Sulalat al-Salatin ya'ni Perteturun Segala Raja-Raja (Sejarah Melayu) [Sulalat al-Salatin, that is, the Genealogy of All the Kings (The Malay Annals)]

Abstract

A critical edition of Sulalat al-Salatin, better known as Sejarah Melayu (the Malay Annals), by Tun Seri Lanang (Tun Muhammad), Bendahara (chief minister) of the Johor Sultanate, who compiled or edited this text around 1612 and was later taken to Aceh, where he became Uleebalang (territorial chief) of Samalanga. The text was studied and introduced by Malaysian National Laureate Prof. Muhammad Haji Salleh and published in the great works (karya agung) series of Yayasan Karyawan together with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Sulalat al-Salatin recounts the origins of the Malay kings descended from Iskandar Zulkarnain at Bukit Siguntang, the founding of Singapura and Melaka, the entry of Islam into the Melaka court, the greatness of Melaka as a centre of trade and da'wah, figures such as Tun Perak, Hang Tuah, and Tun Mutahir, and finally the fall of Melaka to the Portuguese in 1511. More than a mere chronicle, this work formulates the concepts of daulat (sovereign majesty) and derhaka (treason), the waadat (covenant) between ruler and subjects, and the adab (ethics) of Malay-Islamic governance, thereby becoming a foundational text of historiography, literature, and political thought in the Malay world. Muhammad Haji Salleh's introduction discusses the manuscripts, versions, and aesthetic value of this text.