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BCS: Rotinese Colonization of Australia

SinghSong

Well-known member
Location
Slough
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In the same climatological zone as North West Australia, Rote Island is a dry land with few natural springs and subject to an irregular and inadequate monsoon rain, but the Rotinese, aka the "Hataholi Lote", got around this by forming a complex, hierarchical civilization which revolved around cultivating of the lontar or palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer L.) for its sap and nectar to circumvent the need for water. Though they also dry-cultivated the native species of sorghum timorense themselves as their original founder cereal crop, later also adopting the introduced crops of millet, rice and maize (in that order, with their addition of each to their crop package dating back roughly 2,000, 1,000 and 500yrs respectively), as well as keeping domesticated herds of water buffalo, sheep, goats, and horses (which were similarly received via trade a long time before the arrival of the Europeans, and appear to have all been introduced by the time rice arrived, c.1kya). Two or three trees support each family, with each tree yielding 200-400 litres of juice each year for up to 35 years. And this nectar, known to them as Tuak manis, is the first nutrition that a newborn Rotinese baby receives, even before its mother’s milk. The Rotinese were also renowned for their cakes of crystallised sugar, which they made by baking the juice of the lontar palm; traders regularly visited the island to purchase lontar palm sugar, which was then traded throughout the Indonesian archipelago, and vessels from Roti also sailed to the Tukangbesi islands of Sulawesi Tenggara, selling palm sugar directly to them and picking up ironworking from them.

The lontar palm, aka the "tree of life" was central to Rotinese culture- when a Rotinese person died, he or she was traditionally buried in a coffin made from the hollowed-out trunk of the palm. The lontar leaves are never wasted- Houses are re-roofed every four to five years, and the old thatch is burnt in the garden to fertilize it. The lontar is also used to make hats called tilangga for different occasions, ranging from everyday use to celebrations. The stem of the leaves has thorny edges, and fences can be prepared from these stems by nailing them together. The skin of the stem can be peeled off and be used as rope, and is also used to weave into cots. The stalks of the trunks are used to make fences, and also produce a strong, wiry fibre suitable for cordage and brushes. When the "tree of life" finally becomes old and unproductive, the trunk, which is stronger than coconut, can be shaped into house beams, posts and rafters, or can be hollowed out for coffins, pig-feeding troughs or the canoes which the Rotinese use.

The lontar leaves are also used to craft the unique harp-like Rotinese musical string instrument, the Sasando. The development of this instrument dates back to at least the 7th century, providing an indication of the level of advancement of Rotinese society at this stage, as well as how long-established the Rotinese imperial system and its eighteen self-ruling domains are. Each of these is governed by its own Lord, who together with the lords of the various clans (known as 'trees', with all important relations in Rotinese society described by a variety of metaphors involving the imagery of planting and growing) that make up the domain, presides at a flourishing court and makes decisions based upon the customary usage of that domain. Marriage alliances (described as the 'tying' of various kinds of bonds), once established, endure for three generations. A child's membership within his lineage is established by his father's payment of his mother's bridewealth; the children of women for whom bridewealth is not paid, and who remain unmarried, are members of that woman's brother's (or father's) lineage instead. And the former wife-givers, a person's matrilateral affines, become the husband's obligationary ritual protectors throughout his life, and are known as the man's 'roots'.

Rotinese society is hierarchical and patriarchal, with fixed classes of nobles and commoners. Each named clan recognized at court is distinguished by its separate traditions, rights, and privileges. Nobles are ranked in status and belong to one of two clans, the clan of the Male-Lord and the clan of the Female or Sister-Lord. The Male-Lord who presides at court is the highest noble of the domain and is its political head, but he shares his temporal power with a Female-Lord or Lord-fetor. And a dignitary, the Head of the Earth, of whichever commoner clan is traditionally regarded as the oldest clan of that domain, with the longest lineage (aka 'branch'), is the Male-Lord's ritual superior who, at court, is the traditional authority on customary usage- in effect, the prime minister of that domain's House of Commons.

So then, in the Rotinese, we have the closest advanced agricultural civilization to Australia, only slightly further away from mainland Australia than Tasmania (closer, if one includes the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, which were historically known to the Rotinese as Nusa Solokaek and formally claimed by the southernmost domain as part of its dominion), with a complex imperialistic court-based society that was already adapted to the climate and scarce rainfall, possessing some of the best-suited crops and domesticates one could ask for, as well as iron-working and a number of unique cultural innovations, dating back over a thousand years, with a long history of engaging in naval trade and with artifacts providing proof of direct trading links with partners as far afield as Song Dynasty China- what's not to like?

So then, what if the leader of one of the Rotinese noble or commoner clans had decided to embark upon a colonial expedition, taking that short 300km voyage across the shallow Timor Sea (less than the distance between Brittany and Ireland) and settling on Australia- bringing their culture, technology, cultivars, domesticates and trade along with them? Let's say that this happens around 1100-1200 CE, around the same time when the Song Dynasty Chinese Porcelain artifacts on Rote island date back to (at which time 'Downs Sorghum' was still their primary cereal crop, and rice was in the process of being added to their cultivation list, having only recently first been introduced to them). What, in your opinion, would represent the best case scenario for such a colonial venture, if it had actually taken place? Could they have conceivably taken over the Top End of Australia, at the very least, before the Europeans arrived?
 
Could they have conceivably taken over the Top End of Australia, at the very least, before the Europeans arrived?

I want to say probably, because I want to imagine they could have influenced Aboriginal peoples and made them more resistant to European colonization. Of course, they'd first have to want to make the jump to agricultural society after seeing the Rotinese doing it, and intermixing would probably happen in any case. The Rotinese are imperialistic from what you've described, but something tells me they'd still be kinder or at least less expansionist and racist than the British and Australians were historically.

I didn't even really know these guys existed until I read your post, so thank you for that as well.
 
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