Lanong
Large outrigger warship used for piracy and slave raids.
The Iranun and Banguingui peoples of the Philippines built the lanong, a large outrigger warship reaching up to 30 meters long. It featured two biped shear masts that also served as boarding ladders, plus one to three banks of oars rowed by galley slaves. Specialized for naval battles, these vessels were heavily used for piracy and slave raids across Southeast Asia from the mid-18th to early 19th century. The name comes from Lanun, an exonym for the Iranun.
Quick Facts
- Length
- up to 30 m / 98 ft 5 in
- Beam
- 6 m amidships
- Crew
- 150 to 200 men
- Commander
- panglima
- Period of use
- mid-18th to early 19th century
- Armament
- one long gun (lela) and several swivel guns (lantaka)
- Oar banks
- one to three banks on each side
Facts from the source article.
Description
Lanong could reach up to 30 m in length and 6 m in width amidships, with a crew of 150 to 200 men under a panglima. Unlike the karakoa, they were heavily armed for naval battles, featuring a beakhead that mounted a long gun (lela) and several swivel guns (lantaka). They had two biped shear masts made of two spars lashed together at the top, rigged with tanja sails; these masts could be raised or lowered and were used as boarding ladders. A triangular banner displaying the panglima's standard flew from the stern. Decks above the rowers and on both sides of the outriggers accommodated warriors and were defended by rows of fixed shields. All rowers were galley slaves housed inside the main hull, with oars arranged in one to three banks on each side. Lanong often served as motherships to smaller salisipan war-canoes.
History
Lanong could sail long distances, attacking ships as far as the Straits of Malacca and Java. They became notorious from the mid-18th to the early 19th century for raids and piracy (magooray) across most of Southeast Asia, driven by rising demand for slave labor in the Dutch East Indies and growing enmity between the Moro Sultanates and European colonial powers. Each year from August to September, the 'pirate wind' warned Dutch, Spanish, and English colonies of impending Iranun and Banguingui raids. From 1774 to 1794, an estimated 100 to 200 ships were launched annually from the Sulu Sea. Raids were mounted independently or under orders of the Sultanate of Sulu and the Sultanate of Maguindanao. Male captives were treated brutally, even fellow Muslims, while female captives were usually treated better; no rapes were recorded, though some were starved for discipline. Rowers were all previously captured male slaves, often dying from exhaustion during long cruises. Most slaves were Tagalogs, Visayans, and 'Malays' (including Bugis, Mandarese, Iban, and Makassar), with occasional European and Chinese captives ransomed through Tausug intermediaries. Between 1770 and 1870, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 people were enslaved. By 1850, up to 50% of the population in the Sulu archipelago sultanates were slaves. The raids disrupted traditional trade routes, notably stopping trade with China, contributing to the 19th-century economic decline of the Sultanates of Brunei, Sulu, and Maguindanao.
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