Ch. 13: How the Pasai King’s Uppity Words Lost Him a Valuable Ally

This chapter is about the Raja of Pasai, whose name is Sultan Zainal Abidin. He is one of two brothers, and his younger brother wants to unseat him as king. All the people of Pasai support the younger brother in his treasonous mission to kill the king, and Sultan Zainal Abidin has to escape in a small vessel to Melaka to seek the help of Sultan Mansur Syah. And so Sultan Mansur Syah prepares a fleet to send Sultan Zainal Abidin back to Pasai. When the fleet is ready, the king of Melaka commands Bendahara Paduka Raja, Seri Bija Aldiraja, the Laksamana and all his warriors to accompany the exiled king back to Pasai.

After a journey of some length, they reach Pasai. The men of Melaka commence battle, but the Pasai forces do not give in so easily, because there are merely 20,000 (“dua laksa”) Melakan forces against 120,000 Pasai men, and even this represents only one man per village (“sebuah dusun, sebuah dibil­angkannya”). The Laksamana, Seri Bija Aldiraja and all the warriors get together with Bendahara Paduka Raja to discuss strategy. The Bendahara says, “What do you all think? We’ve been here for some time but we can’t be sure of victory. It’s better we go home so that our king won’t be forever anxious.” But his son Tun Pikrama says, “Why should we return? We haven’t gone all out yet. Let us land again with the Laksamana, Seri Bija Aldiraja and all the warriors.” And the Laksamana and Seri Bija Aldiraja say, “Your son is right. Let us all land again.” And Bendahara Paduka Raja replies, “You got it! Tomorrow, we go ashore again.”

Early the next morning, all the chiefs gather around the Bendahara, who orders rice to be served to everyone. But the cook says, “We don’t have enough plates and cups, because far more than twenty servings are needed.” So the Bendahara says to the chiefs, “Since we’re all going into battle together, let us all eat together off leaves.” The chiefs agree, and the Bendahara orders for leaves to be spread all along the beach, and then the Bendahara, chiefs, war-​chiefs and even ordinary commoners (“rakyat hina-​dina”) eat together off the leaves. We are not told what leaves are used, but I wonder if this is the precursor to:

After eating, all the Melakan chiefs (and here the manuscript takes the trouble to list 22 of them by name) and the soldiers go inland. The sound of their marching feet is like thunder, and their weapons flash like streaks of lightning!

The men of Pasai come to the fore; their feet and roars make a terrifying sound, and they look like a sea at high tide, with their banners like a forest of trees. The two forces clash, and the din they make is so indes­cribably loud — not just the roar of the soldiers but the sounds of their elephants and horses — that even if thunder were to crash from the heavens, no one would hear it. Many men from both sides are killed; blood flows like an engorged river, and the ground is littered with corpses. The attack from Pasai is so strong that the Melakan forces break up and run towards the coast. When the Bendahara stands on the bank and looks beyond him to the sea, he shouts to a spear-​carrier, a boy named Kerangkang: “Get me my spear! Old as I am, I will defeat them single-​handedly!”

Meanwhile, Tun Pikrama is holding his own, together with Hang Isak and Naina Sahak, because their weapons are Persian (the Jawi word is فراسي, so it could also be perisai [shield]) spears. The men of Pasai can’t defeat them; anyone who tries to get close will get killed. The Pasai men therefore halt. Naina Sahak says to Tun Pikrama, “Yo chief! How can we last with just the three of us? Those who’ve run back don’t know we are still here. If you two stay here, I will run back to them and get reinforcements.” Tun Pikrama says, “Alright, bro!” Naina Sahak goes to get as many of the men who had run back as he can; he tells everyone he meets to go help Tun Pikrama. And so all the men go back into battle. Naina Sahak meets Hang Hamzah, Tun Pikrama’s son-​in-​law, who is running like a fiend without a backward glance, not even following a proper path. Naina Sahak says, “Hey, Hang Hamzah! Why are you running like a big lizard (‘lari membiawak’)? When Tun Pikrama took you as his son-​in-​law, wasn’t it because you are handsome and courteous? Wasn’t it because you are well-​mannered, with lustrous black hair? We all thought you would also be brave!” And Hang Hamzah asks, “Is my father-​in-​law still there?” Naina Sahak says, “He is!” And so Hang Hamzah goes back into battle, complete with his shield clanging with bells, and his spear with its mother-​of-​pearl handle, while shouting, “I am the Hamzah at the end of time! (‘Akulah Hamzah akhir zaman!)” And he plunges straight into the sea of Pasai forces.

