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The Foundations of Malay Royalty in Palembang (Srivijaya) As we look at the selected chapters of Sejarah Melayu in this study, we will see how the Author has connected the pericopes with glosses1 to stress the aim of the text. The Author has used various materials drawn from the oral tradition of his day with a purpose in mind. In each pericope, significant elements might be the kingdom, the action, the characters or their attributes. The pericopes of the chapters discussed here assumed particular forms according to the function which they performed in the preMelakan community. The pericopes in the Sejarah Melayu assume the forms such as myths or legends and each pericope has a Sitz im Leben (social setting in life). The early chapters of Sejarah Melayu are rich in myths and legends and the forms of these myths and legends are determined by the setting in which they arose and the purpose for which they were used. Although we should not treat most of the myths and legends of Sejarah Melayu in chapter three to five as literal truth, however, we have to give due attention. The kingdoms of Menangkabau, Palembang and Singapura to which these traditions refer are no myth and these kingdoms figure prominently in the present study. The first pericope of chapter three begins: Here now is the story of a city called Palembang2 in the land of Andelas 3. It was ruled by Demang Lebar Daun 4, a descendant of Raja Shulan 5, and its river was the Muara Tatang. In the upper reaches of Muara Tatang6 was a river called the Melayu7, and on that river
I have italicised all glosses in the quoted passages of the Sejarah Melayu. Palembang (variously known as Palimbao, Palimbang or Perlembang), is a word derived from the word limbang, which signifies to drain off a fluid. According to Crawfurd, the complete word, would be Palimbangan or the vessel or place from which water or other fluid is drained off, and, no doubt, has reference to the subsidence of the inundation, in the territory named, one of the most striking phenomena belonging to it (Crawfurd, 1856:275). Palembang is strategically located on the south-east coast of Sumatra between the Straits of Melaka and the Sunda Strait and lies about fifty miles up the Musi River (Wolters, 1967:19; Embree, 1988:201). 3 Andelas (Andalas, Andelis, Indalas) is the ancient name of Sumatra, one of the Indonesian island located west of Malaysia. The name Andelas may also refer to Andalusia, the region of Spain once ruled by the Muslims (in Spanish Andalucia means autonomous community). Andelas would have been adapted from the Arabic word al-Andalus which was applied by the Muslims who occupied Spain in the 8th century (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1990, 1:379). Sumatra was also known variously in the 16th century as Sumotra, Zamatra, Samotra, Camotora and Samantara (Cortesao, 1944:135; Krom, 1941:6). Another ancient name for Sumatra is Pulau Percha. According to Crawfurd, the word Percha is of Persian origin. Parchah literally means rag or patch island (Crawfurd, 1856:414). 4 Demang (Damang) Lebar Daun or Chief Broad Leaf, is a local ruler of Palembang (Harvey, 1884:64). Wolters refers the term demang to the post of chamberlain as a demang is concerned with matters of ritual and ceremony (Wolters, 1970:132). According to Palembang traditions, Lebar Daun is a place-name (Roolvink, 1967:316). According to Maxwell, the name is thoroughly characteristic of the aboriginal Malay tribes (Braddell, 1936:50). 5 Raja Shulan which is also termed as Suran, Chulan and Chula or Chola is generally identified with the Raja Rajendra Cola 1(A.D.1012-1044), the great king of the Cola dynasty in South India who embarked an expedition to Southeast Asia in the eleventh century. The name Cola is the name of the kingdom or dynasty. The Cola dynasty commenced by about the mid-ninth century and ended in the late thirteenth century (Nilakanta Sastri, 1975:19 &195). The Cola expedition of 1025, left a strong trace in the memory of Malays of the Peninsula, whose annals recount how the Tamil Raja Cola or Suran destroyed Gangga Negara, on the river Dinding, and also Glanggiu, tributary to the Johor river, and finally occupied Temasik, the site of future Singapura (Brown, 1952:18-19; Nilakanta Sastri, 1949:81). 6 Muara Tatang, a tributary of the Musi at the foot of the hill of Bukit SiGuntang which rises to the southwest of modern Palembang (See Map 3). 7 Melayu is written as Moloyu and Moloshih in Chinese sources (Wolters, 1967:22 & 202). Valentyn, a eighteenth century writer, mentioned that the Malays got their name from the river Melayu and afterwards the name Melayu was applied to the coast and countries (Hervey, 1884:63; Durai Raja Singam, 1962:55-57; Crawfurd, 1856:249-252). Hsu Yun-Tsiao and Joseph Minnatur believed that Malaya (Melayu) is a name of Sanskrit origin (Hsu Yun-Tsiao, 1967:26). Minnatur states that the name Melayu has been derived from Sanskrit, Malaya or Tamil word Malaiyur meaning a range of mountains (Minattur,1965:159). Many scholars have examined the term Melayu and one of the most notable is Virginia Matheson. According to her, Sejarah Melayu is the only Malay text which explains the origin of the word Melayu. Melayu in the text of
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was a hill called Si-Guntang Mahameru 8. In that region lived two widows, Wan Empok and Wan Malini 9, and the two of them had planted padi on Bukit Si-Guntang. Much ground had they planted and their padi had thriven beyond words. When the padi was ripe over the whole field, it happenend that one night Wan Empok and Wan Malini beheld from their house a glow as of fire on Bukit Si-Guntang. And they said, Can that be the light of fire that glows yonder? It frightens me. Then said Wan Malini, Whisht! It may be the gleam of the gem on some great dragons head! So Wan Empok and Wan Malini kept quiet in their fear and presently they fell asleep. When day dawned, Wan Empok and Wan Malini arose from their sleep and bathed their faces, and Wan Empok said to Wan Malini, Come, let us go and see what it was that glowed like fire last night. Wan Malini agreed, and the two of them climbed up Bukit Si-Guntang, where they saw that their padi had golden grain , leaves of silver and stems of gold alloy. And when they saw what had happened to their padi, they said, This is what we saw last night! And as they walked along the hill they saw the crest had turned into gold. According to one tradition it has a colour as of gold to this day . And on this land that had been turned into gold Wan Empok and Wan Malini beheld three youths of great beauty. All three of them were adorned like kings and wore crowns studded with precious stones, and they rode upon white elephants. Wan Empok and Wan Malini were lost in wonder and utterly amazed at the sight of these youths who were so handsome, bore themselves with such grace and were so brilliantly adorned. And they thought in their hearts, Was it a perchance because of these three youths that our padi has grain of gold, leaves of silver and stems of gold alloy and that this hilltop has been turned into gold? And they asked the three youths, Whence come you, sirs? Are you sons of genies or sons of fairies? For we have long been here without seeing anyone. Until you have appeared today no human beings has visited this place. And the three youths made answer, Not from the breed of genies or fairies are we. We are descended from Raja Iskandar Dzul-Karnain10:of the lineage of Raja Nushirwan 11, Lord of the East and the West, are we. Our line springs from Raja Sulaiman 12 (upon him be peace): one of us is called Bichitram Shah, one Paludatani and one Nilatanam 13. Then said Wan Empok and Wan
Sejarah Melayu is used in the following contexts: asal (origin) of rulers and bangsa (race, lineage, ancestry). For further details see Matheson, Concepts of Malay Ethos in Indigenous Malay Writings, 1979:351371and Miksic, 1987:35-37. In the Sejarah Melayu, Melayu refers to the name of a river in Palembang. 8 SiGuntang Mahameru, the 26 meter high sacred hill in Palembang. Guntang is from an old Malay word meaning terapung or floating, thus SiGuntang or Seguntang means the floating. According to Sartono, the name Guntang or floating is applied to the hill because it appears to be an obvious landmark from the sea visible from afar to the sailing traders (Sartono, 1978:61). The antiquity of Bukit SiGuntang as a holy place is attested by the Buddhist statuary found upon it and the peculiar veneration of the people for the hill (Braddell, 1956:16; Schnitger, 1964:8). Mahameru is of Indian derivation and it is the mythical place for dwelling of the gods ruled by Indera. Maha means great and Meru in the Hindu legends represents the axis of the world along which are centred all spheres of existence. The king of Palembang or Srivijaya was artfully compared to Mount Meru and that he resembles Lord Indera (Bradell, 1956:16). 9 Wan Empok and Wan Malini, two mythical figure introduced by the tradition which relate to the coming of the three kings and the changing of the hill top into gold. The term Malini is a name of the seductive celestial nymphs who dwell in Lord Indras paradise and they wore garlands of flowers and many jewels. Meanwhile the name Empok is a near-synonym with Ambika, a term which is applied to the harvest as the most productive season (Stutley, 1977:17, 176, 285). 10 Iskandar Dzul-Karnain. It is generally agreed both by Muslim commentators and modern Occidental scholars that Dzul-Karnain, the two-horned is to be identified with Alexander The Great. 11 The Persian element in Malay royal tradition is reflected in the name of Raja Nushirwan, which is Iranian (Marrison,1955:54). 12 Raja Sulaiman here refers to King Solomon of Israel (Hebrew, Shelomoh) who ruled from c.970 B.C. According to the Bible and the Quran, Sulaiman was celebrated for his skill and wisdom (Hughes, 1935:601, Cross, 1997:1516). 13 Bichitram, Paludatani and Nilatanam are the original names of the three brothers who descended on the Mount SiGuntang. They are clearly Indian names of Sanskrit derivation, the first meaning magnificent, the second name unknown; the third, blue-excellent. The titles that they later adopted upon being enthroned are

Malini, If you are stock of Raja Iskandar, what brings you here? And the three youths then told Wan Empok and Wan Malini the story of the marriage of Raja Iskandar with Raja Kida Hindis daughter and of the descent of Raja Chulan into the sea. And when Wan Empok and Wan Malini said, What have you to prove the truth of what you say? And the three youths answered, These crowns that we wear are the sign: they shew that we are the stock of Raja Iskandar Dzul-Karnain. If you doubt our word, the proof is that because we alighted on this spot your padi has grain of gold, leaves of silver and stems of gold alloy and this hilltop has been turned into gold. And Wan Empok and Wan Malini believed the words of the three young princes, and they were filled with joy and took the three young princes to their house. And the padi was reaped, and Wan Empok and Wan Malini became rich because of their meeting with the princes (Brown, 1952:24-25). In the above pericope, the first three sentences presents a geographical 14 introduction to a city called Palembang in Sumatra. Sentence two and three in the pericope give us a geographical location of the city on the river Melayu, which circumscribes the Bukit SiGuntang Mahameru and empties into the Muara Tatang river. However, no information is given by the pericope regarding the origins of the city. The name Palembang here is generally assumed to refer to Srivijaya, a kingdom in the seventh century A.D., called by the Chinese chroniclers San fo-tsi. Almost all historians have identified San fo-tsi (the king of the three kingdom) with Palembang. According to F. Hirth and W.W. Rockhill, the name points to an original Indian form Cri-Bhoja and the form Serboza, was used by the Arabs in the ninth century to designate the island of Sumatra. However, Hirth and Rockhill also refer to San-fo-tsi as the kingdom of Menangkabau, the parent country of the Malays in Sumatra (Hirth and Rockhill, 1911:63). San fo-tsi has been identified by Coedes with the Malay kingdom of Srivijaya 15 with a capital at one period situated in Palembang. Srivijaya became one of the most powerful and prestigious Sumatran kingdoms and by the eighth century controlled the Straits of Melaka as far north as Ligor. The kingdom had its beginning in the seventeenth century and continued to expand as a maritime power into the early eleventh century. (Wolters,1967:229). It is highly surprising that the name Srivijaya does not appear in the traditions of the Sejarah Melayu at all. The omission of the name Srivijaya from the Malay accounts is puzzling, but it is quite explicable if we hypothesize that Malay Muslims discarded from their history this Hindu pre-Muslim kingdom, preferring to employ instead the name of Palembang, a Javanese word. In sentence two, we are introduced to the ruler of Palembang, Demang Lebar Daun, who is described as a descendant of Raja Shulan. Demang Lebar Daun, is of great significance for the later events in the pericope, as the three princes who arrive on SiGuntang hill are given a genealogical relationship with Demang Lebar Daun. According to Virginia Matheson, the name of the river, Melayu, in sentence three of the pericope, expresses the identity of a bangsa (race, lineage) and serves to furnish an account of a migration to the Peninsula from the Palembang area, the source of the Malay royal origins
Sang Sapurba (the ancient one), Sang Maniaka (the precious jewel), and Sri Tri Buana (the Lord of the three world) respectively. In other versions, the name of the third brother is Sang Nila Utama. According to Winstedt, Van der Tuuk has robbed Singapura of its legendary founder by identifying the three titles, Sang Sapurba, Sang Maniaka and Sang Nila Utama as corrupted renderings of the Sanskrit names Sapurba, Menaka and Tilottama, three nymphs from the Hindu heaven of Indra (Winstedt, 1969:42). 14 According to Josselin de Jong, the Sejarah Melayu is the major Malay source for the historical geography of the regions of Melaka and the neighbouring areas on the west coast of Malay Peninsula (Josselin De Jong, 1956:60-70). 15 Srivijaya is formed of two words, Sri meaning prosperity or glorious and vijaya signifies victory.

