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The Bugis-Makassar people have always been known as the greatest seafarers of the archipelago. However, long before it was known to live up to the foam in the vast ocean, they were the majority of farmers and planters. They live in abundance of food in the midst of the endless rainy season throughout the year.

Staying side by side in the sea makes people Bugis-Makassar tempted to sail. They began to "plunge into the sea" and according to Christian Pelras in the book of Buginese Man, the Bugis made use of the sea to trade in the late 16th century until the 17th century.

The maritime trade is really a temptation for them. This trading instinct is quite high, making the Bugis maritime activities thrive. Orientation of the original agrarian life shifted to be oriented to maritime trade.

The trading period in Bugis-Makassar had sprang up long before the twin kingdoms of Gowa-Tallo (Kingdom of Makassar) emerged as the dominant and hegemonic force in the 17th century maritime archipelago.

Recorded port of Makassar has been a very crowded port in the 16th century. The port connects the trading network in the west (Malaka), north (Sulu), south-west (Java), and east (Maluku). Makassar's own merchants play a very important role - as intermediaries of spice trade from Maluku and timber from Timor.

Besides spices, another very important and controlled commodity is the Bugis trader is rice. The demand for rice in Maluku and Malacca is mostly supplied by Makassar. The rice trade was so profitable that some Makassar rulers made a rice surplus policy for exports.

At the end of the 19th century until the 1930s, Bugis boats crowded the entire archipelago of Nusantara, from Singapore to Papua, and from the southern Philippines to the northwest coast of Australia.

So, are they sailors, farmers, or traders? The answer is they are farmers and planters who turn to maritime traders because of the heavily inter-island trade. Although, some are indeed excellent sailors, namely the people of Tanjung Bira in Bulukumba District.

They are the ones who master the science of navigation, sailing, and skillful steering of pinisi ships made by the Ara.

According to a Bira community leader, Andi Ahmad, "Since ancient times, it has become a public secret. That the Ara people who make the pinisi, the Bira people who become helmsman, and the Bugis-Makassar people who trade. "It's just that what happens is, as traders of Bugis who go down to the harbor and meet many foreigners for trade transactions make them also mistaken the real sailor.

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All images are taken from: jpg

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