< ^ ^ W > DO ^ u< OU_1 60087 >m OQ ' ^ FOREWORD Swami Sadananda Giri needs no introduction to the students of the history of Greater India. He has already brought out three books in English on the subject. These are : Pilgrimage to Greater India, Suvarnadwipa and Champa. He visited the places of interest in Fur- ther India and Indonesia a number of times and collect- ed materials for the history of ancinet Indian colonisa- tion in those countries with the help of well known autho- rities on the spot. His present book : Malay is another contribution on the subject. The history of the Hindu colonies in the Malay Peninsula is still controversial in many respects as inscriptional evidence is scanty. The students of ancient Champa, Camodia and even of Srivijaya are on much surer grounds. Swami Sadananda has not entered into controversies and has collected in his present essays available materials for the later history of Singapore, the state of Johore and Malacca. The essay on Hindu Malay will be of great interest to the students of ancient Indian colonisation. It will serve as a good introduction to the subject and will induce students to go deeper into various problems connected with it. 11 The author desires me to thank on his behalf the Hindus of Malay for their kind hospitality and specially Mr. H. D. Collings, the Curator of the Raffles Museum at Singapore for the great help which he got from him. Thanks are also due to Mr. K. C. De and Mr. Salil Kumar Banerji who helped the author in the preparation of the manuscript and the correction of the proof sheets. Calcutta University 15th December. 1938 1 . } THE HINDU MALAY To Mr. H. D. Ceilings, the Curator of the Raffles Museum, go our thanks for our access to its splendid archives, where for many hours, we pored over the pages of seme of the recent publications on the ancient and mediaeval histories of Malay. The more we studied the new researches, the deeper was our marvel at the ela- borate and painstaking methods, our forbears had em- ployed in disseminating their culture and broadcasting their progressive ideas. Commerce in the modern times follows the flag and it is as often as not synonymous with the economic exploitation or the political subjuga- tion of the indigenous people. The Aryans attempted at spiritual and intellectual domination which was pro- bably based on sympathetic and non-repressive methods, otherwise no traces had been left of the early settlers in Further India. The relation with India did not begin with the Aryans in Malay Peninsula. The linguistic peculiarities of the Mon-Khmers that occupies the littoral, now known as Indo-China, can be traced to the Munda-Kols who had been the inhabitants of India from, the pre-Dravidian days. But before the Mon-Khmers reached, the south- eastern projection of Asia, there was already a mixture, if not of separate tribes of the Oceanic Mongols and of the Negroids of Polynesia. Some of them were akin to the Andamanese Negritoes; and at present the Semangs, MALAY the Sakais and the Jakuns still retain their primitive modes of living in the hilly jungles of the Peninsula. Perhaps there were pre-historic men during all the stages of stone-culture, some relics of which have been recently excavated at Baling. Besides these indications, a few graves have been unearthed in Malay, which will prove a valuable addition to the Bac-Son and the Hoa-Binh discoveries for the ethnographist. But no traces of higher anthropoids, like those dis- covered in the neighbouring island of Java have come to light in Malay. Still, her geographical situation and climatic conditions marked her for a commercial centre from a sufficiently early date, which developed into a powerful thalassocracy under the guidance of a physi- cally fit and mentally alert race like the Hindu Colonials. Were they less vigorous, the polynesianized Mon-Khmers would have remained in the same level as some of the aborigines found in more secluded regions and the reli- gious and cultural evolution of the present Malayans would have never been achieved. Pioneers like Agastya were attracted to these distant countries not simply for the sake of natural products like Harichandanam, but what really engaged their vital interest was the spread of Saivism, a cult which they established as the starting- point of Aryan civilisation. Intellectual and spiritual development of a race was dearer to their mind than mere exploitation of natural resources of the land where they came to settle. From Tumasik (Singapore) which is just above the Page two MALAY equator, the Peninsula stretches to 10 north latitude in the modern map, but in early days it extended right up to the border of Siam. The breadth of Malay varies between 35 and 200 miles with two great oceans on either side; a chain of wooded hills which reach an altitude of 7,000 feet sometimes slopes on either side into fertile fringe washed by a number of rivers. The sea-board is dented with navigable estuaries where natural harbours tap the varied resources of the hinterland; ivory, rhino- ceros, tortoise-shells, aloes, camphor, spices^ sandal, and teak suitable for building sea-going crafts have brought people to this South-easternmost projection of Asia from different quarters of the globe in all ages; gold must have been exhausted in the Aryan period though the particles of this precious metal