In 1998, fishermen off the coast of Belitung accidentally discovered the wreck of a 9th-century Arab dhow at a depth of about 17 metres. The ship had been sailing from China to Arabia around 830 AD when it sank, carrying the largest cache of Tang dynasty cargo ever found at sea: over 60,000 ceramic pieces, along with gold and silver objects, bronze mirrors, and a stone mould for making lead ingots.
The find upended understandings of the scale and sophistication of maritime trade in the early Islamic world. The ceramics — made in Changsha, Guangdong, and elsewhere in China specifically for export to Muslim markets — were packed with remarkable efficiency and survived over a thousand years on the seabed in good condition. The four exceptional gold and silver pieces, including a spectacular gold cup, suggest the ship was carrying luxury goods for wealthy buyers.
The artefacts were bought by the Singapore government and are now displayed at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. Belitung itself has no museum of the find, but the shipwreck story is part of the island's identity and is covered in exhibits at the Tanjung Pandan museum.