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Department for Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia
Asien-Afrika-InstitutLanguages and Cultures of Southeast Asia

Photo: Nordenx, Public domain | Wikimedia Commons, cropped

"Deal and debt in the Malay world"

Southeast Asia has been a crossroad for trade for centuries, bringing merchants from far-away places in contact with local rulers and intermediaries who brought products from the inland or highlands to the ports. Those people did not speak the same language, did not have the same culture, and came from places where laws were different. How was business conducted in a setting, where so many facts could bring misunderstanding or mistrust? And how were contracts made, and deals concluded?

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription, 10th Century. Photo: Nordenx, Public domain | Wikimedia Commons, cropped