Founder of Malay Royalty = Minangkabau
The Founder of Malay Royalty and his Conquest of Saktimuna, the Serpent
By R. O. WINSTEDT, C.M.G., D.LITT.
Journal of The Malayan Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society - vol. IV, 1926 : pg. 413~419 - Sir Richard Olof Winstedt : [ 1 ], [ 2 ], [ 3 ], [ 4 ].
Authentic records show that a dynasty sprung from "a king of the mountains" ruled the old Sumatran kingdom of Palembang (or Sri Vijaya) from at least the VIIth to the XIVth century A.D., controlled Central Java as early as 778 A.D., claimed suzerainty over Western Java for 400 years and probably introduced Mahayana Buddhism there (JRASSB. No. 81, pp. 23-8). So great was this ancient Buddhist kingdom, that even the ruler of Muslim Minangkabau, which took Palembang's place after Hindu Java had destroyed it, is commonly described as one of the three great monarchs of the world along with the Sultan of Rome (= Byzantium) and the Emperor of China, all sons of Alexander the Great! (Encyclopadie van Nederlandsch Oost-Indië 1918, vol. II, p. 739: van der Toorn's Tjindoer Mato, Batavia, 1886, pp. 5, 68).
In the XVIIth century "Malay Annals" there is a story of a wandering "Kalinga" prince, a descendant of Alexander the Great, with the title of Bichitram Shah, the son of a Raja Suran who is recorded to have ravaged the west coast of the Malay Peninsula and was apparently an XIth century Chula king at enmity with Palembang.
In Shellabear's edition of the "Malay Annals" Bichitram Shah is dissatisfied because his father gives him the small kingdom of "Chandu-Kani", and he sets sail from India on a voyage of conquest but his fleet is scattered by a storm and nothing more is said of him. According to Dulaurier's text (Collection des Principales Chroniques Malayes, vol. II Paris, 1856, p. 35) Bichitram Shah accompanied by Nila Pahlawan, Kisna Pandita and Nila Uttama, came from heaven down to a mountain in Palembang, Bichitram Shah was given the title of Sang Sapurba, made ruler of the country and begat two sons Maniaka and Nila Kisna on Radin Sendari, daughter of Demang Giwanan {arabic script} (ib. p. 54) - it would appear however that this text has dragged in a redundant Bichitram Shah not to leave him out of the story. Shellabear's text states that the three persons who descended on the Palembang hill were Nila Pahlawan, Krisna Pandita and Nila Uttama and that they were half-brothers of Bichitram Shah, their father being Raja Suran and their mother a princess from a kingdom in the depths of the sea. Nila Uttama is given the title of Sang Sapurba and begets Maniaka on a daughter of a Palembang aboriginal chief. His brothers marry Wan Empok and Wan Malini, the girls in whose rice-clearing the three princes had alighted.
JRASSB. No. 81, pp. 23-8 [ 1 ] see below
Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch Oost-Indië 1918, vol. II, p. 739
Tjindoer Mato, Minangkabausch-Maleische Legende, Batavia, Johannes Ludovicus van der Toorn, 1886, pp. 5, 68
Collection des Principales Chroniques Malayes, vol. II Paris, Éd Dulaurier, 1856, p. 35
Now the names Sapurba, Maniaka and Nila Uttama are corruptions of Suprabta, Menaka and Tilottama, three Apsaras, nymphs of Indra's heaven. And there is other Indian colouring in the incongruous legend. Nila Uttama descended in the Palembang hill rice-clearing on a white bull, from whose vomit emerged a bard with an Indian name who recited a Sanskrit coronation formula.* Again the Palembang mountain on which Sang Sapurba alighted from heaven was thereafter styled Mahameru, the Hindu name for the pivot of the universe, the abode of Vishnu and Indra; a detail that recalls how in Greece "the Olympian gods, wherever their worshippers moved, tended to dwell on the highest mountain in the neighbourhood and the mountain thereby became Olympus." Lastly while one of the two girl rice-planters bears a native name, Malini the name of the other seems to be Sanskrit, meaning "Garlanded."
The story continues that after wandering to Java, Borneo and Bentan, "Sang Sapurba" sailed to Minangkabau where the chiefs - one version mentions Pateh Suatang as their head - "waited respectfully on the raja and informed him that they considered his arrival as a signal piece of good fortune, and would be happy to appoint him raja, but that they were grievously harassed by an immense snake (Sakti-muna), which they wished he would oblige them by destroying, as it had resisted all their efforts either to cut or pierce without either being stunned or wounded. Sang Sapurba assented, and requested them to show him its den. Then a champion, named Permasku Mambang was sent by Sang Sapurba with his famous sword Chora Semandang Kini to perform this service... As soon as the champion saw it lying with huge coils like a hillock, the snake saw him and put itself in motion, when the champion smote it with the sword and cut it into three parts... In this combat the sword received one hundred and ninety notches." (Leyden's Malay annals, p. 39). According to this version Sang Sapurba was then made king of Minangkabau: according to another he had already been made king and was tested later over the snake.
The sword became one of the Minangkabau regalia and in the Chindur Mato is called Madang Giri. In the following interesting variant of the legend from the "Genealogy of the Rajas of Pulo Percha, from a MS. in the possession of the Sultan of Indrapura" (Miscellanies, Sumatran Mission Press, Bencoolen, 1822, vol. II) the kingdom of which the serpent's slayer is made ruler is Palembang or Langkapura and it is one of his descendants, driven by Javanese of Mataram away from Palembang, who founds Pagar Ruyong and becomes ruler of Minangkabau.
* This formula is still recited in Perak by the Dato' Sri Nara 'diraja, the lineal descendant of this bard (whose family may not eat beef) when wearing the ancient dragon-armlets of a Hindu prince a Sultan of Perak is installed. At the same time the real Hindu name of Sang Sapurba is whispered by the Dato' into his royal master's ear.
The name of the sword is given as Chemundang Giri, "Hewer of a mountain."
