Muzings 2021

Legends, Myths and Fables

Marianne Khor

The countries of Nusantara and the lives of its people creatures like the Naga and Sang Kancil, just as a Western
are closely connected to the sea. It is no wonder, storyteller might write of the Loch Ness Monster, the
therefore, that the setting of many of its stories pertains Clever Fox, or the Hare and the Tortoise. Many of the
to the sea, the rivers and the lakes. To the people of the stories of the Malay world can be found in the Sejarah
Malay Archipelago, water means life, but it can also be Melayu, while others have been passed verbally from
dangerous and destructive. To find a way to understand generation to generation by the people of this region.
and calm these two opposing forces has therefore One of the most famous mythical water creatures is the
always been an important element in their tales. Naga. Stories about the Naga can be found in many
Legends, myths and fables have been told all over the parts of Nusantara. The word Naga means ‘serpent’ in
world since time immemorial. In all these stories we find Sanskrit. In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the Naga
creatures and heroes, both good and evil, bestowed with represents a mythical being, half human and half cobra.
special powers of wisdom, strength and destruction. Nagas are a strong and handsome species who assume
Such tales are an important part of any culture, the soul either wholly human or wholly serpentine form. They
of its people, part of their common memory. They can sometimes be dangerous, but are often beneficial to
embody a universal human experience and are used as humans. In some stories the Nagas are the enemy of
a tool to explain problems and occurrences in people’s the Garuda.
daily lives.

Legends are traditional tales about historical events
presented in story form. These stories could be true,
or might contain an element of truth, but cannot be
proven. Myths generally relate to the oldest past, even
prehistory, and concern the origins of peoples, or
explain natural phenomena in a supernatural guise.
Fables are folk tales, often having an animal as the
central character. They dispense advice on morality and
the eternal problems of everyday life. Such stories often
have several different versions and diverse endings.

Just like the legends, myths, and fables of the West, Wayang kulit figure, representing a naga
the traditional storytellers of the Malay world tell of

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One of the most famous stories of the Naga in Malaysia
is probably the one about the mythical Naga Tasik Chini
who is supposed to live in Lake Tasik Chini, Pahang.
Just a few years ago a local fisherman claimed to have
seen the Naga while he was out fishing on the lake. He
never went back out on the lake again!

The version of this story told by the indigenous people Nyai Roro Kidul
of the area relates how villagers were once clearing or Kanjeng Ratu Kidul
the forest, making holes in the ground to plant crops.
Suddenly, out of the forest came an old lady leaning on fishermen. It is a typical tale of sailors or fishermen who
a walking stick who proceeded to scold them because are in danger of being seduced by the beautiful spirits
they had not sought the permission of the spirits. She of the waters. These stories exist in many cultures, be it
finally allowed the people to stay, provided they did the German legend of the Lorelei on the river Rhine or
not remove her walking stick, which she planted in the the Sirens of Greek mythology, bewitching sailors, and
middle of the forest to mark her own territory. One day causing them to sail into dangerous waters or toward
a dog began to bark endlessly at a rotting log on the edge rocks.
of the clearing. Some children threw sticks and stones In another part of Nusantara, Nyai Roro Kidul ‘The
at it. Suddenly, lightning struck, and a downpour ensued Queen of the Southern Sea’ plays a most important
for days. The walking stick, was accidentally dislodged part in Javanese mythology. It is said that she rules an
and water gushed from the hole until Lake Chini itself underwater empire off the southern coast of Java in the
was formed. It is believed that the log was, in fact, the Indian Ocean. Some people believe she exists, others
Naga. This story is a good example of a myth that seeks that she is simply a legend. There have been eyewitness
to explain a natural occurrence that happened a long accounts of her appearances and academic research
time ago. has been carried out, but Nyai Roro Kidul remains a
Equally, the myth about the Malay Deluge tells how a mythical figure of supernatural powers and seduction.
great flood in Kelantan came down from the mountains According to legend, she enjoys the company of
and drowned everyone. The sun, moon, and stars were handsome young fishermen, whom she lures into the
extinguished, and there was a great darkness. When the sea with her mystical powers and physical beauty.
light returned, there was no land, but only a great sea, and The Sea Dayaks possess a treasure trove of fables and
all the habitations of mankind had been overwhelmed. legends about the sea, which have been passed from
Some of these stories also try to explain certain local generation to generation since ancient times. These
rituals and customs. The classical Ulek Mayang dance is stories belong to an oral tradition because the Dayaks
a traditional performance conducted in Terengganu in had no written language of their own. A famous figure
which offerings of coloured rice on palm fronds are is the mythical hero Klieng who cannot be seen by
presented to the sea princess, Ulek Mayang. This dance humans but whose help is often evoked in times of
has its roots in a Terengganu legend about Putri Ulek
Mayang. The offering was created in her honour to
appease the sea spirits for the future safety of the local