can be still collected from some of the river-basins; tin has formed the bulk of its valuable export to countries like Greece and India from the mediaeval days. A number of crops can be easily grown on its soil and the climate owing to the proximity of the sea has always been free from extremes. Such a land highly suitable for the foundation of a maritime power awaited the advent of capable rulers like those of the Sumatran Shailendras for its efflorescence. We have no means of ascertaining definitely the conditions of the pre-Founan Malay and what impres- sions we collect of the Fou-nan period are also hazy. The Aryan settlement must have begun before the Fou-nan domination of Malay and though the Chinese records are not clear whether or not it was a Hindu Page three MALAY kingdom, yet we have indirect evidences that Malay was known to India, Palestine and the Near Eastern countries of Europe long before the dawn of Christianity and that behind her economic activities a strong Aryanis- ed organisation, political and religious must have long grown up. The Swarnathumi of the Sanskrit epic, the Golden Chersones of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Manimekhala of the Tamil literature might not be refer- ences to this Peninsula of Asia, but there can be no doubt as to Malay's commerical piracy in the Middle Ages. She was known to the Greek as the land of gold in the first century A.D. which Ftolemy in the next cen- tury described as settlements of the Hindus. And the Dakshinapatha being nearer to her the Southern Aryans enriched the vocabulary of the Polynesian Mon- Khmers with their "Prakritized" Tamil words. The scripts on their earliest petrograph were cf the Pallava style, which helped Kern in dating it at 400 A.D. It was a practice of the later Buddhists of Malay to carry back to their land as sacred relics, the votive tablets from the Buddhist Tirthas of India and like those found in certain caves of Siam, the tablets were deposited in rocky recep- tacles in Malay. They were all in the northern Nagri scripts of the 7th to the 10th century A. D. But the influence erf Nalanda and the exchange of thoughts with the Biharas of Bengal can still be felt. Buddhagupta who erected the monk's shelter at the site of Kedah went from Raktamrittika Bihara of Karnasuvarna which stood in those days near the present town of Murshidabad. Page four MALAY The Hindu period entered its glorious cycle when the Srivijayas of Sumatra came to establish their power over Malay. The history of Siam would have us believe that this Peninsular monarchy of the Shailendras began under the suzerainty of the Sukhcdaya-Swankaloka dynasty. But the reverse must have been nearer the truth by the first quarter of the fourth century A.D. Langkasuka and Kataha were probably tributaries in North Malay to the Srivijayas. The former flits across the pages of the country's chronicles like the veritable ignis- jatuus. According to the historiographer of the Liang Dynasty of China this State of Langkasuka was founded in the first century A.D., and its capital probab- ly bore the same appellation. It must not be difficult to uphold the claim of the Kedah annals to Langkasuka as the Chef-lieu of the ancient kingdom of Kataha; for it is possible that the state itself often assumed its nomen- clature from its capital and that the present Kedah was included in the territory over which the rulers of Lang- kasuka held their sway. Or it might have been that there were originally two states, both vassals to the Peninsular Srivijaya which fused into one when the Shailendras established themselves at the head of the centralised authority. It is equally evident that Kataha and Langkasuka ultimately separated on the decline of the Srivijayas of Malay when the Langkasuka port or sea-state transformed itself into the Siamese feudatory of Nakhon (nagara) Sri Dharmarat which often challenged the suzerainty of the Sukhodaya-Swankaloka, waged war Page five MALAY against Lopburi and was emboldened by its success into an alliance with the Lao power of the north Siarn which was inimical to the house of the Sukhodayas. The over- lordship of any state in old days was often nominal and its grip tightened or loosened over the vassals according to its military strength. What Sri Dharmarat did at a later period was previously enacted by Langkasuka in 515 A.D., which though a tributary to the Srivijayas of Malay had one Po-ki-ta-to at the helm of its govern- ment who dared send presents as an independent monarch to China, a practice which only fell off after fifty-three years. Even Sri Dharmarat was not known to the mediaeval Malay as such; it was called Ligor and under this style was often mentioned by traders to Far East countries. Hence it is often confusing to ascertain precisely to which state or town different records (which have been preserved by strangers some of whom transli- terated the names beyond recognition while others had their own nomenclatures to go upon) point in their nar- ration. Thus we know, but cannot be definite, if the Lang-ka-su of the intinerant scholar I-tsing was identical with the Malayan town of Langkasuka, which he was sure to have visited on his way to Tamralipti at the end of the 7th century. Would it not be, however* more judicious to locate the kingdom of Lang-Ya-Su of the Chinese memoranda of the period 6th 