This version runs: -
The king of Mogul Khyrun set out from his city of Sah ul Sayah, came to the country of the Brahmans and placed over it a Raja named Bacha Salegram Jawahir Sing, passed on to Hindustan and thence to Barapura, whence he sailed for Medan. At the end of six months he reached Nilapura and remained there three years. At last he sailed away for an island, Pulo Percha, "towards the left of the rising sun whence smoke issued as from a rock." "On the fourth morning he arrived and saw the waves breaking at the foot of that mountain and at a little distance what appeared to be an island, with a man standing upon it. The island appeared endeavouring to rise from the sea, but the man scattered the earth and prevented it, so that it again disappeared. Day by day the same was repeated... The king then ordered the ship to be moved to that place, and, when he arrived, asked 'O thou, who stirrest up the waters who art thou?' The reply was, 'I am Sikatimuno.' The king asked, 'What is your employment?' and Sikatimuno replied, 'I am destroying this island that it may not become land.' Then the king drew forth his sword called Chemundang Giri, which destroyed of itself, and said, 'O Sikatimuno, now I will kill you.' He replied, 'Thou canst not kill me.' Sikatimuno was then destroyed by Chemundang Giri and the island of Lunkapura became land by the will of God. It became large and extended to the foot of the mountain. Thereafter the king landed on that island, called also Sa-guntang-guntang Penjaringan and situated between Palembang and Jambi." And he became its ruler.
More complete from the point of view of the folklorist a version of this widespread type of tale comes from Ujjain, the ancient capital of Malwa in western India. There once upon a time a demon vexed and devoured the people till the city was deserted. At last the demon consented to accept one victim a day, provided that the victim was allowed to exercise absolute sovereignty for the day. A caravan of merchants from Gujerat halted near the city. Vikramaditya, a grandson of Indra, was their servant. Understanding the language of beasts he heard the tale of the city's plight from a jackal. Next day he entered Ujjain, found a potter's son being forced into sovereignty, took his place and that night worsted the demon and was made ruler of the country. (Frazer's Golden Bough, Part III, The Dying God, 3rd ed., pp. 122-3).
An important detail is that in nearly all the Malay versions the slayer of the snake is a descendant of Alexander the Great! This anachronistic detail comes from Muslim India.
A Sumatran legend from Lampong of the beginning of the XXth century relates how the great serpent Sakti-muna was slain by a Muslim Saint (Wali Allah) from India, how its corpse became a hill near Palembang and how the saint settling beside it at last got the name of Raja Iskandar, that is, Prince Alexander. Palembang folklore places the grave of Alexander the Great on a hill said to be the sacred hill of the Sang Sapurba legend! (G. P. Rouffaer's Was Malaka Emporium voor 1450 A.D. genaamd Malajoer, pp. 470-1).
A popular religious account robs "Sang Sapurba" of credit for the snake's destruction and ascribes it to an archangel! For according to a Malay charm-book from Selangor, which was lent to Skeat "the navel of the earth is the serpent Sakti-muna, who coils round the earth. And the word of God came secretly to Gabriel, 'Take the iron staff of the Creed that hangs by the gate of heaven and smite for me the serpent Sakti-muna.' And Gabriel smote the serpent in twain, so that its head shot against the sky and its tail penetrated the earth.
"Its tail became the Genie called Glory of the Universe (Sri 'Alam), its tongue the Wonder-working Genie (Jin Sakti), the seeds of its eyes White Genies, the hollow of its eyes Grandsire Siva (Dato' Mentala Guru), the irises of its eyes the Black, Green, Blue and Yellow Genies, and its life-breath the Raja of Genies. Its liver became the embryo of life, its eyes limes, the dirt of its eyes incense, the film of them cotton and its self became the Genie that makes the world revolve. Its intestines became the Genie who encircles the world, its heart the Genie who is the Herald of the World, the brightness of its jewel the genie that makes the world quiver, its voice lightning, the glitter of its sword sheet-lightning, and the hot breath of its sword the magic power of causing death by pointing, called after Raja Wana. Its sword became the rainbow, its blood the Yellow Spirit of Sunset, the glitter of its blood the Spirit of Light, and the heat of its blood became fire. Its spirit became wind, its liquid water, and the elements of its seed earth and iron; the hair on its body became grass, the hair of its head trees, its sweat dew. Again, the elements of its seed became rice and fish, and the blood of its navel became the poisonous upas tree.
From its tail that stuck in the earth sprang caul, after-birth, navel and the discharge before delivery, which cause all sickness. From their blood were created ghosts and spirits of the earth and from their souls all birth vampires." (Malay Magic pp. 582-3).
This is the crude popular pantheism that came from Muslim India. And the account ends by finding the attributes of that macrocosm the world in the microcosm, man. The Genie that is the Glory of the World is located in the human eye; the Genie that makes the world quiver in man's breath; the Genie that makes the world revolve in man's heart; and the Genie that is Herald of the World is the Muslim creed!
But what have Islam and the Angel Gabriel to do with Sakti-muna? Muslim legend makes Jan, a serpent, the father of all genies. To the Malays, Jan was a great serpent from over the sea. Therefore Sakti-muna must have been another name for Jan and have been the father of all genies! The old-world Malay was quite happy "voyaging strange seas of thought, alone," with an eye blind to language frontiers and the lapse of centuries. So the Malay magician uses the invocation
"Genies infidel and Muslim!
You and I are of one origin, both servants of Allah.
But ye are children of Sakti-muna
And I am descended from the Prophet Adam."
(Winstedt's Shaman, Saiva and Sufi p. 95).
And because the sword of Sang Sapurba received one hundred and ninety notches, it must have hacked one hundred and ninety pieces off the father of all genies and created the Malay magician's favourite number of one hundred and ninety spirits! (ib. pp. 84, 171).
The vitality of the many-detailed Minangkabau legend is so remarkable a feature in Malay folklore, that it would seem it must have had some important historical basis. Just as it has telescoped late Muslim myth into Hindu myth from Minangkabau, so it may have telescoped earlier Palembang history into Minangkabau legend. Several layers may be detected, and several points deserve stress.
