182 Kartomi
Chapter 5 Hang Tuah and the Distinctive Art of Self-Defence Culture in the Lingga Regency of Indonesia’s Riau Islands
Margaret Kartomi
Introduction
The art of self-defence called silat is practiced in virtually every part of the far- flung Malay-speaking world, including large areas of Sumatra, coastal Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Maluku, the coastal areas of many other islands of Indonesia, and West and East coastal Malaysia. It occurs in two distinct forms – (i) dance-like displays of martial arts to entertain guests and (if at a wedding) bridal couples and (ii) fighting matches. Only a few of its distinctive forms in many areas have been researched to date.1 Not surprisingly in view of its wide distribution, silat is rich in local tech- niques, meanings and traditional customs in the areas where it is performed, and no more so than in the Lingga Regency in the western part of Indonesia’s Kepulauan Riau Islands Province (Kepri), the main location of this chapter. Here silat performances are embedded in a distinctive local silat culture that is
1 Traditional Sumatran silat performance styles researched to date include some West Sumatran variants (Barendregt 1994, 1995, and Pätzold 2000) and some Riau and Riau Island variants in the Suku Mamak and Bintan areas respectively (Kartomi 2013). Some styles, such as silat pauh in upstream Minangkabau, possess a high degree of magic potency that is determined nu- merologically through its seven categories of movement (e.g. kicking, hitting, and evading) and four kinds of kick-fighting (Barendregt 1995, 128). Other Indonesian styles that have been studied, such as in West Java (Pätzold 2000 and Wilson 2009) and Central Java (Maryono 1998), are based on their own elaborate philosophical meanings and routines. Moreover, few of their counterparts in other parts of Southeast Asia have been studied. Some exceptions are Farrer’s study (2006) of some Malaysian silat groups who trace their pedigree back to Old Acehnese and Old Minangkabau styles, e.g., to the Acehnese silat tua and the Minangkabau silat tuo, meaning “old silat.” Awab and Sutton (2006) suggested that a “northern” style of silat tua origi- nally developed at Pattani in southern Thailand from the time of its people’s conversion to Islam or earlier, and that this form then spread much later to Malaysia, including Penang Island, where a guru teaches the art of silat tua based on the four elements and the movements of certain animals, preceded by meditation.
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi 10.1163/9789004308756_007 Hang Tuah and the Distinctive Art of Self-Defence Culture 183 still practised in most villages and is linked to the adat di-raja (traditional royal customs) of the former Malay sultanate of Riau-Lingga-Johor and Pahang,2 which lasted from 1528 to 1911 (Andaya & Andaya 2001), when the last sultan – Abdulrahman – fled the Dutch colonial power to Singapore. The sultan’s capital was at Daik – now the capital of the Lingga Regency on the island of Lingga, while the viceroy’s palace was at Penyengat, near the provincial capital Tanjungpinang on Bintan Island. (Map 5.1). In 2013, I recorded some silat performances in Desa Merawang and several other villages near the palace at Daik-Lingga. They always comprise two styles – the displays of martial arts called silat penghormatan (“respectful silat”) or – if at a wedding, silat pengantin (“bridal couple silat”), and the combative duels called silat belawanan (“fighting match silat”) respectively.3 In 2011, I also recorded silat performances at Kampung Bugis on the outskirts of the capital city Tanjungpinang on Bintan Island, located near the former viceroy’s palace at Penyengat. Because both areas were part of the sultanate of Riau-Lingga- Johor and Pahang, I expected the performances to be very similar. However, I discovered some important differences of style and cultural setting. Per formances in both areas celebrate the spirits of the famous ancestral Malay hero Hang Tuah and his four comrades, but in a different way. To fully grasp the comparison summarised below, readers may wish to read my article about silat lima at Kampung Bugis (Kartomi 2013). After introducing the Malay legend of Hang Tuah, this chapter describes a silat performance in Desa Merawang, places it in its traditional cultural setting in and around Daik Lingga – the former capital of the sultanate of Riau- Lingga-Johor and Pahang4 – and defines its distinctive characteristics in comparison to the silat lima performances in Kampung Bugis on Bintan Island to the north.
2 This is the official name of the sultanate of Riau-Lingga-Johor and Pahang in Riau Islands Province today. The announcer at the impressive Opening Ceremony of the First Festival Tamadun Melayu in Tanjungpinang on September 26–28, 2013, repeated the name many times in the presence of guests from many countries of Southeast Asia, including myself. 3 Foreign words are given in Indonesian unless otherwise stated: A=Arabic, BM= Malay, BML= Malay-Lingga, Skrt = Sanskrit. 4 Over the centuries the capitals of the Riau-Lingga-Johor and Pahang kingdom (as it is called in Kepulauan Riau today) moved between those four centres for security’s sake, and the name- order of the kingdoms varied according to the historical era referred to.