7th centuries A.D. with the Peninsular sea state of Langkasuka, than attempt to foist it on the north-west coast of Java under the impression that traders and travellers of tho!se days Page six MALAY had as much knowledge of the charted locations of a state or a city as we have today? In the first quarter of the 6th century we find in one of these memoranda a prince who (being a Buddhist was naturally described by a co-religionist as intelligent and popular) rebelled against a monarch of Lang-Ya-Su, but the latter (probably a Hindu) was too powerful and banished the insurgent prince from his kingdom and it was not till his death that the prince could come back from India and ascend the throne of Langkasuka. The name Langasoggam occurs in Negapatam inscriptions of 1,005 A.D. and again after twenty-five years in those of Tanjore. The king c'f Kataha, one Chudamanivarman, a pious Buddhist had permission given to him by Rajaraja-Rajakesharivarman (985-1,013 A.D.) to build a shrine, which probably continued when both the Kataha-Shailendra and the Chela ruler were suc- ceeded by their respective sons. It was Rajendra Chola I who> though friendly at first, fell out with Maravijay- cttungevarman of Langkasuka (apparently Kataha-Lang- kasuka had become the seat of the Malayan Srivijayas) and ravaged all the flourishing ports of the Peninsula. Probably the Emperor of the celestials would have in- terfered if he dared risk a naval engagement off Tumasik which Rajendra Chola I held as the base for his warships. The war against the Srivijayas probably ended when the Kataha monrachy was reduced to a shadow of its former self when Samgramavijayottungavarman had ascended the Srivijaya throne. Malayan power revived ofter scfrne Page seven MALAY years but did not regain her former prestige during next three hundred years. Tumasik became the lair of the pirates from Ligor and Langkasuka was gradu- ally effaced from the history of the Hindu Malay except for its probable mention as Ling-Ya-Si by a Chinese navigator at the end of the 13th century. The Malayans are ethnically bound up with Indo- China, but their political training came mostly from Sumatra. It was here at the fast of the Mahameru in Palamb?ng, that the founder of the Shailendra House was first discovered. Of course his origin is wrapped up in mystery but he could have hardly belonged to any other race than the Aryan and possibly he was a Saivite. It might be that as his descendants increased in strength and number the Srivijaya-Shailendra monarchy spread to other islands of the Javanese group and at last it secured a stronghold on the mainland of Asia by subjugating states south of Siam. It is rather interesting to note, that the three branches which must have been separated at a later date, prior to that of the Copper-grant dug up in Bengal, had different outlooks both from religious and political angles of vision. The Sumatran and the Javanese Shailendras probably embraced Mahayana Buddhism and developed a strong tendency towards the mysticism of the Tantras and in both these islands, whether Buddhists or Saivites, kings spent more lavishly on architectural and sculptural achievements. They slowly gave up the Pallava scripts of the south and took up Page eight MALAY the Nagri scripts more akin to Bengali than to those used in other parts of the Aryavarta. Yet Nalanda must have influenced just as deeply the Malayan Sri- vijayas as it did the Sumatran and the Javanese monar- chies. The absence of petroglyps and architectural evidences proves one thing to the credit of the Peninsular authority, Whatever they might be deficient in, they had at least developed one kingly sense, namely to spare the subject people from heavy taxation. Moreover? they could always replenish their empty treasury by taxing foreign merchants, who had settled and enjoyed the pro- tection of the Sri vi jay a monarchs. It was Prince Sri Rajasanagara of Tiktabilwa in Java, who under the tutelage of his mother, the widow- queen Jayavishnu-Vardhani and the court minister Gajamada, rose to become the head of an enormous sea-power in 1350 A. D. The contemporaneous literature which gave this king the title of 'Young-Cock' describes how with his admiral Nala he inflicted severe defeat on the Srivijaya monarchy both in Java and Sumatra as well as on the Malay stronghold across the straits. One by one great towns of the Aryanized empire fell, and the prince of Tiktabilwa carried his victorious arms to the borders of Siam and Burma on the west and upto Annam in the east. From these blows the Srivijayas never re- covered, but out of the ashes of its Malayan empire rose Malacca, Pahang, Perak and a hdst of others. And slowly passed off the Aryan culture, religious and intellec- tual, to give place to the teachings of the Arabian prophet. Page nine MALACCA OF OLD What befell her tributaries, when the Srivijaya empire succumbed to the onslaught of Hyam Wuruk at the end of the 14th century, can be known from the contemporary literature of Java, the reports of Chinese envoys, and the memoranda of traders and travellers of diverse races. The annals, which a Bendahara Seri Maharaja com- posed for the edification of his compatriots, have to be surveyed carefully owing to the inaccuracy of dates and the tendency of the writer for confusing facts with fables. As a Malayan, he was, however, in a