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war. Then there are fables about animals like the mouse
deer and the tortoise, which have their counterparts in
fairy tales from western literature. They are often quite
humorous and their purpose is to entertain.
But there are also tales which are believed to have really
happened, and could therefore be true. These stories tell
of the traditions, customs, and beliefs of the Dayaks.
One such explains a certain custom still observed today.
It derives from the story ‘Nakhoda Ragam Who Was
Pricked to Death by his Wife’s Needle’.
Another source of water-or sea-related stories comes
from the Mah Meri tribe of Carey Island. These legends
are also represented in their wood carvings. An example
is the story of Moyang Lanjut, who used her long hair to
feed milk to her husband when he was trapped at the
bottom of a swamp.
Whether legends, myths, fables, fairy-tales, or sagas,
these stories have a role as the keepers of heritage. A
culture without stories is like a person without memories.
Stories form the link to the past and offer explanations
about the unknown, and the origins of customs and
traditions. They also provide a certain kind of security
and comfort in difficult times. When children are scared
and cannot sleep, they want to hear a story. The same
goes for people of all ages. When they are scared or
lonely they want to hear a story about someone who
was once in a similar situation, but for whom eventually
all went well in the end. It is therefore no wonder that
the traditional storyteller in Malay society is known as

Penglipur Lara, the ‘Soother-Of- Care’. w

Top: Young Sea Dayaks in traditional costume.
Bottom: Moyang Lanjut carving on display at the
Orang Asli Crafts Museum.

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Kajian Awal Keatas Kitab Tib Pontianak

Mohd Jamil Bin Haron

Manuskrip Melayu merupakan warisan silam yang Menurut pengiraan Dr. Harun Mat Piah (2002), nashkah
menghimpunkan pelbagai ilmu pengetahuan yang Kitab Tib Pontianak ini mempunyai 44 halaman dengan
tidak ternilai. Semenjak nenek-moyang kita mahir tiga halaman tambahan selepas kolofon. Setiap muka
menulis dan membaca huruf-huruf Jawi, beribu-ribu suratnya berukuran 24.2cm x 17.5cm. Muka surat
manuskrip telah dihasilkan di pusat-pusat peradaban terawal hingga muka surat terakhir teks ini lengkap tanpa
Melayu-Nusantara. Manuskrip-manuskrip yang terhasil sebarang kerosakan atau kehilangan helaian. Nashkah
merangkumi pelbagai disiplin ilmu yang berkaitan ini telah ditulis pada lembaran kertas laid Eropah
dengan kehidupan masyarakat umum, khasnya orang berwarna putih kekuningan yang mempamerkan tera
Melayu. Manuskrip Kitab Tib telah dikarang sebagai air ‘Andrea Galvani Pordenone’ berlambangkan bulan
panduan dalam bidang perubatan tradisional Melayu sabit berprofil manusia di dalam sebuah perisai. Ia
yang menggunakan adunan bahan-bahan flora, fauna masih dalam keadaan baik, hanya halaman pertama dan
dan rempah ratus sebagai ubat. Kitab Tib Pontianak keduanya yang tidak dapat dibaca dengan jelas kerana
yang menjadi subjek utama artikel ini telah diterima kotoran dakwat.
oleh Pusat Manuskrip Melayu (PMM) pada tahun 1996 Pengarang Kitab Tib Pontianak
dan direkodkan sebagai MSS 2219. Karangan kitab Pengarang kitab ini, Haji Ismail bin Haji Mustafa,
tersebut selesai ditulis pada hari Rabu, 5 Zulkaedah berasal dari Pontianak. Latar belakang beliau
1325 bersamaan 10 Disember 1907 oleh Haji Ismail bin bagaimanapun tidak diketahui secara terperinci kerana
Haji Mustafa di Kampung Tambelan, Pontianak. sumber yang menunjukkan salasilah keturunannya

