ruler of the Malacca Sultanate have fought for this island. The Dutch and Portuguese and sultans of Johor and Aceh have each lay claim of Bintan.
Maybe one day we will live the legend, when we uncover the immense fortune of Admiral Ching buried somewhere …in Bintan Island.
Source: gobintan