better position lo gauge properly the inner intricacies of the court-life and furnish us with the graphic details of court procedures and social customs, which for an outsider would be extremely difficult to depict with exactitude. It would be complicated for an alien to comprehend, why the Chief Minister of the State should precede a prince of the reigning house and why so often the claim, of an heir to the Sultan, by a lady of the Bendahara family could override that of another son by a royal mother. Still more puzzling would it be to a stranger to explain the court-intrigues of any reign. Hence these annals? though they are of little worth from, a correct chronological standpoint, they are invaluable in so far as they supple- Page ten MALAY ment the socio-political workings and the economic history of the Malacca kingdom. As long as the Modjo-Pahit warlord continued a vigorous military and naval policy, he could represent effectively any foreign interference with the States over which he established the right of a conqueror. He could with impunity execute as a spy, an Imperial Envoy of China, who carried presents in order to open up pre- liminaries for trade and freiendly relations. But probably his successor weakened a good deal as we find that port towns were often ravaged by Siamese and Chinese rovers. The former were bold enough to impose an impossible Chauth like the Vargis in Bengal, in con- sequence of which a more secure site had to be select- ed for a trade centre. The Modjo-Pahit domination, both economic and political over Malayan States must have been shortlived, for we find the more important of these resuming their ancient relations with China by the first quarter of the 15th century. Malacca was one of those commercial towns which the indented coast-line of the Peninsula furnished with a natural harbour from the time of the Aryan Collonisa- tion. The 'Pa-li-Su~ra' whom the plenipotentiary of Sheng-tsu invited in 1403 A.D. to the Imperial Court and whom the King Emperor proclaimed an independent ruler in 1407 A.D. was really a merchant prince, his title 'Parameswara' signifies a political head of lesser degree than one who would be styled 'Maharaja Chakravarti.' Possibly as the doyen of his profession, Page eleven MALAY he acted as the chief banker and treasurer to the com- munity and all disputes, commercial c its place of origin in 1919 A.D. Page twenty MALAY Whatever might have happened, for a contemporary Chinese historian ascribes the downfall of Singapore to the withdrawal of the Celestial Emperor's patronage and protection frolm the year 1377 A.D. (and not 1361 A.D.), Hyam Wuruk must have soaked the town with the blood of its inhabitants, and its horrible memory still lingers. Nor do we know with any precision, if the ruler, whom the Javanese chased out, was Iskander Shah, the founder of the Malaccan Sultanate or an anonymous Hindu monarch. One fact is however patent that Singapore lay exposed to the mercy of pirates for a long time and the Bendahara who ruled the adjoining islands and territory under Malacca (through the Dato Raja Negaro) offered little resistance. On one occasion a band of Siamese outlaws only raised the siege of the port when they heard of the approach of heavily-armed Chinese frigates. Long afterwards Col. Low, while exploring the jungles on the bank of the Singapore, came across in heaps the skulls of victims, whom pirates used to execute there. This line of Bendaharas has been however known in history for a long time. One of them offered battle to Mascarenhas in 1526; another helped in 1606 Admiral Matalief to navigate through the narrow strait; a century later, a third was present at the marriage of the Bugis in 1722. Perhaps he was the same 'Datubandar* who? sided with a pretender 'Raiaquichil' against his sovereign "Rajamuda>" but being a political blunderer, he met the fate he rightly deserved as a traitor, when he was aban- Page twenty-one MALAY doned by the usurper to the mercy of a passing Portuguese Governor, whose wrath he incurred through his intriguing nature. The Island was once offered in 1703 to the Scotch expldrer Alexander Hamilton, but was annexed to the British Crown by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. The population at this date was mostly composed of proto- Malayan sea-nomads who glided along the estuary in their light canoe-homes. On the land, fishing villages dotted in the midst of thick jungles by the bank and the port had no importance from the point of view of trade. Nothing picturesquely ancient greeted us, when we landed at the east Wharf one fine July morning 1934. All that met our eyes was blatantly modern and com- mercial. Instead of huts where fishermen used to hang their nets to dry up in the sun, smoking chimneys bristl- ed; here and there insignificant-looking junks lay moored alongside a gigantic Deisel-driven liner; sampans manned by Malayan crews tossed up and down in the furore caused by a petrol- driven revenue-cutter; along a vast pier a long line of hydraulic hammer cranes clanked busily, while men like so many cogs in a huge machine coped with the rush of goods from all parts cf the world. As soon as we finished with immigration formalities, we made cur way to the Raffles Museum and Library, the only spot where one might have a glimpse of the past undisturbed by the innovations of