54

belum dapat ditemui. Namun, kekurangan maklumat flora yang wujud di sekeliling kita sebagai ramuan ubat.
ini tidak mencacatkan Kitab Tib Pontianak kerana ilmu Penggunaan flora bukan sahaja pada daun dan ubi
perubatan Melayu yang terkandung di dalamnya jauh tetapi menjangkau ke bahagian akar, batang dan buah.
lebih bernilai. Sumber berasaskan haiwan juga tidak terkecuali sebagai
Isi Kandungan ubat-ubatan tetapi penggunaannya terhad kepada
Isi kandungan Kitab Tib Pontianak terbahagi kepada anggota tertentu. Hempedu kambing misalnya boleh
beberapa perkara. Bahagian yang pertama menjelaskan menyembuhkan penyakit lemah syahwat golongan
jenis-jenis penyakit - dikategorikan mengikut jantina lelaki. Proses meramas, merendam dan mengasah
serta penyakit yang bersifat umum. Penyakit dalam bahan-bahan ramuan turut diterangkan dalam nashkah
kalangan lelaki yang diutarakan berkaitan dengan ini.
syahwat seperti mati pucuk dan kurang mani, manakala Aspek ketiga yang dipaparkan ialah kaedah rawatan,
penyakit wanita pula seperti senggugut dan meroyan. antaranya, ubat-ubatan yang diminum seperti air
Antara penyakit umum yang disebutkan ialah penyakit bermalam, dimakan seperti hati pinang muda, ataupun
hati dan tekanan jiwa. ditampal seperti campuran daun puding merah bagi
Perkara kedua yang diperbincangkan ialah bahan-bahan merawat penyakit sembelit. Keistimewaan nashkah ini
perubatan. Menurut Dr. Abdul Razak Ab. Karim (2006), terletak pada perincian ramuan ubat yang diamalkan
nashkah ini memaparkan pelbagai nama dan khasiat oleh tokoh-tokoh tersohor pada masa lampau misalnya
ubat penguat tenaga batin yang digunakan oleh Sultan
Acheh, Sultan Iskandar Muda. Faktor-faktor penyakit

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turut disentuh secara tidak langsung seperti punca menambah mani terbahagi kepada tiga jenis iaitu wafaq
penyakit kurang mani dalam kalangan lelaki. berbentuk bintang; tambahan huruf fa dan wau di antara
dua bintang; serta tambahan huruf ain pada hujung
BAB ini ubat kurang mani…adapun asalnya bintang. Wafaq khusus untuk penyakit mati pucuk yang
daripada penyakit pinggang juga kuat tidur dipaparkan ialah wafaq berbentuk dua bintang dengan
siang dan gemar makan asam… (h.25) huruf ha; dan wafaq berbentuk tiga bintang bersama
Penggunaan Wafaq huruf alif, ain dan tha. Setiap wafaq yang disebut tadi
Wafaq adalah sejenis azimat atau tangkal. Muhammad mempunyai syarat-syarat tertentu sebelum ia boleh
Abdullah (2000) melihat istilah ini sebagai kitab-kitab diamalkan, contohnya wafaq hendaklah disurat di atas
lama yang mengandungi sandi Arab atau simbol- pinggan.
simbol berupa angka, huruf dan kalam Arab yang Penutup
disusun mengikut waktu tertentu dan dirumus untuk Ilmu yang terkandung dalam Kitab Tib Pontianak
menghindari penyakit. Berdasarkan kajian Dr. Abdul merupakan manifestasi ketinggian ilmu orang Melayu
Razak b. Ab. Karim (2006), Kitab Tib Pontianak dalam bidang perubatan pada suatu masa dahulu yang
memperkenalkan lima wafaq untuk rawatan penyakit hendaklah dikaji dan dikongsi dengan masyarakat
sembelit, busung, mati pucuk dan kekurangan mani.
umum hari ini sebagai panduan penjagaan kesihatan. w

Wafaq penyakit sembelit berbentuk sama ada seolah-
olah huruf kaf atau segi empat yang ditulis “Ya Allah”
dalam lingkungan segi tiga di bahagian dalamnya.
Sementara itu wafaq untuk penyakit busung pula
berbentuk kepala seorang manusia tetapi berbadan
seperti keris. Wafaq untuk menguatkan tenaga batin dan

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ManuskmripasMyaeralakyaut Mceerlmayiunasnilakmehebatan

