THE PORTRAYAL OF THE BRITISH IN TRADITIONAL MALAY LITERATURE BENJAMIN MURTAGH A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Indonesian and Malay Studies UNIVERSITY OF LONDON SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES 2005 ProQuest Number: 10672870 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672870 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 1 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the ways in which Malay authors portrayed the encounter with the British in a range of literary texts dating from the early seventeenth to the early twentieth century. The study draws on Todorov's conception of monologism and dialogism together with ideas of postcolonial theoreticians to analyse the nature of the encounter. The main part of the thesis compares how certain phenomena, ideas and realities were comprehended and represented in traditional Malay literature prior to the arrival of the British, and how their understanding and representation changed or otherwise after the arrival of the British. The issues specifically discussed include the image of the world (chapter 3), concepts of justice (chapter 4), education and technology (chapter 5) and the portrayal of the individual (chapter 6). A close reading found that traditional conventions and formulae still predominated in the majority of texts portraying the British. Nonetheless, the traditional image of the world gradually changed over time, first incorporating British Bengal and then eventually the metropole itself. The understanding of justice and the attitude toward education and technology also underwent certain modifications. Even in the portrayal of individuals, albeit only British and not all of them at that, there appeared some features earlier unknown to traditional Malay literature. The conclusion argues that, contrary to previous suggestions, there was no typical understanding of the British in traditional Malay literature, and Malay authors from different times, locations and social milieus reacted to the British presence in a variety of ways. While many authors proved unable to engage with the British 'other1, some of their brothers-in-penmanship did enter into a dialogue with the new ideas and new phenomena of the life brought about by the coming of this 'other'. The findings of this thesis are subsequently used to shed further light on the issue of the transition from the traditional to the modem in Malay literature. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My initial interest in Indonesia came via prolonged stays in Bireuen, Aceh, My good friend Samsoel taught me most of what I know about Indonesia, and his brother Bang Gani worked with me on my Jawi. I am enriched by my friendship with Samsoel and proud to be counted as part of his Acehnese family. I am fortunate to be surrounded at SOAS by good colleagues and friends who have offered support and advice of both a practical and an emotional nature, without which this thesis would not have been written. The Department of Southeast Asia at SOAS is a special place, and I am privileged to be part of it. My first thanks go to my supervisor, Vladimir Braginsky. Not only has he been meticulous and challenging, but he has also proved to be constantly encouraging and supportive. I cannot think of a better individual to have introduced me to traditional literature and to have guided me through the process of writing this thesis. Many people have shared their time in commenting on parts of this thesis, or in helping with the reading of manuscripts. I am particularly grateful to Annabel Gallop, Nicky Garsten, Rachel Harrison, Richard Murphy and Amina Yaqin. Discussions with Ulrich Rratz have always been useful and thought provoking. Sarah Hicks has remained a constant friend and morale booster when the process of writing this thesis has seemed like an endless one. The interest of Ian Brown, David Smyth, William Radice and Diana Flint has also been gratefully received. I would not have been able to embark on this thesis if it had not been for the funding I received from the AHRB, which also contributed towards the cost of a visit to libraries in Indonesia and Malaysia. I am also grateful to SOAS as my employer for allowing me the opportunity to complete this thesis. I have received only courtesy and genuine interest from staff in various libraries in the UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. In particular the assistance of 3 Che Puteh and her team at Perpustakaan Peringatan Zaaba, Universiti Malaya was valued and appreciated. The interest of friends outside the field of Malay literature, has been vital to my continuation of this work. I am grateful to many for simply asking how my work was going, but particular thanks are due to Carolyn, Peter, Jane, Marcia and Breno. A large part of this thesis was written in Rio de Janeiro. It was a marvellous city to write in, and Dona Marylene, Dona Otilia, Romulo and Roberta are the best in­ laws I could have. A loving thank you goes to my family. My mum and dad are great parents. They have supported me in my various meanderings even if they privately considered them inadvisable. They have remained ever interested in my thesis, and I would never have been in the intellectual or financial position to get this far without them. Helen, my sister and good friend, has also been constantly positive in supporting my ambitions. Finally, my thanks go to Rogerio, my partner and best friend, for his love and encouragement. 4 CONTENTS Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 2 Contents 4 Abbreviations 5 INTRODUCTION 6 CHAPTER ONE - CONTEXTS 18 CHAPTER TWO - OVERVIEW OF THE TEXTS 46 CHAPTER THREE - THE CHANGING IMAGE OF BRITAIN IN 88 TRADITIONAL MALAY LITERATURE CHAPTER FOUR - BRITAIN, JUSTICE AND LAW 137 CHAPTER FIVE - PORTRAYALS OF EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY 188 AND INNOVATION CHAPTER SIX - PORTRAYALS OF BRITISH INDIVIDUALS 230 CONCLUSION 278 BIBLIOGRAPHY 306 5 SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED < > [angled bracket denotes an internet bibliographical resource] Add. Additional BKI Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. BL The British Library BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Cod. Or Codex Orientalis CUL Cambridge University Library DBP Dew an Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur EIC East India Company JMBRAS Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society JSBRAS Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society KITLV Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Leiden MCP Malay Concordance Project MS, MSS Manuscript(s) n.d. undated Or. Oriental p., pp. page(s) PNM Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur PNRI Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia, Jakarta PPZ Perpustakaan Peringatan Zaaba, Universiti Malaya PUM Perpustakaan Universiti Malaya r. reigned RAS Royal Asiatic Society, London RIM A Review of Indonesian and Malayan Affairs RUL Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, Universiteitbibliotheek SOAS School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London VOC Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (the Dutch East India Company) vol., vols. volume(s) Introduction INTRODUCTION The subject of this study is the way in which a variety of Malay authors portrayed Britain and British individuals in their writings1. The encounters between British adventurers and seafarers and Malay speaking peoples that ensued from the earliest British voyages to the Malay world2 in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were the first of myriad meetings between peoples from these two cultures. Details concerning many of those meetings over the centuries have long been forgotten. Some records will have been lost or perished, but the vast majority of meetings were never documented to begin with. Of the vast array of surviving papers that bear witness to these cross-cultural encounters, this thesis takes a particular group of texts as its source, in order to try to understand the Malays’ perception of the British as manifested in their literature. 1 The term ‘Britain5 is commonly used today in place of the lengthy United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For example, we refer to the British prime minister, rather than the prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. United Kingdom monarchs are described as being British monarchs. The term ‘British5 first came into wide use during the reign of James I of England (1603-25), VI of Scotland (1567-1625). The Act of Union (1707), saw the official creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, with the incorporatation of Ireland into the parliamentary system, this was enlarged into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Following convention, the terms Britain and British have been used in preference to England and English throughout this thesis. It should be noted that the Malay writers studied in this thesis have generally not distinguished between England and Britain, between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, or between English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh etc. Rather they have tended to use the common term Inggris / Inggeris, and occasionallyInglan in all but a few notable exceptions. 2 The scope of this thesis reaches well beyond the borders of the modem Southeast Asian state of Malaysia. Rather it is interested in literature that was written in an area commonly referred to as the Malay world. The Malay world should be seen as incorporating not just the Malay Peninsula, but also those regions of insular Southeast Asia, principally parts of Sumatra, Borneo and Java, where Malay was commonly spoken, at least as a language of trade and of the courts.