the present. Here we met the Curator Mr. Collings, a young and courteous Page twenty-two MALAY Englishman, whose whole energy has been devoted to the study of records and legends available and to re- construct with their aid a well-chained scientific back- ground for painting the glories of days gone by. Tremendously occupied with researches, this gentleman could still find time for conducting me round the most classical records and tokens. Most interesting were the latest additions from an excavation which is being car- ried on at present in Baling. But as they are not related to Singapore, we shall discuss them when we come to describe the place. Besides the Modjo-Pahit Column to which we have already referred, we also saw some gold trinkets of the same period which were found near Port Canning in 1928. One of the most important of these ornaments is an ear-ring on which a Murti probably that of Narayana riding on Garuda i's embossed with the deftness of a master-hand. There are also two attendant figures on either side of Narayana riding on lions. There is of course no certainty that the central figure mounted on a bird is Garuda- Vahana, for none of the four emblems the conch, the wheel, the mace and the lotus are shown, but it is possible to guess that these tokens may not have been included in the accepted form of Javanese icono- graphy, which often varies widely from the classical notion of the same. A similar ornament, which was unearthed near Maragasari in Dutch Borneo, hes al- ready been relegated to the fourth century when Mulvarman was the king. Page twenty-three MALAY Another interesting thing Mr. Ceilings was good enough to point out to me was the flat-back red-cornelian seal with Pallava inscriptions; though it is doubted that the word *Sri Vishnuvarman' might refer to any other king or commoner who had nothing to- do with the Pallavas of South India? yet it represents a cultural age, when people could not only excel in craftmanship, but could also undertake perilous journeys by sea or land to spread their civilisation. The Raffles Muesum, like most of Singapore public buildings, is quite imposing in its architectural 'motif. The town is very clean and roads are not only broad but very well-lighted at night. The atmosphere is sur- charged with frenzied activity, the keynote to the modern interpretation of civilisation. Page twenty-four JOHORE IN THE EARLY 18m CENTURY It was a pleasant motor-ride to the seat of the Sultanate of Johore. For seventeen odd miles the metall- ed road lay through a beautiful avenue of tall rubber trees of the preserved Government plantations. As we receded from Singapore the hillocks in dis- tance grew smaller and smaller till they were lost behind a mass of green foliage. The mainland has been bridged to the port-town by a giant granite causeway (3,500 ft.) which has been worth the expenses of constructing it. It has saved several days' tedious sea-voyage from Bangkok and has placed Singapore within a couple cf days* comfortable journey from the Siamese Capital by train. The approach to the town of Johore Bahru offers a splendid panorama of equatorial luxuriance which would do ample justice to the brush of a master-painter. The State-Capital has a population of some 16,000 souls and possesses all the advantages of the modern system of education and sanitation. His Highness the present Sultan is very much awake to the welfare of his subjects and donates munificiently such deserving institutions as the Malayan Branch or the Royal Asiatic Society. He descends from Sultan Husain who* was placed on the gaddie of Johore by Sir Stamford Raffles before Singa- pore was added to the British Crown. This Sultan Husain Page twenty-five MALAY was related by blood and marriage to the old Maho- medan rulers of Malacca. The state of Johcre is in itself an old kingdom which was probably a remnant of the Hindu Srivijaya Empire. It continued its Malayan governance even when the suzerain State fell to the Portuguese in 1510 A.D. and to the Dutch in 1641 A.D. Probably during this period the Siamese pirates, who like the Portuguese rovers were a terror and a curse to all river ports, devastated its sea coast. To a camp-follower of a Portuguese Governor-elect, one Captain Joao Tavares de Vellez Guerreire we owe scrne interesting side-lights on the political life of Johore during the first quarter of the 18th Century. The kingdom of Johore, he describes, extended from Malacca to Trenggahu; its capital was situated in the tract of land between the second and the third degrees north of the equator at the head of one of the innumerable channels of the river of Johcre though it lay at a dis- tance of ten leagues from the sea, and navigation was intricate yet trading boats would sail right up to the town wharves. Owing tc the proximity of the sea the 'climate was cool and delightful' and possessed all the 'qualities of a perpetual Spring' inspite of the torrid Sun, but the surrounding districts being however swampy, were not suitable to foreigners. The complexion of the people varied from nigger black to European fairness, a fact which indicates a conglomeration of diverse races. A Greek married to a lady of the Sultan's household was Page twenty-six MALAY seen playing an important hand in the current politics, whereas the presence of an English, a Dutch, a Portu- guese boat at