(Matheson,1979:357-358). The hill SiGuntang Mahameru is presented as the most appropriate place for the arrival of the three princes. According to the Chinese records, in San-fo-tsi, there was a kind of Buddha image called Hill of Gold and Silver in Palembang which was cast in gold. Each succeeding king before ascending the throne cast a golden image to represent his person, and the kings made offerings of golden vessels to these images on the hill (Firth & Rockhill, 1911:61)16. Adoration of the mountain was an important element in early Indonesian civilization before the coming of Hindu culture (Braddell, 1956:16). The pericope of the Sejarah Melayu represents the hill 17 as the only site worthy for the appearance of the three princes (Brown,1952:24). The pericope introduces into the narrative two mythical persons, Wan Empok and Wan Malini in sentence four. The pericope states that these widows had a rice field on the hill and one night they saw the hill enveloped in a fiery glow. After reaching the hill in the morning, they saw three young man seated on white elephants 18. This appearance coincided with the transformation of their rice grains on the hill to gold. Although not specifically noted in the text, three of these characteristics: the glow, the gold and the mountain, are ancient symbols of sovereignty in Malay culture. These symbols appears in other ancient cultures as well, such as the Zion mountain in the Jewish tradition. The central feature of the Jerusalem cult tradition is that Yahwehs presence should be associated with Jerusalem and with Mount Zion in particular as the sacred mountain of Yahweh (Ollenburger,1987:23; Donaldson, 1985:52). The function of the two widows is to witness the appearance of the three princes and to confirm them as the descendants of Iskandar Dzul-Karnain, sons of Raja Chulan. It is, therefore, not simply an interesting story, but it has an important function, namely that, just as the two widows recognize the divine authority of the princes, so posterity should believe the three princes to be the descendants of Iskandar Dzul-Karnain. The pericope shows no interest in these women except as proving the truth it wants to convey through them. Therefore, both women enquire of the princes who they are. The three princes point to the crown as the sign of their lineage, reinforcing the evidence by calling attention to the grains of gold in the padi and the change of the hilltop to gold. Both women are convinced, and they became rich. Wealth is here regarded as an attribute of sovereignty and the association of these two elements suggests that the rulers bring prosperity .
According to Schnitger, the hill Bukit SiGuntang Mahameru in Palembang was a sacred place long before the coming of the Hindus, for Malay legends relate that a descendant of Alexander the Great (Iskandar Dhul-Karnain) descended on this hill. He further stated that a large Buddha image was found on the SiGuntang hill (Schnitger, 1964:8). 17 It has been supposed that it might be a Hindu adaptation of Indonesian beliefs which place the residence of kings or gods on the top of mountains. Mountains or hills are closely related with the ancient religions. For example, the Mount Kailasa is seen as the abode of Lord Shiva, Mount Olympus as the abode of Greek god, Zeus and Mount Zion, the choice of God Yahweh (Mazzeo & Antonini, 1978:47; Warren, 1962:9; Ollenburger, 1987:13). Sacred mountains and mountain symbolism were common features in ancient religious life. Mountains in India are closely related with the devaraja cult, the conception of the king as an incarnation of a divinity is typical of India and other ancient civilization (deva is god and raja is king). Mountains are the only site worthy of the residence of a sovereign to empower the practice of divine kingship. However, in Malay tradition, the Hindu concept of devaraja or divine kingship was perpetuated but garbed in Islamic clothing (Osman, 1989:35).
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In the Shellabear, A. Samad Ahmad, and Situmorang and Teeuw editions of the Sejarah Melayu, the three princes vehicle is described as a lembu white in colour. Lembu in Malay denotes a male ox. However, in Leydens translation, the vehicle is a bull. In the Hindu tradition, the bull is associated with sacred symbollism, as still can be seen in the Mauryan emblem and in Lord Sivas mount and emblem, the Nandi (Bull). The similarities with all the editions is that the colour of the animal is white and white, signifies genuineness and perfection which represents the quality of sovereignty.
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The Malay kings authority and power were derived from many sources. One of the most important was the claim to be descended from a royal family. At the end of sentence 26, the progeny of Iskandar Dzul-Karnain and the Indian kings, Nushirwan Adil and the descendants of Raja Shulan, called Bichitram, Paludatani and Nilatanam, after arriving in the Malay world, declare that they are descendants of Iskandar Dzul-Karnain and King Sulaiman (Solomon). In the words of Sejarah Melayu, We are descended from Raja Iskandar Dzul-karnain [...] our line springs from Raja Sulaiman. This statement can be considered as the main repository of Malay supernatural royal origin, and this pericope highlights two main aims. One is to stress the direct line of descent of the Melaka rulers from Iskandar Dzul-Karnain and the other is to link the rulers of Melaka with Raja Sulaiman, who was celebrated for his skill and wisdom. The Malay tradition, preserved in the gloss below, informs the audience that the ancestors of the founder of Melaka 19 came from Palembang. The Author confirms that there is a city called Palembang today which is the same with the former Palembang described as a great city. The country Andelas here refers to Sumatra. However, the name Andelas possibly may have been adapted by the Author of the Sejarah Melayu from the Arabic name al-Andalus, which was originally applied to the whole of Iberian Peninsula by the Muslims (Moors), who occupied Spain in the eighth century. According to the account we have received the city of Palembang which has been mentioned was the same as the Palembang of today. Formerly it was a great city, the like of which was not to be found in the whole country of Andelas (Brown, 1952:25). 3.1.2 The Kingdom of Menangkabau and Tanjung Pura The second pericope reads: Now when the Raja of Palembang, whose name was Demang Lebar Daun, had heard the story of how Wan Empok and Wan Malini had met with princes who had come down from the heaven , he went to the house of Wan Empok and Wan Malini to see the princes, whom he then took back with him to the city. And it was noised over the whole country that descendants of Raja Iskandar Dzul-Karnain were now in Palembang, having come down from Bukit Si-Guntang Mahameru. Thereupon every ruler from every part of the country came to pay his respects to them. The eldest of the princes was taken by the people of Andelas their country and was made Raja Menangkabau 20, with the title of
Melaka (Malacca) is located on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula and it is situated at the narrowest point of the Straits of Melaka, between Sumatra and the Peninsula. It was the centre of intra-Asian trade at the end of fifteenth century. A century earlier it had been merely a fishing village. According to the Sejarah Melayu, Melaka was established by Iskandar Shah, but Chinese and Western sources refers to Parameswara as the founder of Melaka in 1403. In 1511, Melaka was attacked and conquered by the Portugese (Embree, 1988:533). 20 Menangkabau (also Minangkabau, Menankabo, Menangkabwa) is a highland region located in the central part of Sumatra. Various legends exist as to the origin of the name Menangkabau. According to Van der Tuuk, the word Menangkabau is a corruption of Pinang Khaboe which means land of originor original home (Joustra, 1923:41). According to popular etymology, Menangkabu is said to be derived from the words menang, win, and kerbau or kabau, a buffalo, thus Victorious Buffalo. Buffalo plays a significant role in Indonesian culture. The work of J. Kreemer, De Karbouw; Zijn betekenis voor de volken van de Indonesische Archipel or The Buffalo; its importance for the peoples of the Indonesian Archipelago, explains in detail the religious and economic importance of the buffalo to the Indonesian people (Josselin, 1960:117). The Menangkabau preserve a traditional saying which relates in a symbolic language that their ancestors came down to the highlands of Menangkabau from the top of Mount Merapi, a mountain situated at the heartland of Menangkabau (Anwar, 1976:78) In the A.Samad Ahmad edition of Sejarah Melayu, we are told that Sang Sapurba was taken to Menangkabau by Patih Suatang (Samad Ahmad, 1979:21). Meanwhile
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Sang Sapurba 21. Thereafter came the people of Tanjong Pura 22 and took the second of the princes to Tanjong Pura where they made him Raja with the title of Sang Maniaka, whilst the youngest of the three princes remained at Palembang with Demang Lebar Daun, who made him Raja of Palembang with the title of Sang Nila Utama. Demang Lebar Daun thereupon abdicated and became chief minister (Brown, 1952:25). To begin with sentence one, we are told that the Raja of Palembang, Demang Lebar Daun heard of the three princes who appeared miraculously from heaven on Bukit SiGuntang Mahameru, and came to see them and bring them to his city. It is said that every ruler from every part of Sumatra came to pay respect to the three princes in Palembang. Therefore the essential purpose of this pericope is to highlight the greatness of the kingdom of Palembang. However, the significance of the entire pericope, which led to its being preserved, lies in sentence four to five where the pericope can be considered to be providing the origin and basis of the oldest kingdom in Sumatra. Most important of all, the fourth sentence has a significant meaning to convey. The pericope highlights the change of the name of Bichitram to Sang Sapurba. Thus the pericope is referring to the memory of the Malays regarding the antiquity of Menangkabau. The pericopes Sitz im Leben was to explain the antiquity of the Menangkabau kingdom. The eldest of the princes, Bichitram, was made Raja at Menangkabau and was given the title Sang Sapurba or the ancient one. The title itself gives expression to the kingdom of Menangkabau as an ancient kingdom. From the pericope above we can ascertain that Menangkabau would have been the oldest kingdom in Sumatra (Brown, 1952:25). The pericope above, does not, however, refer to Menangkabau, but to Palembang, as that part of Sumatra from which Singapura was founded. The tradition by no means asserts that Menangkabau was the primitive seat of Sumatra. However, on the contrary, the pericope affirms that Menangkabau received a ruler from Palembang and that ruler was crowned head of state in Menangkabau. Thus the pericope declares that Palembang is the greatest political seat of Sumatra to which all the Sumatran rulers came to pay their respects, while the Menangkabau kingdom is
some legends refers to Perpatih Nan Sebatang and Datuk Katumanggungan as the founders of Menangkabau (Marsden, 1811:332; Crawfurd, 1856:274). Other Indonesian sources refer to Seri Maharaja Diraja as the founder of the state Menangkabau (Batoeah Sango, 1955:19-20; Ahmad Batuah, 1963:14-16). According to Menangkabau legend, Seri Maharaja Diraja, was the son of Iskandar Dzul-Karnain, the youngest of the 99 children of Nabi Adam or Prophet Adam. Iskandar was transported to heaven by Gabriel and was commissioned there as the king of the whole earth to which he returned as Raja Alam or king of the world, the title of the supreme ruler of Menangkabau. This epithet is also applied to the Alam Menangkabau (universe or world of the Menangkabau people). After the death of Iskandar, the kingdom was said to be divided among his three sons, whom history does not know, but who became in the tradition of Menangkabau: Maharaja Depang who became king of the eastern kingdom, from whom sprang China; Raja Ali who went to north and became king of Rum (Turkey), and Seri Maharaja Diraja (the great kings of king) who became the first ruler of Menangkabau who reached Pulau Ameh or Pulau Percha (Andalas) and descended on Mount Merapi (Batoeah Sango, 1955:9-19). Significantly, the symbol three has great prominence in all traditions, eg. the three magi (wise men) in the Biblical tradition, the concept of Trimurthi in Hindu tradition, and the three princes who descended on Mount SiGuntang. 21 The ruler of the state of Menangkabau, who is stated by most Malay tradition to have come from Palembang, is called Sang Sapurba. The word Sang signifies king and Sapurba is composed of the article sa, one and purba, first or beginning (Crawfurd, 1856:253). According to William Maxwell, Sang is a title applied to Malay and Javanese Gods and heroes. Sang is also an ordinary title among the chiefs of the aboriginal tribes of the Peninsula. Sang Sapurba may therefore be translated as first chief (Braddell, 1936:53). Meanwhile, Wilkinson states that Sri is a higher honorific than Sang (Wilkinson, 1935:32). This helps to explain to us why Sri Tri Buana is accorded a higher status than Sang Sapurba in the Sejarah Melayu. 22 Tanjung Pura or Cape City is located in the north east of Sumatra: see Map 2.

demonstrated as the oldest kingdom in Sumatra as expressed by the pericope in the name of Sang Sapurba. The Forgotten Kingdom of Sumatra Little is known of the history of Menangkabau and the origins and rise of this kingdom has remained a mystery. In the present sub-title, the forgotten kingdom of Sumatra, my main intention is to argue that Menangkabau is indeed the oldest kingdom in Sumatra. The discussion below drawn together the scattered evidence of nineteenth century travellers accounts and contemporary sources. Most of the writings on Menangkabau, concentrate mainly on the study of the Menangkabau society, particularly the matrilineal system and their customs (Davis, 1995:274-275). According to William Marsden, with [Menangkabaus] annals, either ancient or modern, we are little acquainted, and the existence of any historical records in the country has generally been doubted. Marsden believed that in understanding the history of Menangkabau, scholars have been faced with little information, thus, were put at a disadvantage position in the study of this great Malay empire 23. (Marsden, 1811:332). Marsden did not realize that there is numerous information which can be obtained from the tambo and kaba24, the traditional historiography of Menangkabau. Apart from that, the archaelogical evidence which is provided by the inscriptions 25 of the 13th century is also considered to be of great importance for the reconstruction of the origins of Menangkabau (Mansoer, 1970:59). However, the question then arises as to why most European scholars have neglected the ancient history of Menangkabau, meanwhile Srivijaya (Palembang) in Sumatra has received such great attention from scholars. The earliest mention of Menangkabau is in the Javanese historical text called Desawarnana or Nagarakrtagama26. According to this text, Gajah Mada, the famous chief-minister of Majapahit, swore that he would not eat his favourite dish palapa until he had conquered ten countries, including Menangkabau (Minnatur, 1966:237-239). Meanwhile, travellers accounts of the 19th century claimed that Menangkabau was the original country of the Malays (Crawfurd, Vol:II 1820:370; Moor, 1837:102; Malcom,
The true Menangkabau population call their own country Alam Menangkabau, the Menangkabau world. The extent of the Menangkabau empire is described in the following saying :
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Salilit pulau percha The round isle of Sumatra Sa limbong tanah malayu and the stretch of the Malay lands Sa lengkong alam Menangkabau. are included in the expanse of the Menangkabau empire. (Parr & MacKray, 1910:100, Chadwick, 1994:85-86). 24 Tambo is generally translated as historical annals or sejarah babad (Batuah & Madjoindo, 1963:185). A kaba is a literary epic of traditional Menangkabau narrative telling the story and events of the kingdom (Umar Junus, 1985:184). According to Winstedt, the vitality of the many-detailed Menangkabau legend is so remarkable a feature in Malay folklore that it would seem it must have had some important historical basis (Winstedt, 1926:417). According to Mansoer, a critical study of these traditional kaba and tambo may confirm that Menangkabau once was the oldest kingdom in central Sumatra. 25 According to Miksic, there are more than 30 inscriptions during the period of Adityavarman 1347-1375, found in the Menangkabau highlands (Miksic, 1985:10). Some of the inscriptions are : (1) Kubu Radjo (1349), (2) Pagarruyung (1357), (3) Suroaso I (1357), (4) Bandar Bapahat and Suroaso II (Mansoer, 1970:6162). 26 In 1365, the Buddhist official Prapanca wrote a poem called Nagarakertagama or the Story of the Glorious Dynasty which informs us of the great Majapahit kingdom (Berg, 1965:105). The work is properly entitled Desawarnana [Description of the Country] (Robson, 1995). According to this text, Gajah Mada, the famous chief-minister of Majapahit, swore that he would not eat his favourite dish palapa until he had conquered ten countries, including Menangkabau (Minnatur, 1966:237-239). In the text of Nagarakertagama, it is spelt as Manangkabwa (Josselin, 1956:68).