A prince, whose original name is changed on accession, descends from the sky in a rice-clearing in Palembang. His coming improves the rice-crop. And one account associates the spot with "the tomb of Alexander the Great," which if it ever had foundation in fact would certainly be a megalith. It is needless to dilate on the interest of these associated details to readers of Mr. Perry's book, "The Children of the Sun." The sky origin of the rulers of Minangkabau (who took the place of the earlier Palembang dynasty) is preserved also in customary sayings, which with the usual democratic spirit of that people invent a similar origin for their commoner chiefs:-
When to earth a prince fell standing
And the first of chiefs fell pensive
And the first of tribal headmen
Fell in attitude of homage
Or
He the first king, king primaeval
Dropped he as the rain from heaven...
White the blood that in him flowed
(JRASSB. No. 78, pp. 8-11)
With regard to Mr. Perry's view that the diffusion of culture followed the track of gold and pearls, it may be noted that in the XVth and XVIIth centuries Minangkabau was famous for its gold trade (Marsden's Sumatra 1784 p. 268), and the king "received his taxes in gold by the bushel" (ib. p. 270). -
Sang Sapurba is also a scion on the distaff side of a house that came from under the sea and he adopts as child a princess born of river-foam. He marries 39 princesses who the next morning develope a skin disease on hands and feet. Lastly he marries, Wan Sendari, the daughter of the aboriginal headman of Palembang, called Chief Broad-Leaf. No ill results follow. Chief Broad-Leaf gives up his sovereignty and becomes Mangkubumi or Viceregent, the officer who acts for the ruler in his absence. Chief Broad-Leaf promises that his family will never show treachery to Sang Sapurba or his descendants, so long as they never put him or his descendants to shame.
Sakti-muna, of course, is a Sanskrit word and the legend of this snake must have come from India. There is one aspect of the story of value for historians which will have interest also for the "Diffusion" school of ethnologists. This may be seen from a paragraph (p. 275) in Mr. Perry's book:-
"Garuda the ruler of the birds, was the son of Vinata, whose sister Karma was the mother of the Nagas or serpents, the father of both sons being the sun. Although of the same parentage, and although allied to one another, a hostility existed between Garuda and the Nagas. Garuda was associated with the sky and the Nagas with the underworld. This brings to light further evidence that the rulers of the Dravidians were divided into two groups, one connected with the sky and one with the underworld, both related and yet hostile. This corresponds to the division of Egyptian society into sections connected with the sky and the underworld, combined with the hostility between the two gods, Horus and Set, connected respectively with birds, snakes and water animals."
Both a Water-Snake and a Garuda figure in the Solo (Java) regalia (Rouffaer op. cit. pp. 106-124). The Garuda was the symbol of Erlangga an Xlth century Vishnuite warrior prince of East Java, and it is still the symbol of Hindu Bali. The Naga, it has been surmised by Dr. Rouffaer, was the symbol of Buddhist Langka (wherever that was), and therefore (I suggest) probably of Buddhist Palembang, in which case the slaying of Sakti-muna may be a myth symbolizing the conquest of Palembang by Java in the XIVth century.
As the rulers of Palembang had suzerainty over Kedah until ousted by Majapahit it is interesting to note that in the hotchpotch of myth at the beginning of the "Kedah Annals" the central fact is that the founder of Buddhist Langkasuka was invited to his throne after a contest with a Garuda. (JRASSB. No. 72, pp. 38-50).
JRASSB. No. 72, pp. 38-50
The destruction of a country by a Garuda is found in the Sumatran folk-tale of Maalim Dewa, wherein a Raja from Java also assails the hero. (JRASSB. No. 85, pp. 58, 61).
Whether or not the victory over Sakti-muna symbolizes the conquest of Buddhist Palembang by Hindu Java, the snake at last becomes the Muslim Jan, the serpent in our story of Eve, expelled from heathen Minangkabau by the coming of Islam.
To-day in the art of Peninsular Malay Courts, which too often consists of designs in coloured paper, both Garuda and Nagas are favourite motives.
Other versions of the tale of Sang Sapurba will be found in Sir William Maxwell's paper "Aryan Mythology in Malay Traditions" (JRAS. vol. XIII, New Series, pp. 399-409) where the names of the three princes are given as Nijitram, Paldutani and Nila Asnam; and, again, in Papers on Malay Subjects, Second Series, No. 2, Sri Menanti by R. J. Wilkinson, C.M.G., pp. 7-10 (Kuala Lumpur 1914).
My references to Mr. Perry's book in this paper must not be taken to imply that I accept either his method or his conclusions, His guesses may be guesses at truth but his method is quite unscientific.
The Empire of the Maharaja, King of the Mountains and Lord of the Isles.
By C. O. Blagden.
JRASSB. No. 81 (1920), pp. 23-8
In the autumn of the year 671 the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim I Tsing ¹ sailed from Canton in a Persian ship with the North-East monsoon and in less than twenty days arrived at the country of Fo-she, where he stayed for six months before proceeding to India. Fourteen years later, on his return from India, he stayed there again, this time for four years. All the available evidence points to the conclusion that this Fo-she or Shi-li-fo-she country was Palembang, in Southern Sumatra, and from the 7th century to its conquest by the Javanese of Majapahit about 1377 we get many glimpses of it as a flourishing kingdom of Hindu (and particularly Buddhist) civilization. That much has been common knowledge for a good many years past. Gerini in his Researches on Ptolemy's Geography of Eastern Asia, pp. 619-30, has compiled a useful list of dates forming an outline sketch of Palembang history during the period above mentioned, and Wilkinson in Papers on Malay Subjects: History, Pt. I, pp. 11-1, has also given a brief account of it (omitting, however, any reference to I Tsing and relying on the very doubtfully identified kingdom of Kandali).