the time of this description denotes that people from all corners used to frequent the State. Need we doubt the existence of a polyglot cockatoo (according to Ferrand) a few centuries earlier when under the auspices of the more powerful and enlightened Srivijaya rulers the ports used to attract traders from varidus parts of the world? A bird of this genus is likely to imitate any tongue spoken. At the date of the Captain's visit to Gior (i.e. Johore), the Hindus and the Mahomedans predominated where a sprinkling of Christian converts filled the humbler ranks of the society. Like Fa~hien> the Portuguese bigot waited at the fewness of his co-religionists and ascribed all evils of Johore, political or otherwise, to the absence of a Catholic faith. Perhaps in his warmth, our diarist forgot the conditions then prevalent in his own land and if the Roman creed were such a panacea for state intri- gues or commercial venality, Portugal and the rest of the Latin country would have been a paradise on earth. If a tyrant of Gior was murdered by his subjects, he would have met a similar fate anywhere else provided the people he tyrannised had the strength to retaliate. According to Joao Tavares* computations the popu- lation of Johore must have been enormous. It included not only the .residents on land but also the sea-nomads whose whole life was spent on a river-boat. The standing army of the Raianiuda numbered 5,000 armed Page twenty-seven MALAY men and his fleet consisted of 1,000 well-equipped boats. He had a thousand pieces of twelve-to-twenty four pounder cannon and another thousand of smaller calibres. His arsenals and granaries lay throughout the land and his people traded in tin, gold, pepper aloes, wood, camphor, tortoise-shells, boat-timbers etc. He must have had a large hoard of gold, for even at the mcunent of his flight he could saddle thirty men with precious metal. If Captain Joao Tavares was a religious bigot, his Master, the Governor-elect of Macau was a shrewed autocratic braggart. The Portuguese settlement in China was no new place to Antonio de Albuquerque Coelho who lost an arm there in 1 709 A.D. and won the hands of lovely Maria de Moura. He was now (1717 A.D.) proceeding there as its governor. Naturally all incidents however trivial, if unfavourable to Portuguese preten- sions appeared to be of sinister import to his Captain, our diarist. Already at Malacca, on his way to Johotre, the Governor-elect had troubles with his English pilot and if he dared, he would have blustered the Dutch autho- rities of their port dues with his five small connons. The Quixotic Coelho loved to bask in the reflected glory of the days when his famclus predecessor Alfonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca.. At the sight of a few Dutch boats in his rear this Portuguese counterpart of Carvante's immortal hero made a solemn speech to his twelve compatriots urging them to die Page twenty-eight MALAY fighting in case the Dutch boats offered battle. To his outward regret and inward relief the Dutch sloops changed their course at the entrance to the straits of 'Singapura'. On his arrival at Johore the Portuguese lord found the Chief Minister of the State the Dato Raja Seri Bendahara less amenable to his swash-buckling and more insistent on advance payment before he under- took to supply provision and repair the Portuguese vessel. His chronicler at cnce brands the Minister as dishonest which, of course, is justified in the light of sub- sequent incidents. This Chief Minister had already been intriguing with the pretender Kechil against his legiti- mate sovereign Yamtun Muda Mahmud. Hence the latter found it advisable to back the swaggering Portuguese Governor at all cost. The Dutch were too powerful a neighbour of the Sultan to appeal for their assistance. Nor could he seek the help of the English Captain to whom he owed Rs. 10,000 silver pieces and who was pressing for an early settlement. In these predicaments it was natural for the Sultan Muda Mahmud to solicit the alliance of this Portuguese swaggerer at any price. He had to overlook the dis- courteous manners of the Governor and his retinue. What was more, he had often to> over-ride his counsel- lors to please this self-centred despotic boor. The Governor thought it beneath his dignity to attend Court invitation in person and little is our surprise that he haughtily turned down the generous offer by the Page twenty-nine MALAY English Captain of his cabin at the disposal of the Gov- ernor during the repairs of the latter's vessel. The er- rogance of the Portuguese visitors was at its height when Captain Tavares manhandled the Seri Bendahara at the Court while presenting his gifts. He and his few men would have been crushed as later on became the fate of the English Captain, were it not for the Sultan who shouted probably to the Court saying that 'these Bar- barians knew no better Court etiquettes/ Governor Coelho would not allow at first his petty band of musicians to give a recital before the palace ladies. His over-suspicious nature was manifest in all his acts but his high-handedness often crossed the limits of decency. Because a Malabari sailor of the Dutch boat would not settle seme trifle accounts with a Portu- guese follower of his, he tried to imprison him. When the Seri Bendahara protested, the Sultan intervened and the Minister