Two early 19th-century Malay documents from Cabau

Gallop, Annabel Teh

Abstract

This article presents and discusses the texts of two early 19th-century Malay documents from Cabau, on the Kesang river, now in the state of Melaka, which were seen and copied by C.O. Blagden in about 1894 in the house of the Penghulu of Cabau. The sealed commissions were presented to the Penghulu of Cabau by the Temenggung Paduka Tuan of Muar, charging the Penghulu to ensure the holding of communal prayers (sembahyang berjemaah) in the region of Cabau. As rare surviving examples of texts on the internal governance of a Malay territory, these documents are valuable for the study of Malay diplomatics and chancery practice. As historical sources, they also cast light on the regulation of Islamic life on the west coast of the Malay peninsula, and on the lineage of the Temenggungs of Muar.

References

Abdullah Zakaria Ghazali. (1997). Istana dan politik Johor (1835-1885). Kuala Lumpur: Yayasan Penataran Ilmu.

Begbie, P. J. (1967). The Malayan peninsula. With an introduction by Diptendra M.

Banerjee. [Facsimile reprint of the 1834 ed.] Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.

Gallop, Annabel Teh. (1993). Penggunaan awal cap Melayu. [Paper presented at: Konvensyen Melaka dalam warisan dunia, Melaka, 14-16 April 1993].

1994 The legacy of the Malay letter. Warisan warkah Melayu. With an essay by E. Ulrich Kratz. London: published by the British Library for the National Archives of Malaysia.

2009 Piagam Serampas: Malay documents from highland Jambi. From distant tales: archaeology and ethnohistory in the highlands of Sumatra, ed. Dominik Bonatz, John Miksic, J. David Neidel, Mai Lin Tjoa-Bonatz; pp. 272-322. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press.

2013 Piagam Muara Mendras: more Malay documents from highland Jambi. Seloko, 2(1): 1-50.

2015 Dates on Malay seals: a study of Arabic numerals from Southeast Asia. Jurnal Filologi Melayu, 22: 89-114.

2019 Malay seals from the Islamic world of Southeast Asia: content, form, context, catalogue. Singapore: NUS Press in association with the British Library.

Linehan, W. (1973). A history of Pahang. (Previously published as Vol.14, Pt.2, Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, May 1936.) [Facsimile reprint of the 1936 ed.] Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. (MBRAS Reprints; 2).

Nathan, J. E. and Winstedt, R. O. (1971). Johol, Inas, Ulu Muar, Jempul, Gunung Pasir and Terachi: their history and constitution. Papers on Malay subjects, ed. R.J.Wilkinson, selected and introduced by P.L.Burns; pp.325-360. (Orig. publ. in 1920.) Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.

Ricklefs, M. C. and Voorhoeve, P. (1977). Indonesian manuscripts in Great Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (London Oriental Bibliographies; 5).

Voorhoeve, P. (1941). Tambo Kerintji: disalin dari toelisan Djawa Koeno, toelisan rentjong dan toelisan Melajoe jang terdapat pada tandoek kerbau, daoen lontar, boeloeh dan kertas dan koelit kajoe, poesaka simpanan orang Kerintji. P.Voorhoeve, dengan pertolongan R.Ng.Dr. Poerbatjaraka, toean H.Veldkamp, controleur B.B., njonja M.C.J. Voorhoeve Bernelot Moens, goeroe A.Hamid. [Typescript, reproduced by C.W. Watson].

Voorhoeve, P. (1970). Kerintji documents. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 126(4): 369-99.

Winstedt, R. O. (1932a). The Bendaharas and Temenggongs. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 10.1(113):55-66.

Winstedt, R. O. (1932b). The Temenggongs of Muar. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 10.1(113): 30-31.