Quite recently, however, the importance of Palembang in relation to the whole course of the local history of the Straits before the 11th century has had fresh light thrown upon it. It is no longer as a single kingdom localized in Southern Sumatra that we must regard it, but as an empire which for several centuries had outstations on both sides of the Straits, by means of which it controlled and took toll of the international trade that passed through them. Viewed in that light, the matter becomes vastly more interesting, for it is linked up with the history of Eastern trade-routes in general and in particular with the sea-route between China and the West. In Ptolemy's time (2nd Century A.D.) trade already went through the Straits, though on occasion it availed itself of various land crossings on the isthmus between Indo-China and the Malay Peninsula, in places where that isthmus narrows and there are convenient gaps in the mountain ridge. No doubt, as navigation progressed, the continuous sea-route through the Straits, in spite of the delays involved by its weak and variable winds, became more and more firmly established as the normal one. And so it remained until Vasco da Gama discovered the new route round the Cape of Good Hope, whereupon for a few centuries the trade was diverted to some extent, only to return again into its old channels by reason of the cutting of the Suez Canal.
1 - "I-Tsing translated by J. Takakusu," (1896, Clarendon Press, Oxford). -24-
In I Tsing's time Palembang annexed the Malayu country, probably in Central Sumatra somewhere about Kampar or Siak. with a port at which the pilgrim also stayed a while. A century later, there is evidence that Vieng Sa, an inland place south of the Bay of Bandon in what is now Lower Siam and situated about 9° N. lat., was in some way under the control of the "Maharaja," for that was the dynastic style of the King of Palembang. A Sanskrit inscription set up at Vieng Sa ¹ records the erection in the year 775 of certain Buddhist buildings by order of the King of Srivijaya. This reflects back a ray of light on the kadatuan Srivijaya, the kingdom of Srivijaya mentioned in the Kota Kapur (Western Bangka) inscription ² which is nearly a century older and commemorates an attack on Java. It now seems highly probable that Silvijaya was not the name of the king who set up that inscription but rather of his kingdom. In the middle of the 9th century begins the series of Arabic writers who make much of the empire of the Maharaja, which according to them included all the region of the Straits. For the early Arab traders the great emporium was Kalah or Kilah, where there were tin-mines which localize it definitely in the tin-bearing tract of country extending from Southern Tenas-serim through the greater part of the Malay Peninsula. Its identification with Kedah is at least highly probable, for Kedah is the port which a traveller from the West would first reach and call at. Ibn Khordadzbeh, the earliest Arab authority who goes into these matters, says that Kilah was six days' journey from the island of Langkabulus (one of the Nicobars, probably Great Nicobar). It is mentioned about the beginning of the 10th century as a dependency of the Maharaja, and probably stood in that relation a century or two earlier. It is probably identical with Kie-ch'a (old pronunciation Kada), where I Tsing called on his way to India and whence he sailed in a ship belonging to the king (of Palembang).
But what throws the strongest light on the extent and importance of the empire of Palembang is the record of its relations with the Tamil dynasty of the Cholas in the 11th century. First, in 1005, there is a grant of a village to a Buddhist temple at Negapatam built by two Palembang kings, father and son. This grant is in Sanskrit and Tamil; in the Sanskrit portion the names of the two kings are given and the second one is styled " king of Kataha and king of Srivishaya." Their identity as kings of Palembang is clinched by two entries in the Chinese annals of the Sung dynasty which also give their names and mention embassies from them in 1003 and 1008 respectively. In the Tamil text Kataha is called Kidaram. It is almost certainly Kedah. Some twenty years later the Chola king of that day boasts in his inscriptions of his conquests overseas, resulting in the capture of the king of Kadaram and the taking of a number of places in his empire, including inter alia the Nicobars, Lambri (near Achin), Kadaram, Langkasuka (the old site in Southern Kedah), and Srivishaya itself.
1 - 'Inscriptions du Siam et de la Peninsule Malaise,'- by M. L. Einot in the "Bulletin de la Commission archeologique de l'Indochine, 1910."2 - J. B. A. S., S. B., No. 64.
Again in 1068 another Chola king claims to have captured Kedah but restored it to its ruler, and a few years later we find that Palembang has per- suaded the Chinese Court that the Maharaja is the overlord and the Chola his vassal ! From this period of conflict ending thus we may perhaps infer that honours were divided, though it does not appear that Palembang retaliated by a genuine strategical offensive in the 11th century, at any rate.
It is not unlikely that the attacks on Ceylon in 1250 and between 1270 and 1275 attributed by the Ceylon chronicles to the "Javaku" emanated from Palembang. Chao Ju Kua, writing about 1225, represents Palembang as having fifteen provinces or dependencies, including Pahang, Trengganu, Kelantan, Langkasuka, half a dozen more places less easily identified but of which two have been definitely located in Lower Siam, and five others, namely Palembang, Sunda, Kompai, Lambri, and Ceylon, the last named (like some of the others) sending a yearly tribute.
But before the end of the 13th century the Palembang empire seems to have broken up. Even in 1225 it showed signs of internal decay, for the Chinese author just cited, after enumerating Kompai among the dependencies, devotes a separate chapter to it in which he expressly says : " Formerly it was a dependency of San-fo-ts'i, but after a fight it set up a king of its own." Then there was serious pressure from without. Perhaps we may include herein the Javanese expedition of 1275 to " Malayu," though we do not know precisely which part of Sumatra it was aimed at. There was worse trouble in the extreme North of the Peninsula, where the Malay forces were falling back before the growing Siamese kingdom whose capital was then at Sukhodaya, far away to the North, near the Lao country. The Mon chronicles speak of these conflicts at some date not long before 1280, and the Chinese records say that they had been going on for many years before 1295. The upshot was that the northern outstations of Palembang in the Peninsula were included in Lower Siam. About the same time Islam was making its first and as yet peaceful conquests in Northern Sumatra, and little places like Perlak, Pasai, and Samudra set up as independent states and made a bid for a share in the trade of the Straits.
