Ch. 1: Alexander?

The book starts with praises to Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). It then explains how the book came into being: a scribe named Tun Bambang is instructed by a Johor monarch, Sultan Alauddin Ri’ayat Syah, to set down in words “petuturan segala raja-​raja Melayu (the genealogy of all Malay kings)” because he assumes that future gener­ations (that’s us!) will find it all riveting and instructive stuff.

The date for this auspicious instruction is set in the Muslim calendar as the 12th of the Rabi-​ul-​awwal month of the year 1021, which corresponds to the Gregorian year 1612.

Tun Bambang isn’t the text’s ‘writer’ in the sense we mean today; most of the text is (most likely) copied from a nucleus of texts originally set down by writer(s) unknown during the last years of the Melaka empire and up to a couple decades after its fall in 1511. He might be called a ‘copyist’ but, in those pre-​Xerox days, any copy is bound to have some differences or amendments from the original. Therefore, the 32 surviving manuscripts of Sulalat us-​Salatin all have subtle or blatant variations, depending on who was doing the writing and which audience (or court) he was doing it for.

Since this is a genealogy, it’s signi­ficant to see where it chooses to begin. The first king we meet isn’t Malay at all; he is “Raja Iskandar Zulqarnain…Makaduniah namanya negerinya (King Alexander the Great…from the country named Macedon)”. Since Alexander lived in the 4th century BC, this takes us back quite a while.

But wait a minute! The Alexander we meet here is Muslim, as can be seen in his name. So is he merely a circumcised take on the Greek warrior — you know, like Mecca Cola is the Muslim version of Coca-​Cola? When I first read Sejarah Melayu a.k.a. Sulalat us-​Salatinback in the previous century, I assumed this was the case. But there are now accounts that say Iskandar was an entirely different warrior. Unlike Alexander, Iskandar is mentioned in the Quran as being a monotheist and definitely not homosexual. Whether either of them bore a physical resemblance to Colin Farrell is still an open question.

Colin Farrell as Alexander the Great

Raja Iskandar goes into battle and defeats the forces of Raja Kida Hindi (of India), and succeeds in converting the latter into Islam. Raja Iskandar marries the defeated king’s daughter, Tuan Puteri Syahrul Bariyah. (Syahrul is more of a boy’s name surely, so perhaps there’s something of Alexander’s unproven sexual proclivities after all). This marriage takes place after Raja Kida Hindi consults Nabi Khidir, a mysterious (and immortal) prophet who was (or is, since he’s still alive) a wise sage. Nabi Khidir says that no king in his right mind would turn down the change to have his royal gene pool mix with that of the mighty Raja Iskandar, since the bloodline will “jangan lagi berputusan kiranya hingga hari kiamat (continue until Doomsday)”.

Raja Iskandar gets married to Tuan Puteri Syahrul Bariyah in a lavish ceremony with lots of “ratna mutu manikam” (gems of all kinds) everywhere. In fact, the phrase “ratna mutu manikam” is one I remember the most from my boyhood reading of this text, since it is repeated so many times!

After spending only 10 days and nights with her, Raja Iskandar gets his wife pregnant. (A skilled warrior shoots no blanks.) He never gets to see the child as he, being the workaholic type, has to leave to conquer other lands. The child, a son named Raja Arisytun Syah, is, however, the spitting image (“tersalin akan rupanya”) of his Dad. This prince turns out to be quite superhuman because when he ascends the throne, he reigns for 350 years! His son Raja Askainat doesn’t have quite the same staying power, and reigns for a mere 120 years. This royal lineage is recounted for several more gener­ations, with each king staying on the throne for slightly more logical periods of time (ranging from 4 months to 90 years).

Chapter 1 ends with Raja Tursi Biradaras, the 10th generation monarch to be blessed with having inherited Alexander/Iskandar’s DNA, getting two sons: Kudar Syah Jahan and Raja Suran Fad Shah. Since they are mentioned together, does this mean they are twins? Therefore, will there be a succession battle? Stay tuned for Chapter 2!

Aug 16, 2010 – 11:51 AM | By Amir Muhammad | Posted in Blog Post | Comments (1,072)

Previous Chapters

  • CH 15–2: How Kampar Got Steamrolled by Melaka
  • CH. 15–1: How a Melakan Warrior Had to Wait Before Kicking Haru Asses
  • Ch. 14–5: Why the Bendahara Mentions Royal Horniness on His Deathbed
  • Ch. 14–4: How Melaka Delivered a Smackdown to Pahang
  • Ch. 14–3: How the Sultan of Melaka Turned into a Kick-​ass Vigilante
  • Ch. 14–2: How a Grandmother From Hell is Stopped from Committing Regicide
  • Ch 14–1: How the People of Campa Ended Up in Melaka
  • Ch. 13: How the Pasai King’s Uppity Words Lost Him a Valuable Ally
  • Ch. 12–3: How the Sultan of Melaka Got Cock-​Blocked
  • Ch 12–2: How The Pasai Philosopher Answers (or Not) a Riddle from Melaka
  • Ch. 12–1: Why the Horny Prince of Mengkasar Goes on a Destructive Spree
  • Ch. 11: How a Game of Sepak Raga Turned Deadly
  • Ch. 10: How the Raja of China Cured His Skin Problem
  • Ch. 9–5: How the Sultan of Melaka Got His Elephant Back
  • Ch. 9–4: How the Raja of China’s Daughter Came to Melaka
  • Ch. 9–3: How Hang Tuah Killed Hang Kasturi
  • Ch. 9–2: How the Melakans Responded to the King of Majapahit’s Practical Jokes
  • Ch. 9–1: How the Queen of Majapahit Chose Her Husband
  • Ch. 8–2: How Melaka Became Siam’s BFF
  • Ch. 8–1: How the Siamese Were Fooled
  • Ch. 7: Why The Bendahara of Melaka Committed Suicide
  • Ch. 6–3: How Melaka was Founded, and Then Became Muslim
  • Ch. 6–2: How a King’s Horniness Got Him into Trouble with His Brother
  • Ch. 6–1: How Islam Came to the Malay World
  • Ch. 5: How Eating Vomit Can Make You A Superman
  • Ch. 4: How Singapura Repaid Majapahit’s Insult
  • Ch. 3: How Singapore Got Its Name
  • Ch. 2: How China Saved Itself
  • Ch. 1: Alexander?

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