Manuskrip Melayu merupakan salah satu bukti agama, ketatanegaraan, petua, azimat, kitab ramalan
keunggulan daya cipta masyarakat Melayu pada dan sebagainya. Misalnya kitab agama merupakan
zaman dahulu. Terdapat pelbagai definisi yang telah himpunan ilmu mengenai syariat Islam, yang
diutarakan oleh golongan cendekiawan mengenai kebanyakannya ditulis ataupun disalin daripada
makna sebenar manuskrip Melayu. Perkataan karya-karya luar bagi memastikan syiar Islam
manuskrip adalah gabungan dua perkataan Latin, berkembang dan diamalkan dalam masyarakat.
manus dan scriptus. Menurut Wan Ali Wan Mamat, Kitab petua dan azimat pula sebagai panduan
(2014), manus merujuk kepada tangan, manakala kepada masyarakaat bagi mendapatkan petua
sriptus pula merujuk kepada tulisan. Menurut tertentu bagi kehidupan seharian, manakala kitab tib
Kamus Dewan (2007), manuskrip merujuk kepada pula merujuk kepada kitab perubatan Melayu yang
tulisan tangan, versi atau bahan (sesuatu karya) menggunakan alam flora dan fauna sebagai bahan
yang telah disediakan oleh penulis (editor dan perubatan untuk penyembuhan penyakit.
sebagainya) untuk dicetak dan diterbitkan dalam
bentuk buku. Manakala Perpustakaan Negara Manuskrip Melayu mesti dipelihara dengan
Malaysia menerusi Pusat Manuskip Melayu yang sebaiknya agar manfaatnya dapat dilangsungkan
berperanan menyimpan dan mendokumentasi kepada generasi sekarang dan akan datang. Di
manuskrip Melayu telah mendefinisikan manuskrip sebalik lembaran manuskrip Melayu, ada akal
Melayu adalah karya yang bertulis tangan dalam budi, pemikiran dan bukti kearifan bangsa ini yang
tulisan Jawi yang dihasilkan dalam lingkungan awal telah berjaya meninggalkan satu legasi intelektual
abad ke-16 sehingga awal abad ke-20. khususnya tentang peradaban dan tamadun bangsa

Manuskrip-manuskrip Melayu merangkumi Melayu. w
pelbagai bidang seperti sejarah, undang-undang,
warkah, perubatan, sastera, syair dan nazam, kitab

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Ancient Scripts

Mariana Isa

Writing developed much later in South East Asia than in CE the script began to diverge and adopt separate
India and China. Similar to other acculturations, it was regional forms that had no counterpart in India. Four
introduced into the archipelago through trading contact older scripts that are direct descendants of Pallava in
with India. The first system adopted was Pallava-Grantha, turn gave rise to later writing systems: Khmer, Mon,
which became the formation for almost all other South Cham and Kawi. The following passages underline the
East Asian scripts. Derivatives of Pallava Grantha and commonality of South East Asian scripts with the ones
Brahmi were the only writing systems found in the that were being used on the western shores of the Bay
region, except for northern Vietnam, which originally of Bengal.
used a Chinese-based script. This only changed after Pallava’s South East Asian trading partners in the first
the Muslim merchants introduced their Arabic script. millennium were the kingdoms of Funan, Khmer and
When Pallava script was first adapted in South East Asia, Champa. The Kingdom of Funan, South East Asia’s
the local scribes adopted Indian languages to write it, oldest urban civilisation, was a powerful maritime state
namely Sanskrit, Pali and Tamil. Over time local scribes centred on the Mekong Delta, an ideal stop for journeys
made use of the Pallava characters to create their own between India and China. Its capital city was Vyadapura
individual alphabets and, in its second evolution, the (city of hunters), from where the rulers administered
Pallava script was used to transliterate South East Asian over areas of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and parts
languages, such as old Khmer, old Malay, old Javanese, of the Malay Peninsula from the 3rd to 7th century CE.
old Balinese and old Cham. Initially, Pallava alphabets in The reign of the Funan kings came to an end when
different parts of South East Asia, South India and Sri they were defeated by the Khmer Kingdom of Angkor,
Lanka developed in parallel but by the late 8th century which emerged in Cambodia during the 6th century CE.
Khmer rulers had already adopted the Pallava suffix
A Chera era Tamil Grantha script inscription varman (protégé of), a form that was popular with rulers
dated between 800 and 810 CE. The font is of the Pallava Dynasty. The Khmer royal house traced
its lineage back to an original wandering Pallava prince
marked by long and stylish loops. and claimed descent from the union between a local
princess and a certain sage referred to as kambu whose
descendants were known as kambus, Pallava kings also
employed Khmer words in their titles. One Pallava ruler
actually lived in Funan before ascending to the throne.

