... a handbook on Malay, later translated into Latin, English, and other languages, when he joined a 1598–99 Dutch East Indies voyage to Aceh. Imprisoned by the sultan, he also wrote an account of his experience. The textual materials produced by this encounter include, aside from Houtman's own Dutch account...

... European and Safavid embassies to Yemen, revealing the international- ization of medicine. The exchanges were characterized by interest and curiosity rather than fear and suspicion. My own essay also focuses on the figure of the ambassador but at another Islamic court, Aceh on the island of Sumatra...