Malay Annals - A Companion Handbook

The New Google Sites version is available at /yala-ma/malay-annals.

So was it fact or fantasy? Who knows? It's probably a bit of both. The lands in Sumatra and Malaya were visited by countless travellers, traders and envoys seeking fame, fortune and adventure. They brought with them their own stories, tales and legends. And as foreigners, their own stature did benefit greatly from a bit of puffing-up of their own ancestry or genealogy. This exaggeration coupled with a bit of competitive story-telling, may have led to some fanciful history.

But there is no smoke without fire! The "Sejarah Melayu" or Malay Annals is a wealth of information about the origin of Malays. Much of it can be supported by historical records of other nations. And yet, much of it is still a mystery, especially the beginning chapters of Sejarah Melayu!

Therein lies the attraction of this wondrous piece of literature!

Multiple choice

Originally entitled "Sulalat us-Salatin" (meaning "Genealogy of the Sultans" in arabic), this book is commonly known as "Sejarah Melayu" in malay -or- the "Malay Annals".

There have been several versions of the Malay Annals. Original copies of Sejarah Melayu were in hand-written manuscript in jawi, which is the malay language in arabic script. The oldest known manuscript called "Raffles MS#18" is from 1612 authored by Tun Bambang under commission from Raja Bongsu.

Over the centuries, copies of these manuscripts have been transliterated into roman script and some translated into english (and other european languages). For more details, read "The Variant Versions Of The Malay Annals" found at Sabri Zain Org or KnolSearch.

For this document, the versions we shall refer to are :-

- "Leyden" or ^JL - translated into english by (Dr.) John Leyden, published posthumously in 1821 [1] [2] [3] [4],
- "Samad" or ^ASA - transliterated into roman by A Samad Ahmad for Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka from 1979,
- "CCBrown" or ^CCB - Uses Raffles MS#18 transliterated into roman by (Sir) Richard O Winstedt in 1938, translated into English by Charles Cuthbert Brown in 1952
- "Shellabear" or ^WGS - transliterated into roman by Abdullah Abdul Kadir in 1831, compiled into english by William G Shellabear in 1896.

Although they tell the same stories, they are all presented with some small differences.

^CCB & ^JL versions can be found at Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS). A collection set of Leyden, CCBrown (with included Shellabear), plus a new Raffles MS#18 2009 transliteration is available at MBRAS by Abd Rahman Ismail & Cheah Boon Kheng.

Frontispiece of Jawi edition of "Sejarah Melayu" (Malay Annals) [source- WikiCommons].

Alexander the Two-Horned

The Malay Annals refers to Alexander as "Iskandar Dzulkarnain", or Alexander the Two-Horned.

In ancient greek history, Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC) is the son of Philip II and Olympias. During her pregnancy, Olympias was 19 and Philip had a dream of sealing her womb with the mark of a lion. Legend says that she was seduced by Zeus.

More legends of Alexander can be found in Alexander Romance, the Quran as well as persian epic poems like Shahnameh and Darab-nameh.

The eastern depiction of Alexander the Great shows him as not hostile but a friend to the persians and arabs.

The Malay Annals, mentions Alexander as "son of Darab" and not Philip (Filfus). In the book Darab-nameh, King Darab marries Philip's daughter Nahid but returns her to Philip unknowingly pregnant. Nahid secretly gives birth to Alexander, Olympias adopts the baby and makes claims of divine conception. Darab is succeeded by his son, also named Darab (some say Darius III) who was ironically embattled by Alexander. [see Universal History Ancient & Modern. vol 8, WF Mavor, 1805 p.176]

Alexander meets Darius' daughter, Rushanak [source- Walters Art Museum].

Alexander mourns the death of Darius [source- Walters Art Museum].

Portrait of Alexander wearing a diadem with Horns of Ammon from a Coin in the Bodleian Collection at Oxford [source- Arrian's Voyage of Nearchus].

Alexander pays his respects at the Temple of Abraham (Ka'abah) in Mecca [source- Fitzwilliam Museum].

Raja Kida Hindi

In the Malay Annals, Kida Hindi was defeated by Alexander the Great of Macedon, surrendered to Alexander, and befriended by him. Note that the act of befriending the enemy was not normal for Alexander of Macedon, who after conquest would kill all males and sell all females as slaves.