1848:115; St. John, 1853:35-40; Bickmore, 1868:469). Marsden remarked on the reverence in which the Menangkabau royal family was held among costal Malays of Sumatra and also among the Batak population of the interior: They have a superstitious veneration for the Sultan of Menangkabau (Marsden, 1811:336-337; Joustra, 1923:44). Dutch records cited by Drakard also commented upon Batak reverence for the Menangkabau rulers, referring in detail to Batak legends which cite the Raja of Barus who paid tribute to the ruler of Menangkabau (Drakard, 1990:6). In addition to this, Moor stated that the sovereignty of Menangkabau was acknowledged over the whole of Sumatra, that the rulers influence extended to many of the neighbouring islands, and that the respect paid by all ranks to its princes amount by veneration (Moor, 1837:102). It seems Menangkabau at one time attained a greater amount of civilization and of power than in any other part of the Archipelago, and that the chiefs and rulers of the other Malay nations took pride in tracing their origin to it. Crawfurd, a British scholar and official in the early nineteenth century, stated that, Some of the states of the interior even call themselves men of Menangkabo, their chiefs receiving an investiture from that place. There is but one country eminently favourable to the development of an early civilization, in which we find the Malay nation planted - Menangkabo, so often referred to in Malay story (Crawfurd, 1856:251252). Most of the civilised Malays of the Peninsula claim their origin from Sumatra and also from Menangkabau the oldest kingdom of that island 27. The Malays of Borneo, in like manner with those of the Peninsula (Negeri Sembilan), claim their descent from Menangkabau (Moor,1837:102; Sweeney,1968:11; Josselin, 1975:279; Pehin,1990:3745)28. Most of the travellers accounts and nineteenth century scholars writings agree very well with native Malay tradition on the subject, which states that the origin of many of the Malays of the Peninsula are from the old central state of Menangkabau. The study undertaken by the twentieth century scholars also remarks that Menangkabau is the oldest kingdom. Christine Dobbin, considered Menangkabau the home of Malay civilization, from the seventh century A.D, this civilization having outstripped that of the other societies of Sumatra (Dobbin, 1983:7). The study of the ancient history of Menangkabau can be found mostly in the writings of Indonesian scholars, such as Sedjarah Minangkabau by M.D. Mansoer and Tambo Alam Minangkabau by Batoeah Sango, which illuminate the origins of Menangkabau kingdom from the beginning of first century A.D. However, some European scholars provide brief mention of facts, without attempting additional elucidation as to the origins of Menangkabau. These scholars claimed that the history of Menangkabau started after the fall of Srivijaya (Josselin, 1951; Schnitger, 1964; Wolters, 1967 & 1970; Graves, 1971). Josselin de Jong, for example, stated that fourteenth century as the starting point of the Menangkabau kingdom and that the older kingdom was Srivijaya (Josselin, 1951:7). The problem of the origin and history of the Menangkabau kingdom requires further treatment by historians and the examination of its history in future may offer us a solution.
In an article, Inas: A Study of Local History, Diane Lewis cited from the local tradition that mankind originated in Menangkabau and the first man and his wife descended from Gunung Merapi. Their children produced the earliest inhabitants of Menangkabau and their descendants later came to the Malay Peninsula to populate the country (Lewis, 1960:73). 28 According to oral traditions, the Brunei kings are said to be descended from the lineage of Raja Geroyong of Pagarruyung, Menangkabau (Pehin, 1990:37). Pagarruyung is said to be the political seat of the kings of Menangkabau. Pagar means fence and ruyung being the name of a species of aquatic grass, and the compound word literally meaning fence or inclosure made of this grass (Crawfurd, 1856:275).
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Meanwhile, to return to the Sejarah Melayu, the second brother of Sang Sapurba, Paludatani with the title of Sang Maniaka, was taken to rule the kingdom of Tanjung Pura. Historical studies of Sumatra and Malay ports have always tended to concentrate on major entrepot centres such as Srivijaya and Melaka. We know less about centres like Tanjung Pura 29, which is accorded a similar status to Menangkabau. The third prince Nilatanams right to rule was immediately acknowledged by Demang Lebar Daun; he remained in Palembang and was installed as the ruler of Palembang. Demang Lebar Daun then abdicated the throne and became Chief Minister. The mediator, Demang Lebar Daun, is possibly the model for the later office of Bendahara, which thereafter preserved by an alliance with the royal line through the original covenant between rulers and subjects. 3.1.3 The Chiri or Coronation Ceremony The third pericope reads: Now Wan Empok and Wan Malini had a cow, silvery white in colour. And one day by the will of God this cow spewed foam 30 from its mouth. From this foam came forth a human being called Bath 31, who stood up and said, Hail to his Highness, the Sri Maharaja, ruler of the whole Suvarna-bhumi 32, whose diadem is adorned with the happiness of strength and victory..adornment of three worlds..law..gone for protection...throne...sunrise of valour jewel...with gods and demons...to the time of the dissolution of the Universe, the coronal wreath of the righteous king, the king, the supreme lord. And Bath gave to the Raja the title of Sri Tri Buana 33. [It is from the descendants of Bath that the readers of the chiri34 in ancient times traced their origin]. And Sri Tri Buana became famous as a ruler; and all mankind, male and female, came from every part of the country to pay their homage to him, all of them bringing offerings for his acceptance. On all who came to present themselves before him Sri Tri Buana bestowed robes of honour, giving to all the men the title of Awang and to
Tanjung Pura or Cape town (city), pura in Sanskrit means city or negeri. Some scholars refer this kingdom to the Tanjung Pura in western Borneo or north-west of Kalimantan (Blagden, 1909:147; Miksic, 1985:20 ). The Javanese historical text, Desawarnana and the Pararaton mention a considerable number of places in the Eastern Archipelago with this name. The first text mentions the name of Tanjung Nagara and the second mentions Tanjung Puri. The name Tanjung Pura and / or Tanjung Puri also appears in the sixteenth century poem Ken Tambuhan (Teeuw, 1966: 3 & 109). Blagden is very certain that Tanjung Nagara and Tanjung Puri refers to Tanjung Pura in Borneo (Blagden, 1909:147). However, the text of the Sejarah Melayu most probably refers to Tanjung Pura in northeast Sumatra. See Map 2. 30 The cow in Hindu tradition is a prized domestic animal yielding nourshing and useful products for religious ceremony and daily use. The cow was developed into a sacred object of veneration and a symbol of Mother Earth. (Darmayasa, 1993:23). In contrast to the Hindu veneration for the cow, there is nothing in the Quran or Islamic tradition to suggest that cow is particularly sacred. The foam of the cow in this passage is seen as a sacred product which produced Bath to perform the ceremony of chiri. 31 Bath (variously read as Batala, Batara or Bat) is a Sanskrit term which means an act of bodily and spiritual purification and a ritual obligation for high caste Hindus (Ronkel, 1921:175-181; Walker, 1968:126). 32 Suvarna-bhumi or gold land is generally referred as Malayadvipa. Malayadvipa or Island of Malaya (island-continent) is identified as Sumatra (Braddell, 1956:6). According to Roland Braddell, Sumatra is the gold island of Malaya par excellence and its Malay name is Pulau Mas (Pulau Ameh) or gold-island. The mining of gold in Menangkabau is well attested in Sumatra. The Portugese noted in the sixteenth A.D. that Menangkabau was the best gold producing region in Sumatra (Braddell, 1956:17). 33 Sri Tri Buana. Sri is an honorific prefixed to names of gods and names of prominent persons. Tri is three and Buana (Bhuvana) is world. Sri Tri Buana signifies the the Lord of the Three Worlds, thereby calling to mind the Austronesian cosmological tradition of the Upper World, Middle World and Lower World (Werner, 1994:43 & 152). Sri Tri Buana, who is almost certainly fictitious, is said by the Sejarah Melayu to be the founder of Singapura. The name Sri Tri Buana can not be found in any other historical documents. According to Wolters, Iskandar Shah the fifth ruler of Singapura and the founder of Melaka is known as Parameswara in the Ming and Portugese records (Wolters, 1970:109). 34 Chiri is the coronation formula recited in Malay courts at the installation of rulers and chiefs.
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all the women the title of Dara. This was the origin of the institution of (?) The Corps of Noble Youths and The Company of Maids of Honour35 (Brown, 1952:25-26). This pericope demonstrates the establishment of the lineage of Malay royalty in Palembang by a sacred vision by associating the white cow and its froth, from which a human being called Bath emerged to perform the chiri. Chiri is a Sanskrit formula recited in Malay courts at the installation or anointing of rulers. This formula would have been handed down for generations by oral repitition (Maxwell,1882:287). Bath in Hindu tradition is regarded as an act of purification conducted by Brahmins for the rulers, not only as a hygienic necessity but also as a ritual obligation (Walker, 1968:126). In the Sejarah Melayu, Bath has been given the form of a human being and he conducts the act of purification by reading the sacred installation formula, chiri and bestowes on Nilatanam the title of Sri Tri Buana or Lord of the Three World. The pericopes main function is to proclaim the supernatural status of Sri Tri Buana, the divine Malay king who could only be purified by Bath, who appeared miraculously from the froth of a cow. By associating Sri Tri Buana with the mythical person like Bath, the pericope is strengthening the royal status and sovereignty of Sri Tri Buana. Significantly, the pericope is telling us the greatness of Sri Tri Buana being installed by Bath and the implication is that he is going to rule over the whole Suvarnabhumi or Sumatra and will become a famous ruler. 3.1.4 The Divine Covenant When Sri Tri Buana was established on the throne, he wished for a consort; and whenever there was to be found a beautiful daughter of a prince he took her to wife. But any such princes, when she slept with the king, was found by him the following morning to be stricken with chloasma 36 as the result of being possesed by him, whereupon he abandoned her. To no less than thirty-nine princesses had this happened. Now it came to the kings ears that Demang Lebar Daun had a daughter, Wan Sendari 37 by name, whose beauty was such that she had no equal in those days. Sri Tri Buana asked (?) Demang Lebar Daun for her hand in marriage; but Demang Lebar Daun replied, If your Majesty make a covenant with your humble servant, whereupon your humble servant will offer her for your Majestys acceptance. [It was Demang Lebar Daun who was the author of the expressions your Majesty and your humble servant] And Sri Tri Buana asked, What is this undertaking that you would have of me? Demang Lebar Daun answered, Your Highness, the descendants of your humble servant shall be the subjects of your Majestys throne, but they must be well treated by your descendants. If they offend, they shall not, however grave be their offence, be disgraced or reviled with evil words: if their offence is grave, let them be put to death, if that is in accordance with Muhammadan law38. And the
The term Corps of Noble Youths was established for personal attendance on the Ruler. Young boys were called as Awang (Perawangan) and young girls chosen as Maids of Honour for attendance on the Queen were called as Dara or Perdaraan (Brown, 1952:210). 36 Chloasma is a disfiguring skin disease. According to the Blakistons Gould Medical Dictionary, chloasma is a patchy hyperpigmentation located chiefly on the forehead, temples, cheeks, nipples and median line of the abdomen (Blakiston, 1979:261). However, Jordaan and Josselin stated that chloasma is a (venereal) skin disease (Jordaan and Josselin, 1985:253). 37 Wan Sendari (Sundari) or vanasundari means sylvan beauty (Minnatur, 1970:114). Sundari or Sendari is also described as the fairest being in the three spheres, heaven, earth and air which explains to why Wan Sendari was the only suitable partner for Sri Tri Buana (Stutley, 1977:304). 38 Islamic law here refers to Sharia, the revealed law of Islam, the sum of Gods commandments relating to human conduct. These commandments are contained in the Quran and the accounts (hadith) of the Prophets model behaviour (Embree, 1988:435).
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king replied, I agree to give the undertaking for which you ask: but I in my turn require an undertaking from you sir. And when Demang Lebar Daun asked what the undertaking was, the king answered, that your descendants shall never for rest of time be disloyal to my descendants, even if my descendants oppress them and behave evilly. And Demang Lebar Daun said, Very well, your Highness. But if your descendants depart from the terms of the pact, then so will mine. And Sri Tri Buana replied, Very well, I agree I agree to that covenant: whereupon both of them took a solemn oath to the effect that whoever departed from the terms of the pact, let his house be overturned by Almighty God so that its roof be laid on the ground and its pillars be inverted (Brown, 1952:26-27). After the new king Sri Tri Buana was established on the throne, he sought a royal consort from among the daughters of local nobles. However, the union between Sri Tri Buana and the thirty-nine princesses proved a failure, for each of the princess was infected with chloasma upon contact with his royal body. Finally, Sri Tri Buana asked for the hand of the daughter of his chief minister, Wan Sendari. Her father consented to the marriage on the condition that a pact be established between rulers and subjects. In this connexion, the pericope draws attention to a number of motives regarding the relation between the ruler and his realm which constantly recur in Indonesian political myths. One of these motives strikes one as rather strange, namely the association between Malay royalty and a certain type of illness. Sri Tri Buana was depicted as possessing a skin disease where the thirty nine princesses with whom he had sexual intercourse were afflicted. This leads to the question why a disgusting disease should be attributed in particular to a divine ruler like Sri Tri Buana. The explanation seems to be that Sri Tri Buana carries a dangerous sacred charge which has the power of making others ill through inappropriate contact. The effect of the sickness is of great significance to the relationship between the ruler and realm, as the words, as the result of being possessed by him makes it clear that Sri Tri Buana is held to be responsible for the sickness of his consorts and this in return disturbs the peace and happiness of the king and the subjects of his realm. This interpretation could allow us to explain the sacred charge of Sri Tri Buana as a political metaphor. The pericope introduces the relationship between Sri Tri Buana and Wan Sendari in order to symbolise the relationship of the ruler and his subjects as a marital union. The sacred charge of Sri Tri Buana has created a state of imperfection between the ruler and the subject. Jordaan and Josselin stated that it was not the illness which disturbed the relationship of the kings and his subjects, but that the disruption of the relationship was portrayed as illness. The myth is stating that the relationship between the new king and his subjects was not yet satisfactorily established. The ruler and his subjects need to make safe a dangerous relationship (Jordaan, 1985:253-255). The myth appears to suggest that the means by which the disturbed relationship can be restored to an order is by the political compact suggested by Demang Lebar Daun. It is significant that the pericopes foreshadows or prefigures the Bendaharas later role as bride-giver to the ruler. No less than six of the eight legitimate sultans of Melaka are stated to have married a daughter of their Bendahara (Jordaan, 1985:255)39. The relation of the Melaka Bendahara to the Sultan is modelled on the political and social union depicted in the pericope above.
See also John R. Bowen, Cultural Models for Historical Genealogies: the Case of the Melaka Sultanate, in K.S.Sandhu & P.Wheatley, Melaka:The Transformation Of A Malay Capital c. 1400-1980, 1983 :165167.
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The next motive of the pericope is the myth of royal power, which bestows on the dynasty the sacred power40 which each ruler needed in order to exercise his function as the focus of the social and political order. The pericope demonstrates the myth as the covenant made between the ruler and the subjects, and this myth remained as the foundation for the Malay concept of royal power. Before we look closely at this aspect of the covenant, we have to understand the idea of divine kingship. The idea of divine kingship practised by the Malays was originally from the Austronesian tradition. Later the Malays absorbed and adapted the idea of Hindu kingship. The transition from Hinduism to Islam41 failed to eradicate the idea of the divinity of kings. Instead of regarding kings as reincarnation of the deities, the Malay concept of daulat 42 or sovereignty, regarded kings as being divinely endowed with the power to rule over men. This is the concept which upholds the narrative line of the Sejarah Melayu. Demang Lebar Daun only bestows Wan Sendari in marriage after Sri Tri Buana promised, on his own and his successors behalf, one condition: your Majesty make a covenant with your humble servant, whereupon your humble servant will offer her for your Majestys acceptance. Only when this promise has been made is Demang Lebar Dauns daughter immune to the supernatural aspects of kingship. The Sitz im Leben of the above pericope is of great importance in the understanding the function of Malay kingship. The myths of daulat and derhaka are determined by the life-situation of the Palembang society in which the myths arose. The myths of daulat were used to enhance the sovereignty of the ruler and to strenghten his power. The Sejarah Melayu traditions portrays the king as the apex of political life. Throughout the text, the ruler was believed to be the focus of a supernatural power ensuring the prosperity of the state and its defence against internal disorder and foreign invasions. The people have to pay respect and be loyal to the ruler in order to affect positively the prosperity of state and society. The pericope then goes on to note the fact that it was Demang Lebar Daun who invented the expressions Yand DiPertuan or your Majesty and patek or your humble servant and set outs the rules governing the relationship of ruler and the ruled. Although already a sovereign, Sri Tri Buana enters into a covenant with Demang Lebar Daun who agreed to the following condition: Your Highness, the descendants of your humble servant shall be the subjects of your Majestys throne, but they must be well treated by your descendants. If they offend, they shall not, however grave be their
The magic power here can be referred to daulat. However, the term daulat is not used by the Author of the Sejarah Melayu. 41 According to Braginsky, the traditional Malay concept of literature is a single, integral and hierarchically arranged system. The term single is appropriate because in spite of the diversity of its components - archaic and genuienly Malay, Hindu-Buddhist and Islamic, the self-awareness of Malay literature during the classical period was Muslim. This compelled writers to reinterpret older works and create new ones that would be congrous with Muslim culture, or at least, not at variance with its spirit (Braginsky, 1993:38). Thus, the Author assimilates the physical elements of the foreign culture and not the spirit of the literature. 42 The kings royal birth and illustrious genealogy were part of the special qualities of royalty, expressed by Malays in the single word, daulat. Inadequately translated as sovereignty, it subsumes pre-Hindu, Hindu and Islamic concepts concerning the immutable power of the king, the sacredness of his person and the unseen forces which guarded him (Andaya, 1975:25). The possesion of the supernatural power or sakti associated with the gods, placed the ruler in a sacred realm far above the common people and thus worthy of his subjects veneration. The sakti of the prince from Palembang would have been perpetuated among his descendants, the rulers of Melaka, but would have been described by a term in accordance with Muslim belief. In the Muslim Malay court, this divine quality of kingship and the powers associated with this position were incorporated in the Arabic derived term, daulat. Parallel to this concept of daulat is another word to describe heinous crime towards the king, derhaka or treason.
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offence, be disgraced or reviled with evil words: if their offence is grave, let them be put to death, if that is in accordance with Muhammadan law(Brown, 1952:26). To this expressed condition, the king Sri Tri Buana, responded with his formal condition: that your descendants shall never for the rest of time be disloyal to my descendants, even if my descendants oppress them and behave evilly (Brown, 1952:26) Demang Lebar Daun agreed to the kings condition, in spite of its clear bias in favour of the members of royalty. After the marriage, Wan Sendari was not stricken with chloasma, signifying that the covenant has a strategic necessity in holding the kingdom together, as is later be illustrated at several points in the Sejarah Melayu, when the failure of one side to observe its promises leads to disaster for all. The pericope makes the claim that both parties took a solemn oath not to deviate from the pact: Very well, your Highness. But if your descendants depart from the terms of the pact, then so will mine...whoever departed from the terms of the pact, let his home be overturned by Almighty God so that its roof be laid on the ground and its pillars be inverted (Brown, 1952:26-27). This covenant can be likened to a formal statement of mutual rights and obligations between Sri Tri Buana, representing the monarchy, and Demang Lebar Daun, representing the people. Loyalty43 is a duty of the ruled. If the ruler violated the covenant, his kingdoms would be destroyed, not by man, but by God. The pericope demonstrates this covenant to the fact that no matter how unjust and cruel a ruler may be, the rulers subjects are forewarned to be loyal since only divine forces are able to punish the ruler. The rulers exalted and indispensable role in the society is reinforced by the attitude expressed by the pericope that a ruler is responsible solely to Almighty God44. A subject should not try to take the law of God into his own hands; if anyone disobeys the command of the king is found guilty of derhaka45 or treason, he will be struck by a curse (Andaya, 1975:22; Zalila, 1996:51). Although the king has the power to punish his subjects, the punishments must be in accordance with the Islamic law. The following gloss adds: And that it why it has been granted by Almighty God to Malay rulers that they shall never put their subjects to shame, and that those subjects however gravely they offend shall never be bound or hanged or disgraced with evil words. If any ruler puts a single one of his subjects to shame, that shall be a sign that his kingdom will be destroyed by Almighty God. Similiarly it has been granted by
The word loyal is an adaptation from the Hindu word bhakti or devotion and it suggests the devotion which Hindu espressed toward their teacher or guru, which has a God-like position in the eyes of his followers (Milner, 1981:50). In the same manner, the Malay rulers who was described as supernatural being receives loyalty from his subjects. 44 To further emphasize the religious element, the theory that the ruler was Gods shadow on earth (an Abbasid dynasty title) was put forward to show the source of authority and power of the King. Since Islam has played an important role in Malay society, the association of a rulers authority with Islam carries considerable weight. In the Sejarah Melayu, when Bendahara Paduka Raja was about to die, he told his family, the Raja is, as it were the Deputy of God. The essence of the Bendaharas message was that the king was Gods shadow on earth and this places him above his society, beyond reproach and criticism (Brown, 1952:118). In Winstedts edition, Almighty God is called Allah (Winstedt, 1938). 45 Derhaka, a word found repeatedly in Srivijayan inscriptions and meaning treason, was adopted from Sanskrit to denote a heinous crime against the ruler (Andaya, 1982:26).
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Almighty God to Malay subjects that they shall never be disloyal or treacherous to their rulers, even if their rulers behave evilly or inflict injustice upon them (Brown, 1952:27). The gloss above highlights the interdependency between the ruler and the ruled. In order to affect positively the prosperity of state and society, the people have to pay respect and be loyal. Thus, while the rulers role and place appears paramount, being the symbol of the state and its well-being as well as its ultimate earthly arbiter and guarantor of harmony and welfare, the ruler is not absolved from showing consideration for the views and reputations of those who serve him. In fact government can only work properly if the two respect each others role in the order of things and both act only in agreement with and reference to each other. According to Kratz, in Malay political theory no matter how important a ruler may be, he is nothing without a people, and that in Malay historiography it is the people and their traditional leader who choose their ruler, and who decide freely to whom they want to offer their total obedience (Kratz, 1993:77). In the Sejarah Melayu, it is the representative of the people, Demang Lebar Daun, and his successors as Bendahara place themselves in a subservient position and initiate the most fundamental customs and traditions of the Malay realm. 3.1.5 Ceremonies of the Malay Court When the covenant had been made and strict promises mutually given, Princess Wan Sendari was offered by Demang Lebar Daun to Sri Tri Buana, and Sri Tri Buana was wedded to the princess, daughter of Demang Lebar Daun. And when night had fallen, the king slept with the princess: and when day dawned he saw that she was not stricken with chloasma. And the king was overjoyed and ordered Demang Lebar Daun to be informed. And Demang Lebar Daun came forthwith, and he too was overjoyed to see that his daughter was unscathed and that no harm had befallen her. Demang Lebar Daun then made preparations for the ceremonial lustration of Sri Tri Buana, and he ordered a seventiered bathing pavilion to be built with five spires. The construction was of the finest quality and it was Baths workmanship. When it was finished, Demang Lebar Daun initiated the festivities that were to be celebrated day and night for forty days and forty nights, with feasting, drinking and entertainment of every kind, in which participated princes, ministers, courtiers, heralds, war-chiefs and all the people, to the accompaniment of music that rolled like thunder. Many were the buffaloes, oxen and sheep that were slaughtered: the rice-refuse from the cooking pots was piled mountain-high and the boiling water was like a sea in which the heads of slaughtered buffaloes and oxen were so many islands. When the forty days and forty nights were accomplished, the ceremonial water was borne in procession to the accompaniment of every sort of music, and the vessels containing the water were all of them of gold studded with jewels. The Sri Tri Buana with his bride, Princess Wan Sendari, were borne in procession seven times round the pavilion, and they were then lustrated on the central platform, the ceremony being performed by Bath. When the lustration was accomplished, Sri Tri Buana took off his towel wrap and donned his apparel, his sarong being of darapata darmani, while Wan Sendari also donned a sarong of burudimani46: and both were invested with the complete insignia of sovereignty, whereupon they took their seats in the appointed place on the golden dais. The ceremonial rice was then borne in procession to the dais, and the king and his bride partook thereof. And when they had eaten, the royal head ornaments were brought in procession and placed by Bath on the kings head and his brides. Thereupon
According to C.C.Brown, the darapata darmani and sarong of burudimani may represent the Telugu darapata, a garment like a dhoti for men, made of silk and probably bejewelled. Darmani is derived possibly from derma, a person who is virtuous. Burudai is a females garment or sari and burudai-mani would mean a jewelled burudai (Brown, 1952:210).
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Sri Tri Buana proceeded to give robes of honour to his chiefs: after which Sri Tri Buana went into the palace and all who had been present at the ceremony returned to their homes (Brown, 1952:27-28). The first three sentences in the gloss indicate that the chief minister, Demang Lebar Daun was overjoyed with the covenant and made preparation for the ceremonial lustration and consecration of both the queen and king. The Author explains how, shortly before he left Palembang, Sri Tri Buana bound his Malay followers to himself by giving robes of honour for loyal service and performed awe-inspiring rites. The ceremony47 is preceded by a lustration which was carried out by Bath, who read a sacred installation formula (Brown, 1952:29). The gloss is particularly significant because of the court ceremonials which have a purpose to emphasize and persevere the kings greatness. The institution and preservation of the court ceremonies or adat istiadat diraja is a special concern of the Author. According to Koster and Maier, the power of the Malay text can be regarded as providing models for imitation and can also be read as reflections of Malay reality. The function of such ceremonies performed during audiences in the rulers hall was for the Malay ruler to strengthen and maintain the confirmation of loyalty from his subjects (Koster & Maier, 1985:441-443). The climax of the ceremony occurs when Sri Tri Buana and his bride sit on the cushioned lion-throne of gold, and the ornaments are placed on the heads of the king and queen. Then the king rewards his chiefs with robes of honour. The intention of the Author is not only to provide a social model for future rulers but to emphasise ceremony as a means of strengthening unity and loyalty towards the king. Wealth and prestige conferred during the ceremonies, would have enabled the ruler to maintain his power in the Malay world by granting favours or anugraha48 (Wolters, 1970:19). According to Wolters, the kings wealth would have been shared among the Malay notables in the form of salaries and other financial privileges. But material benefits were probably not the most prized rewards. Status and special marks of royal favour would have been sufficient reason for the court nobles living in Palembang, where codes of precedence were formulated and refined, providing standards of courtly behaviour. This lifestyle requires a princely patron of great wealth, whose court nourished the pomp and ceremony which have remained the pride of the Malay race. Thus the status of Palembang (Srivijaya) depended in no small measure on Malay acknowledgement of its role in promoting general prosperity (Wolters, 1970:17). Only a sovereigns robes of honour, titles, and gifts were worth expecting in return for promises of loyalty. Furthermore, Sri Tri Buana needed the support of the chiefs and his subjects as he is about to move from Palembang. 3.1.6 From Palembang to Singapura After Sri Tri Buana had been living for some time at Palembang he planned to visit the coast and he sent for Demang Lebar Daun, who came forthwith. And Sri Tri Buana said to him, I am thinking of going to the coast to find a suitable site for a city. What say you? And Demang Lebar Daun replied, As your Highness pleases. If your Majesty goes, I will accompany you, for I must not be parted from your Highness. Then said Sri Tri Buana,
The ceremony itself has been examined in detail by Wolters who sees it as a Buddhist abhiseka or lustration rite, and the king a claimant to bodhisattva or divine status as an incarnation of Avalokitesvara [the lord of the world] (Wolters, 1970:128-135). 48 Anugraha is a Sanskrit term meaning granting favours and is a traditional instrument of government in the Malay kingdom as in other Southeast Asian countries to obtain the loyalty of their subjects (Wolters, 1970:17).
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Please then have ships made ready. And Demang Lebar Daun did obeisance and left the palace to call men to prepare the craft. When this was done, Demang Lebar Daun arranged for his younger brother to remain at Palembang in his abscence, saying, I am leaving you here in charge of the city as I am going with his Majesty, accompanying him wherever he may go.And his brother replied, Very well: no wish of yours will I disobey (Brown, 1952:28). In the first two sentences we are informed by the pericope that after ruling Palembang for a short while Sri Tri Buana wants to visit the coast and find a suitable site for a new city49. Demang Lebar Daun, his loyal minister obeys the kings wish and organizes a fleet to carry him. Demang Lebar Daun then arranges for his younger brother to remain at Palembang in his absence. The question arises as to why the king wishes to leave the kingdom of Palembang, a city which the Author has just described as the greatest in Sumatra, and so soon after the completion of an awe-inspiring ceremony of installation. There is no explanation given for the move from Palembang, which suggests to us that the pericope was simply concerned to provide genealogical support for the Melaka rulers claim to overlordship of the Malay world. The decline of the Srivijayan (Palembang) empire in the eleventh century and its destruction by the Cola king in 1025, the transfer of the capital from Palembang to Jambi around 1082, and the Javanese attack in 1377 would have been embarrasing episodes for the Author (Wolters, 1970:90-92; Ricklefs, 1993:19). The pericope deals with this dilemma by having Sri Tri Buana leave Palembang voluntarily to found a new city. The coast which Sri Tri Buana proposes to visit may have had some special significance. The coast here most possibly signify the people who inhabited the islands at or near the southern entrance to the Straits of Melaka, the sea people or orang laut50 who played a decisive role in the politics of Srivijaya. Without the orang laut, it would have been extremely difficult for Sri Tri Buana to leave his kingdom. The orang laut were a major asset for the Malay rulers in providing naval power. The Malay rulers commanded the loyalty of this orang laut by their sovereignty and wealth. According to Wolters, the rulers of Palembang and certain orang laut chiefs and their descendants underwent a formal ritual called an abhiseka ceremony, which suggets that a possible source of the devotion of the orang laut to their ruler was their belief in the special powers acquired by their ruler in this ceremony (Wolters, 1970:17). Therefore the pericope points out to us the urgent need of the king to get help from the orang laut to flee from Palembang. We must not forget that the main theme of the Sejarah Melayu is the sovereignty of Iskandar Dzul-Karnains descendants, and the text is concerned to demonstrate the legitimacy of that sovereignty. Thus, according to
As the youngest brother, Sri Tri Buana is depicted by the tradition of the Sejarah Melayu as searching for a new land. The myth of a youngest brother leaving home to found a new settlement is widespread in the Malayo-Polynesian world. The Malayo-Polynesian myth states that the younger brother leaves his home island to sail over the horion in search of a new land where his line can be established as the prestigious (Kirch, 1997:65). 50 According to Sopher, the term orang laut is applied to the Malay population on the islets northeast of Lingga not because of their origin but to distinguish them from those on the mainland. The orang laut inhabit the islands and estuaries in the Riau-Lingga Archipelagos, the Pulau Tujuh islands, the Batam Archipelago and the coasts and offshore islands of eastern Sumatra and southern Malay Peninsula (Sopher, 1977:51). Because of their intense loyalty to the rulers of the Srivijayan dynasty, they were an effective military force for Srivijaya. The duties of the orang laut were to gather sea products for the China trade, perform certain special services for the ruler at weddings and funerals, or hunt, serve as transport for envoys and royal missives, man the ships and serve as a fighting force on the rulers fleet, and patrol the waters of the kingdom (Miksic, 1985:12; Andaya, 1975:7; Chou, 1995:175-177).
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the above pericope, when Sri Tri Buana leaves Palembang to visit the coast, he does not leave in flight. Another interesting point to note is the close relationship between the ruler and the chief minister, Demang Lebar Daun. This is illustrated when the pericope tell us that Demang Lebar Daun does not part from his masters side. Demang Lebar Daun calls men to prepare the craft and then arranges for his younger brother to be left behind to rule Palembang. The brother replies to the instructions: Very well: no wish of yours will I disobey. This detail makes it clear that the pericope portrays Sri Tri Buana as overlord in Palembang as well as in the islands. Despite, the decision of Sri Tri Buana to leave Palembang willingly not long after his appearance, his successors in Singapura nevertheless retain their right to rule in both Palembang as well as Singapura. The chief minister is shown as the more active character as he is the chief executive agent of the ruler, and the ruler refers to him for guidance on his visit to the coast. However, the chief mininster, Demang Lebar Daun cannot function without the consent and approval of the ruler in whose name only he may act (Kratz, 1993:78-79). And finally Sri Tri Buana embarked his journey to visit the coast: Sri Tri Buana then set forth, he in the royal (golden) yacht for the menfolk and the queen in the silver yacht, while Demang Lebar Daun, the ministers and the war-chiefs had each their own craft. So vast was the fleet that there seemed to be no counting it; the masts of the ships were like a forest of trees, their pennons and streamers were like driving clouds and the state umbrellas of the Rajas like cirrus. So many were the craft that accompanied Sri Tri Buana that the sea seemed to be nothing but ships. After leaving Kuala Palembang they crossed over the Selat Sepat, and from there they sailed on to Selat Sambar. Meanwhile the news had come to Bentan after they had sailed from Palembang, that a Raja from Bukit Si-Guntang, who is descended from Raja Iskandar Dzul-Karnain, is on his way here and is now at Selat Sambar (Brown, 1952:28). The Author explains that the stately journey51 to the coast was undertaken to establish a city. The magnitude of the occasion is emphasized: The sea seemed to be nothing but ships. The ruler and his followers are described as passing from Kuala Palembang to Selat Sepat and then to Selat Sambar. The Author is preparing the stage to make sure that the arrival of Sri Tri Buana does not appear as a flight but as a royal arrival to Bentan (Bintan). Furthermore his arrival was anticipated by the queen of Bentan who sends two ministers to invite him to Bentan. The pericope introduces us to one of the significant islands in the Malay political world, the island of Bentan: Now Bentan 52 was ruled by a woman, called Wan Seri Benian 53, though according to one tradition her name was Queen Sakidar Shah . She was a great Raja, and at that time it was
The stately journey undertaken by Sri Tri Buana is illustrated in Map 3. From Kuala Palembang, Sri Tri Buana crossed over the Selat Sepat and then sailed from Tanjong Rungas (unidentified) to Selat Sambar and then proceeded to Bentan. From Bentan, he sailed to Tanjong Bemian (unidentified) and from that point to Temasek (Singapura), where he reached Telok Blanga. He then moved on to Kuala Temasek, which John Miksic identifies as the Esplanade.
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The island of Bentan (Bintan) in the Sejarah Melayu takes its name from the highest hill of the island and the river of the same name. Bentan is the largest of the crowd of islands lying in the Riau Archipelago between the Peninsula and Sumatra at the east of the Straits of Melaka. It is located about 30 miles southeast of Singapura and forms part of the Republic of Indonesia. It was a place of refuge for the last king of Melaka, Sultan Mahmud, who was driven out of Melaka by the Portugese (Crawfurd, 1856:53).
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she who visited Sham54. It was Queen Sakidar Shah who first institute the drum of sovereignty55, which practice was followed by other Rajas. When she heard the news of the coming of Sri Tri Buana, she commanded her ministers, Indra Bopal and Aria Bopal to bring him to Bentan. [At that time the fleet of Bentan was four hundred sail]. And Wan Seri Benian said to Indra Bopal, If this Raja is old, say to him, Your younger sister sends her obeisance, but if he is young, say Your mother sends her greetings.So Indera Bopal and Aria Bopal set out, and the ships of the party sent to bring Sri Tri Buana to Bentan were strung out in one unbroken line from Tanjong Rungas to Selat Sambar. And when they came up with Sri Tri Buana, Indra Bopal and Aria Bopal perceived that he was very young, and they said to him, Your mother sends greetings and invites your Highness to Bentan. So Sri Tri Buana proceeded to Bentan and went into the palace to Wan Seri Benian as she was called. Now the purpose of Wan Seri Benian had been to marry Sri Tri Buana, but when she saw how young he was she adopted him instead as her son and shewed such affection for him that she had him installed at Bentan as her successor, to the beat of the drum of sovereignty (Brown, 1952:28-29). The pericope describes the Bentan queen as a great ruler and the first to institute the drum of sovereignty or nobat diraja. Sri Tri Buana is no ordinary ruler; therefore, his arrival must be greeted by a great ruler. The Queen sends two of her ministers to greet Sri Tri Buana to Bentan with the following instructions: Your younger sister sends her obeisance if the king is old, and if young, to say: Your mother sends her greetings. The ministers see that he is still young and invite him by saying, Your mother sends greetings and invites your Highness to Bentan. The pericope highlights that although the prince ruled for a while in Palembang, he would have been still young when he led the evacuation to Bentan. The princes high status is further emphasized, however, by the decision of the queen of Bentan to adopt him as her son and install him as her successor to the beat of the drum of sovereignty. The nobat diraja, were an important part of installing a ruler, and were also used as a means of heralding important announcements. His reception was assured because he was known to be descended from Iskandar Dzul-Karnain. Bentan is not a mythical kingdom for it was located in the heartland of orang laut in the Riau archipelago. Because its importance depended not only on its sea power, but also