had again to pocket the insult. More- over, the Sultan could hardly listen to a Minister whom he knew to be in collusion with his opponent. Another arbitrary act on the part of the Governor was to hold all Beugi vendors and peasants in restraint and storm their unarmed village, because they would not supply him with provisions for next to nothing. When Raja Muda heard of the approach of Raja Kechil he sent his now-pardoned Dato Bendahara to resist the same with all his fleet. Were the Chief Minister no traitor to his salt, Raja Kechil would have Page thirty MALAY been squashed like a gnat that he was. But Bendahara went over with the whole of the Raja Muda's navy to the side of Kechil and the legitimate prince whom the Governor made all sorts of vain promises to defend had to fly from his kingdom with as much gold and personnel as he could collect at a moment's notice. The Governor was astute enough to perceive that Raja Muda, his ally was lost beyond redemption. He at once formulated a plan to force Raja Kechil to look for Portuguese support which he was ready to sell at a profit. The boats that sailed up in advance of the main fleet were armed with such instruments of war as would be necessary to fight their eastern opponents; but they were useless against canons which, however small and inefficient against the Dutch could cause a havoc among them. Having ascertained the actual state of affairs, through spies, the lord-elect of Macau struck upon a bold design. With a few rounds of ammunition he demoralised the advanced guard so much so that the Raja Kechil who wished to reach Gior under the dark- ness of the night found himself seriously handicapped by these Portuguese interferences. He had Jnuch to do yet if he were to secure his throne of Johore. So, a low intriguer as he was, he came speedily to terms with the Portuguese Chief who desired among other things a site in Johore for building a Church to true faith. As soon as he got the assent of the pretender he made preparations as elaborate as his scanty purse Page thirty -one MALAY would permit for celebrating a Holy Mass on the date of consecrating the Church site. In all those events that followed we find him chang- ing his ground according to the needs of the moment. If he gave shelter to the dying Greek, it was because he thought that he might steal a march on the Engjish Captain who was foolish enough to lose his life in a shooting affray with a Portuguese sailor. The poor marksmanship of the latter is proved by the fact that he killed the Malayan interpreter while aiming his gun at the English Captain. This rashness on the part of the English Captain only furnished the Sultan of Johore with an excuse for cancelling the debt for which he might not have been personally responsible but which he was morally obliged to settle. The house of Kechil did not occupy this shamefully-bought throne for long, but in the final phase neither the Captain nor the Governor had any say. For, they were in their graves by that time. Page thirty -two MALACCA TO BALING Tc|-day Malacca is only a town in the west coast of the Peninsula. Of its capture by Alfonso de Albuquerque and its subsequent rule for one hundred and thirty years by his compatriot, only a street called Bona Vista, a tottering archway to their fort, and the ruins of a Catholic Church constitute perhaps all architectural evidences. The Dutch who finally quitted it in 1824 A.D. have only a couple of roads (the Heeren and the Jonker), a Stadt House and a Church containing some antique furniture and silver wares to prove their domination of some two hundred years. But if a traveller desires to trace the Mahomedan Malacca he will find a few tombstones of those renowned Sultans who were responsible for its pre-European growth and fame. The trade supremacy which the harbour-town of Malacca enjoyed in those days has now been passed on to the busy free-port on the Indo-pacific commerce route. Though the European contact has changed the outward mode of an educated Malayan's life, inwardly he and his illiterate brethern lead the same simple exis- tence of their ancestors. The moneyed Malayan may now live in a brick house filled with most up-to-date style of furniture, but he still pines for the day when his forefathers lived in Page thirty-three MALAY a small hut of split bamboo-flooring and mud walls with thatched roofs. He loves even now to squat on the floor on a soft carpet instead of a (bamboo matting) "chatyas" and partake his food along with the other members of his family. His food has changed a little. He loves to eat fish, sago-flour, rice, bananas, durians and melons just as his forefathers did and possesses the same reverence for court-function and public pomp and pageantry. Of course, highways have improved a thousand-fold but on those solid narrow roads of Tore elephants marched with Sultans and dignitaries on the 'howdah' to the blare of dragon-trumpets and the noise of kettle-drums. Now on the smooth asphalt public way the representatives of the Crown move with the speed of lightning with no sound except that of a motor-horn. The Honour-list of to-day is announced in the press and investiture of the meritorious is performed in a levee open to a chosen few. In those days the whole town would be agog when a dignitary proceeded to the palace to receive the recognition of his ruler. A