Tioman Island in the Middle Ages

Just off the east coast of the Malay Peninsula in the South China Sea, at about two degrees north and 104 degrees east, there is a small island called Tioman. Administratively it’s in the Malaysian state of Pahang, and it’s supposed to be a lovely place (Figure 1). The main industry now is tourism: Tioman is full of diving resorts and, though it is only about 136 square kilometres in area, the island even has its own airport.

Fig. 1 — The southwestern end of Tioman. Sourced from Google Maps.