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A 2-D print of the early 7th-century Pallava Khmer Ancient Khmer script
house at Angkor, taken between 1919 and 1926 carved in stone

The Khmer Kingdom was among the first to adopt the rulers and officials, who were accomplished scholars
Grantha script of the Pallavas; King Bhadravarman, a themselves. King Indravarman III, for example, was
contemporary of the Pallavas, was a renowned scholar proficient in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy; 50 Sanskrit
of the Vedas and authored several inscriptions in inscriptions have been uncovered in Champa and 150
Sanskrit. The Khmers developed their own script to in Cambodia. These were written in prose and verse,
write the Mon language (spoken at that time in Eastern exhibiting an intimate knowledge of the Indian epics,
Burma) as well as a counting system based on units of kavya and purana, as well as a thorough acquaintance
five. As their empire expanded, their writing system also with Sanskrit grammar. Champa inscriptions were
grew in influence and enjoyed an exceptional continuity often bilingual, in Sanskrit and Cham. Both languages
locally. Modern Khmer script is a direct descendant were written in Cham characters, which were similar to
of the old Khmer forms. Khmer characters were also Pallava. The Champa script was fully developed by the
the genesis of the Thai and Lao scripts and were also 8th century CE, replacing Sanskrit at the same time. The
adopted for Chakma, a south-eastern dialect of Bengali earliest extant written example of the Cham language is
spoken in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bengal. the rock inscription of Dong-Yen-Chau, province of
The Kingdom of Champa arose around 192 CE Quang Nam. It is also the earliest text expressed in a
in the south of modern Vietnam. Unified by King Malayo-Polynesian dialect.
Bhadravarman around 400AD, its territory stretched The Tailangs of the Irrawaddy basin are generally
along the coast of Vietnam from Hoanh Son in the north known by their indigenous term, Mon. Their civilisation
to Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Cham Rulers of the was amongst the first in Myanmar, with power extended
4th to 8th centuries CE ruled from their political capital, from Prome in the north to Ligor and Johore in the
Simhapura (lion citadel), located in today’s Tra Kiew, south. Suddhammapura, or Thaton, was the chief
Province of Quang Nam. During the 4th century, the town of the Mons who were busy traders, amassing
kingdom’s territorial absorption of Hindu settlements great riches. In the first millennium, Thaton was an
in northern Funan opened the door to the infusion of important seat of Buddhist culture, with many learned
Indian culture and religion into Cham society. Champa’s men well versed in the Tripitaka and Vedic texts. The
trade with India also made its major port, Hoi An, an Mon Kingdom was the most powerful in Myanmar
entry point for Buddhism and Hinduism. from the 9th-11th centuries, and again from the 13th
The Chams, who spoke a Malayo-Polynesian language to 16th century, with and a final brief resurgence in the
known as Old Cham, were known to be great seafarers 18th century.
with a rich spiritual life that is reflected in their Mon, especially written Mon, was the primary language
monumental towers and sculptures. Champa’s literature of the Mon Kingdom at Thaton and the lingua franca of
and arts thrived under the encouragement of their the Irrawaddy Valley up to 12th century. Mon was among

59

Sunset at Bagan

the first group of languages to develop its own script, would have torn the leaves. The Burmese name for the
along with Cham, Khmer and Pyu. Early Mon characters script is ‘ca-lonh’ which means, ‘round script’.
are similar to those in Champa, and were related to the The Burmese, having subdued the Mons, assimilated
Pallava-Granta script. In adapting Pallava characters to their culture and adopted their script. The Bagan King
their speech in the fifth century, the Mons discarded Kyansittha (r. 1084–1113) admired Mon culture and
some of the letters, as they had no use for them. At the adopted the Mon script for Burmese. The script of the
same time Mon added two signs, both labial letters, one Buddhist monks of Thaton therefore became the main
a new invention for a b deprived sonority (somewhat vehicle for the Mon-Burmese culture. After Kyasinttha’s
between b and p), the other a modification of the Indian death, the usage of Mon declined amongst the Bamar,
combination of mb. The early stage of the Mon letters, and Burmese began to replace Mon as the lingua franca
though already showing a tendency to become circles of the Irrawaddy Valley. In the 14th century, Mon script
or parts of circles, was still very distinctive and included was adopted by the northern Thais (Lanna kingdom)
some complex and beautiful forms. The rounded and later by Lao speaking communities in north-east
appearance of Mon letters is a result of the use of palm Thailand. Both of these groups named their scripts
leaves as the traditional writing material. Straight lines Tham (scripture) because they were used to record
religious writings. Along with the Khmer script, Mon
scripts also influenced the formation of Sukhothai
scripts. The Mon writing system evolved gradually into
its modern form and served as a basis for the Burmese
writing system.