Somewhere about the same period, possibly a little earlier, Singapore must also have become independent and begun to take advantage of its unique position. For plainly the command of the Straits so long exercised by Palembang rested not on nature but on force : it was quite off the direct trade-route. 'So long as by threats of what we should call piracy it could compel trading ships to come into its ports and there pay toll, it did so, even as late as the early part of the 13th century, as Chao Ju Kua tells us. But already in his time it would seem that about a third of the merchants from China put in at Ling-ya-mőn (Straits of Langgi, or I think more probably Singapore) before going on to Palembang.
-26-Probably this Ling-ya-mőn, wherever it was, was only a dependency and so Palembang got the tolls anyhow. But when the outstations began to drop away, the old monopoly was gone and the Maharaja lost his hold on the trade which he had controlled and taxed for some six centuries. For why should traders go out of their way, when the short cut lay by Singapore ?
Comparing these somewhat scanty historical facts with the legends handed clown by tradition and embodied in Malay literature, one is tempted to see in the mythical expedition of Raja Suran down the Malay Peninsula (Sejarah Melayu, chapt. I) a vague reflection of the Chola raids of the 11th century, while the tales of friendly correspondence between Malay and Indian kings may well be based on half forgotten memories of a state of things that really existed for several centuries. There is evidence enough in Malay titles, place-names, and many other words, of the strong influence which Indian civilization had on Western Indonesia. Knowing something now of the course of history, even if it is mere- ly in rough outline, one can understand why the Sejarah Melayu makes the kings of Singapore descend from the royal family of Palembang, the great state which played such a leading part for such a long time ; and an epithet in the dynastic style of that family throws light on the myth of the origin of the Singapore house. Both in the Vieng Sa inscription and in the earliest of the Chola records above referred to, the Maharaja is said to be " of the family of the king of the mountains." This, with all the other evidence, establishes the fact that the same dynasty is referred to in both inscriptions and also accounts for what puzzled Mr. Wilkinson (op. cit., p. 11), namely the legend of the appearance of the three princes on Mount Siguntang Mahameru. That is not a national Malay legend but an echo of the dynastic tradition of the Palembang family which claimed to spring from " the king of the mountains." What mountain or mountains the Hindu or Hinduized dynasty of Palembang conceived itself to have come from, we do not know. Possibly it may have been a mountain in India, though the later Malay legend locates it in Southern Sumatra. Nor does it very much matter. But the epithet definitely proves that the Maharaja of Srivijaya who set up the inscription at Yieng Sa in what is now lower Siam was head of the state which more than two centuries later was ruled by the kings who built the temple at Negapatam. And that state was I Tsing's Shi-li-fo-she, the Sarbaza or Sribuza of the Arabs, no longer to be read as Sri Bhoja but Srivijaya, and certainly Palembang.
For these important additions to our knowledge of Malay history we are indebted to an excellent paper by M. G. Cœdès in the Bulletin de l'Ecole Francaise d' Extreme-Orient (1918), Tome XVIII, No. 6, entitled " Le Royaume de Crivijaya," to which the reader should refer for the details of the evidence and many further particulars. The conclusions arrived at seem irresistible. At the very least, they point to the Maharaja of Palembang having held for several centuries a number of " Straits Settlements," the northernmost of which made him for some time a near neighbour of the great Indo-Chinese power of Camboja.
In fact a relatively late (probably 12th century) inscription referring to him and apparently executed by his order is in the Cambojan language, but in a .script which in those days was common in Western Indonesia and is almost identical with the contemporary script of Burma.
What bearing has all this on the date when the Malays first really colonized the Peninsula? Apart from the few northern settlements actually mentioned, it is hard to say. But it seems reasonable to assume that the Maharaja garrisoned these with his -own people. Kedah, therefore, may have been the first really Malay (or at any rate Sumatran) settlement in the Peninsula, and there were others beyond it, in the country that is now Siamese. But we hear nothing of settlements in the South of the Peninsula, except Singapore and that at no very early date. This seems to fit in pretty well with the evidence that the North contained fairly civilized Buddhist states, while there is comparatively little trace of civilization in the South in pre-Muhammadan days.
To what period then must we refer the Mon-Khmer influence which is incontestably evidenced by the linguistic characteristics of the "aborigines" of the Peninsula, for instance by the unquestionably Mon numerals of the Southern Sakai (Besisi, etc.) ? Are we compelled to push it further back than the 7th or 8th century A.D. ? Or must some other explanation be invented to account for it? Did the so-called aborigines drift into the Peninsula from Indo-China after the Malay colonization had actually begun ? That seems very improbable, but it is difficult to feel positive about the matter; there are still too many unknowns in the history of the Peninsula. It seems certain now that some portions of it, at any rate, fell under Sumatran political influence as early as the 7th or at latest the 8th century. But at first they were merely trading stations, and it does not follow that Malay colonization on a large scale set in immediately. Perhaps some day the veil which shrouds the early history of the Peninsula will be still further lifted. In the meantime we have to thank M. G. Cœdès for the new light he has thrown on a very obscure matter. He has focussed upon it evidence derived from many sources and has added to the subject a new interest.
Postcript.
Since the above was written, Dr. N. J. Krom, formerly head of the Archaeological Survey in the Dutch East Indies and now Professor of the Archaeology and Ancient History of the Dutch East Indies in the University of Leyden, has contributed some very important and interesting additional facts to the discussion. In his inaugural address of the 3rd December, 1919, he pointed out that the evidence of Javanese inscriptions shows that as early as 778 A.D. the dynasty of "the king of the mountains" was Tiding Central Java, and it seems to have continued to do so for about a century, during which period it erected important monuments there.
-28-Meanwhile Eastern Java was under another dynasty, which claimed South Indian origin. It would appear that in those early days the Sumatran house was the more powerful. It continued to maintain, or at any rate claim, supremacy over Western Java (Sunda) till about 1200 A.D. There is much reason to believe that its influence on the development of Indian civilization in Java was very great, and that amongst other things it was the means of introducing the Mahayana form of Buddhism (which we know prevailed at Palembang) into Java.