medal of silver or gold with a, silk ribbon attached to it has now to serve the purpose of a new suit of. cloths, pantos (armlets) of precious metal, and a large dazzling kriss tied to the waist by a gandy 'cummerband' which the magnate almost always received under the Sultanate in accompaniment with the Sanad. Page thirty-four MALAY Of course to the recipient of the King's decoration it should matter little whether the whole procedure of his investiture has a businesslike appearance or not, but to the mass the elaborate procession of yore had an im- pressive grandeur of its own. And it is the same with commercial or industrial life of the modern Malayan. He no longer forms part of the royal corvee which collected particles of tin wash- ed by rivulets, nor does he smelt them into a pice weighing one catty and a few taels. Nor these are bundled together in tens or forties and treated as the most valuable export^ or as the standard of currency. .Modern metallurgical technic has done away with that painstaking method and gold has now taken its place as the standard of value while silver and copper, that of legal tender. The Bank or Treasury now-a-days takes charge of storing gold and not the rulers' personal vault to which he alone had access in troublesome days. The Mahomedan capital was planned from the view point of defence against invasion and pillage. The mountain district of Kedah or Kataha afforded Malacca ample protection from the Siamese land attached and she had a navy to check sudden attack upon her waterfront. But if the aggressor was better-armed as Siamese rovers often were, the Sultan had to seek aid of his over-lord the Emperor of China. The town of Malacca itself had two parts; the outer skirt contained all residential quarters, whereas goods and money were stored in a barricaded inner circle which Page thirty-five MALAY remained locked up during the night. It is on the records that Allauddin I had to give chase personally to thieves at night and kill them in order to set up an example to law-breakers. He warned the next day the head of the night-patrols, Tun Mutahir who took the royal reprimand seriously. The sad noble end of the same Tun Mutahir tells us that a King in Malacca could marry anyone he liked and that it was the Chief Minister and not the ruler that had to give way finally to his master's will and intrigues. Perhaps these Sultans married too often and too many at a time. This made difficult the question of succession to the throne even on the score of primogeniture, especially when the powerful Bendahara of the moment wished to set up one of his favourites on the throne. But the inhabitant of the Mahomeden Malacca must have taken an enormous pride in being the members of the royal city. FGI-, we find the retainers of the tribu- tary state of Indragiri were asked by the Malaccans to give them a ride on their back for crossing muddy streets of the Capital. This affront incensed the Indragiris so much so that they left the city of their overlord without his permission. To reach Kuala Lumpur we had to cross the State of Negri Sembilan where people value hcnorifics to such an extent that even to-day the half of the State popula- tion are 'biduandas' or pages-in-ordinary to the Chief. The State of Selangor where Kuala Lumpur is situated has rather a suggestive name. We are open to correc- Page thirty -six MALAY tion, but Selangor is so akin to Sailendranagar (the city of the Sailendras, the Sri vijaya emperors) that we may draw the attention of antiquarians who may unearth something of interest in this state. The word Kuala is perhaps what is called Killah or fort in India. The city is the present headquarters of the Federated Malay States authorities and as such it is quite glaring in its modernity. It is growing like our Calcutta into an industrial town as well. Rubber export- ed as a raw material fetches a price much lower than when it is transformed mechanically into various articles of daily use. Hence those who have the well-being of the Malay in their heart have already started various factories for finished rubber wares. We appreciate greatly one thing of the F. M. S. authorities : it is their setting up Museums wherever they have been able to collect some data which will allow a historian to put fragments into a well-linked story of the country's past. What the cave of Batu lacks will be more than supplied by the archaeological researches of Mr. H. D. Ceilings of the Raffles Museum at Singapore. There are several hills near Baling in the unfederated state of Kedah where there are chalk caves which are protected by sharp cliffs from the inclemency of weather in all seasons. These hills are covered with jungles and only a few faggot collectors used to go from rice and cocoanut plantations that lay at the foot of the hills. Hence for a pretty long time the caves were left untouched except Page thirty-seven MALAY for a hand of Siamese or Chinese labourer who wished to excavate them, for soft clay. The findings which have been catalogued and discussed in a brilliant mono- graph by Mr. Collings would please the hearts of anthropologists and ethnologists, who deal with the pre- historian development of a country. But to us though they were interesting they would not yield any material for a story of the pre-Aryan culture of Malay. Om namah Sivdya Page thirty-eight