Chronicle
The Pasai Chronicle
Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai
Anonymous · 1390
Synopsis
The chronicle of the kingdom of Pasai, in northern Sumatra, from its foundation to its subjugation by the Javanese empire of Majapahit. It tells of the conversion of the ruler, who is said to have seen the Prophet in a dream and awakened circumcised and knowing Arabic, then the reigns that follow, the succession disputes and the military campaigns. History, legend and edifying tales about the fate of kings are mingled in it without the text separating them.
Context
The text deals with the sultanate of Pasai, the first Islamised state of the region, and nothing earlier survives in this language. It predates the Malay Annals, which borrow several episodes from it, and it served as the model for the very form of the court chronicle. It is known from a very small number of manuscripts, including that of the Royal Asiatic Society, and was edited and translated into English by A. H. Hill in the society's journal in 1960, an edition still cited today as the standard reference.
Who it is for
A short chronicle, more restrained than the Malay Annals, to be read for the comparison between the two texts.
Prizes and reception
The oldest source on the Islamization of the Malay archipelago, edited and translated into English, and constantly cited in studies of the first sultanates of Sumatra.