Later, Alexander would marry Kida Hindi's daughter, Shahr ul-Bariyah (in arabic, princess of the wilderness).

RO Winstedt (writer on malay subjects) in 1944 refers to Kida Hindi as " Kaid, an Indian ruler", a name also found in Shahnama (or Shahnameh; c. 977 - 1010 AD) by Firdausi. This is possibly King Kaydi, as mentioned in a book painting, "Alexander the Great bedding an Indian Girl given by King Kaydi".

Around the time of Alexander, Kaid Raj was the King of Marwar, a ruler of the Sindh. Kaid Raj invaded & occupied Punjab for a time and was later expelled & replaced by Porus.

King Porus (Fur) of Paurava was defeated by Alexander in 326 BC at the Battle of Hydaspes river (Jihlam), surrendered and eventually was appointed as a "satrap" (govenor) for the Macedons. After conquering the Punjab, Alexander marched down the Indus river, past the Sindh.

Marwar may have also been a conquest (like Punjab) as Kaid Raj or "Kand" is described as a powerful king ruling a distant part of the country, as well as a man of wisdom, virtue and good administration.

Muslim-indian history refers to Kaid Raj as "King Kafandh", who established peace with Alexander of Macedon to whom he sent his daughter. Kafandh was not a Hindu but we can only speculate as to whether he was a Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrian or something else. Later, Kafandh split the Sindh into 4 parts for his children to rule.

Also written as "Kend" in Les Praries d'Or [2] (or Meadows of Gold, by Al-Masudi, 896 - 956 AD), Alexander writes to Kend demanding his surrender. Instead, Kend offers him 4 enticing rare gifts: a beautiful girl, a profound philosopher, a skillful medical doctor and an inexhaustible cup (or vase). They deal through ambassadors and, after a few tests of wit, they eventually meet and become great friends. The enchanted cup is said to have belonged to Adam (father of men) who lived in Serendib (Sri Lanka) and made of unworldly indian substances.

The above story of the "4 wonders" given to Alexander is also told in Shahnama.

Alexander bedding indian girl given by King Kaydi [source- Walters Art Museum].

"Surrender of Porus to the Emperor Alexander," an engraving by Alonzo Chappel, 1865 [source- Ebay].

Longevity rules

In the Malay Annals ^{CCB & ASA}, Alexander converts to the abrahamic faith and meets Prophet Khidlir, who officiates Alexander's marriage to Shahr ul-Bariyah.

Prophet Khidlir (Khidr or Khyzer) was a companion of Prophet Abraham and Prophet Elijah (Elyas). Khidr accidentally drinks from the "River of Life" which gives him incredible longevity such that he later meets the Prophet Moses.

Following the logic that Prophet Khidr drank from the "river of life" around c. 1500 BC, it becomes possible that he would meet Alexander c. 330 BC. Perhaps Khidr had extra "water of life" which he gave a little to Aristun (Alexander's son) , who then reigns for 350 years.

Prophet Khidr and Elijah find the spring of the Water of Life. Alexander finds them in a cave [source- Fitzwilliam Museum].

Alexander searches for Fountain of Life but find Khidr and Elijah inside a cave [source- Walters Art Museum].

Family Tree, part 1 - from Kida to Suran ^[CCB]

Frankly, the early part of the tree is quite incredulous. Especially given that the period from Alexander the Great to Anushirwan the Great is 880 years for 5 generations.

In ^{JL & ASA versions}, the names are similar all the way to Narsi Baradarash, spelt as Tarsi Bardaras. But beyond this it changes quite drastically.

In ^{CCB version}, Raja Shulan of Nagapatam conquers forts of Gangga and Klanggiu; he then returns to Kalinga to build a city BijaNagara. His grandson, Chulan, has aspirations on conquering China but instead has an undersea adventure.

^{JL & ASA} name the Raja of Amdan Nagara as Raja Sulan and it is his daughter that marries Tarsi Bardaras and beget 3 sons; Heiran, Suran and Panden. It is Suran that attacks Gangga and Klanggiu, then has aspirations of conquest of China, then has undersea adventure, then returns to Kalinga to build the city Bijanagara.