Wan Seri Benian is also known as Queen Sakidar Shah. According to C.H.Wake, the name Sakidar is adapted from the regnal style of Iskandar. In relation to this name he states that the name Iskandar had a strong appeal to rulers who wished to root their claims to legitimacy in Muslim mythology for it expressed a claim to descent from Iskandar Dzul-Karnain. The Authors claim is explicit in the genealogy of the Melaka kings in the Sejarah Melayu, which includes the name Sakidar Shah, the Queen of Bentan and asserts the Palembang lines descent from Iskandar (Wake, 1983:143). 54 Josselin de Jong in his article Malayan and Sumatran Place-Names In Classical Malay Literature divides the place names occuring in the text in four groups: i. doubtful readings ii. unidentifiable iii. location doubtful or inferred from context iv. location more certain or completely certain. Sham falls in the second division as unidentifiable (Josselin de Jong, 1956:63). However, Josselin did not mention Sham at all in his article. However, Sham appears to be a near-synonym for Siam. Schnitger observes that, in many Jambi legends, wars with Siam are mentioned, and a Malay inscription on the Malay Peninsula contains the name of a Sumatran official identitical with a name appearing in Jambi legends in connection with his visit to Siam (Schnitger, 1964:21). Most probably, Sham should be equated with Siam. 55 Nobat or Naubat is a big drum used for the ceremony of installing new rulers and for announcing a royal feast. It also means a very large kettle drum struck at stated hours or a musical band playing at stated times in front of the palace of the King or prince. According to Seljuq, the nobat originated from the ancient Iranian monarchy and afterwards in the courts of the Muslim rulers in Syria, Turkey, Egypt, India, and the royal courts in the Malayan Archipelago. According to historical evidence, the ancient Iranian Court developed this form of music (Seljuq, 1976:141).
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the services performed by the orang laut. Sri Tri Buanas visit suggests an attempt to increase his forces as the first step in his plan is to establish a new capital. Bentan in the Sejarah Melayu was portrayed as the great institution of Malay loyalty to the Palembang ruler56. The pericope gives a vivid description of the resources which an ambitious Malay leader could exploit in order to establish overlordship in the seas south of the Straits of Melaka. According to Wolters, Bentan plays a prominent role in the career of Sri Tri Buana. Bentan is credited with possessing or commanding four hundred ships, the largest compliment mentioned in the text. These would have been a welcome addition to Sri Tri Buanas passionate desire to found a city (Wolters, 1970:77) which is demonstrated in the following pericope: After he had been there for a time, Sri Tri Buana one day sought permission to make an expedition to Tanjong Bemian 57 for sport, and the queen replied, Why go so far afield for your sport, my son? In Bentan are there not deer and mouse-deer with enclosures into which to drive them? Are there not barking- deer and porcupines with cages in which to capture them? Are there not fish in our pools and every sort of fruit and flower in our gardens? Why is it that you want to go so far afield for your sport? And Sri Tri Buana answered, If I am not permitted to go, then I shall die, whether I sit down or stand up or what ever I do. Whereupon Wan Seri Benian said, Rather than you should die, go, my son. And the queen ordered Indra Bopal and Aria Bopal to have craft made ready. And when that was done, Sri Tri Buana set out with his consort. And the whole fleet- royal yachts, ships for sleeping, ships for the menfolk, wherries that were paddled, kitchen boats, dug-outs for fishing with the casting-net and floating bathhouses- (put out to the sea), with a countless host of escorting vessels. And when they were come to Tanjong Bemian , the king went ashore for a picnic on the sand, and his consort accompanied by the wives of the chiefs went ashore also to picnic on the sand and enjoy herself collecting shellfish. And she sat under a screwpine, with the wives of the chiefs in attendance upon her, happily watched her handmaids amusing themselves, each one in her own way, some gathering shellfish, some digging up barai, some picking mangrove flowers and making nosegays, some picking teruntum to wear in their hair, some picking bananas and cooking them, some picking butun leaves, some picking sponges and playing with them, some getting sea-worms and making salad with them, some getting sea-weed for jelly and salad- all of them disporting themselves to their hearts content, each in her own fashion (Brown, 1952:29-30). Sri Tri Buana now decides to make an expedition for sport, and asks permission from his mother, queen of Bentan. Sri Tri Buana desperately wants to go and his impatience can be seen from his statement: If I am not permitted to go, then I shall die, whether I sit down or stand up or whatever I do. Sri Tri Buanas contumacious attitude finally receives approval from the queen: Rather than you should die, go, my son. This pericope illustrates the loyalty and support of the rulers of Bentan, who cannot refuse any wish of Sri Tri Buana, and by implication the later rulers of Melaka. The queen, who shows such affection for the prince, does not only acknowledge his wish, but also provides him craft and service of the orang laut. To make the journey
The Malay overlords who commanded the loyalty of the chiefs in the offshore islands enjoyed great naval power. In the fifteenth century Bentan, was an important part of the Melaka empire and the services the inhabitants performed were significant. Tom Pires, an early sixteenth century observer, states that the Celates, men of the Straits, made Bentan (Bimtam) their headquarters and served as rovers in the kings navy, being brought to Melaka by the chief of Bentan (Cortesao, 1944:264). 57 According to C.C.Brown, the word to Tanjong Bemian or ka Tanjong Bemian may be an error for ka Tanjong bermain or to play at the Tanjong as the conversation took place in Bentan (Brown, 1952:211).
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possible, the nautical skills of the orang laut are of great importance (Wolters, 1970:15). According to Andaya, the orang laut were intimately acquainted with the treacherous shoals and sandbars, and understood local wind conditions. They provided excellent paddling skills and a formidable fighting force (Andaya, 1975a:7). This made them the choice as crews for Sri Tri Buanas voyage to Singapura. With the assistance provided by the queen of Bentan, Sri Tri Buana finally reached Tanjong Bemian, where all the members of the palace were described as enjoying themselves, each in their own fashion. The dominating function of the early pericopes of the third chapter of Sejarah Melayu is to demonstrate the uninterrupted sovereignty enjoyed by the Palembang royal family since it left Palembang. The Authors treatment of the period prior to Singapuras establishment perhaps aims to conceal any memory of the collapse of the Palembang based kingdom of Srivijaya in the eleventh century. The following pericope illustrates the voyage of the uninterrupted sovereignty of the Palembang royal family: Now Sri Tri Buana and all the men went hunting and great was the quantity of game that fell to them. And it happened that a deer passed in front of Sri Tri Buana and though he speared it in the back, the deer escaped. Sri Tri Buana followed it up and again speared it, this time through the ribs: and the deer could not escape and fell dead. And Sri Tri Buana came to a very large, high rock. He climbed on to the top of this rock and looking across the water he saw that the land on the other side had sand so white that it looked like a sheet of (?) cloth. And he asked Indra Bopal, What is the stretch of sand that we see yonder? What land is that? And Indra Bopal answered, That, your Highness, is the land called Temasek58. And Sri Tri Buana said, Let us go thither. And Indra Bopal replied, I will do whatever your Highness commands. So Sri Tri Buana embarked and started on the crossing. And when they were come out into the open sea, a storm arose and the ship began to fill with water. Bale as they might they could not clear her and the boatswain gave order to lighten the ship. But though much was thrown overboard, they still could not bale the ship dry. She was now by close to Telok Blanga, and the boatswain said to Sri Tri Buana, It seems to me, your Highness, that it is because of the crown of kingship that the ship is foundering. All else has been thrown overboard, and if we do not likewise with this crown we shall be helpless with the ship. And Sri Tri Buana replied, Overboard with it then! And the crown was thrown overboard (Brown, 1952:30). The first few sentences of the pericope give us a picture of Sri Tri Buanas as an energetic and adventurous person. During the hunt he comes across a large high rock. When he climbes on to the top of the rock, he sees a land called Temasek. He decides to proceed immediately to its beautiful sandy shore. The next adventure of Sri Tri Buana is even more dramatically presented by the pericope. When Sri Tri Buana is halfway across, a storm suddenly arises and the ship begins to sink. Everything is thrown overboard to lighten the ship, but it continues to drift helplessly towards Teluk Blanga, opposite the island of Blakang Mati, Singapura. The boatswain suggest that if Sri Tri Buana would throw his crown overboard, they might save themselves. He does so, and immediately the weather becomes calm. According to Miksic, the theme of the lost crown is a recurrent motif in Indonesian literature (Miksic, 1985:20).
Temasek is a Malay word perhaps derived from tasik, lake or sea and here it may signify place surrounded by the sea or Sea-town. The name Temasik is found in the Desawarnana of 1365 as Tumasik [Old Javanese] (Miksic, 1985:16) and by 1462 Singapur appears in Ibn Majids navigational tract. In the Sejarah Melayu, Sri Tri Buana changed the name of Temasek to Singapura which means Lion-city (Brown, 1952:31). Singapura island is located off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula and it is the site of the Republic of Singapura (Embree, 1988:251).
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How must we interpret this myth? Is it a sign of misfortune or blessing in the case of Sri Tri Buana, who has thrown his most important insignia, the crown or mahkota59 into the sea? The tradition states that his diadem is a proof that he is descended from Iskandar Dzul-Karnain, and it would be surprising if a king were prepared to abandon his crown by throwing it into the sea, as Sri Tri Buana did. Nothing is comparable to this mark of sovereignty. When Wan Empok and Wan Malini asked for the proof of the lineage of the three princes, the princes first reaction was to point to their crowns, These crowns that we wear are the sign that we are of the stock of Raja Iskandar DzulKarnain (Brown, 1952:25). In my opinion, we should compare the suprising attitude of Sri Tri Buana to the memory of Srivijaya-Palembangs decline. The subjection of Palembang by Majapahit was a sad end to Palembangs greatness. Therefore, judging from the historical outcome, the pericope suggests that we have to take the former dynastys position into consideration of why Sri Tri Buana threw away his crown. The crown is from Palembang, which by the late fourteenth century had ceased to be a glorious kingdom, and the throwing of the crown is actually symbolizing the consciousness of Sri Tri Buana of the unfortunate downfall of Srivijaya. At the same time, the glorious history of Singapura, already visited by Raja Chulan his father, becomes a substitute to maintain the honour of the royal ancestors of Palembang. Another interesting point to note is that Raja Chulan, the father of the three princes who descended on Bukit SiGuntang, while he was at Temasek instructed the chamberlain to split a rock and fill it with all precious jewels. He said, There shall come a day when a prince of my line who shall make all lands below the wind subject to him (Brown, 1952:23). The words makes it clear that Sri Tri Buana is held to be the prince who will become the famous ruler of the new kingdom established in Temasek. The intent of this prophecy was to show that the lands below the wind would recognize no sovereign other than a member of the illustrious Palembang family, despite the fact that Sri Tri Buana has lost his crown. Thereupon the storm abated, and the ship regained her buoyancy and was rowed to land. And when they reached the shore, the ship was brought close in and Sri Tri Buana went ashore with all the ships company and they amused themselves with collecting shell-fish. The king then went inland for sport on the open ground at Kuala Temasek. And they all beheld a strange animal. It seemed to move with great speed; it had a red body and a black head; its breast was white; it was strong and active in build, and in size was rather bigger
Mahkota, Malay for crown, is from a Sanskrit word mukuta. According to Wheatley, the king Sri Tri Buana lost his crown in Keppel Harbour (Telok Blanga) opposite the island Blakang Mati. The Sejarah Melayu, however, states that the crown was thrown somewhere in Telok Blanga. In Wang Ta-yuans tale of the jewelled head-dress (crown), he noted that the chief (king) put on his head-gear and wore his ceremonial dress to receive the congratulations of the people (Wheatley, 1966:82-83). The Chinese record cited by Firth and Rockhill mentions that the king of Palembang had a high cap (hat) of gold, set with hundreds of jewel and very heavy. At great court ceremonies no one but the king was able to wear it. When the throne become vacant all the kings sons were assembled, and the king who was able to wear the crowns weight succeeded to the throne (Firth & Rockhill, 1911:61). In the consecration ceremony of Sri Tri Buana at Palembang, the solemnity of the ceremony is enhanced by Bath placing royal ornaments on the heads of the king and queen. The crown has a divine power and is an attribute of the ruler in which no one can share. This indicates that the royal regalia is of utmost importance to maintain the honor and glory of royalty. Furthermore, in Malay states, the installation of a ruler was not complete (sempurna) unless the state regalia (kebesaran) were available at his coronation. Sultan Sulaiman (1722-1760) declined to be installed until the Bugis had recovered the regalia. Sultan Abdul Rahman had to be re-installed when the Dutch obtained for him the regalia in 1822. The royal regalia were a possession which according to the constitution (adat istiadat negeri) the ruler could not part with (Braddell, 1936:65).
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than a he-goat. When it saw the party, it moved away and then disappeared. And Sri Tri Buana inquired of all those who were with him, What beast is that? But no one knew. Then said Demang Lebar Daun, Your Highness, I have heard it said that in ancient times it was a lion60 that had that appearance. I think that what we saw must have been a lion. And Sri Tri Buana said to Indra Bopal,Go back to Bentan and tell the queen that now we shall not be returning, but that is she wishes to shew her affection for us, will she furnish us with men, elephants and horses, as we propose to establish a city here at Temasek. And Indra Bopal set forth to return to Bentan: and when he arrived there, he presented himself before Wan Seri Benian to whom he related what Sri Tri Buana had said. Very well, said Wan Seri Benian, we will never oppose any wish of our son. And she sent men, elephants and horses without number. Sri Tri Buana then established a city at Temasek, giving it the name of Singapura (Brown, 1952:30-31). The pericope is stating that Sri Tri Buanas long journey (See Map 3) has finally landed him at Temasek. After landing at Temasek, Sri Tri Buana goes inland to the open ground in Kuala Temasek , to hunt. Then follows the incident which is said to give Singapura its name of Lion City. There the party saw a strange animal which they could not identify before it disappeared. Upon inquiry of Sri Tri Buana as to what was the strange animal, Demang Lebar Daun explained that he had heard in ancient times lions were said to have such appearance and concluded that they must have seen a lion. The pericope does not provide an explaination for the response of Sri Tri Buana to the answer of Demang Lebar Daun, nor does it indicate what led him to decide to establish the city of Singapura. Although Sri Tri Buana was looking for a suitable site to establish a city the pericope demonstrates the landing in Temasek as a rather casual affair. The pericope merely states that a hunting expedition gave Sri Tri Buana his first glimpse of the island, and that after he landed he decided to stay. The Sejarah Melayu is the only text which claims that Singapura was founded by Sri Tri Buana, but there is no supporting evidence from other historical records to verify this. Singapura is the northernmost island in the Riau archipelago, which was the home of the orang laut and the most likely region to become the base for a Malay prince anxious to build up his resources. In order to obtain the necessary resources to establish his new capital in Temasek, Sri Tri Buana asked the queen of Bentan to send him men and animals. The queen demonstrates her loyalty by replying: We will never oppose any wish of our son. Sri Tri Buanas sovereignty is recognized by the queen of Bentan on many occasions. Apart from installing him as her successor in Bentan, the queen also provides material support for the establishment of his new kingdom Temasek, renamed Singapura by Sri Tri Buana. The pericope persuades the readers to accept his supernatural status and helps posterity to realize him fully as the ruler who has established the great city, Singapura. The pericope continues to present the uninterrupted sovereignty of the Palembang royal family in Temasek. The pericope demonstrates how the kings, beginning from Sri
The lion or singa (simha in Sanskrit) to the Malays is a symbol of power, energy, courage and dignity. The lion and its strength were identified with sovereignty and given the title of lord, chief and hero. Thus a kings throne is called singahsana or simhasana, as are those of the Buddha and Vishnu. The lion is the emblem of Mahavira, the 24th Prophet of Jain faith and is an epithet of Ali, one of the first four Caliphs of Islam (Stutley, 1977:276; Brittlebank, 1995:259). Many local rulers of the Archipelago adopted singa as their name, eg., the chief of Batak, Singa Maharaja (Braddell, 1956:18). Cities in Southeast Asia were also designated Lion city, eg., Singaraja in Bali and Singhasari in Java (Wheatley, 1966:304). The lion was chosen in the text on account of its power and courage. It is a belief that Malays consider tiger as an unlucky name for a city and it is a discourtesy to use the name of tiger for a city. Thus, the new city, Singapura, is named after a lion (Braddell, 1980:504).
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Tri Buana, lived in Singapura and not in Palembang. The transfer of sovereignty is the underlying theme in this chapter, and the pericope overcomes the damaged reputation of Srivijaya by providing a new political seat for Sri Tri Buana to rule. Therefore, the pericope makes the claim that the Melaka rulers are descended from Sri Tri Buana, an authentic sovereign, in spite of events following Srivijayas decline after the attack of Cola king in 1025. Bearing in mind on how the pericope demonstrates to protect the reputation of Palembang and its king, we shall examine how the pericope sets out to enhanced the status of Sri Tri Buana by providing a genealogical alliance with the kingdom of Bentan. And after he had dwelt for some time at Singapura he had two children, both sons, by Princess Wan Sendari, daughter of Demang Lebar Daun. And Wan Seri Benian died, leaving two grand-daughters: they were married to the two sons of Sri Tri Buana. And when Sri Tri Buana had ruled for eighty years then in the process of time he died, as did Demang Lebar Daun, and they were buried on the hill of Singapura 61. Sri Tri Buana was succeeded by his elder son, whose title as ruler was Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira, and Tun Perpateh Permuka Berjajar became Bendahara: it was he who gave audience in the hall of audience instead of Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira whenever the king himself did not appear. If it was Tun Perpateh Permuka Berjajar who sat in the hall of audience, he would rise to greet a prince who was heir to the throne but for no other prince would he rise: and if he himself went into the royal presence, over the place where he was to sit a carpet would be spread, and when he went home after the king had retired, he would be escorted by the chiefs, major and minor. Now there was a son of Demang Lebar Daun whom Paduka Sri Paduka Wira made chief minister with the title of Perpateh Permuka Sekalar. He had the same rank (in the hall of audience) as the Bendahara. (? Below the Bendahara sat the Penghulu Bendahari) with the title of Tun Jana Buga Dendang. In front of (?below) the Penghulu Bendahari) sat the Temenggong with the title of Tun Jana Putra...?, while below the Temenggong sat the principal war-chief with the title of Tun Tempurong Gemeratokan. After them came the ministers, minor chiefs, knights and courtiers, heralds and war-chiefs, in accordance with the custom dating from ancient times. And Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira had a son, who was known as Raja Muda. And Singapura became a great city, to which foriegners resorted in great numbers so that the fame of the city and its greatness spread throughout the world (Brown, 1952:31). The relationship between the ruler and chief minister is further developed and illustrated in the Authors gloss. Sri Tri Buanas dangerous supernatural power now regulated by a contract, the chief minister, Demang Lebar Daun successfully mediates a union on both social and political planes with the king, Sri Tri Buana. According to Bowen, the political alliance is a strategic necessity in holding together the kingdom. This is because the foregoing contract can be likened to a formal statement of mutual rights and obligations involving the two parties, the ruler and the ruled (Bowen, 1983:166). The relation of the Melaka Bendahara to the king is also modelled on the political and social union depicted in the contract. The first Chief Minister Demang Lebar Daun, has various political and social roles. He is involved in the preparation of the royal installation ceremony, the provisions of a wife and the preparation of
This refers almost certainly to the hill, known in Malay history as Bukit Larangan or the Forbidden Hill. Now known as Fort Canning, it is probably the site of ancient Singapura. See Map 3.
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transportation for the ruler. The second role is of great importance because the Bendahara was traditionally a bride-giver: in the Sejarah Melayu it is mentioned no less than six of the eight kings of Melaka married a daughter of their Bendahara (Jordaan, 1985:263). The relation between royal family and the line of the Bendahara is portrayed as an asymmetrical marriage alliance. The texts symbolic depiction of this relationship is described in Figure 1, O = Demang Lebar Daun O Wan Seri Benian = Perpateh Permuka Sekalar (Bendahara) O = Wan Sendari Sri Tri Buana = O = O

