THE INCEPTION OF LION CITY An 1819 and Before: Singapore’s Pasts lecture Iain Sinclair Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore 3 April 2019 v2.2 (12/4) The long thirteenth century Major events impacting on Southeast Asia: 1204: • the downfall of Buddhism in India • the destruction of the Bengali Sena dynasty • the rise of the Delhi Sultanate 1279: • destruction of the Southern Song and the advent of Mongol rule over China 1296–: • The collapse of the Khmer Empire The Tribuanic dynasty • A line of Hindu-Buddhist kings that ruled parts of present-day Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia • An “Indo-Malay” dynasty: both bangsa hindustan and raja melayu (Sinclair 2019:6) • Little is known about them outside the Sejarah Melayu literature • “Tribuanic dynasty” coined by Wolters (1970); not in widespread use The Tribuanic dynasty: hypothesised movements Map by I. Sinclair · © 2019 Reading the Sejarah Melayu literature What is the Sejarah Melayu (SM)? • the internal chronicle of the Tribuanic dynasty • covers events occuring between the 11th and 16th centuries • has a factual core, with some embellishment and selectivity • exists in three recensions (Chambert-Loir 2017). The recensions are not of equal value. There has been no systematic study of any recension of the SM. Temasek: main dates When does Temasek emerge? • 1225: Zhao Rukuo reports on the area of Lênggâ mn̂g ( 凌牙門 ) = Telok Blangah = present-day Keppel Harbour. Brisk trade is being done there. He does not know the name Temasek. • 1279–1293: A Temasek envoy ( 册马锡国使 ) arrives in Đại Việt ( 大越 ) looking for diplomatic recognition ( 来贡 ). He can only be understood by Nhật Duật 日燏 , who is said to be of Phan Rang descent ( 蕃落人后身 ). (Ngô 1479) Temasek: main dates When does Temasek disappear? • 1365: Mpu Prapañca’s Deśawarn! ana 14.2c has the last known dated reference. Prapañca claims Temasek is under the jurisdiction of Pahang (not Java). • References to Temasek in Chinese nautical literature after the 14th century may be “ghost references”. Temasek: main dates Temasek in some undated regional literature Hikayat Galuh Digantung & others: • refer to satria Tumasik, satria dari Tumasik (ed. Hasjim 1984:82, 100, etc.) Hikayat Panji Kuda Semirang: • Panji Semirang walks to Tumasik; there is a market (pasar); encounters hill tribes (orang gunung), a queen with an elephant, a Demang Singabuwana (“Chamberlain of Lion Palace”); lots of bloodshed; goes to Angkor. Unstudied. (ed. Ali & Hutagulung 1996:143–152) Temasek: territory What is the extent of Temasek? • Chinese sources mention Temasek along with Lênggâ mn̂g ( 龙牙门 ) / Telok Blangah. • Temasek’s trade shows that it controls a “hinterland” (Heng 1999:143). • The Mao Kun ( 茅坤 ) map, probably going back to the early 15th c., shows Temasek to be contiguous with the mainland. • In the SM, it is never called an island (pulau). Lênggâ mn̂g / Telok Blangah / Keppel Harbour Photo by I. Sinclair · © 2018 Temasek ( 淡马锡 ) contiguous with the mainland Mao, Yuanyi. Wu Bei Zhi. 1644. Map. (Library of Congress) Temasek: etymology tasik+infix em > t-em-asik “in the lake/waves” • Proposed by Rouffaer (1921:75) • has semi-official status (is often cited) Pro: • SM ciri: ...*salila-d[v]īpa ... “island in the waves” • is found in Tagalog dictionaries Con: • little support in period sources • has no particular relation to Singapore Temasek: etymology timah+? “tin-” • Proposed by Gerini (1905:502–4); the -sik element was not identified Pro: • tin is called timah all over the Archipelago • tin is associated with the Malay world • “dipper tin” (concave ingot) is a Temasek export Bukit Timah from the mouth of the Pandan River Photo by I. Sinclair · © 2019 Bukit Timah quarry Photo by I. Sinclair · © 2019 Temasek: etymology timah (Malay)+sikka (Arabic) “tin coinage/currency” • New proposal • Bengal, after coming under Muslim rule in the 1200s, began adopting sikka currency • After the collapse of the Bengali Senas, new trade began flowing through the Straits • It is not yet known how Malay words began to be formed from Arabic words • The Portugese called the tin currency of the region “cash” Singapura: etymology siṃha+pura (Skt.) “lion city” • Common knowledge and official status • pura: a walled compound (Eng. fort, borough; Ger. burg) • But why a lion? Singapura: the lionlike animal The beast Sang Nila Utama sees at the Padang: seekor binatang maha tangkas lakunya; merah warna tubuhnya; hitam kepalanya, dan putih dadanya. Sikapnya terlalu pantas dan perkasa, besarnya besar sedikit dari kambing randuk. (r2; ed. Teeuw et al 1958:39; regularised) • The description is identical in all SM versions, which suggests that it is particularly old and authoritative Singapura: the lionlike animal Proposed ID: Masked Palm Civet (Paguma larvata) 果子狸 • Strongly resembles SM animal description: • black & white head, white chest stripe, tawny body • up to 76 cm long, with tail up to 63 cm • can be active during the day • eats shellfish Masked Palm Civet Masked Palm Civet – 06 · Kabacchi, 2010 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Masked Palm Civet