CH. 15–1: How a Melakan Warrior Had to Wait Before Kicking Haru Asses

The chapter begins with the story of Haru. The king of Haru is named Maharaja Aldiraja, who is the son of Sultan Sujak, who in turn seems to be descended from a rock (“perbatu”); that’s OK, we promise not to judge!

Maharaja Aldiraja sends a missive to Pasai; the envoy is Raja Pahlawan. When he reaches Pasai, the letter is carried in procession and brought to the royal hall of audience. It is read out (by the letter-​reader in Pasai). What the letter says is “The younger brother sends his greetings (‘salam’)” but what is read out is “The younger brother sends his obeisance (‘sembah’) to his elder brother.” And so Raja Pahlawan says, “The letter says one thing, but you are reading something else!” But the letter-​reader continues to read “The younger brother sends his obeisance to his elder brother.” And so Raja Pahlawan says, “The letter says one thing, but you are reading something else! Let me die in Pasai rather than Haru! Even if I am eaten by the dogs of Pasai, I will make sure the right word is said!” When the letter-​reader reads it out the same way, Raja Pahlawan throws a hissy fit and goes on a rampage, killing many Pasai men. And then the Pasai men (those who are still alive, of course) kill Raja Pahlawan and the Haru entourage, and this is the cause of the feud between Pasai and Haru.

After this, Maharaja Aldiraja orders his war-​chief Seri Indera to attack the territories of Melaka. (It is unclear why he does this. Can’t he just attack Pasai? Or is it because Melaka and Pasai are buddies?) At that time, people lived in houses in a continuous stretch from Tanjung Tuan to Jugra; and these are all destroyed by the Haru forces.

When Sultan ‘Alauddin Syah hears of this, he orders Paduka Tuan (son of the recently deceased Bendahara Paduka Raja) as well as the Laksamana, Seri Bija Aldiraja, and all the war-​chiefs to go intercept (“memayari”) the Haru fleet. Paduka Tuan and all the war-​chiefs duly set out. When the Melakan men reach the waters of Tanjung Tuan, they encounter the Haru forces, and so the battle begins, and the clash of the fight is so loud it sounds like Doomsday (“seperti akan kiamat”).

But the Haru fleet outnumbers the Melakan fleet; there are three Haru ships for every one of Melaka’s ships, and the weapons fall like rain. The Haru men attack Seri Bija Aldiraja’s ship and conquer it, and the Melakan crew jump overboard into the sea.

At that moment, Tun Isap (alternate spelling: Isak) Barakah (son of Tun Pikrama Wira, grandson of Paduka Tuan, great-​grandson of Bendahara Paduka Raja) goes aboard the ship of Seri Bija Aldiraja. He and Seri Bija Aldiraja do not jump overboard, but stay on the ship to defend it. The men of Haru are already on the ship and occupy half of it, and so Tun Isap shouts to Seri Bija Aldiraja: “Chief, let’s kick their asses!” But Seri Bija Aldiraja replies, “Let’s wait a while.” When the Haru men advance as far as the mainmast (“tiang agung”), Tun Isak shouts, “Chief, let’s kick their asses!” But Seri Bija Aldijara replies, “The time has not yet come.” When the Haru men come as far as the well, Tun Isak shouts, “Chief, let’s kick their asses!” But Seri Bija Aldiraja replies, “Wait. It’s not the right time.” And then Seri Bija Aldiraja goes inside, and Tun Isap says to himself: “Damnit! I thought Seri Bija Aldiraja was brave, which is why I came aboard his ship. If I’d known he was such a wuss, I would have gone to the Laksamana’s ship instead!”

Then the Haru men reach the front of the covered part of the ship (“muka perka­jangan”), and Seri Bija Aldiraja comes out. And he says to Tun Isap, “Isap, sir, now’s the time. Let’s kick their asses!” And Tun Isap replies, “Right on!” And the two of them start to attack, and the Haru men scatter and jump into the sea. Some of them manage to reach one of their ships, but they are pursued by Seri Bija Aldiraja and Tun Isap, who board that ship and capture it. And the crew of Seri Bija Aldiraja (who had jumped into the sea earlier), climb back aboard. Seri Bija Aldiraja and the Melakan war-​chiefs intensity their attack, and the Haru battle forces are broken. Their ships heads back but they are pursued by the Melakan forces, who attack once more. The Haru men flee back to safety and report to their king.

When Maharaja Aldiraja hears of how his forces got their asses kicked, he is mighty pissed off and says, “If I were on my elephant Si Betung, I could defeat the whole of Melaka, or the whole of Pasai (‘Melaka se-​Melakanya, Pasai se-​Pasainya juga’)! Nothing could stop me and my elephant Si Betung from conquering the whole of Melaka!” So he orders another attack on Melaka, and the forces of Haru are prepared once again. (Whatever happened to Si Betung? Was the king referring to a dead elephant, thus explaining why his royal self couldn’t go to battle and win?)

By this time, the Melakan forces have reached a certain place and the men go ashore, to a river. There is a Melakan Indian man (“ada seorang Keling”) named Mia Duzul who is part of the entourage. He sees a he-​goat (“kambing randuk”) that he mistakes for a man, and so Duzul is startled and runs like crazy, heading to the others. Everyone there is alarmed to see him running wildly, and they ask “What’s wrong, Mia Duzul?” And he replies, “I saw an old Haru man; we are hudu and he is zuful!” (Unfortunately, no one knows what these two words mean.) When they hear this, they walk further inland with their weapons ready. When they reach the place, they see a he-​goat rather than a man, and everyone bursts out laughing, while saying “Damn that Mia Duzul! He fooled us!” Then they all go back to their ships.

The forces of Haru then appear and clash with the forces of Melaka; the din cannot be imagined and the spears fall like heavy rain. The Melakan men drive their ships straight at them, pouring down a stream of darts (“seligi”), causing the Haru forces to break and flee upriver. Paduka Tuan with the other chiefs and war-​chiefs then head back to Melaka.

After a journey of some time, Paduka Tuan and the other war-​chiefs present themselves to Sultan ‘Alauddin. And he is thrilled to bits to hear of their victory. And so the king rewards Paduka Tuan, the Laksamana, Seri Bija Aldiraja and all the other war-​chiefs. They all get robes of honour, too!

Some time later, Seri Bija Aldiraja dies. He leaves two children: one is named Tun Kudu (a daughter?), who gets the title Seri Bija Aldiraja, and the other receives the title of Tun Bija Diraja; the latter then becomes the father of Sang Setia.

Sep 29, 2010 – 10:56 AM | By Amir Muhammad | Posted in Blog Post | Comments (831)

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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