Ekonomi pelayaran tradisional Mandar: Studi sistem Pa’ garasik dalam perdagangan Campalagian pada periode 1950–1970

Abstract

Pa’ garasik represents a traditional maritime economic model embedded within the coastal cultural system of the Mandar people in West Sulawesi. This study aims to analyze navigation patterns, trade networks, commodity circulation, and the sociocultural values that shaped and sustained the pa’ garasik system. Employing a qualitative historical approach, the research applies the stages of source collection, source criticism, interpretation, and historiographical writing. Data were obtained from archival materials, contemporary literature, and oral traditions to reconstruct the dynamics of traditional maritime shipping using vessels such as baqo’ and lambo, which connected Campalagian with Gresik, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, and Malaysia. The findings indicate that pa’ garasik functioned not only as a mechanism of grassroots economic exchange but also as a sociocultural institution grounded in the values of siri’ (honor), pesse (solidarity), and amanah (trust), which governed unwritten contractual relations and commercial ethics. This system played a significant role in facilitating social mobility and reinforcing Mandar maritime identity. However, since the late 1970s, the modernization of transportation, the centralization of state economic policies, and ecological changes in coastal areas have contributed to the decline of pa’ garasik.  This study contributes to Indonesian maritime historiography by highlighting a community-based economic model that operated beyond formal state structures and strengthened coastal cultural networks.