Sassy Persians

In our story, the lineage of Alexander joins with the line of Raja Shulan, who is apparently the great x3 grandchild of Nusyirwan Adil, son of Kobat Shahriar ["Adil" means fair or just, in arabic]. The lineage of Alexander is joined to the Sassanid through Ardashiri Papagan's marriage to Nushirwan's daughter.

Kavadh_I (Qobad), from the house of Sassan and emperor of Persia, lived 449 - 531 AD. Khosrau_I Anushirwan the Just, aka Anushirvan the Great, the most famous of the Sassanid Emperors of Persia, lived from 501 - 579 AD

Khosrau I Anushirwan's reign was glorious but his successors were much less. His lineage extended as follows: Anushirwan -->-- Hormizd_IV (530-90) --> -- Khosrau_II Aparvez (c.570-628) --> -- Kavadh_II Siruya (590-628) --> -- Ardashir_III (621-630)

Hormizd IV killed off his brothers ; Khosrau II Aparvez was fairly successful but ; Kavadh II Siruya executed his father and killed off his 18 brothers including all male heirs while ; Ardashir III reigned at 7 years old but was murdered soon after. A male heir, Yazdegerd III (son of Shahryar & grandson to Khosrau II), survived to be the last Sassanid ruler.

The linkage to the Alexander line is from a daughter of Anushirwan. From the above information, Shulan would most probably be son (if at all) of another daughter of Anushirwan. Sadly, genealogy on his daughters is lacking.

The importance of a link to Anushirwan the Just was his bloodline to Zoroaster and Solomon; both of whom are related to Abraham and ultimately Adam & Eve (see Genealogy to Adam & Eve [1] [2] [3]).

Coin image of Kavadh I (Qobad)

Shahnama of Firdausi

Khosrau I Anushirwan the Great [source- Cleveland Museum of Art].

Rulers of India from the line of Aristun ^CCB

Kalinga fling

In ^{JL & ASA versions}, Raja Suran attacked Gangga Negara ruled by Gangga Shah Johan, defeats him and marries his sister, Princess Segangga. Raja Suran then attacked Kota Gelanggi (Langgiu) ruled by Raja Chulan (described as siamese), defeats him and marries his daughter, Princess Onang Kiu.

In ^CCB, it is a Raja Shulan of Nagapatam who attacks Gangga Nagara ruled by Raja Linggi Shah Johan, defeats him (without mention of his sister). Raja Shulan then attacks Klenggiu ruled by Raja Chulin, defeats him and marries his daughter, Princess Onang Kiu.

^WGS is similar to ^CCB, with Raja Shulan as above but differs with Princess Onang Kiu being the daughter of Raja Linggi of Gangga Nagara.

Ancient tamil inscriptions tell that Rajendra_Chola_I of the Chola empire from South India destroyed the malay fort in Gangga Negara and raided the siamese fort in Kota Gelanggi in 1025.

Rajendra Chola I the Great (or Sola Deva) reigned 1012 - 1044 and was considered the greatest tamil emperors. Rajendra's armies conquered south-india, then west-india, and then north-east taking the Ganges, earning him the title "GangaiKonda Chola", the Chola Ganges conqueror.

The Cholas enjoyed huge profits from their trade ties with the persians, arabs and chinese. With his chola navy base in the Andamans, Rajendra launched the expeditionary campaigns into Sumatra & Malaya for their Srivijaya ally to control piracy and protect shipments in the Straits of Malacca. His envoys arrived in China in 1015 & 1033.

Whether he was Shulan or Suran, the story tells that he eventually returned to Kalinga and built Bijaya Nagara ("Victory City" in sanskrit) with a fort of black stone, encompassing seven hills and with a great lake at the centre. This description matches Rajendra Chola I's new capital city, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, built of well-burnt bricks and contains a lake in the centre which spreads 22km.

Rajendra's father was RajaRaja Chozan I (or Arulmozhi Thevar, Kesari Varman, PeruvuDaiyar) reigned 985 - 1014. Three of Rajendra's sons succeeded to the throne: RajaDhiRaja Chola I [reign 1018 - 54] ; Rajendra Chola II [reign 1053-63]; ViraRajendra Chola (Vira Solan) [reign 1063-70]. ViraRajendra also led an invasion against Kedah (1068) in Malaya.

