ACEHNESE: the Seamen from the Archipelago

During the era of Alexandre the Great, Sumatera seamen had regularly visited Indian harbours. Also recorded was a certain man from Sumatera paid a visit to the Roman empire, Cladius. And according to the account of Idrisi, Acehnese seamen had landed and settled down in Madagascar in 10th century. Taking into considerations the ability of the highly skilled Acehnese seamen in sailing through the vast ocean and also the strategic location of Aceh, we may assume that at the earliest stages of’globalization’, Acehnese seamen did introduce Nusantara (i.e. Indonesia) to the world by visiting the Middle East,Africa, Asia Minor, and Italy.
In his book “Geographike Uplehesis” or “Golden Cherenoses” Ptolomeus noted in his world map that easternmost island was Yabadiou which sounds almost identical with Yawadwipa.
In volume 7, he pointed out that the port of Yabadiou, called Argyre or Kota Perak, was situated in the westernmost of the island of Yabadiou, the soil was fertile, and it produced gold… It definitely refered to Banda Aceh, because in those days this city harbour had become a crowded entrepot