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Art. XV.—Aryan Mythology in Malay Traditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

W. E. Maxwell
W. E. Maxwell
Affiliation:
Colonial Civil Service
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Extract

One of the most striking coincidences in the traditions of different Malay states is the constant recurrence of three persons as the founders of kingdoms, the authors of government and order, or the progenitors of a line of rulers. In Menangkabau, the most ancient state of Sumatra, it is related howlskandar Z'ul Karnayn (“lord of the two horns,” or the East and the West; generally identified with Alexander the Great) begot three sons named respectively Maharaja Alif, Maharaja Dipang, and Maharaja Diraja. When the three brothers had reached maturity, they proceeded on a voyage together and arrived at Ceylon, where they agreed to separate. “Then the eldest, Maharaja Alif, claimed the crown, Makota Singhatahana. And Maharaja Dipang said, ‘I too want it.’ Maharaja Diraja said, ‘It is mine, because I am the youngest.’ Then an angel descended and said, ‘Which of you is Raja? Why are ye disputing?’ And they replied, ‘It is about the crown which was our father's.’ Then said the angel, ‘Are ye willing to give it up to me?’ And they surrendered it to the angel, who forthwith let it fall into the sea, and then instantly vanished. Then said Maharaja Alif, ‘How now, my brethren, will ye sail towards the setting of the sun?’ Maharaja Dipang replied, ‘I intend to sail for a land between the rising and setting of the sun.’ And Maharaja Diraja said, ‘As my two elder brothers have thus decided, I shall sail for the rising sun, and we will take our chance of what fortune may befall us.’ Then Maharaja Alif set sail for the setting sun, namely, Roum; and Maharaja Dipang sailed to the dark land, the country of China; and Maharaja Diraja sailed away to the land of the rising sun, and after a long time reached the top of the burning mountain (Menangkabau in Sumatra).”

Type
Original Communications
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , July 1881 , pp. 399 - 409
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1881

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References

page 400 note 1 From a Malay manuscript in my possession.

page 400 note 2 This incident about the loss of the crown is found in Perak legendary history also. When the first Raja of Perak was on his way up the Perak river, he stopped at a place called Selat Lembajayan for amusement. One of his attendants happened to point out some fish in the water, and in leaning over the boat's side to look at them the Raja lost his crown, which fell from his head and immediately sank. His people dived in vain for it, and from that day to this no Sultan of Perak has had a crown.

page 401 note 1 “Wan Ampu and Malin.”—Leyden's translation, p. 21.Google Scholar

page 402 note 1 “One of them had the dress of a raja, and was mounted on a bull, white as silver; and the other two were standing on each side of him, one of them holding a sword and the other a spear.”—Leyden's translation, p. 22.Google Scholar

page 402 note 2 “My name is Bichitram Shah, who am Raja; the name of this person is Nila Pahlawan; and the name of the other Carua Pandita. This is the sword, Chora sa-mendang-kian, and that is the lance, Limbuar; this is the signet, Cayu Gampit, which is employed in correspondence with rajas.”—Leyden's translation, p. 22. In some manuscripts the name transliterated by Leyden “Carua Pandita” is Kisna Pandita.”

page 403 note 1 “Nila Pahlawan and Carua Pandita were married to the young females Wan Ampu and Wan Malin, and their male offspring were denominated by Sangsapurba Baginda Awang, and the female offspring Baginda Dara; and hence the origin of all the Awangs and Daras.”—Leyden's translation, p. 24.

page 403 note 2 Sang is a title applied in Malay and Javanese to gods and heroes of pre-Muhammadan times. Applied to gods it is often coupled with the word hyang, which means “divinity,” “deity,” and then becomes sangyang. Sang is still an ordinary title among the chiefs of the aboriginal tribes of the Peninsula. It is probably of Sanskrit origin and, like the sain and sahib of India, is probably derived from swami. Purba is the Sanskrit word pûrva ‘first.’ Sang Purba may therefore be translated “first deity,” or “first chief.”

page 404 note 1 Journ. Ind. Arch. vol. i. p. 455Google Scholar; Marsden, , History of Sumatra, p. 62Google Scholar; Forbes, , British Burmah, p. 281Google Scholar; Newbold, , Straits of Malacca, vol. i. p. 263Google Scholar; Pallegoix, , Siam, vol. i. p. 40Google Scholar; Low, , Sarawak, p. 232Google Scholar; Asiatic Researches, vol. vii. p. 190Google Scholar; Journ. Ind. Arch. vol. ii. p. 236.Google Scholar

page 405 note 1 Sagantang = Sughanda? one of the four mountains which surround Sumeru “towards the four quarters.”—Hindoos, Ward's, vol. iv. p. 455Google Scholar. Cf. Jukunthou. “La première chaîne de montagnes qui entoure le Meru l'appelle Jukunthou.”—Pallegoix, Siam, vol. i. p. 432.Google Scholar

page 406 note 1 Journal Ind. Archipelago, vol. i. p. 326Google Scholar. Changgai is a long finger-nail worn as a mark of distinction. Cf. Hindustani chang, changul, ‘claw.’

page 406 note 2 “For a knowledge of their theogony we are indebted to M. Sieberg, governor of the Dutch settlements on the coast of Sumatra, by whom the following account was communicated to the late M. Radermacher, a distinguished member of the Batavian Society, and by him published in its Transactions.”—History of Sumatra, p. 385Google Scholar.

page 407 note 1 Verhandelingen van het Bataviasch Genootschap, 1787, p. 15Google Scholar. De Backer, , “L'Archipel Indien,” p. 281.Google Scholar

page 408 note 1 Thorpe, , Northern Mythology, vol. i. p. 10Google Scholar. “As the common ancestor of the German nation, Tacitus, on the authority of ancient forms, places the hero or god Tuisco, who sprang from the earth; whose son Mannus had three sons, after whom are named the three tribes, viz. the Tugævones, nearest the ocean; the Herminones, in the middle parts; and the Istævones.”—Thorpe, , Northern Mythology, vol. i. p. 232Google Scholar, quoting Tacitus, Germania, c. 2.

page 408 note 2 Thorpe, , Northern Mythology, vol. i. p. 78Google Scholar.