It seems, therefore, that we have to conceive the existence, during the period in question, of two great rival powers in the Archipelago, the one centred in Southern Sumatra, the other in Eastern Java. Until well into the 13th century, the former was the stronger. Then, by degrees, the Javanese power, soon to be centred at Majapahit, gained upon it, and eventually completed its ruin by conquering its capital and many of its outlying possessions and dependencies somewhere about 1377 A.D.
C. O. B.
Teromba
- part of JELEBU CUSTOMARY SONGS AND SAYINGS - Collected by A. Caldecott
JRASSB No. 78 (1921) pp. 8-11
TEROMBA
I.
Allah belum bernama Allah,
Muhamad belum bernama Nabi;
Bumi belum bernama bumi,
Bumi bernama pusat negeri;
Langit belum bernama langit,
Langit bernama payong negeri;
Bumi itu sa-gedang talam,
Langit itu sa-gedang payong;
Gagak puteh, bangau hitam,
Dato' bujang, nenek gadis;
Sa-jaman raja jatoh terdiri
Sa-jaman penghulu jatoh terpekur,
Sa-jaman lembaga jatoh tersila,
Terbit adat dua teripar,
Ka-laut Tenggong ^1 ,
ka-darat Perpateh,
Adat bertentu, bilang beratur;
Beruntok berharta masing-masing.
Buloh bilah, tanah di-tanam,
Besi berdenting, puntong berasap,
Sa-bingkah tanah di-tanam,
Tumboh aur nan berjijir.
To' Kali Padang Genting,
To' Senama ^2 di-Suasa,
To' Kalifah di-negeri Tambang,
To' Mengkudum di-negeri Sumanik.
Di-sambut raja Pagar Ruyong; ;
Lalu ka-Siak, ka-(?) Siam, Jambi;
Lalu ka-Rokan. ka-Panalian ;
Lalu ka-riak yang berderun, ^3
Tempat aur yang bersurat,
Tempat pisau-pisau ^4 hanyut,
Tempat sialang berlantak besi ^5 ;
Lalu durian di-takek Raja —
SONGS OF ORIGIN
I.
Ere God was known to men as Lord
Or Muhamad as His Prophet.
Ere Earth was given the name of Earth,
"When Earth was called the country's navel,
Ere sky was designated sky
When sky was called the world's umbrella : —
Earth no bigger than a salver.
Sky no larger than a sunshade : —
Crows were white and black were egrets;
Our first forebears, boy and maiden
Knew not yet the bond of wedlock:
When to earth a prince fell standing,
And the first of chiefs fell pensive.
And the first of tribal headmen
Fell in attitude of homage : —
Then arose two ways of custom.
One to seaward, that of Tenggong.
Landward one, that of Perpateh, — .
Custom sure with its set sayings.
Giving each his share and portion.
Bamboo laths were split for building,
Mankind tilled the earth primaeval,
Iron clinked and log-ends smouldered,
Clods were turned for tilth and planting,
Bamboo stems grew up in order.
To' Kali rided in Padang Genting
To' Senama in Suasa,
To' Kalifah in land of Tambang,
In Sumanik To' Mangkudum;
The prince of Paggarruyong hailed it
And the custom went to Siak,
Then to Siam and to Jambi
To Rokan and to Panalian
And to sea-laved sounding beaches
Where were found the bamboo writings,
Roof-tree carved on water drifting,
Trees with spikes to climb for honey.
Then the Raja marked the fruit trees,
1 = Temenggong.2 Indera Mah ; vide note, p 16. It is pronounced in Minangkabau Indome3 Riak 'ripples" or is it some forgotten place-name?4. We have followed the editor of the " Undang-Undang of Moco-Moco " in translating pisau-pisau : vide Vol. II ' Miscellanies" (Bencoolen, 1822), p.5. A similar interpretation is given at Sri Menanti.5. That paper also explains Si-pisau-pisau hanyut, Sialang berlantak besi and Durian di-takek raja as names of places, the last opposite to Tanjong si-Malido. Sialang berlantak besi is translated " the honey-comb reached by means of iron pegs driven into the tree." There is no doubt that sialang here = "large trees on which bees have built a nest '*. (and such trees are still pesaka in Negri Sembilan) ; below, we get si-balong as a variant. And it is probable that the iron pegs were driven in as " climbing steps " and not as boundary-marks: though another customary phrase lantak bertukal = "the boundary-marks that are hammered in," not "the boundary posts that are beaten," as the authors of "Rembau" (Journal 56, p. 10S XXIII) translate it, if by that rendering they allude, as one would infer, to "beating bounds": — their note on p. 47 is correct.
Bukan raja sa-barang raja,
Raja asal, raja usul,
Raja menitek dari langit,
Sama ada dengan kayu-kayuan,
Sama tumboh dengan rumput ranting;
Keturunan raja berdarah puteh:
Nan tegak mengangkat sembah,
Nan dudok menangkat sila;
Beri makan sa-jambar sa-orang;
Minnm di-tabong berpalut emas,
Tidor di-tilam nan bertekat.
Di-mana jalan Baginda Giri?
Di-baroh balai panjang.
Mana benar adat terdiri?
Di-Batipuh, Padang Panjang.
Siapa yang cherdek bijaksana?
Pertama To' Perpateh, kedua To' Tenggong,
Yang mengetahui jalan dua teripar;
Nama jalan dua teripar,
Pertama jalan karna Allah,
Kedua jalan ka-pada dunia.
Jalan Allah, pertama menguchap,
Kedua sembahyang, ketiga zakat,
Keampat puasa, kelima naik haji.
Jalan ka-dunia itu,
Pertama gong dan chanang,
Makan dan minum,
Semanda-menyemanda.
Kemendian maka di-bilang —
Sa-helai akar yang putus,
Sa-bingkah tanah yang terbalek,
Sa-batang kayu yang rebah;
Sa-batang kayu akan melintang,
Sa-bingkah tanah akan permatang,
Sa-helai akar akan berikat.
Tanah-nya datar, permatang-nya lurus,
Orang ramai, padi menjadi.
Kemudian
Raja beralam, penghulu berluak,
Suku berlingkongan,
Ibu-bapa beranak buah,
Anak buah dudok bersuku-suku.