Chola invaders attacking a fort in Kedah [source Commons, WikiMedia].

Rajendra_Chola_I being crowned by Shiva with Pavarti [source- Commons, WikiMedia].

Onang Kiu and Chendani Wasis

Despite the story differences, all variants of the story tell that Princess Onang Kiu had a daughter named Princess Chendani Wasis. It doesn't help that the names are similar like Sulan, Shulan, Suran and Chulan.

In ^ASA, Raja Suran marries Princess Onang Kiu and they beget a daughter, Princess Chendani Wasis. Later, Chendani Wasis marries Raja Chu Lan, son of the king of China.

In ^JL, Raja Suran marries Princess Onang Kiu and they beget a daughter, Princess Chanduwani Wasias. Later, Chanduwani Wasias marries Raja Chulan, son of Raja Hiran.

In ^WGS, Raja Shulan marries Princess Onang Kiu and they beget a daughter, Princess Chendana Wasis. Later, Chendana Wasis marries Raja Suran Padshah, descendant of Alexander.

In ^CCB, Raja Shulan marries Princess Onang Kiu and they beget a daughter, Princess Chendani Wasis. Later, Chendani Wasis marries Raja Suran Padshah, son of Raja Narsi Biradarash. Then, Suran and Chendani beget 3 children: Raja Jiran (ruler of Chendragiri); Raja Chulan (successor to Shulan); and, Raja Pandayan (ruler of Nagapatam).

Actors as siamese princesses [source- Commons, WikiMedia]

Under-Sea Adventure

Apparently invented by Aristotle in the 4th century BC, the diving bell was supposedly used by Alexander the Great in the Mediterranean Sea to dismantle the enemy's underwater defence structures.

Our story also has a voyage under the sea in a glass chest.In ^{JL & ASA}, continuing after the conquest of Gangga Nagara and Glang Giu, Raja Suran makes this undersea journey. In ^{WGS & CCB}, Raja Shulan returns to Kalinga to found Bija-Nagara and is succeeded by Raja Chulan, who makes the undersea journey. From herein, we shall just refer to him as "our hero".

Under the sea, our hero falls into at a realm called Dika (or Zeya) where the people are called Barsam (Bu Sum). Half the people are of-the-faith and half are unbelievers. Our hero meets the king, Aftab ul-Ard [Sunlight of the Earth], who marries our hero to Aftab's daughter, Mahtab ul-Bahri [Moonlight of the Sea]. Three years later, they have 3 children.

In ^{ASA version}, a jinn (genie) king named Asmaghiah [most senior] Peri arrives at the court, befriends our hero and gives him 3 crowns from King Solomon's treasury. With these, our hero asks King Aktab to give a crown to each of his sons when they are of age.

The Malay Annals continue with our hero asking King Aftab to release our hero's children to the human world so that the lineage of Alexander the Great can continue. Our hero yearns to leave and bids a tearful farewell to his wife and 3 children. Then he rides off on the brazen winged-steed named Faras ul-Bahri [horse of the sea]. Leaving the nether-world, he arrives at the shores of Bentiri (or Baniras).

Once on land, our hero commissions the people to erect a great marker engraved with the undersea story, the marker to be pushed into the sea for our hero's descendents to find in the future and learn of their heritage.

Alexander the Great being lowered in a glass diving bell.

and again...

Kuda Sembrani

In Malay mythology, "Kuda Sembrani" is a flying horse. It literally means "brazen steed".

Picture Top-Left - from Malay Magic by WW Skeat, page 514 text "Magic flying horse (kuda sembrani) used in the shadow-play by Che Abas. It is said to be able to swim through the water as well as fly through the air" [source- Malay Magic - WW Skeat]

Picture Left - Iron nutcrackers from Bali in the form of Kuda Sembrani used for areca (pinang) nuts [source- TropenMuseum].

Picture Bottom-Right - Persian manuscript depicting Prophet Muhammad riding Buraj (flying horse) accompanied by Archangel Gabriel [source- British Library].

Coromandel Coast

The Coromandel coast is named from Cholamandalam, the land of the Cholas in Tamil. The Cholas are from the south-eastern India but, through conquest, their empire stretched across the whole eastern coast to the Ganges.