Paduka Sri Tun Perpateh Pikrama Wira Permuka

Berjajar (Bendahara) Figure 1. Marriage alliances between the first two ruler in the Palembang and Singapura royal line and Bendahara line (Brown, 1952:31). This model shows the important relationship of the ruler and the Bendahara depicted in the Sejarah Melayu. From this marriage, Sri Tri Buana had two sons. The elder, Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira, became the second king of Singapura, and the younger, Tun Perpateh Permuka Berjajar, became the first Bendahara. To recover Palembangs privileged position, Sri Tri Buana sought to build up regional alliances by marriage with the most important offshore island, Bentan. The marriage of both princes of Sri Tri Buana to the queen of Bentans grandaughters created a close relationship between Bentan and Singapura. This marriage reflects the prestige and power of Bentan royal family, which was significant for later Melaka rulers. The Author creates the title of the first Bendahara without further elucidation. He goes on to introduce the structure of the Singapura government, which provides model for later Melaka rulers. We are told that the King was assisted by a number of officials according to their rank: Bendahara, Penghulu Bendahari, Temenggong and Laksamana62. There were other palace officials with the rank of ministers, minor chiefs, knights, courtiers and heralds. From the structure of government described by the Author, it is reasonable to deduce that Singapura had a well-organized government where an administrative hierarchy of the court had been established. We are told that during Sri Tri Buanas successors reign Singapura became, a great city, to which foreigners resorted in great numbers so that the fame of the city and its greatness spread throughout the world (Brown, 1952:31). The important question is whether we can use the story of Singapura in the Sejarah Melayu to reconstruct a picture of Singapuras actual establishment or Singapuras importance as a great city during the fourteenth century? How reliable is the names of early Singapura rulers and events mentioned in the Sejarah Melayu?
The Sultan or king was assisted by Bendahara who held the position of Prime Minister and leading noble of the State. After the Prime Minister came the Penghulu Bendahari, the Minister of Finance, followed by the Temenggong (Minister of War and Justice) who was responsible for law and order. Although in the gloss there is no mention of the title Laksamana, the principal war chief can be considered to have been equivalent to the present admiral of the fleet. Besides the high officials of government, there were many middle-ranking officers. The first were ministers or Head of Departments, followed by chiefs, knights, courtiers and heralds (Wilkinson, 1935:31; Zainal Abidin Abdul Wahid, 1983:105).
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The Sejarah Melayu calls the founder of Melaka Iskandar Shah (Brown, 1952:40); however in Pires Suma Oriental and in Ming records the founder of Melaka is known as Parameswara. Pires stated that Parameswara originally ruled in Palembang, whereas the Author states that Iskandars reign began in Singapura. Barros and dAlbuquerque believed that Parameswara began his reign elsewhere than in Singapura. According to Pires and dAlbuquerque, before the arrival of Parameswara, Singapura was already ruled by a local chief, Temagi (Wolters, 1970:109). In short, we cannot be sure about who was the founder of Singapura. However, archaeological evidence indicates that Singapura was established almost one hundred years before the arrival of Parameswara in Singapura in the 1390s (Miksic, 1985:30). Wolters believed that the Author of Sejarah Melayu invented the kingdom of Singapura to conceal the past of Palembang. According to Wolters, the Author was seeking to establish a more splendid background for the royal family of Melaka than Singapura, while at the same time glorfying the origin of the royal seat of Melaka in Palembang (Wolters, 1970:95 & 109). Besides that Wolters argued that the period of time in Singapuras history which actually corresponds to the Sejarah Melayu is about six years, between 1391 to 1397. In Wolters view, very little of the Sejarah Melayus account of Singapura actually refers to Singapura: most of the depiction of Singapura is either a reflection of Palembang or of Melaka (Wolters, 1970:91). John Miksics discoveries from the 1985 excavation in Fort Canning have confirmed that Singapuras history begins in the early fourteenth century, or perhaps a little earlier, and continued until A.D.1400. According to Miksic, Wolters interpretations are difficult to confirm and he stated that the only point where history and the Sejarah Melayu coincides is in the story of Singapuras fall (Miksic, 1985:89). However, the Sejarah Melayu informs us that Singapura was ruled by five kings63 for about 91 years which fits Miksics view that Singapura had an elite occupation from A.D.1300-1400. What was the Sitz im Leben of the Singapura story? It can be presumed that Singapura in the Sejarah Melayu pericopes serves as an evidence of the way Malay sovereignty was continued by the family which ruled in Palembang and eventually in Melaka. The Author tells us that Singapura becomes the seat of the Malay overlord from the passing of Palembangs hegemony until the later years of the fourteenth century when Majapahit attacked Singapura. Singapura is portrayed as the great stepping-stone for Parameswara to establish his new kingdom in Melaka. 3.2 The Exegesis of Chapter Four 3.2.1 The Kingdom of Majapahit and the Political Fugitive Parameswara The fourth chapter of the Sejarah Melayu starts with a lenghty pericope, which I shall divide it into two sections in my discussion. The first section reads as follows:

According to the Sejarah Melayu, the first king of Singapura was Sri Tri Buana who ruled Singapura for 48 years; the second king, Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira was on the throne for 15 years; the third king, Sri Rana Wikerma ruled for 13 years; the fourth king, Paduka Sri Maharaja ruled for 12 years and six months and Iskandar Shah, the last ruler of Singapura ruled for 3 years.
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Here now is the story of the Batara of Majapahit64, who traced his descent from heaven. He had married the daughter of the Raja of Tanjong Pura, who was a Raja from Bukit Siguntang and by her he had two sons, the elder of whom he installed (to succeed him) as ruler at Majapahit. The Raja of Majapahit was descended from Princess Semaningrat, and he was known as the Batara 65 of Majapahit. So great was his kingdom that every prince in the land of Java was subject to him, as were half of the princes of Nusantara 66.When the Batara of Majapahit heard that Singapura was a great city but that its ruler did not acknowledge the Batara as overlord, he was very angry (Brown, 1952:32). The pericope evokes a picture of Majapahit as a powerful empire politically dominating half of the Nusantara or Indonesian Archipelago. This is the image of Majapahit as it flourished in the fourteenth century, when the kingdom reached its zenith during the time of its king Hayam Wuruk (1350-1389) and his chief minister Gajah Mada. This golden age of Majapahit has remained in the historical memory of the Malays, and the pericope illustrates the memory of this great kingdom with the words: So great was [the Batara of Majapahits] kingdom that every prince in the land of Java was subject to him, as were half of the princes of Nusantara (Brown, 1952:32). In the beginning of the pericope, the first two sentences places the King of Majapahit with the king of Tanjong Pura on equal standing. This pericope states that the present Batara of Majapahit, like Sri Tri Buana, is heavenly descended. The pericope sets out the genealogical relationship between the two rulers, where the Batara of Majapahit married the daughter of the Raja of Tanjong Pura. However, it seems to be absurd that the Batara of Majapahit who has a genealogical relationship with the kingdom of Tanjong Pura, should be discourteous to the king of Singapura, who has family ties with the king of Tanjong Pura. The anger of the Batara of Majapahit can be explained as reflecting envy towards the great achievement of Singapura, a city which the Author just described as a great city to which foreigners resorted in great numbers. The pericope describes the Bataras actions: And he sent envoys to Singapura taking with them as the customary present a woodshaving seven fathoms long, which had been cut without a break in it: it was as thin as paper and rolled up in the form of a girls ear-stud. The envoys set sail for Singapura, which they reached in due course. On their arrival Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira 67 ordered
Majapahit is formed of two Javanese words, Maja, the name of a kind of coarse fruit of a sweetish taste, and pahit signifies bitter, the compound forming the imaginary fruit. The Desawarnana, a paneygiric poem completed by the Majapahit official, Prapanca, in 1365 describes the kingdom Majapahit and the great ruler of Majapahit, Hayam Wuruk. Majapahit which was located at Trowulan in East Java is the name of the last Javanese kingdom professing Hinduism. It is believed to have been founded about the year 1299 and it declined in the fifteenth century, especially after the year 1478 (Crawfurd, 1856:238; Colless, 1975:124-130; Noorduyn, 1978:255; Ricklefs, 1993:18). 65 Batara is a Javanese word for king, the title of the sovereign. The royal princes of Majapahit bore the title of Bhra or Bhre (Callenfels, 1969:68). 66 Nusantara or outer-islands, is a term with non-geogrphic, non-political and non-ethnic connotation. According to Ismail Hussein, Nusantara is the Intermediate Islands between India and China. This very large area is variously called the Malay Archipelago, the Indonesian Archipelago and, in linguistics, Western Malayo-Polynesia. Nusantara is basically a linguistic grouping which forms an important part of the huge family of languages called Austronesian, formerly termed as Malayo-Polynesian (Ismail Hussein, 1966:16).
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Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira and Sri Rana Wikerma. Both names derive from Sanskrit, Vikrama meaning valiant. According to Hindu legends, Vikrama or Vikramaditya was a name or title assumed by a ruler of a Hindu kingdom in Malwa during the first century and considered to be the great king in the Vikrama era in 58 B.C. King Vikrama had a great reputation for his justice, virtue and valor. Literally, Paduka (Malay/Javanese) are a pair of slippers which rested on the footstool of the kings lion seat (sighasana). However, the word paduka may also mean beloved or Highness and the title Paduka suits this
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that they be duly welcomed. The envoys then presented themselves before the king and laid before him the letter and the customary present accompanying it. Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira read the letter, which ran as follows:- Behold, younger brother, the skill of Javanese artificers. Are there in Singapura artificers as skilled as this? And the king ordered the present to be opened, where upon he beheld a wood-shaving rolled up like a ear-stud. And he smiled, for he realised what was in the mind of the Batara of Majapahit, and he said, It is in disparagement of our manliness that the Batara of Majapahit sends us a girls ear-stud! But the envoys replied, No, your Highness, that was not the intention of your Highnesss elder brother. What he says is, Is there at your Highness feet a man who can use an adze like that? When Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira heard the words of the envoys, he answered, Even greater than that is the skill of craftsmen we have! And he ordered a carpenter named Sang Bentan to be sent for: and when he came, the king ordered a boy to be fetched, and he bade the carpenter shave the hair off the boys head with his adze, in front of the envoys. And the carpenter proceeded to shave the boys head: and though the boy cried and kept moving his head this way and that, the carpenter went on with his work and in the twinkling of an eye the hair was gone as though it had been off with a razor. The envoys were astounded, and Sri Pikrama Wira said to them, Theres skill for you! A man who can shave a boys head with his adze would laugh at the task of making a wood-shaving like that! Take this adze to Majapahit and crave our brothers acceptance of it! And the Javanese envoys sought leave to return to their country, and they took with them as a customary present the adze which the carpenter had used for shaving the boys head: and their ship set sail from Singapura. And when in due course they reached Java, the envoys landed and presented themselves before the Batara of Majapahit, to whom they gave the letter and the present from the Raja of Singapura, at the same time relating how the carpenter had shaved the boys head with his adze and what Sri Pikrama Wira had said. And the Batara was very angry when he heard the envoys story and said, What the Raja of Singapura means is that if we go there, our heads will be shaved as was the boys! And he ordered his war-chiefs to have a fleet made ready for an attack on Singapura, one hundred ships of the line together with small craft beyond number. And the Batara appointed one of his leading war-chief to command the fleet: and he sailed for Singapura, where he arrived in due course. And the Javanese troops landed and fought the men of Singapura; and a great battle ensued. Loud rang weapon on weapon; terrifying was the roar of the warriors shouting; the din was unimaginable. On either side many were killed and the ground flowed with blood. By the evening the Javanese had retreated and gone back on board their ships. So long is the story of the battle between Singapura and Java that were I to tell it in detail, listeners would have more than their fill. That is why I shorten it, for diffuseness makes no appeal to the intelligent. But Singapura fell not and the Javanese returned to Majapahit (Brown, 1952:32-33). Apart from being an entertaining pericope, the invasion of Majapahit is recounted within a mythical context and the historicity of the events described is subject to controversy. The third sentence of the pericope describes a letter from the king of Majapahit to the king of Singapura which starts, Behold, younger brother. This indicates that the king of Singapura, Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira is acknowledged by the Batara of Majapahit as lower in status. However, the pericope demonstrates Singapura as a powerful kingdom with an equal status with Majapahit, and therefore Singapura rejects the suzerainty of Majapahit. When the Batara sent the gift of a girls ear-stud to
affectionate epithet Sri means glorious or shining, Wira signifies hero, chief or leader. Rana maybe a nearsynonym of Rama (in Rig-Veda), which means aboriginal king (Walker, 1968:552-569; Stutley, 1977:333334). Crawfurd translated the name of Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira as Highness, the valiant hero and Sri Rana Wikerma as The illustrious Rama the valiant (Crawfurd, 1856:243).

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the king of Singapura, the king of Singapura responds with a witty insult by sending an adze in return as a present to the Batara. The Batara interprets Sri Pikrama Wiras gift as a challenge, which results in the war between Singapura and Majapahit. The threat having failed to secure homage from Paduka Sri Pikrama, Majapahit resorts to force but is defeated by Singapura. The attack is presented in a lively manner: a great battle ensued [...] terrifying was the roar of the warriors [...] On either side many were killed [...] (Brown,1952:32-33). The pericope claims an attack by Majapahit; however, Portugese sources provide a contrasting account of the invasion of Singapura by the Siamese. In seeking to answer who really attacked Singapura, we have to look closely at two differing accounts. In the fourteenth century, Singapura lay at the boundary of two spheres of influence, those of Majapahit in east Java and of Siam which had its capital at Ayudhya after A.D.1350 (Miksic, et al., 1992:58). The poem Desawarnana, which was completed in 1365, claims that Singapura lay within the cofines of the Hindu-Javanese empire of Majapahit. Another Javanese text, Pararaton (Book of Kings), composed in the late fifteenth century stated that Majapahit forces sacked Temasik in the 1360s, probably in accord with Gajah Madas Greater Majapahit policy (Bastin, 1979:1; Embree, 1988:208). It was presumably the conquest by Majapahit of Singapura some time in 1360s which the Sejarah Melayu alleges to have caused the flight of Parameswara to Melaka. Winstedt believed that the Sejarah Melayus account of the Javanese attack on Singapura was inspired by memories of Gajah Madas attack on the island (Winstedt, 1973:42). However, information provided by the Portugese record suggest a different answer. The Portugese historians d Albuquerque and Tome Pires, writing in the sixteenth century, erred in describing a Majapahit attack on Singapura. Both writers claimed a Siamese invasion of Singapura. The Portugese writer Tome Pires described in his book the events concerning the foundation of Melaka. According to Pires, Parameswara 68 refused to pay tribute and rejected the suzerainty of Majapahit, and Parameswara was attacked in Palembang and fled to Singapura. Eight days after arriving at Singapura, Parameswara killed the local ruler 69, Sam Agy Symgapura who had been the son-in-law of the king of Siam. Five years later, to revenge the death of his son-in-law, the king of Siam attacked Parameswara and drove him out from Singapura (Cortesao, 1944:230233). The story of dAlbuquerque, the conqueror and governor of Melaka, provides a similar account of the Siamese attack on Singapura (Birch, 1884:73-75). Who then was responsible for the assault on Singapura, the revenge seeking Siamese or envious Majapahit? Most historians support the Portugese sources as accurate in attributing the flight of the last ruler of Singapura, described variously as Raja Iskandar (Sejarah Melayu), Raja Sabu (deCouto) or Parameswara (Eredia, Barros, dAlbuquerque
Parameswara is a title awarded to men who married women of higher royal status or became prince consorts. The Parameswara who fled to Singapura and thence to Muar was, as Stein Callenfels pointed out, a Javanese nobleman or a Sumatran prince who married into the Javanese royal family (Callenfels, 1969:68). dAlbuquerque stated that the Batara of Majapahit sent an expedition to Palembang to drive out his son-inlaw, Parameswara who refused to pay tribute (Birch, 1884:72-73). According to Wang Gungwu, it is probable that Parameswara and Iskandar Shah were in fact the two names used by the same men at different stages of his life, and not two different men (Wang Gungwu, 1968:22; Wolters, 1970:71-74). It is also highly probable that Sri Tri Buana and Iskandar Shah would represent the same person as Parameswara, used by the Author of the Sejarah Melayu to conceal the identity of Parameswara as a political fugitive. 69 The local ruler was called Temagi or Tamagi by dAlbuquerque [Temenggong]. Temagi was the captain of the city of Singapura which was established and prosperous before the arrival of Parameswara. However, Da Barros refers to the ruler of Singapura as Sangesinga or Sang Hyang Singa (Miksic, 1985:24-25).
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and Tom Pires), as a result of direct or indirect pressure from Siam (Wyatt, 1968:32-33). Linehan attempted to reconcile a final Siam-directed assault on Singapura (as suggested by the majority of the Portugese sources) with an earlier Javanese invasion of the island as described in the Sejarah Melayu (Linehan, 1947b:117-127). However, Miksic took a neutral stand by saying that the Malays in Singapura was attacked either by Siam or Java (Miksic, 1985:9). It is noteworthy that the historical record of the Menangkabau which appears in the 1347 inscription indicates that Adityavarman, a prince of mixed Javanese-Sumatran parentage, threw off allegiance at this time to the Majapahit kingdom and ruled the goldrich regions of Menangkabau (Embree, 1988:2). Parameswara like Adityavarman, took the oppurtunity to free himself from the Javanese rule. In taking this oppurtunity, the Malays under the Parameswaras rule tried to re-establish an independent state in Palembang and rebelled against his benefactor. Immediately Majapahit sent an expedition to Palembang in 1377s where Parameswara was defeated and fled to Singapura (Ricklefs, 1993:19). It is possible that the Batara continued his efforts to capture the fugitive Parameswara, who took refuge in Singapura. The influence of Majapahit throughout the Archipelago began to decline after the death of Hayam Wuruk in 1389, which raises doubts regarding Majapahits attack on Singapura. Although in the 1360s Majapahit claimed Singapura as a dependency, Singapura later was attacked by Siam. It may have been the murder of the Siam-installed governer of Temasek, Temagi, that caused the Siamese to attack Singapura. The main threat to Melaka from its foundation was Siam, from which Melaka sought and received Chinese protection as early as 1405 (Ricklefs, 1993:19). According to David Wyatt, Chinese sources leave us in no doubt that at the time of the first Ming contacts with Melaka at the beginning of the fifteenth century Melaka was in direct tributary relationship with Siam (Wyatt, 1968:44). It seems likely that the ruler of Singapura fled because he could not bear the mounting political pressure from the Siamese at the end of the fourteenth century. Furthermore, the Author possibly preferred admitting defeat by Majapahit, which was more prestigious, than to be defeated by the Siamese, a long standing national enemy of Melaka. 3.3 The Exegesis of Chapter Five 3.3.1 The Kingdom of Kalinga and Its Significance to Singapura The fifth chapter of Sejarah Melayu combines two great traditions. The first tradition focuses on the city Bija Nagara in the kingdom of Kalinga and its relationship with Singapura. I will divide the first pericope into two sections to facilitate the discussion. The first section reads as follows: Here now is the story of Adirama Raja Mudaliar 70, a son of Raja Chulan. He was Raja at Bija Nagara 71 and had a son named Jambuga Raja Mudaliar. When Adirama Raja
Adirama Raja Mudaliar and Jambuga Rama Mudaliar are two mythical characters. Adirama Raja literally means primeval-aboriginal king. Meanwhile Jambuga means rose-apple or pear and Rama stands for local ruler. Mudaliar has a caste connotation and indicates a group of people from the northern regions of Tamilnadu (the ancient site of the Kalinga kingdom) in India. The Mudaliar are the second highest caste after the Brahmin (Werner, 1994:22 & 82). 71 Bija Nagara or Vijayanagara (1360-1565A.D.) means a City of Victory, and embraced roughly the area of the modern state of Madras. Situated in the southern bank of the Tunghabadra River in Karnataka, India, it was the capital of a Hindu kingdom founded in the middle of the 14th century, and attained its greatest extent in the sixteenth century. The tradition of the Sejarah Melayu has used the name Vijayanagara (Bija Nagara) to designate a city of the Kalinga kingdom which is known to exist since the fifth century B.C. (Embree, 1988:195; Palat, 1986:142). According to the Sejarah Melayu, Bija Nagara was built by Raja Shulan after
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Mudaliar had died, his son, Jambuga Rama Mudaliar, came to the throne. And he had a daughter, Princess Talai Puchudi 72 by name, of remarkable beauty. The fame of her beauty was spread from country to country, but although any number of princes sought her hand in marriage, Raja Jambuga Rama Mudaliar rejected their suit, saying, They are not of lineage such as mine. And news came to Singapura of the beauty of the princess, daughter of the Raja of Kalinga: and Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira appointed Maha Indra Bopal to go as envoy to Kalinga to ask for the hand of Princess Talai Puchudi for his son, Raja Muda. So Maha Indra Bopal set sail for Kalinga 73, and many craft accompanied his ship. And when he reached Bija Nagara, Raja Mudaliar ordered the letter and the gift which came with it to be brought with ceremony from the ship: and they were then borne in procession with every mark of distinction. When the letter had been read and interpreted, Raja Jambuga Mudaliar was well pleased, and he said to Maha Indra Bopal, I am in full accord with my brothers proposal. But I would not trouble him to send his son hither; I will send my daughter to Singapura (Brown, 1952:33-34). In the previous chapter we were introduced to the great kingdom of Majapahit. This pericope presents us with another ancient city, Bija Nagara. Bija Nagara, which has been introduced in chapter two of the Sejarah Melayu, is a great city in the kingdom of Kalinga which was built by Raja Shulan, the great great grandfather of Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira (Brown, 1952:20). The pericopes main function is to equate the power and position of Singapura rulers with those of the rulers of Kalinga. The first section of the pericope concerns the marriage of the Jambuga Rama Mudaliars daughter, Princess Talai Puchudi with Raja Muda. According to the pericope, the king Jambuga Rama Mudaliar rejected numerous princes, giving as his reason the claim that, They are not of lineage such as mine (Brown, 1952:34). However, when the envoys of the ruler of Singapura arrived to request the princess on behalf of the Raja Muda, the Tamil king not only raises no objections but is highly delighted. The rank of the Singapura royal family is sufficiently august to satisfy the proud Tamil king. An important question here is why the pericope has introduced the great Tamil kingdom, Kalinga and what is the significance of Kalinga to the Singapura history? Raja Shulan, ruler of Kalinga, was a great conqueror, who extended his empire into Southeast Asia where, according to the Sejarah Melayu, two cities Gangga Nagara and Glang Gui were captured by him. Historians have agreed that Raja Shulan is a memory of Rajendra Cola I, the Tamil king who raided Srivijaya and its dependencies in 1025. Evidently, the memory of this great kingdom of Kalinga in India, which has existed since the fifth century B.C., has remained in the minds of the Malays. An important point to be noted is that Rajendra Cola I is the ruler of the Cola kingdom. South India was ruled under many different dynasties, such as the Kalinga, Pandya and Cola, but the Kalinga was the oldest dynasty (Braddell, 1980:37). The tradition is conflating Rajendra Cola I with the Kalinga kingdom. The tradition and the Author are not aware of the fact that Cola is a different kingdom from Kalinga.
defeating Glang Gui, and Bija Nagara became a great city in the country of Kalinga (Brown, 1952:21-22). 72 Talai is a white long-petalled (pandanus) flower. Puchudi is formed of pu flower and chudi is garlanded (Nilakanta Sastri, 1955:71). 73 Kalinga is located in modern Orissa and the coastal strip of Andhra Pradesh. Kalinga is the ancient name of the coastal lands between the Mahanadi and Godavari rivers and the inhabitants are called as Kalingas. Kalinga is known to exist since the fifth century B.C. and was ruled by the Nandas but became famous under the Maurya dynasty, during the period of Asoka . After 171 B.C. Kalinga fell to its more powerful neighbours, being subjugated in turn by the Chalukyas, Vakatakas and Palas. Kalinga was an important outlet for external trade with Southeast Asia (Embree, 1988:195; Walker, 1968:511).