Berapa suku-nya? Dua-belas.
He a prince of no mean station,
He the first king, king primaeval.
Dropped he as the rain from heaven,
He with forest-trees coeval,
Old as grass at the beginning;
White the blood that in him flowed :
Erect men made him salutation,
Sitting yielded him obeisance;
Food men brought him, each a platter;
Drank he from a bamboo beaker
Overlaid with golden plating;
Slept on an embroidered mattress.
" Where is the path of the prince of Giri ? "
" On the river-side of the long palace."
" What proof is there of the creation of the custom ? "
" It came down to Batipuh in Padang Panjang."
Who the wise men and the clever?
First Perpateh, second Tenggong,
Who knew well the kindred custom,
First the custom God inspireth,
Second that of worldly teaching.
The way to God is, first, the credo,
Second prayer, the third almsgiving,
Fasting fourth, and fifth the haj :
The worldly way is gong and clapper
Calling men to food and liquor,
To marry and to take in marriage.
After comes the saying. —
A broken root, a clod turned upward,
A fallen tree to serve as barrier,
The upturned clod to bank the rice-field,
The trailing stem to bind together.
Flat the plain and straight the bankings,
Thick the folk and rich the harvest.
Then the prince was given his kingdom,
The chief his shire, the tribe its limits,
The village elders their dependants;
Men were then by tribes divided,
And the tribes were twelve in number.
Kundur menjalar ka-ulu,
Labu menjalar ka-hilir,
Puchok-nya sama di-gentas
Buah-nya sama di-tarek :
Dekat rnmah, dekat kampong,
Sa-kampong sa-permainan,
Sa-jamban sa-permandian.
II.
Sa-jaman si-gadis si-Mara Chindai, ^1
Melapus2 pulau tanah Melayu;
Berlayar-lah ia dengan perahu-nya,
Lain tergalang-lah perahu-nya :
Maka bergelar-lah ia Batin Maha Galang 3
Di-tengok-nya puchok meranti beranchaman,
Negeri pun saperti embun.
Mengatur ia adat di-bukit itu: —
Sa-helai akar putus akan pengikat,
Sa-batang kayu rebah akan berlintang,
Sa-bingkah tanah terbalek akan tanam-tanaman.
Maka berjumpa ia dengan yang berempat;
Bertanya Batin Malta Galang,
Menjawab Dato' yang berempat
Di-atas bukit si-Untang-Untang Penjaringan. 4
" Hendak menchari pamah yang lebar,
Hendak menchari snngai yang melurut;
Meminum ayer bungkul,
Beralas tidur daun lerek,
Berbantalkan banir durian."
Berkata lagi Dato' pada Batin,
" Turuni-lah londaran naga;
Nak tahu pulau yang menumpu,
Tanyakan pada denak;
Nak tahu padang yang luas,
Tanyakan pada bilalang;
Nak tahu pulau yang panjang,
Tanyakan pada barau-barau."
Putus sa-helai akar,
Sa-bingkah tanah yang terbalek,
Sa-batang kayu yang tumbang.
(Maka berjumpa-lah dato' Batin meninggalkan adat)
Then the marrow clambered upstream,
And the gourd grew trailing downstream,
Till their shoots were primed together,
And their fruits together taken.
House to house grew near together.
Hamlet clustered on to hamlet,
For their games men used one common,
Used one shelter for their bathing.
II.
In the time of Mara Chindai
Isles Malayan all were flooded.
So he took to boat, went sailing,
Until lo ! his boat was stranded
On our shore; and so we named him
" Mighty chieftain, from the wreckage."
On a hill he took his station,
Gazed he round upon the treetops
Clustering, crowded; and the country
Rolled, a misty sea. below him.
There did he ordain the custom : —
" A trailing stem shall serve for binding,
The fallen tree trunk for a barrier,
The clod upturned for tilth and planting/'
Then the Batin Maha Galang
Met the Four, and asked them questions; —
On Palembang hills they answered.
" I would seek a spacious valley,
I would look for water courses,
Tho' I tap the palm for water,
Sleep with rustling leaves beneath me,
A tree buttress for my pillow."
Then the chiefs to him made answer,
" Follow down the dragon's traces,
And if thou would'st find the hillocks,
Islets footed in the marshland,
•Jungle fowl shall be thy leaders:
Seekest thou the spreading meadow,
By the grasshopper be guided:
The spit of hills between the valleys
By the bulbul shall be shown thee. "
So the trailing stems were severed,
So the clod of earth turned upward,
And the trees fell to the woodmen.
(Then they met the Batin chieftain
And forsook the older custom:)
1. Possibly Merah or Marah, an old Sumatran title ; but was it confined to males?2? = hapus3 = Mergalang4. Ancient Palembang.
Takek kayu Batin Jenang;
Hela tali pada Waris;
Putus tebus pada Undang;
Lantak bertukul pada Lembaga,
Maka di-tengok
Adat kampong yang bersudut,
Sawah yang berlopak,
Bumah yang berkatak ^1 tangga,
Bilek yang berbunyi
Maka ada-lah adat
Tetekala negeri sudah lebar,
Orang pun sudah ramai,
Adat bertentu, bilang beratur;
Beroleh kechil pada yang gedang,
Beroleh yang gedang pada yang tua;
Apa-lah kata orang tua ?
" Dalam alam raja-nya,
Dalam luak penghulu-nya,
Dalam suku lembaga-nya,
Berumpok masing-masing,
Berharta masing-masing.
Harta orang jangan di-tarek,
Untok anak jangan di-berikan."
Dudok kita berpelarasan,
Berdekat rumah, dekat kampong,
Boleh minta-meminta,
Akan jengok-menjengok
Sakit dan pening.
Sa-jamban sa-perulangan,
Sa-perigi sa-permandian,
Sa-laman sa-permainan ;
Tanah-nya datar, ayer-nya jerneh,
Muafakat-nya esa.
III.
Usul-usul, asal-asal !