The Malay Annals makes reference to locations in India; some of which we can identify and some we can speculate:-

Chandragiri

Nagapatam = Nagapattinam

Bijaya Nagara = GangaiKonda CholaPuram

Manjakini = Mandakini

Amdan Nagara = Thanjvur

Vijaya Nagar, means "Victory City" (in Sanskrit/ Hindi), and not surprisingly there are several cities which qualify with this name. However the description in Malay Annals of black walls and giant lake could possibly match GangaiKonda CholaPuram, which was built to celebrate victory over the Ganges territory.

There are 2 different Mandakini rivers. One is a tributary to Alaknanda and then Ganges. The other Mandakini river is in Khordha (Kalinga), also called Mallaguni river near Chilka lake. Chilka lake was a trade port for ships to south-east asia in the 10th century.

Amdan Nagara, means "Revenue City" (in Sanskrit/ Hindi), and again there are several cities with this name. There are towns called Amdan in West Bengal as well as Punjab in India. Under the Cholas, it is likely that Amdan refers to Thanjavur (or Tanjore), their capital city before GangaiKonda CholaPuram.

One historical text mentions Amdan Nagara as -:: "The earliest incident chronicled in the Sajarah Malayu is the conquest of the Malay Peninsula by a Raja Suran, King of "Amdan Nagara," a place which one commentator has sought to identify with Hamadan, a town in Persia. I find, however, that in an article on the History of Yijayanagar, in Asiatic Researches, "Amdanagara" is treated as synonymous with Gujarat." ::- Account of the Malay Chiri, pg 15, by WE Maxwell, 1881.

Alternative city for Bijanagara

In "History of Java" vol 2 (1817) T S Raffles uses the city name as Bisnagur.

-:: On the return of Raja Suren he founded a city of great size, the fame of which became renowned, and the name of which was Bisnagur (a well known and celebrated city of the south of India), which even at the present time is a great city in the land of Kling. ::-

Bisnagur (Bijinagur, Bezenegur, Vijayanagar) was a famous city in its time. It was founded by King Belal-Deo of Narsinga (Veera Ballala III of Hoysala) in 1344. Later it became part of the Vijayanagara empire. The city was pillaged and razed to the ground in 1565 by the Deccans. The ruins of Bisnagur are near Hampi along the Tungabhadra river in Karnataka.

It is described in detail in several books:-

"Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan" - J Rennell, 1788, Pg 211

"General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels" - R Kerr, 1822 Vol 7

"Asiatic Annual Register for the year 1800" Vol 2, Pg 227

"Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of Hindustan" Vol 2, Pg 235

"History of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan" - R Orme 1745, Vol 1, Book V, Pg 426

"Maratha History" - S R Sharma, 2005

Lotus Palace in Bisnagur, circa 1868 [source- Museum of Photographic Arts Collections]

Temple of Krishna in Bisnagur, 1868 [source- British Library].

Malayan locations

Sejarah Melayu mentions 2 battlefields which Suran fought in: (i) Gangga Negara, and (ii) Glang-Kiu (Langgiu).

(1) Gangga Nagara : Ruled by Ganggi Shah Juana (Johan). City is atop a hill of very steep in front; easy access at the rear. Fort is on on the Dinding riverbank, near Perak.

In Sanskrit, the words Gangga Nagara refers to "river nation". The Dinding river is now designated as Manjung river. My best-guess would be Lumut on a hilltop.

(2) Glang-Kiu : Ruled by Raja Chulan. Fort is of black stone up the river Johor. Klang Khaw is Siamese for emerald realm. Chulan marched 4 horizons to battle Suran at a river named Panggil or Pangkali.

Perhaps, Glang-Kiu refers to Kota Glanggi, which has its own legend but that isn't up the Johor river. My best-guess would be next to lake Linggiu, which is up Johor river.

War Elephants [source- WikiCommons].

Three noblemen at Si-Guntang Hill

On Si-Guntang Hill, 3 noblemen appear who claim descendancy from Iskandar Dzulkarnain and Nushirwan Adil. This is a critical point in our story because they marry into what becomes the lineage of the Minangkabau and Malacca sultanate (amongst others).