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Raja Jambuga was well pleased with Singapuras proposal, and replied: But I would not trouble him [Paduka Sri Pikrama] to send his son thither; I will send my daughter to Singapura (Brown, 1952:34). The pericope demonstrates to us that it is not concerned to establish equality between Kalinga and Singapura but attempts to imply that Singapura is even greater than this ancient Kalinga dynasty. The function of the pericope is to elevate the status of the Singapura rulers. The pericope continues: Maha Indra Bopal then sought leave to return and Raja Jambuga Rama Mudaliar gave him a letter and a present to the Raja of Singapura, whereupon Maha Indra Bopal set sail and in due course arrived at Singapura. And Sri Pikrama Wira ordered that the letter be borne in procession with the honours accorded to great Rajas. And when it reached the hall of audience, it was received by the herald and presented to Sri Pikrama Wira, who ordered that to be read. And when it had been interpreted to the king, he was well pleased; and when he received from Maha Indera Bopal the message he brought from Raja Jambuga Rama Mudaliar, his pleasure was even greater. And when the next sailing season came round, Raja Jambuga Rama Mudaliar ordered ships to be made ready. And when they were ready, the king ordered one of his war-chiefs to escort Princess Talai Puchudi, his daughter, and she embarked in a ship accompanied by five hundred maids of honour. The war-chief then set sail with the princess, accompanied by a large number of decked ships, to say nothing of shallops and batels. When they reached Singapura, Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira came out as far as Tanjong Burus to meet them, (? received them with) every mark of honour and distinction (and escorted them to Singapura). On their arrival, Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira initiated the day and night festivities for the wedding of his son with the princess, daughter of the Raja of Kalinga. The festivities lasted for three months. Raja Pikrama Wira then celebrated the wedding of Princess Talai Puchudi (with his son). After the wedding the Kalinga war-chief sought leave to return to his country, and when Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira had given him a letter and a present for the Raja of Kalinga, the envoy returned to Kalinga (Brown, 1952:34). The arrival of Princess Talai Puchudi and her war-chief and maids to Singapura is greeted with great honour and distinction by Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira, who goes to Tanjong Burus, on the southwest extremity of Johor, to greet them. This pericope demonstrates to us how the ruler of Singapura is well pleased with the Kalinga princess and her arrival is honored with court ceremonies. According to Koster and Maier, one of the aims of the Sejarah Melayu is to offer models of behaviour of Malay court life. The description of the stately pomp of the occasions makes it clear that it is a ceremonial affair (Koster and Maier, 1985:445). 3.3.2 The Strongman Badang and the Singapura Rock The gloss to the next pericope reads as follows: After a while, when Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira had completed fifteen years on the throne, then in the process of time he died and was succeeded on the throne by his son, Raja Muda, with the title of Sri Rana Wikerma as ruler. He had two children by Princess Talai Puchudi, daughter of the Raja of Kalinga; one son, named Dam Raja, and one daughter. Now Tun Perpateh Muka Berjajar had died and was succeeded as Bendahara by his son with the title of Tun Perpateh Tulus. And Tun Perpateh Tulus had two children, a son and a daughter whose name was Demi Putri. She was married by Sri Rana Wikerma to his son, while the son of Tun Perpateh Tulus was married by the king to his daughter. Now

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King Sri Rana Wikerma had a war-chief, called Badang74, who was possessed of very great strength. Badang originally came from Sayong on the mainland. He was the slave of a Sayong man, for whom he worked day in, day out felling forest (Brown, 1952:35). Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira ruled for 15 years then died and was succeeded by his son Raja Muda, who took the title Sri Rana Wikerma. He had two children, a son, Dam Raja and a daughter. Meanwhile Tun Perpateh Permuka Berjajar was replaced by his son with the title Tun Perpateh Tulus. According to Wolters, by giving the title Tun Perpateh Tulus to the son of Tun Perpateh Permuka Berjajar, the Author losts no opportunity for extolling the Bentan family. The services of the Bentan family are appropriately reflected in the name of Tulus, the faithful. The marriage alliance which took place earlier between the Queen of Bentans grandaughters with Sri Tri Buanas two sons reflects the reward given by Sri Tri Buana for her loyalty (Wolters, 1970:139). This marriage alliance of the royal and Bentan family have provided the future Melaka rulers with faithful Bendaharas. In this gloss, the Author has introduced the Malay Herculean, Badang who is said to be from Sayong and a war-chief of Sri Rana Wikerma. The tradition continues with the story of Badang: Once upon a time Badang set a fish-trap in the Besisek river; and when he raised (?) the trap, he found it was empty, with not a fish in it, though there were fish scales and fish bones in the trap. This happened day after day. The fish scales he would throw away into the river; hence the river was called Sisek (? Besisek). And Badang reflected, What can it be that eats the fish in this trap? I had better watch secretly to find out what it is that eats the fish. So one day Badang concealed himself among the reeds and watched, and he saw a demon come and eat the fish in the trap; a demon with eyes as red as flame, with creel-like matted hair and a beard down to his waist. Badang seized his cleaver and mustering up his courage he set upon the demon and caught him by the beard, saying, Its you who are always eating my fish! This time you shall die by my hand! When the demon heard the words of Badang, he was utterly confused and terrified and vainly sought to escape from Badangs grasp.Kill me not, he cried, and I will give you whatever you desire, be it riches, be it strength and endurance, be it invisibility - you shall have it if you spare my life. And Badang reflected, If I ask for riches, it is my master who will get them. If I ask for invisibility, assuredly I shall be killed. That being so, I had better ask for power and strength in order that I may have strength for my masters work. So he answered, Give me power and strength so that any tree however big I can uproot and break; so that trees which are so thick that a mans arm can barely compass them, or are even twice as thick as that, I may be able to uproot with one hand! And the demon answered, Very well, if you desire strength, I will give it to you, but you must first eat my vomit. Very well, said Badang, vomit them, that I may eat your vomit. And the demon vomitted, copiously. Badang ate the vomit, every bit of it, but all the time he held the demons beard and would not let it go. After he had eaten the demons vomit, Badang made trial of his strength and he uprooted one big tree after another, breaking them all. Then he let go the demons beard and made his way to the land he was clearing for his master, where he uprooted and broke one big tree after another,
The name Badang has an interesting parallel in Persian legend, which may account for the use of Persian word pahlawan which originally meant wrestler (Marrison, 1955:63). Badangs supernatural power can be compared to Hercules, the national hero in Greek tradition, and Agastya of the Tamil tradition. Badang, Agastya and Hercules, are described as hard fighters and keen hunters, who fought in the midst of wild enemies, and none could approach them in eating and drinking. Badang like Agastya and Hercules, also destroyed forests and created towns (Nilakanta Sastri, 1936:480).
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and trees so thick that a mans arm could barely compass them, or eventwice as thick as that, he plucked from the ground with but one hand, so that they were completely torn up roots and all, while smaller trees he twitched up with but one hand and sent flying. Thus it was that in the twinkling of an eye a great forest became nothing but a treeless plain, of immeasurable extent (Brown, 1952:35-36). It is remarkable that Badang, the Herculean strongman of Malay civilization, the traditions centering round him and the significance of these traditions have not received much attention from scholars. Badang is described as the champion of king Sri Rana Wikerma. Is Badang based on a real historical person 75 or a mythical figure? What is his significance to the kingdom of Singapura? He is introduced to us by the pericope as a slave from a place called Sayong, who gained his supernatural strength through eating a demons vomit. We may notice before proceeding further that Badang is a loyal and faithful slave. The pericope tells the story of how Badang cleared the forest, at Sayong: Thus it was that in the twinkling of an eye a great forest became nothing but a treeless plain, of immeasurable extent (Brown, 1952:36). The whole point of the pericope is to provide an account for deforestation at Sayong. What is the significance of this pericope? It is clear from this pericope that a settlement had been established in Sayong, Johor. However, no further information is provided by the pericope about this new settlement. Is the tradition trying to explain the fleeing of Sultan Iskandar Shah from Singapura to Muar? In my opinion, the answer is rather speculative in explaining the question above. In chapter six of the Sejarah Melayu we are told that after the Majapahit invasion, Sultan Iskandar Shah fled from Singapura by way of Saletar and thence to Muar. From Muar he moved on to another place where a fort was built (Brown, 1952:51). On his way from Saletar, Sultan Iskandar Shah would have possibly built a fort in Sayong76, Johor where in the present pericope Badang was made to destroy forests to welcome the presence of Sultan Iskandar Shah and not the fleeing Sultan. As a reward for the effort of the faithful and loyal Badang, his former master freed Badang. When Sri Rana Wikerma came to know that Badang has great supernatural powers, Badang is made as his war-chief. And when his master saw what had been done, he said, Who felled this land of ours that it has been cleared with such speed? And Badang answered, Your servant felled it. And his master asked, In what manner did you fell it that the work has been done with such speeed and land cleared as far as the eye can see? And Badang told the whole story to his master, who thereupon freed him. When Sri Rana Wikerma came to hear of this, he sent for Badang and made him one of his war-chiefs: and it was Badang who has ordered to pass a chain across the river to serve as a boom and restrict the passage of ships in and out Singapura (Brown, 1952:36).
The inscription known as the Pasir Panjang inscription in Karimun are the footprints of Badang, the strongman of Sejarah Melayu according to the local people (Personal communication, Dr. Ian Caldwell). 76 According to the Sejarah Melayu, Sultan Iskandar Shah took up abode at nearly four places before opening the Melaka city, the first being Muar (Biawak Busuk), then Kota Burok, followed by Sening Ujong and then Bertam (Brown, 1952:51). However, looking at the distance between Singapura and Muar, it would be impossible for the king to have taken up a long journey to Muar without taking up a few abode in south Johor before reaching Muar. Furthermore, Johor river served as an ideal place for political refuge for the last ruler of Melaka fleeing from the invasion of Portugese. According to Andaya, many of the rulers of Johor had their residences on the banks of the Johor river and this settlement was determined more by considerations of security than of accessibility to the international trade flowing through the Straits of Melaka (Andaya, 1975:3). See also Brown, 1952, p.189.
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According to the pericope above, the estuary of the river was closed with a boom erected by Badang. How are we to deal with this story? According to Miksic, booms or moveable barriers made of materials such as enormous iron chains are mentioned in other sources in connection with different Malay and Indonesian classical ports. Further he stated that the booms were a common aspect of the Malay entrepot. Wheatley suggests that the boom may have been a protection as much from turbulent neighbours as well as from foreign raiders (Wheatley, 1966:85). This suggestion seems reasonable, as the Riau Archipelago is well known for its piracy. The pirates haunted the shores of Singapura and perpetrated such outrages on passing junks that their name become a byword in places as far as the ports of South China (Wheatley, 1966:305). According to Sopher, the beach along Singapura used to be the favourite rendezvous of pirates who made the passage through the Strait of Singapura unsafe. Sometimes the pirates would torture their prisoners by throwing spears at them before killing them (Sopher, 1977:105). This is why the island not far from the Singapura river which was called formerly Pulau Blakang Mati or Death Behind Island77 (See Map 3) was the most dangerous island of Singapura at that time. Milner noted that the Malay rajas who claimed authority but who did not actually govern a country were sometimes directly involved in piracy. He further mentioned the surprise expressed by foreign observers at the tendency of Malay rulers to engage in plunder is not reflected in the writings of Malays themselves. According to Milner, Malays took a less censorious view of these activities (Milner, 1982:19). This is why we are not given an explanation as to why Badang has ordered to pass a chain in the Singapura river, and the pericope ends to give way to another tradition. And for the Rajas table, Badang was sent to fetch kuras from Kuala Sayong for salad. He went by himself, his boat was eight fathoms long and for his punt-pole he used a whole kempas trunk. When he reached Kuala Sayong, he climbed the kuras tree but the bough which was supporting his weight broke and he fell to the ground, crashing his head on a rock. And the rock was split, though Badangs head was not: and that rock is at Kuala Sayong to this day, as are Badangs punt-pole and boat. Badang returned from Kuala Sayong the same day and he filled his boat with bananas and keladi, all of which he had eaten by the time he has gone down the river as far as Johor (Brown, 1952:36). It is clear from the pericope that the strongman Badang has a task to accomplish for his king, Sri Rana Wikerma. Badang had to go to Kuala Sayong to get some salad for his king. Hercules, the famous strongman of the ancient Greece, like Badang, was bound to king Eurystheus to work out his labors. And Badang, like Hercules, none could approach them in eating and drinking. The last sentence of the pericope mentions that Badang returned from Sayong with large amount of banana and keladi or yam with which he filled his boat. Possibly the new settlement in Sayong was a place for banana and keladi cultivation. However, the central point of the pericope is to provide an origin of the rock at Kuala Sayong, on which I have been unable to find any information. The next rather odd pericope is: Once upon a time Sri Rama (? Rana) Wikerma had a boat twelve fathoms78 long built for him in front of the palace. When the boat was finished and was to be launched, it was found that two or three hundred men between them could not launch it. So Badang was ordered to launch it, and he by himself launched it so vigorously that it shot across to the other side of the river (Brown, 1952:36).

77 78

The name of the island now is Pulau Sentosa or Sentosa Island. Fathom, a measure of 6 feet or 1.8 meters.