ハクビシン＠多摩動物公園 · tomosuke214, 2012 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Trope of the Superior Defender / Valiant Beast • the hero looks for a secure site; • sees a display of unusual strength (a quiet animal beats a stronger attacker); • the hero accepts that the site is special Occurs in the stories of South Asian cities’ foundings, going back to the 9th c.; still current in 16th c. (Digby 2004) Trope of the Superior Defender / Valiant Beast Problems with the SM application of the trope • Internal: the description of the beast is consistent in all recensions, but the “is it a lion?” reactions vary in their wording; this indicates that the reaction part is later • External: non-Malay sources know next to nothing of Singapura long after the Padang episode, so the city could not have been known as Singapura at the time of founding Singapura: Date of founding 1299 CE • semi-official view • Derived by subtracting all regnal years for Singapura kings in the SM from the date of Iskandar Shah’s death, 1414. (Linehan 1947) • Problem: the regnal years come from only one version of the SM. c. 1292 CE (alternative proposal) • Derived by Linehan’s method, but with the Singapura-Melaka years following SM r2, r3 (32/33/35 years) rather than SM r1 (25 years). 1292–3: Marco Polo in the Straits redacted Singapura: etymology *siṃhāsanapura (Skt.) “city of the lion throne” • Proposed meaning of “lion” in this context • The Lion Throne is consistently associated with the royal line and ruling king in the SM • The Lion Throne was taken from Singapura to Melaka; attempted to be retrieved from the burning of the istana Melaka: etymology āmalaka (Skt.) > melaka “myrobalan tree” (kayu melaka) • Official view • Derives from the name of the tree the founder of Malacca (Iskandar Shah/Parameswara) was standing under during a Valiant Beast episode Malacca: etymology “Maka anjing perburuan itupun diterjangkan oleh pelanduk putih, jatuh ke air. [...] Baik tempat ini; sedang pelanduknya lagi gagah. Baiklah kita berbuat negeri di sini”. [...] “Apa nama kayu ini, tempat kita bersandar?” [...] “Kayu melaka namanya, tuanku”. Maka titah baginda: “Jika demikian, Melaka-lah nama negeri ini”. (r2; ed. Teeuw et al 1958:80; regularised) • Clearly an instance of the trope: the mousedeer is the valiant beast. • But by the logic of the trope: “Mousedeer city” Melaka: etymology “Paramiſora fled to...this new foundation, which was after called Malaca ſignifying a baniſhed man, in remembrance of this Iauans exile.” (Purchas 1626:493, after Portugese sources) • *melupakan (?) > melaka Linguistically unlikely. • typical early usage: negeri melaka, orang melaka, etc. Malacca: etymology mleccha (Skt.) > maleca (O Jav.) > melaka “foreigner, barbarian” (O Jav.: Gonda 1973:383) — often means Muslim in Indic contexts • Tentative proposal • negeri melaka would mean a “Saracen city” • Melaka must have been mostly Muslim before the arrival of the Tribuanic dynasty. • In c. 1403, Melaka was promoted to the Ming (Yongle) Emperor by Muslim traders from S India (Wang 1964:99). END THE INCEPTION OF LION CITY — SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY • Ali, Lukman, and M. S. Hutagalung. 1996. Hikayat Panji Kuda Semirang. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. • Chambert-Loir, Henri. 2017. ‘The History of a History: Variant Versions of the Sulalat al-Salatin’. Indonesia 104: 121– 177. doi:10.1353/ind.2017.0013 • Digby, Simon. 2004. ‘Travels of the Acaryas in the Sixteenth Century According to Taranatha’. Unpublished correspondence with David Templeman. • Gerini, G. E. 1905. ‘The Nāgarakretāgama List of Countries on the Indo-Chinese Mainland (circâ 1380 A.D.)’. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland for 1905 485–511. • Gonda, Jan. 1973. Sanskrit in Indonesia. 2nd ed. Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture. • Hasjim, Nafron. 1984. Hikayat Galuh Digantung. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. • Heng Thiam Soon, Derek. 1999. ‘Temasik as an International and Regional Trading Port in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries: A Reconstruction based on Recent Archaeological Data’. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 72(1): 113–124. • Linehan, W. 1947. ‘The Kings of 14th Century Singapore’. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 20(2): 117–127. JSTOR:41560034 • Ngô Sĩ Liên 吳士連 (1479); Jinghe Chen 陳荊和 (ed.) 1984. Daietsu shiki zensho: kōgōbon ( 大越史記全書 : 校合本 ). Tokyo: 東京大學東洋文化硏究所附屬東洋學文献センター . • Prapañca, Mpu (1365); Stuart Robson, trans. 1995. Deśawarn! ana. Leiden: KITLV Press. • Purchas, Samuel. 1626. Purchas his pilgrimage, or, Relations of the world and the religions observed in all ages and places discouered, from the creation vnto this present. London: William Stansby. • Rouffaer, G. P. 1921. ‘Was Malaka emporium vóór 1400 A. D., genaamd Malajoer? En waar lag Woerawari, Mā-Hasin, Langka, Batoesawar? (Met terreinschetsen van Djambi, oud-Singhapoera, en de Djohor-rivier)’. Bijdragen tot de taal, land- en volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië 77:1–174,359–569.