Page:Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (IA journalofstra81821920roya).pdf/47

 TAJU'S-SALATIN.

Dutch scholars have done much towards preparing a history of Malay literature, but as Dr. Ph. S. van Ronkel, the successor of van Ophuijsen in the chair of Malay at Leiden, points out in the paper (Tijdschrift Ind. T. L. en Vk., deel NVJ) which I here summarize, a great deal remains to be studied not only as to the spread of tales in the Archipelago itself but as to the source and date of borrowings from Arab, Persian and Indian literature. Brandes has studied the sources of the Hikayat Bayan Budiman, the Hikayat Kalila dan Damina, the Hikayat Gholam and the Hikayat Bakhtiar: van Ronkel has written a book on the ''Ht. Amir Hamza and papers on the Taju's-Salatin, the Ht. Gul Bakawali (Le Roman de la Rose dans la literature malaise), the Ht. Tamim ad-dari and the Ht. Sama'un'' and above all an exhaustive catalogue of the great collection of Malay MSS, in the possession of the Batavian Society, of which it suffices to say that it is a worthy counterpart of Juynboll's catalogue of the Malay MSS. at Leiden. Gradually material for a history is being accumulated. But the field is dreary and the labourers are few.

Early scholars supposed that Malay borrowings were from the Arabic. Now we know that not even all Malay theological works were translated from the Arabic. India has been the source of much Malay literature and of popular mysticism:—vide Snouck Hurgronje's book on "The Achehnese." For a long time Persian was the official language of India, especially of northern India. To the Persian language, but not therefore to direct Persian influence, Malay is indebted for its script, the name of its vowel points, certain loan-words and many legends and romances. Sometimes the borrowing has been direct, sometimes by way of some Indian translation. The comparison of Malay romances with Hindustani and Tamil literature might well engage the interest of our local students of those languages.

For the Taju's-Salatin, van Ronkel alludes to the eulogies unduly bestowed on this work by Roorda van Eysinga, its first editor, and by the grammarian Werndly. That sound scholar van der Tuuk gave a note of warning and criticized the poorness of van Eysinga's text: a criticism repeated by Blagden and myself on p. 189 of our "Malay Reader" (Clarendon Press).

Werndly and van Eysinga call the author Bokhari of Johore. The true explanation is that he was" a Bokhari," a native of Bokhara, practising the trade of a jauhari "a jeweller."

Ethé in his account of modern Persian literature speaks of a Bokhari Jauhari mentioned in the literary biography of Suhuf