^{CCB version}

^{JL version}

^{ASA version}

Think of the story so far as three parts: [event 1] attacks on Gangga & Langgiu, [event 2] encounter with chinese fake ship and underwater realm adventure, [event 3] the appearance of 3 men on SiGuntang.

^CCB puts [event 1] as Shulan, [event 2] as Chulan, while ^{JL & ASA} put both [event 1] & [event 2] as Suran.

In ^CCB : Jiran = raja of Chandragiri, Pandayan = raja of Nagapatam, Chulan = succeeded Shulan, raja of Bijaya Nagara.

In ^{JL & ASA} : Hiran = raja of Hindostan, Panden = raja of Turkestan, Suran = succeeded Sulan, raja of Amdan Nagara.

In ^JL : Palidutani = raja of Amdan, Nilumanam = raja of ChanduKani, Bichitram = raja of a small territory.

In ^ASA : PaladuTani = raja of Amdan, NilaManam = raja of Bijaya Nagara, ChitramShah = raja of ChanduKani (a small territory).

Drawing from History of Java, vol 2 - T S Raffles, 1817, 1st ed. - from pg. 54f found in vicinity of Boro Bodo. In the story of 3 princes appearing on Bukit Seguntang, one of the princes was riding a cow; and the cow vomited froth from which a man called Bat'h appeared.

Origins from the Javanese perspective

Perhaps a look at the origins of the Javanese might give some better insight. This section contains texts taken entirely from "History of Java, vol 2" - T S Raffles, 1817 1st edition & 2nd edition Gb.

From pg.65 (60^ed.2) Chapter X -:: "Amongst the various traditions regarding the manner in which Java and the Eastern Islands were originally peopled, and the source whence its population proceeded, it has been related, that the first inhabitants came in vessels from the Red Sea (Láut Míra), and that, in their passage, they coasted along the shores of Hindustan; that peninsula then forming an unbroken continent with the land in the Indian Archipelago, from which it is now so widely separated, and which, according to the tradition, has since been divided into so many distinct islands, by some convulsions of nature or revolution of the elements.

These people are supposed to have been banished from Egypt, and to have consisted of individuals professing different religious persuasions, who carried along with them to the land of their exile, their different modes of worship and articles of belief. Some are said to have adored the sun, others the moon; some the elements of fire or water, and others the trees of the forest." ::-

All drawings from History of Java, vol 2 - T S Raffles, 1817, 1st ed.

"From the Ruins at Suku near the Mountain Lawu" pg.46

From pg.47 (50^ed.2) The Temples at Suku (26 miles east of Sura-kerta) {see drawings, top right} -:: "It was impossible to reflect on the design of these sculptures, without being forcibly struck with their reference to the ancient worship of Egypt. The form of the gateway itself, and of all the ruins within our view, was pyramidal. In the monster devouring the child we were reminded of Typhon; in the dog, of Anoubis; in the stork, of the Ibis: the tree, too, seemed to be the palm, by which the Egyptians designated the year; the pigeon, the hawk, the immense serpents, were all symbols of Egyptian worship." ::-

Above left "DURGA, called Lara Jong'grang by the Modern Javans. From a Subject in Stone brought from Brambanan" pg. 54a Above right top "From subjects in Stone collected from different parts of Java." pg. 54d Above right bottom "From Subjects in Stone found in the vicinity of Boro Bodo in Kedu" pg. 54f From pg.66 to 68 (71 to 73^ed.2) -:: "But it is only from the supposed arrival of Adi or Aji Sáka, that the Javans, even in their traditions, enter with any confidence into details." ::- -:: "The accounts of the real character of Aji Sáka are various. Some represent him as a great and powerful prince, who established an extensive colony on Java, which a pestilence afterwards obliged him to withdraw; whilst others consider him as a saint and deity, and believe that on his voyage to Java he sailed over mountains, islands, and continents." ::- -:: "In the Sanscrit language Sáka means an era, and is applied to the founder of an æra; and in the chronology of the Hindu princes of India, Sáka is a name or title, which has so often been assumed, that it is sufficient to say to whom it is most appropriately due. According to Sir William Jones, Sáka is a name of Budha. In the chronology of the kings of Magádha, by Major Wilford, the Hindus are stated to have divided the Kaliyúga into six unequal portions, or subordinate periods, called Sákas, because they derived their origin from six Sákas, or mighty and glorious monarchs, of whom three have already made their appearance and three are still expected." ::-

-:: "The same writer informs us, that the first Bála Rája, a title peculiarly given to the ancient sovereigns of Guj-'rat, and who is supposed to have lived in the seventh century of the Christian era, was called Di Sáka, or Déva Sáka; which being also one of the titles of Salivahana, might induce an opinion that they were the same person, if, as Major Wilford acknowledges, the confusion and uncertainty of the Hindu records did not almost deter us from forming any fixed opinion whatever." ::-

Not exactly conclusive... but this was insightful.

