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AMalayspurtovalour:theHikayatMuhammadHanafiahAsianandAfricanstudiesblog

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AMalayspurtovalour:theHikayat
MuhammadHanafiah
ThestoryofMuammadb.alanafiyyahasonofthecaliphAlbyacaptive
fromthetribeoftheBananfah,andhalfbrothertotheProphets
grandsonsasanandusaynwascomposedinPersianbyananonymous
authorinthefourteenthcentury,andverysoonafterthattranslatedintoMalay,
probablyaroundthecourtofPasaiinnorthSumatra.Inthistaletheotherwise
marginalfigureofthehistoricalMuammadb.alanafiyyahistransformed
intoaquintessentialIslamichero,emergingvictoriousafternumerousbattles.

HikayatMuhammadHanafiah,withdecoratedinitialframes,copiedby
MuhammadKasimon29Jumadilakhir1220(25August1805),probablyin
Penang.BritishLibrary,MSSMalayB.6,ff.1v2r.
TheHikayatMuhammadHanafiahbecamepopularthroughouttheMalay
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world,withitsstatureasaspurtovalourcementedbyaniconicepisodeinthe
mostfamousMalaychronicle.TheSulalatalSalatin,popularlyknownasthe
SejarahMelayuorMalayAnnals,wascomposedsometimeinthesixteenth
centurytorecordforposteritythegloryofthegreatkingdomofMelaka,before
itsdefeatbyPortugueseforcesunderAfonsodAlbuquerquein1511.Inthe
SejarahMelayu,thenightbeforethePortugueseattack,theyoungknightsof
MelakasentamessagetothesultanrequestingtherecitationoftheHikayat
MuhammadHanafiah.Thesultanteststheirresolvebyofferinginsteadatale
ofalesserhero,theHikayatAmirHamzah.Thenoblesreplythataslongas
thesultanscouragematchesthatofMuhammadHanafiah,theywillmatchthat
ofhisgenerals,whereuponthesultanaccedestotheirrequest.Thefull
episodefromtheSejarahMelayuisreproducedbelow,inC.C.Browns
translation:
Thatnightthewarchiefsandtheyoungnobleswerewaitinginthehallof
audience,andtheyoungnoblessaid,Whydowesithereidly?Itwouldbe
wellforustoreadataleofwarthatwemayprofitfromit.AndTun
MuhammadUntasaid,Thatisverytrue,sir.LetusasktheRajatogiveusthe
StoryofMuhammadHanafiah.ThentheyoungnoblessaidtoTunAria,Go,
sir,andtakethismessagetotheRuler,thatallofuscravefromhistheStoryof
MuhammadHanafiah,inthehopethatwemayobtainprofitfromit,forthe
Franks[i.e.Portuguese]areattackingtomorrrow.TunAriaaccordinglywent
intothepalaceandpresentedhimselfbeforeSultanAhmad,towhomhe
addressedtheyoungnoblesrequest.AndSultanAhmadgavehimtheStory
ofHamzahsaying,WewouldgiveyoutheStoryofMuhammadHanafiahdid
wenotfearthatthebraveryofthegentlemenofourcourtfallsshortofthe
braveryofMuhammadHanafiah!Butitmaybethattheirbraveryissuchas
wasthebraveryofHamzahandthatiswhywegiveyoutheStoryofHamzah.
TunAriathenleftthepalacebearingtheStoryofHamzahandhetoldthe
youngnobleswhatSultanAhmadhadsaid.Atfirsttheyweresilent,but
presentlyTunIsakBerakahrepliedtoTunAria,Representhumblytothe
Rulerthathehasspokenamiss.IfhewillbeasMuhammadHanafiah,wewill
beaswarchiefBania[i.e.ofBeniar,theheadquartersofthehistorical
MuhammadalHannafiyyah]:ifhisbraveryisthatofMuhammadHanafiah,
ourswillbethatofwarchiefBania.AndwhenTunAriatookthismessage
fromTunIsakBerakahtoSultanAhmad,thekingsmiledandgavethemthe
storyofMuhammadHanafiahinstead.(Brown1970:1623).
Infact,neitherofthetwomanuscriptsoftheSejarahMelayuintheBritish
Libraryincludethisepisode.Or.14734,copiedinMelakain1873,omitsany
mentionofthenobles'requestforHikayatMuhammadHanfiahonf.174v,
perhapspartofalatetendencytoeraseanypossibleShi'itingesfromMalay
literature.InOr.16214,copiedinSingaporearound1832,thechapteronthe
Portugueseattackismissing.

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FinalpageofHikayatMuhammadHanafiah,copiedbyMahmudibnHusainon
14Syaaban1220(7November1805):tamatlahHikayatMuhammadHanafiah
anakdacucudanabis.a.w.padasanat1220tahun2waupadaempatbelas
haribulanSyaabanpadamalamArba'wakatibuhuMahmudibnHusain.
BritishLibrary,MSSMalayD.5,f.80r.
TheMalayHikayatMuhammadHanafiahwasthesubjectofadetailedstudy
byLodeBrakel(1975),whotracedthirtymanuscripts,includingthreeinthe
BritishLibrary,whichhavenowallbeendigitised.Two,fromtheJohnLeyden
collection,werebothcopiedinPenangorKedahin1805(MSSMalayB.6and
MSSMalayD.5,BrakelssourceF).Athirdmanuscript,fromthecollectionof
JohnCrawfurd(Add.12377,BrakelssourceG),mayhavebeenacquiredin
JavabuttheuseofthetitlesTeukuandTeungkusugggestalinkwithAceh.
ThetaleisalsoknowninAcehnese,Bugis,Javanese,Makasarese,Madurese,
MinangkabauandSundaneseversions.

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FinalpagesofHikayatMuhammadHanafiah,copiedbyTeungkuKecikand
ownedbyTeukuItam:tamatwakatibuhuTeungkuKecikmenyuratdiaTeuku
(t.a..k.w)Itamempunya{empunya}suratinitamat.BritishLibrary,Add.12377,
ff.185v186r.
BrakelalsodocumentedtwomanuscriptsofthePersianoriginal,oneatthe
timethoughttobeuniqueintheBritishLibrary(Add.8149),andanotherin
St.Petersburg.BycomparingtheMalaymanuscriptswithAdd.8149(acopy
fromMurshidabadinBengal,writtenin1721),Brakelwasabletoshowthat
theMalaytextwasadirecttranslationfromthePersianoriginal,insomecases
evenpreservingtheorderofwords(Brakel1975:1213).

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OpeningpageofthePersianHikyatMuammadanafiyyah,followingon
fromataleofasanandusayn,Murshidabad,1721.BritishLibrary,Add.
8149,ff.28v29r.
Furtherreading:
L.F.Brakel,TheHikayatMuhammadHanafiyyah:amedievalMuslimMalay
romance.TheHague:MartinusNijhoff,1975.(BibliothecaIndonesica12).
L.F.Brakel,ThestoryofMuhammadHanafiyyah:amedievalMuslim
romance.TranslatedfromtheMalaybyL.F.Brakel.TheHague:Martinus
Nijhoff,1977.(BibliothecaIndonesica16).
C.C.Brown,SejarahMelayuorMalayAnnals.Anannotatedtranslationby
C.C.Brown,withanewintroductionbyR.Roolvink.KualaLumpur:Oxford
UniversityPress,1970.
AnnabelTehGallop,LeadCurator,SoutheastAsia

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PostedbyAnnabelGallopat1:58AM

Tags
Digitisation,Malay,SouthEastAsia

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