Entrepreneurial strategies of Hadrami Arabs in Southeast Asia, C. 1750s-1945

Abstract

Hadhramis in contemporary Southeast Asia tend to lament their economic defeat at the hands of Chinese rivals. (al-Mahjar, passim) They thus seek to determine what historical blunders might have led to this outcome. Whether there really was any defeat is questionable, however. Taking the long view, the story of the Hadhrami diaspora is one of success rather than failure, an achievement that was all the more remarkable in view of the smallness and poverty of their homeland in southern Arabia. (Freitag 2003; Mobini-Kesheh 1999; Freitag and Clarence-Smith 1997; Bajunid 1996; Talib 1974; Berg 1886) One point that needs to be stressed from the outset is that a static regional focus on Southeast Asia is likely to be misleading. Unlike national bourgeoisies, diasporas are notoriously quick to relocate in response to changing business environments. They are indifferent to where they make their profits, for their emotionally charged relationship is with their distant and romanticised homeland. (Zenner 1991; Sheffer 1986) As far as Hadhramis were concerned, the degree of identification with Southeast Asian nations varied immensely, but, for many, their watan remained the wadis and coast of Hadhramaut. As for the Indian Ocean, it was the oyster in which they cultivated the pearls of wealth. From this perspective, the years after the Second World War merely witnessed a partial relocation of Hadhrami economic activity. Placing less emphasis on Southeast Asia and India in the chaotic era of decolonisation, Hadhramis stepped up their already ancient presence elsewhere. For a time, they focused on Aden and eastern Africa, but decolonisation in those areas drove them more durably to the Hijaz and the Gulf. They also found fresh pastures in and the West.