2010 Photo of statues at Candi Sukuh, west of Gunung Lawu, Central Java [source- Bennylin at Wiki Commons].

Alternate Universe - Jinn and Peri

From an Islamic perspective, God made three types of beings; humans, angels and jinn. Humans are made from the sticky clay; angels are made of light; while jinn are made from fire, which is scorching and smokeless.

Angels never disobey God, never get tired nor bored; they are usually invisible but can manifest in earthly form; they have no gender and can have 2,3 or 4 wings. Note that angels do not have free will.

Conversely, jinn do have free will. Some jinn are good, while some jinn are bad. Some jinn are believers and of the faith, while some jinn are not. Humans encounter jinn because the jinn sometimes transgress into our dimensional realm. Apparently, jinn are sometimes used by humans in magic tricks, fortune telling and seances, since jin are able to mimick the voices of deceased humans.

Basically, the jin encompass all of what humans deem as supernatural. The Devil (or Satan) is a jinn and is named "Iblis". His followers are called "Shaitan" in arabic, which roughly translates to "demons". Plus there are many more types of jinn.

The good jinn are called "Peri" in farsi (persian), which is roughly equivalent to "Faerie" or "Fay". The peri do good deeds in order to enter heaven. In middle eastern folklore, there is even a country called Paristan.

The Quran tells of King Solomon who managed to enslave some jinn to help with the building of his temple.

^ASA mentions king Asmagiah Peri as a jinn. Malay Annals contains several strange or supernatural characters, hence, they are probably jinn. The entire kingdom under the sea are peri (in ^ASA, as told by the 3 men on SiGuntang hill explaining their history) [also in Raffles MS#18 2009 transliteration]. Bat'h (companion to the 3 on SiGuntang) is formed from a cow's vomit.

Pictures on Left: Arabic Demon art - [top] Tabia (female) helps with child-birth; [middle] Kabus, an incubus; [bottom] Al-Malik al-Aswad, the black king of the jinn. [source- Oxford University Library]

Pictures on Right: Indian Peri art - Peri, Persian Faeries from the 19th century Kalighat souvenir paintings. [source- Oxford Uni. Library]

Chola and Chalukya

After ViraRajendra Chola, the throne eventually passed to his cousin, Kulothunga Chola I (reign 1070-1120) of the Vengi & Chalukya-Cholas. Kulothunga is related to the Cholas through his grandmother, mother and wife. In 1067, Kulothunga Chola led the naval expedition to Kadaram (Kedah) to intervene in SriVijaya politics to re-install a usurped king and stayed on a while in Kadaram. Kulothunga married Maduranthaki, daughter of Rajendra Chola II, and she bore him 7 sons. His envoys were recorded in China in 1077.

RajaRaja Chozan I / \ Vimaladitya -+- Kundavai Rajendra Chola I | / \ Rajaraja I Narendra -+- AmmangaDevi Rajendra Chola II | / Kulothunga Chola -+- Maduranthaki | Vikrama Chola

Vikramanka Chalukhya (1076-1127) sends a friendly letter to Kulottunga Chola. While the peace lasted, the arts, literature and architecture flourished [source- Hutchinson's Story of the Nations]

Genealogy to Adam & Eve [1] [2] [3]

Chura Si Manja Kini

Chora Si Manja Kini, part of the regalia of the state of Perak in Malaysia [source- sembangkuala, wordpress].

Regalia of Perak :

The sword which slew the giant snake Sakatimona was named Cura Si Manjakini. In that battle, the sword became marked with 190 scratches.