Asal jangan di-tinggalkan : —
Hujan berpohon, kata berasal,
Sakit bermula, mati bersebab : —
The jungle chiefs mark off the tree trunks;
The Waris drag the cord of survey;
The ruler of the shire, the Undang,
Settles payment for the portion;
The tribal headman hammers landmarks.
Next we see the jungle custom
Yield to custom of the hamlet: —
Holding dovetailed into holding,
Split in lots the ricegrown meadows,
Short-runged ladders fixed to houses,
Booms with voice of men resounding*.
So the men wax strong in number,
And the lands they till grow wider,
And the custom of the hamlet
Groweth to a broader custom,
Stablished custom with set sayings.
The grown hath lordship of the little,
O'er the grown the old have lordship.
Hark ye then ! how say the old men ?
'' The king within his kingdom reigneth,
The chief within his shire commandeth,
The headman o'er his tribe presideth.
Each shall get his share and portion;
Take ye not the goods of others ;
Squander not the children's birthright."
So we gathered close together,
Homestead clustering on homestead,
Neighbour marrying with neighbour,
Visiting in time of sickness;
Used one shelter for ablutions,
From one well drew bathing water;
For our pastimes used one common ;
Level was our land, our water
Clear, and in our village councils
Trusted each his neighbour's promise.
III.
Origin of origins !
Desert we not our origin : —
Rain hath its fount, tradition its foundation,
Sickness hath its beginning, death its cause:
1. Katak is said to = 'short-runged,' as opposed to the wide-rurged bamboo ladders of temporary huts.
Asal jangan di-tinggalkan.
Ka-laut adat Dato' Temenggong,
Ka-darat adat Dato' Merpateh.
Ka-laut adat Dato' Temenggong: —
Siapa menjala siapa terjun,
Siapa salah, siapa bertimbang;
Siapa berutang, siapa membayar;
Siapa bunoh, siapa kena bunoh.
Ka-darat adat Dato' Merpateh: —
Hutang nan berturut, chagar bergadai;
Chinchang pampas, bunoh beri balas.
Terbit adat sa-ranah Pagar Ruyong,
Sa-lilit Pulau Percha,
Sa-limbang tanah Melayu.
Seri Alam di-Minangkabau,
Sultan di-Pagar Ruyong;
Titah di-Sungai Terap;
Indera Maha ^1 di-Suasa;
Kali di-Padang Genting,
Makhdum di-Sumanik.
Sengkat durian di-takek raja,
Si-balong berlantak besi ^2 ;
Sengkat si-lukah-lukah hanyut,
Sengkat perentahan Pagar Ruyong.
Sa-jaman Dato' bujang, nenek gadis, —
Puteh kepala tetekala itu;
Gagak puteh, bangau hitam.
Ayer-nya jerneh, orang-nya ramai,
Adat sentosa di-dalam negeri.
Buloh bilah, puntong berasap,
Besi nan berlocheng.
Sa-helai akar akan perikat,
Sa-bingkah tanah akan penggalang.
Kemudian dudok pandang-memandang :
Pandang ka-darat, meranti yang bersanggit dahan,
Pandang ka-hulu gaung nan dalam,
Pandang ka-hilir sungai nan melurut,
Pandang ka-baroh lepan nan luas.
Forget we not our origin.
To seaward was the custom of Dato Temenggong,
To landward was the custom of Dato Merpatih.
Now the law of Dato Temenggong to seaward is this.
Who casts the net shall jump to drag it in;
Who commits an offence shall compensate;
Who owes shall pay ; who slays shall be slain.
And the law of Dato Merpateh to landward is this : —
A debt adheres to the tribe of the debtor;
A mortgage becomes a lien on the tribal land;
Who wounds shall pay smart money, who kills shall give
restitution.
The custom arose in Pagar Ruyong,
It engirdled Pulau Percha,
It throve in the Malayan regions.
Glory of Minangkabau,
Was the Sultan in Pagar Ruyong;
Mandates issued from Sungai Trap;
Indra Maha was at Saruasa ;
The Kali was at Padang Genting,
The Makhdum in Sumanik.
As far went the custom as the trees,
The fruit-trees marked by the raja for his people,
The trees with spikes to climb for honey
As far as fish traps drifted.
Up to the kingdom of Pagar Ruyong.
In days ere our ancestors were wedded,
When the hair of man was white,
And crows were white and egrets black;
Waters were clear and men were many,
And custom brought peace on the land ;
The bamboo was split, the log smoked in the clearing,
And the clink of iron was heard,
The trailing creeper served for binding,
A turned-up clod for barrier.
Then the folk sat looking about them: — -
Hillward rustled the branches of forest trees;
Upstream were deep ravines;
Downstream the flowing river;
Below the spreading meadows.
1. Jelebu reciters say Antara mudek, which is obviously corrupt. Undang-Undang, Moko-Moko read {arabic script} and romanize it Inder Mah: the Tuan Panjang of Saruasa is intended : see, for instance, p.8 of van der Toorn's Tjindoer Moto (Batavia, 1886.) At Sungai Trap was the Bendahara,.2. Vide note p.8 supra. Si-balong = balong ijau "a large tree, Epiprinus malayanus. "
Turun di-Pagar Ruyong raja berdarah puteh,
Berdua dengan Batin Mergalang;
Lalu naik gunong Rembau,
Lalu turun Seri Menanti.
Kemudian dudok bersuku-suku,
Suku-suku nan dua-belas
Suku nan bertua, beribu-bapa, berlembaga :
Kemudian dudok berdekat kampong,
Laman sa-buah sa-permainan,
Jamban sa-buah sa-perulangan,
Perigi sa-buah sa-permandian.
There descended in Pagar Ruyong together
A king of white blood and Batin Mergalang;
They journeyed and climbed the Rembau hills;
They passed down to Sri Menanti.
Then men dwelt there in tribes, the twelve tribes : —
A tribe has its old men, its elders, and its headman.
Afterwards their homes grew close together;
For their games men used one common;
Used one shelter for their bathing;
From one well drew their drinking water.