Seminar ‘From Javanese Court to African Grave: How Noriman of Cirebon became Tuan Skaapie of Merantau, 1717-1810’

Seminar by Michael Laffan. In this paper Michael Laffan will attempt to put some clues together regarding the life and impact of an eighteenth century exile to Cape Town known locally as Tuan Skaapie (Lord Sheepy). Now remembered as a slave sent from Java in 1770 who tended flocks and dug wells on the slopes of Signal Hill, it would appear that this subaltern may well have been more than that. Certainly he was successful at concealing his identity (and abilities) from his former jailers and two colonial regimes, taking his place high on the ridge above Cape Town in 1810.

Michael Laffan is professor of history at the University of Princeton. He studies the history of Southeast and the Indian Ocean, currently focusing on Islam, nationalism, Dutch colonialism and Orientalism. His latest book is The makings of Indonesian Islam. Orientalism and the narration of a Sufi Past (2011).

If you wish to attend please register with Yayah Siegers: [email protected]