The sword first appears in Sejarah Melayu carried by the 3 men at Seguntang Hill. Malay Annals ^{JL & ASA} mention 3 weapons carried by the 3 men on SiGuntang Hill.

Quoted from Incidents of Malay Life - RJ Wilkinson, 1908 - pg 74-5.

-:: The most important of the regalia is the sword of state known as chura si-manjakini. It is worn with a chain slung over the shoulder. The sword is associated with the spirit of the kingdom (Jin Kĕrajaan) who is apt to press upon it at the time of installation. To satisfy the widow of Sultan Ali who insisted on this detail the present Sultan put a little pad on his shoulder to prevent it being injured by the weight of the Jin, and His Highness states that he did feel a curious pressure on three separate occasions at his installation. The Malay tradition about this sword chura si-manjakini is that it was the sword of Alexander the Great and that it was used by Sang Sapurba to kill the great serpent Sikatimuna which infested the land of Menangkabau. On that occasion the sword got terribly notched, and the notches — according to the story — can be seen to this day. But I must add that several Malay dynasties claim to possess this sword and that the Perak sword is not notched.::-

-:: ...the sword chura simanjakini and the seal (kayu gamat chap halilintar) are the special distinction of the " line of Alexander." The seal in question is a small silver seal with a piece of wood passing through the handle. The original piece of wood — the kayu gamat — has rotted away and has been replaced by a new piece. The inscription on the seal is Sĕri Sultan Muhamat Shah Dzil Allah fi'l Alam (the Illustrious Sultan Muhamad Shah, God's shadow on Earth). The seal kayu gamat is mentioned (under the name kayu kampit) as the seal of the Great Alexander in the " Malay Annals " of A.D. 1612. The word kampit in Sanskrit seems to mean "seal" just as the word chura means "sword," so that these two traditional properties of Alexander are obviously traceable to Hinduism. But as the original wooden seal has rotted away we have no guide to what the kayu gamat really was.::-

It is thought that the name of the sword is derived from Churiga (blade, in Sanskrit) and Mandakini. The Mandakini river (also Malaguni) is the source of the Daya river which flows to Chilika Lake, which was the Chola main port in the 10th century.

Above: Keris Pestaka, Taming Sari (Keris of Hang Tuah), Chorik Si Manjakani (Chura Si-Mandangkini), Mestika Embun (talisman of petrified dew), Nafiri horn & 2 pedestal trays [source- Arkib Malaysia].

Below : Agok, kanching alkah chest ornament, dokoh, pontoh bernaga & pontoh ular lidi armlets, chap halilintar kayu gamat & Taming Sari [source- Arkib Malaysia].

Sakatimona

An encounter with a 10 metre python must be quite terrifying. After all, it is the length of 6 men and it'll probably take 6 men just to ward it away from your home. At this size, it's appetite would probably include large goats, buffalo and humans.

Sakatimona was the enormous snake which terrorised the villages of the Minangkabau in Sumatra. Eventually, Sakatimona was killed by a champion named Permasku Mambang with the sword Churik Si Mandang Kini.

Curiously, the champion swordsman's name "mambang" means "spectre" or "apparition" in Malay.

Alternative spellings

- Sakatimona / Si Kati-Muno / Sakti Mona

- Permasku Mambang / Peramas Cumambang / Peremas Ku Mambang

In Malay Magic by W Skeat, Sakatimuna is an astronomical Naga and part of the world's creation mythology. Quoting from a Malay charm book, Sakatimuna is killed by the archangel Gabriel using an iron staff taken from heaven's gate. The snake is split: It's head fixed to the sky, it's tail to the earth. It's numerous body-parts transformed into various Jinn and Spectres (Mambang) (see full text).

"Sa kati" means "one hundred thousand"; "sakti" means "mystical" or "magic".

Malayan reticulated pythons (python reticulatus) can grow up to 10 metres in length. [source- TropenMuseum].

Captured python, 1925 [source- TropenMuseum].

Snakeskin, a product of Enggano Island, Sumatra. c1900-40 [source- TropenMuseum]

Source = "Sulalat us-Salatin : Sejarah Melayu" - at MyManuSkrip (Pustaka Digital Manuskrip Melayu Online Repository

Source = "Malay Annals" - translated by Dr. John Leyden, 1821 Google Books J9JAAAAAYAAJ

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