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Most probably this large boat would have been used for overseas voyages by the king of Singapura, or perhaps for the expanding trade in the south sea of Singapura. Lets have a look at the following pericope which has a significant message: Later the news reached Kalinga that the Raja of Singapura had a war-chief possesed of prodigious strength. Now the Raja of Kalinga had among his champions an enormously powerful man, and the Raja of Kalinga commanded that this man should go to Singapura with seven ships. And the Raja said to him, Go you to Singapura and pit yourself in a trial of strength against the war-chief of Singapura. If he defeats you, you will pay to him as the stakes of the match the contents of these seven ships. But if you defeat him, you will demand the value of the goods in the seven ships. And the champion answered, Very well, your Highness, and he then set sail for Singapura with the seven ships. When he reached Singapura, word was brought to Sri Rana Wikerma that a champion was come from Kalinga for a trial of strength with Badang, the stakes of the match to be, if he was beaten, the contents of the seven ships (he had with him). King Sri Rana Wikerma thereupon appeared from the palace and gave an audience, at which the Kalinga champion presented himself. The Raja bade him contend with Badang, but in every encounter between then the Kalinga champion was worsted by Badang. Now in front of the hall of audience there was a huge rock, and the Kalinga champion said toBadang, Let us try our strength in lifting the rock. Whichever of us fails to lift it is the loser. Very well, answered Badang, you try first. Thereupon the Kalinga champion tried to lift the rock but failed. He then put forth every effort and raised it as far as his knees, then he let it down again with a crash, saying Now its your turn, sir. Very well, said Badang and he lifted the rock, swung it into the air and hurled it to the far bank of Kuala Singapura 79. That is the rock which is there to this day on the extremity of Tanjong Singapura. The Kalinga champion then handed over to Badang all seven ships with their contents and departed for his own country grieving under the disgrace of the defeat that Badang had inflicted upon him (Brown, 1952:37). The main function of the pericope is to highlight the existence of the rock at Kuala Singapura. According to Miksic, the Singapura rock suggests that the 14th century rise of Singapura to prominence may have started with a group of Javanese, perhaps Sumatrans who settled on Temasek perhaps as early as the 10th century, and who recorded their achievement on the Singapura rock (Miksic, 1985:135). The Sitz im Leben of this pericope is to account for this historical ancient rock. The pericope is only interested in Badang as an instrument to account for the great rock of Singapura. Badang and the Kalinga champion are made to contest their strength by lifting the rock, which Badang succeeds in hurling as far as the mouth of the Singapura river. The success of Badang became known to the kingdom of Perlak.

The rock at Kuala Singapura is the inscription found at the mouth of the Singapura river: see Map 3. The Sejarah Melayu traditions contains the reference to the story of the strongman Badang who threw a large stone to the Kuala Singapura at Tanjung Singapura. Such a location according to Miksic, corresponds precisely to the site where the inscription was found (Miksic, 1985:40). The transformation of the spilled blood of Tun Jana Khatib and treacherous prime minister of Singapura and his wife into stone in the sixth chapter of Sejarah Melayu maybe another legendary reference to the stone (Brown, 1952:50-51). According to Sopher, this rock was considered by the Orang Laut to be the seat of spirit which they propitiate with offerings and decorating the rock with bits of cloth (Sopher, 1977:105).
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The news then reached Perlak80 that the Raja of Singapura has a war-chief of enormous strength, Badang by name, whose equal did not exist at that time. Now according to the account we have received the Raja of Perlak also had a champion, named Benderang 81, who was famed for his great strength. At the time that news was brought about Badang it happened that Benderang was in the presence of the Raja of Perlak: and he said to the Raja of Perlak, Your Highness, it is hardly likely that this Badang is stronger than I. If your Highness will so command, let me go to Singapura for a contest with him!And the Raja of Perlak agreed; and turning to his chief minister he said, I desire you go to Singapura as I am sending Benderang there. Very well, your Highness, answered Tun Perpateh Pandak; and after doing obeisance he left the palace and summoned men for the work of making ready a ship. When the ship was ready [it was Tun Perpateh Pandak who was commanded by the Raja of Perlak to go to Singapura with Benderang], the letter was borne in procession to the ship and Tun Perpateh Pandak sailed for Singapura, which he reached in the course of a few days. On his arrival there word was brought to the Raja of Singapura, Your Highness, Tun Perpateh Pandak, chief minister of the Raja of Perlak, is come bringing one Benderang, who is one of the Raja of Perlaks champions and has been sent hither for a trial of strength with Badang. When King Sri Rana Wikerma heard this he appeared and gave an audience at which princes, ministers, courtiers, heralds and pages were all in attendance. And Sri Rana Wikerma commanded Maha Indra Bopal to fetch the letter with due ceremony from the ship, taking elephants for the purpose. And the letter was borne in procession into the palace domain. It was then read, and its wording gave great pleasure. Tun Perpateh Pandak then did obeisance, and the king ordered that he should sit on the same level as Tun Jana Buga Dendang, while Benderang was given a place on the same level as Badang. Then the king asked Tun Perpateh Pandak, On what business has our brother sent you thither, sir? And Tun Perpateh Pandak answered, I have been commanded by your Highnesss younger brother to bring hither Benderang for trial of strength with Badang. If Benderang loses, the contents of a warehouse are presented to your Highness by your Highness younger brother. If Badang loses, your Highness would pay a similiar forfeit. Very well, said Sri Rana Wikerma, tomorrow we will pit them against each other. After a short conversation the king left the audience and went into the palace, whereupon all who had presented themselves before him
Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller claim to have taken the route from China to Persia via Malay Archipelago in 1292. When he visited Sumatra, he reported the first Muslim state, that of, Ferlec, the modern Perlak at the eastern extremity of the northern coast of Sumatra. However, either Marco Polo speaking from hearsay or else had acquired his information on some mission of which he has left us no detailed account of Perlak (Frampton, 1937:lvi; Olschki, 1960:1; Buyong Adil, 1972:37). C.C.Brown notes that Perlak was presumably the place which appears in some maps as Porolak, to the north of Aru Bay (Brown, 1952:215). In explaining the boundaries of the Melaka empire, Tome Pires in his description of Sumatran states, mentioned the word Pirada and it also occurs in the text of da Barros. Pires distinguishes between kingdoms and small towns and Pirada, Pedir and Pacee (Pasai) was the places called as reinos or terras, were simple towns of some trading importance. Futher in his description, the name of Pirada occurs after the name of Acheh, Lamuri, Pedir and before the name of Pasai, Aru and Kampar. Therefore, the location of Pirada seems to be in between Aru and Pasai, and may be it is the small town called Perlak by Marco Polo in 1292 (Cortesao, 1944:135-141). However, M.O. Parlindungan provides a brief history of Perlaks origin in the seventh or eighth century. By considering the trade connexions between Persia and Sumatera in early times, Parlindungan relates the great influence of Persia on Perlak before the coming of Islam. The name Perlak in Persian means Tadj I Alam (Mahkota Alam) or Crown of the World and the name Tadj I Alam appears in Chinese annals as Ta Chih. The word Ta-Chih appeared in the writings of Chau Ju-Kua and the real meaning of the word is related to the Tazi in Persian by F.Hirth and W.W.Rockhill (Hirth, et al., 1911:114119). Further, Parlindungan stated that the kingdom of Perlak was made New Persia or Perlak kingdom and its first ruler in 1159A.D. was a Persian, Laksamana Sayid Alaidin Alawi who became Sultan Sayid Alaidin Alawi Alam Shah, the first king in Nusantara to use the Persian title, Alam Shah or the Shah of World. Perlak according to Parlindungan was attacked many times by Srivijaya, Jambi and Batak-Karo and finally destroyed by the Majapahit in 1297 (Parlindungan, 1964:577-578; Buyong Adil, 1972:37). 81 Benderang literally meaning bright or glistening.
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returned, each to his house. King Sri Rana Wikerma then sent for Badang: and when he appeared, the king said to him, Tomorrow I am matching you against Benderang. And Badang replied, Your Highness, this Benderang is an outstanding champion of these times, a man of such exceptional strength that he is famed far and wide. If I am beaten, will not your Highness be put to shame? I humbly suggest that if your Majesty wishes to match me against him, he should be summoned tonight and given food, so that I may see how he accquits himself. If I can contend with him, I will do so. If I cannot, then I hope your Highness will forbid the match and prohibit my contending with him. The king agreed and that night he sent for Tun Perpateh Pandak, Benderang and their companions. When they were came, they were entertained; meat and drink were set before them and they made merry. Now Benderang sat side by side with Badang, and Badang squeezed close up to him; whereupon Benderang laid his thigh over that of Badang and pressed it down with all his might. Badang however raised his thigh and forced up Benderangs. Then Badang laid his thigh over that of Benderang; and try as he might Benderang could not raise his thigh. What happened thus between Badang and Benderang was seen by no one else: they alone knew. After a nights feasting the envoys were drunk and the whole party took their leave and returned to the ship. When they had gone, King Sri Rana Wikerma asked Badang, Do you feel yourself a match for Benderang? And Badang answered, Yes, your Highness, with your royal sanctity to help me I shall be a match for him. Tomorrow let your Highness pit me against him. And the king replied, Very well then, and he then retired, whereupon all those present returned, each to his house. And when Tun Perpateh Pandak reached his ship, Benderang said to him, If you can so contrive it sir, let me not be pitted against Badang, in case he should prove to be more then a match for me, for I find him to be possesed of prodigious strength. And Tun Perpateh Pandak answered, Very well, I can contrive that without difficulty. Day then dawned. Early in the morning King Sri Rana Wikerma appeared from the palace and gave a audience, and when Tun Perpateh Pandak presented himself, the king said to him, Now we will pit Benderang against Badang. But Tun Perpateh Pandak answered, It would be better not, your Highness: the defeat of either might mean pitting your Highness against your Highness younger brother! And King Sri Rana Wikerma smiled and said, Very well, Tun Perpateh Pandak, I wont oppose your wishes! Tun Perpateh Pandak then sought leave to return to Perlak, and King Sri Rana Wikerma gave him a letter and a present to take to the Raja of Perlak, whereupon he sailed home to Perlak. According to one tradition it was Benderang who made the boom across the river which still exists at Singapura. And when Tun Perpateh Pandak reached Perlak, the letter he brought was by the Raja of Perlak (s orders?) borne in procession by elephant, the elephant being brought alongside the hall of audience. And the king (? gave orders to) read the letter and was well pleased with its wording. And he asked Tun Perpateh Pandak why it was that the match between Benderang and Badang had not taken place. Tun Perpateh Pandak then described what happened between Badang and Benderang when they were drinking, and the Raja of Perlak received the story in silence (Brown, 1952:37-39). The name Perlak which appears in this pericope is a little state that became a vassal of Melaka in the fifteenth century. The earliest historical reference to Perlak, appears in the work of Marco Polo. He noted that the inhabitants of the little town of Perlak on the northern tip of Sumatra had been converted to Islam (Frampton, 1935:lvi). Vlekke in his book, Nusantara, a history of Indonesia stated that Perlak in the thirteenth was still the only Islamic polity in the Archipelago. Further, he mentioned that the oldest Islamic tombstone, that of Malik al-Saleh at Samudera-Pasai is located in Sumatra, dates from the year 1297, five years after Marco Polos visit. This tombstone still exists in the village of

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Samudra, one hundred miles northwest of Perlak on the Sumatran coast. (Mohammad Said, 1961:40; Vlekke, 1965:67). In Chapter Six of the Sejarah Melayu, we are informed about the introduction of Islam to the northen states of Sumatra, especially Perlak. The picture it provides corresponds to what Marco Polo noted in the thirteenth century. The Sejarah Melayu explains that the successive conversions of Fansuri, Lamiri, Haru, Perlak and finally Samudra to Islamic states were performed by the missionaries from Mekah under the leadership of Nahkoda Ismail. The Sejarah Melayu further mentions the marriage of the king of Pasai, Sultan Malik-al-Saleh with the daughter of Raja Perlak (Brown, 1952:4043). According to Parlindungan, the Perlak state became well known in the history of Islam in the Archipelago after this marriage of Princess Genggang of Perlak with Sultan Malik-al-Saleh, the first Muslim ruler of the famous port Pasai (Parlindungan, 1964:577). However, the history of Perlak and its role in the religious development of Islam in Southeast Asia requires further historical research. Badang becomes known in Perlak, and the Perlak champion, Benderang goes to contest his strength with Badang. In the previous pericope, Badang overcame the Kalinga challenger, but he was stopped later for diplomatic reasons from fighting with the champion from Perlak. The point that demands attention here is that why the Kalinga champion is treated in a different manner from the Perlak champion? Both Kalinga and Perlak kingdom was demonstrated by the pericope as having close relationship with the Singapura kingdom. Sri Rana Wikerma is married to Talai Puchudi, the Kalinga princess. Meanwhile, the relationship between the Perlak king and Singapura is described as: Tun Perpateh Pandak was given a place on the same level as Tun Jana Buga Dendang while Benderang was given the same level as Badang (Brown, 1952:38). The pericope portrays a more antagonistic attitude towards the Kalinga kingdom compared to Perlak, and this is probably due to the similarities of culture and religion between Perlak and Melaka. The traditions shows that the kingdom of Perlak was militarily weaker than Singapura. However, the strategy of Badang can be described as cunning, which is an admired quality in the Oriental culture (Brown, 1952:9). Finally, the contest is cancelled by Tun Perpateh Pandak on behalf of Benderang. When the king of Perlak comes to know why Benderang was made to withdraw from the contest, his reaction is describe thus: the Raja of Perlak received the story in silence (Brown, 1952:38). The silence of the king of Perlak presumably shows either his disappointment or loss of face. In the following tradition, we are told that Badang died and was buried on Buru Island, which is near to the Karimun Islands. Receiving the sad news, the Kalinga king sent a stone for the grave of Badang. According to Matheson, there is a Buddhist inscription found in Buru (Matheson, 1985:21). Perhaps the pericope is referring to this grave stone. And after a while Badang died and was buried at Buru. When the news of his death reached Kalinga, the Raja of Kalinga sent a stone for the grave, and that is the stone which is there to this day (Brown, 1952:39). The next tradition is the final pericope of the third chapter: And after Sri Rana Wikerma had reigned for thirteen years he died and was succeeded on the throne by his son Dam Raja, with the title of Paduka Sri Maharaja 82. Now the
82

Paduka Sri Maharaja, the name may be rendered The illustrious great king (Crawfurd, 1856:243).

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consort of King Dam was with child: and when the time was accomplished she brought forth a son. At his birth the midwife pressed too heavily on his head, with the result that it became lower in the middle than on the other side: and the king gave the child the name Raja Iskandar the Two-horned (Brown, 1952:39-40). The pericope tells us that Sri Rana Wikerma died after thirteen years of rule and was followed to the throne by his son called King Dam. On his accession, King Dam assumed the name of Paduka Sri Maharaja. According to the story King Dam has a son and the child is named Iskandar. The name Raja Iskandar has a very significant position in the Malay royal tradition. According to C.H. Wake, the name Iskandar had a strong and obvious appeal to Malay rulers who wished to root their claim to Malay royal lineage to Iskandar Dzul-Karnain, the supreme ancestor of Malay kings (Wake, 1983:143). Next we must note the rather peculiar phrase employed to define the physical features of Iskandar, whose head was dented by the mid-wife, from which deformity the child was called Raja Iskandar the Two-horned. We are told by the traditions in the sixth chapter of Sejarah Melayu that this deformed child is the ruler of Melaka. Does this deformity have anything to say about the fugitive Parameswara? The deformity demonstrates the physical feature of Raja Iskandar, who was also named as the Two-horned (Brown, 1952:40). In the Encyclopedia of Islam, Iskandar Dzul-Karnain, (Dzu or Dhu means the two-horned) is identified with Alexander the Great. Iskandar Dzul-Karnanin was given power on earth to conquer the countries in the East and the West. Iskandars conquests were so extensive that his name remained in the minds of the people of Southeast Asia and became a legend of supernatural greatness (Encyclopedia of Islam, 1978:127). The pericope designated Iskandar with the name of Two-horned because Iskandar was the founder of Melaka and a great ruler. In Tome Pires account of Parameswara, he describes Parameswara, the Melaka prince as a great knight and warlike man (Cortesao, 1944:231). The traditions in the Fourth and Fifth chapter of the Sejarah Melayu accounts for the existence of Singapura for about 100 years. The Sitz im Leben of the Singapura pericopes in the Sejarah Melayu has a significant function. The period of Singapura can be viewed as a eventful period for the development of the Malay royalty after the fall of Palembang. Singapura was demonstrated by the traditions discussed above to have been an important and glorious Malay kingdom. The greatness of Singapura and its founder, Sri Tri Buana illustrates that Singapura at one time was an important Malay kingdom. The traditions demonstrated Singapura to be a superior country, with a perfect uninterrupted sovereignty, from Sri Tri Buana to Iskandar Shah. 3.4 Summary This chapter has examined the Third, Fourth and Fifth chapters of the Sejarah Melayu, which begin with the period immediately after the arrival of the three princes in Palembang and end with the Singapura period. There is no written document in Malay of any sort regarding the kingdom of Palembang and Singapura, and the traditions of the Palembang and Singapura kingdom were evidently preserved entirely by mouth. This is a fact of utmost significance for the understanding of the Sejarah Melayu tradition. During the period of Palembang and Singapura, the traditions were preserved and

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transmitted orally from one generation to another. In the light of what was written in this chapter, Form Criticism has enriched our identification and understanding of the pericopes in the chapters of the Sejarah Melayu discussed above. These pericopes have developed independently before the period of Melaka to account for and to justify important events and historical phenomena. The Author of the Sejarah Melayu then gathered and selected these traditions. His main task was setting down the units of tradition and linking them with glosses to provide a coherent account of the origins of the Melaka kingdom. Thus to practice exegesis in regard to the Sejarah Melayu is to enquire what was the meaning intended by the Author and, more significantly, what was his purpose of writing the Sejarah Melayu. The process is one of uncovering the meaning which lies behind the words of the Author. However, in interpreting this passages a number of different lines of investigation must be followed. Textual and linguistic study, research into background, study of sources, form and context, which all have their vital part to play in exegesis. The application of the Form-Critical method has disclosed to us the extent and importance of oral tradition in the Sejarah Melayu. In the ensuing chapter, I shall look at in a more general way at the usefulness of the FormCritical method for the understanding of the Sejarah Melayu and the Malay political world.