Sekalipun sering dianggap sebagai karya pertama sastera klasik Melayu oleh kaum sarjana yang meminati ilmu pengajian Melayu, dan tela’ah demi tela’ah telah dilakukan terhadapnya sejak pertengahan abad ke-19, namun Hikayat Raja Pasai, belum pernah dikaji secara mendalam oleh sejarawan. Penerbitan edisi terbaru karya yang melakar zaman awal kedatangan Islam di Sumatera Utara oleh Prof. Emeritus Datuk Dr. Ahmat Adam ini adalah percubaan terkini beliau untuk mengetengahkan beberapa tafsiran baru mengenai karya klasik Melayu yang belum pernah diungkapkan oleh mana-mana kajian; satu daripadanya ialah aspek tasawuf di dalam karya itu.
Provides a detailed, narrative-based history of classical Malay Literature. It covers a wide range of Malay texts, including folk literature; the influence of the Indian epics and shadow theatre literature; Panji tales; the transition from Hindu to Muslim literary models; Muslim literature; framed tales; theological literature; historical literature; legal codes; and the dominant forms of poetry, the pantun and syair.
Traditional literature, or 'the deed of the reed pen' as it was called by its creators, is not only the most valuable part of the cultural heritage of the Malay people, but also a shared legacy of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. Malay culture during its heyday saw the entire Universe as a piece of literature written by the Creator with the Sublime Pen on the Guarded Tablet. Literature was not just the creation of a scribe, but a scribe himself, imprinting words on the 'sheet of memory' and thus shaping human personality. This book, the first comprehensive survey of traditional Malay literature in English since 1939, embraces more than a millennium of Malay letters from the vague data of the seventh century up to the early beginnings of the modern literatures in the late nineteenth century. The long path trodden by traditional Malay literature is viewed in historical and theoretical perspectives as a development of integral system, caused by cultural and religious changes, primarily by gradual Islamization. This changing system considered in the entirety of its genres and works, is seen both externally and internally: from the point of view of modern scholarship and through the examination of indigenous concepts of literary creativity, poetics and aesthetics. The book not only repesents an original study based on a specific historico-theoretical approach, but it is also a complete reference-work and an indispensable manual for students.
Ancient Southeast Asia provides readers with a much needed synthesis of the latest discoveries and research in the archaeology of the region, presenting the evolution of complex societies in Southeast Asia from the protohistoric period, beginning around 500BC, to the arrival of British and Dutch colonists in 1600. Well-illustrated throughout, this comprehensive account explores the factors which established Southeast Asia as an area of unique cultural fusion. Miksic and Goh explore how the local population exploited the abundant resources available, developing maritime transport routes which resulted in economic and cultural wealth, including some of the most elaborate art styles and monumental complexes ever constructed. The book’s broad geographical and temporal coverage, including a chapter on the natural environment, provides readers with the context needed to understand this staggeringly diverse region. It utilizes French, Dutch, Chinese, Malay-Indonesian and Burmese sources and synthesizes interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and data from archaeology, history and art history. Offering key opportunities for comparative research with other centres of early socio-economic complexity, Ancient Southeast Asia establishes the area’s importance in world history.
This handbook explores the ways in which Islam, as one of the fastest growing religions, has become a global faith for both Muslims and non-Muslims in Southeast Asia with its universality, inclusivity, and shared features with other Islamic expressions and manifestations. It offers an up-to-date, wide-ranging, comprehensive, concise, and readable introduction to the field of Islam in Southeast Asia. With specific themes of pertinent contemporary relevance, the contributions by experts in the field provide fresh insights into the roles of states, societies, scholars, social movements, political parties, economic institutions, sacred sites, and other forces that structured the faith over many centuries. The handbook is structured in three parts: Muslim Global Circulations Marginal Narratives Refashioning Pieties This handbook stands out as a single and synergistic reference work that explores the ebb and flow of Islam seeking to decenter many existing assumptions about it in Southeast Asia. It will be an indispensable resource for scholars, students, and policymakers working on Islam, Muslims, and their interactions with other communities in a plural setting.
In Alcohol in Early Java: Its Social and Cultural Significance, Jiří Jákl offers an account of the history of alcohol in pre-Islamic Java (9-15th C.E.).
“...penerbitan esei-esei ini juga digerakkan oleh rasa tidak senang penulis terhadap beberapa orang yang berlagak sarjana ilmu tawarikh tetapi menulis hal-hal dongeng ciptaannya sendiri yang didakwanya sebagai sejarah, tanpa mengemukakan dalil sahih yang menjadi landasan penulisan ilmu tawarikh atau ilmu sejarah.” Dalam karya terbarunya ini, Prof. Emeritus Ahmat Adam membincangkan zaman silam Melaka dan kaitannya dengan tawarikh bangsa Melayu. Esei-esei yang terkumpul dalam buku ini adalah hasil daripada penyelidikan beliau, dan antara topik yang dibincangkan ialah penaklukan kesultanan Melayu Melaka oleh bangsa Portugis, perihal Laksamana Melaka yang bergelar Hang Tuha (bukan “Tuah”), dan warisan budaya Nusantara seperti ilmu huruf serta hubungannya dengan permasalahan dan makna huruf al-Qur’an yang sangat mempengaruhi para sarjana zaman dahulu.
The book probes and examines traditional sources of royal power and control, as well as indigenous socio-political systems in the Malay world. It is focused on the north-western Malaysian Sultanate of Kedah which is acknowledged as the oldest unbroken independent kingship line in the 'Malay and Islamic world' with 1,000 years of history. Little scholarly attention has been paid to its pre-modern history, society, religion, system of government and unique geographic situation, potentially controlling both land and sea lines of communication into the remainder of Southeast Asia. It will thus provide the first comprehensive treatment in English, or other languages, on Kedah's pre-modern and nineteenth century historiography and can provide a foundation for comparative studies of the various Malay states which is presently lacking. The proposed book also sheds much needed light on a range of important topics in Malay history including: Kedah and the northern Melaka Straits history, colonial expansion and rivalry, Southeast Asian history and politics, interregional migration and the influence of the sea peoples or orang laut, traditional Malay socio-political and economic life, Islamic influences and the course of Thai-Malay relations. The book attempts to offer a new understanding, not only of Kedah, but of the political and cultural development of the entire Malay world and of its relationships with the broader forces in both its continental and maritime settings. It argues that Kedah does not seem to follow, and in fact, often seems to contradict what has been commonly been accepted as the "typical model" of the traditional Malay state. Thus it concludes that the ruling dynasty has historically exploited a wide range of unique environmental conditions, local traditions, global spiritual trends and economic forces to preserve and strengthen its political position.