The men of Melaka confront anew the forces of Pasai, and manage to kill all that they meet. The remaining Pasai soldiers run helter-​skelter, leaving many dead. The men of Melaka chase them until something called Gentian Muhammad (The Bridge of Muhammad), and then the Melakans force their way into the palace. Pasai is captured! And so Bendahara Paduka Raja reinstates Sultan Zainal Abidin as the ruler. After a few days, during which he takes care of admin­is­trative matters of the state, Bendahara Paduka Raja goes to take his leave from Sultan Zainal Abidin. Bendahara Paduka Raja asks, “What words of tribute will you give to your royal father (the king of Melaka)?” And Sultan Zainal Abidin says, “Tributes that are paid in Melaka should just remain in Melaka.” Bendahara Paduka Raja is so angry at this reply that he says, “The tribute that I pay in Pasai will also remain in Pasai!” and then he goes to his ship. The Bendahara and the men of Melaka then sail home.

When they reach Jambu Air, word reaches them from ashore that Sultan Zainal Abidin is once again being attacked by the people of Pasai. (He must be really unpopular.) Bendahara Paduka Raja calls Seri Bija Aldiraja, the Laksamana and all the other chiefs for a meeting. The Laksamana says, “Let’s go back to reinstate Sultan Zainal Abidin!” But the Bendahara says, “I won’t do that again, because he did not want to pay tribute to our king!” And all the chiefs say, “Alright then! We will follow what you say.” So the voyage home is resumed.

After a journey of some time, they reach Melaka. All the chiefs present themselves to Sultan Mansur Syah, who is angry at the Bendahara for not going back to Pasai to reinstate Sultan Zainal Abidin. And so Sultan Mansur Syah calls for the Laksamana. When he arrives, the king asks him to explain what happened in Pasai, and the Laksamana proceeds to bad-​mouth (“berjahat”) the Bendahara! This makes Sultan Mansur Syah even more pissed off at the Bendahara. At this moment, all the Bendahara’s men are there, presenting themselves to the king. Sultan Mansur Syah leaves the hall, and everyone else there goes back home. The Bendahara’s men go to see the Bandahara and tell him how the Laksamana bitched about him to the king. And the Bendahara falls silent.

The next day, Sultan Mansur Syah gives an audience in his hall. All the state officers are there, except the Laksamana. The king calls for Bendahara Paduka Raja, who comes and presents himself. And so Sultan Mansur Syah asks for his version of what happened in Pasai. The Bendahara proceeds to pay many compliments (“bagai-​bagai pujian”) to the Laksamana! The king is amazed to hear this, and gives the Bendahara robes of honour. The Laksamana’s men happen to be in the hall with them. After the king leaves the hall, the Laksamana’s men also leave. The men go to see the Laksamana and repeat all the praises that the Bendahara bestowed upon him to the king. And so the Laksamana instantly goes to see the Bendaraha, who is seated alone with an audience, and he prostrates himself at the Bendahara’s feet, saying, “You are truly a great chief.” The way the story goes, the Laksamana prostrates himself seven times at the feet of Bendahara Paduka Raja.

After this, Sultan Mansur Syah gives robes of honour to Tun Pikrama and Hang Hamzah. The two men get the title Paduka Tuan, and they also get the territory of Buru as reward for their defeat of the Pasai forces. Buru at the time had a fleet of 40 ships. Tun Pikrama’s son Tun Ahmad is given the title Tun Pikrama Wira, and Hang Hamzah the (further) title of Tun Perpatih Qasim. We are also told that Tun Perpatih Qasim would have two children: a daughter named Tun Puteri (who would later be the mother of someone named Seri Pikrama Raja Tun Zahir, who is known to some people as Tun Utusan); and a son named Laksamana Sura Diraja.

Sep 14, 2010 – 2:43 AM | By Amir Muhammad | Posted in Blog Post | Comments (828)

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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