The Burmese refer to the Thais as Shans (Siam/Assam
are apparently a corruption of ‘Shan’). The Shan race
inhabited a strip of territory extending from China in
the north to Burma in the south, Assam and Khmati in
the west, and Siam in the east. Their ancient indigenous
name is Ai Lao or Lao, which means ‘man’ or ‘person’.
The name Lao is still applied to the Shans of upper
Thailand (Laos). Formerly fragmented into a number
of independent kingdoms, Laotians were united
about 650 CE under a ruler known as His Nu Lo. His
kingdom was referred to by the Chinese as Nan Chao
(the country of the Southern Lord).

Ban Talat Mon inscription from Laos

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1600-year-old stone inscription from the era of
Purnawarman, king of Tarumanagara, founded
in Tugu sub-district

Lao script is the earliest Thai script, though Siamese is scripts are phonologically based. Modern Thai writing
nowadays the primary. According to local legend, Lao is a descendant of this Sukhotai script.
King Ruang introduced the Lao alphabet in the 1000th The peculiar shape of modern Thai letters is due
year of the Buddha. Experts, however, have concluded mainly to the employment of Corypha palm leaves
that the stated date is too early. Lao script is a derivation as the early material of writing. The monasteries
of Mon characters; Laotians came into contact with were the important seats of learning and the only
the Mons a long time before the Burmans arrived in Thai institutions which preserved written documents.
Thaton, and before the Khmer conquest of the Menam Sacred works were written on corypha leaves (Corypha
Valley. They would have adapted Mon characters to gebanga, or fan palm), their edges gilded or painted with
their language by the early tenth century CE. A Lao vermilion, the leaves threaded on strings and folded like
palm leaf manuscript of the 13th century shows that a fan. More important copies of religious books were
the script was already fully developed and had been in engraved on ivory tablets. In general, writing materials
use for several centuries. Written Lao is based on the indicated the social standing of the person for whom
dialect of the Laos capital, Vientiane. Early Lao script the written document was intended: royal letters were
is known as Fak Kham (tamarind pod). Present Lao engraved on sheets of gold when they were sent to
script is essentially the same as that of the 13th century, princes, or on paper, either black or white, when written
although it has been influenced by Burmese and its to lesser people. Thai letters were adopted for non-Thai
Shan offshoots. Lao characters were also adopted for languages, such as Miao spoken by a small tribe on the
the Nakhi language, which is spoken in the mountain borders of Chiang Mai and Nan, northern Thailand.
valleys of the Mekong and Yang Ze river.

The earliest Thai script found on a stone obelisk The role of the Brahmans in the process of
containing 15000 words, bears the date of 1214 Saka Indianisation in Java was generally far greater than
era (1292-93 CE) and states that its author, King Ram that attributed to traders. Sanskrit loan words and the
Khmheng of Sukhothai, north central Thailand, (1275- Pallava script were most likely introduced by them.
1317 C), was writing the Thai language for the first time. Three ancient kingdoms in the Malay Archipelago are
The script he invented was probably based on Khmer linked to groups of people with a connection to the
characters. He is also credited with the innovation of Pallava dynasty. The founder of the oldest kingdom
tone marks – arguably the first time that phonemic in the Malay Archipelago, Salakanagara in Teluk Lada
tones were regularly indicated in a writing system (today Pandeglang, Banten), was said to be from
intended for common use. The script of the Sukhotai Pallava. He was known as Dewawarman and married a
inscriptions is singularly bold, an upright foursquare daughter of the local ruler, Aki Tirem. The Salakanagara
with gently rounded corners, beautifully aligned and kingdom lasted from 130-362 CE. In 358 CE, when
exceptionally distinct. Thai writing is similar to Lao, the great Indian Magadha kingdom conquered the
written left to right without regular spacing. Spaces are Salankayana kingdom (which was a vassal state of
used to indicate sentences or phrasal units instead. Both the Pallava Empire,) high priest Jayasinghawarman

61

Opening pages of Bratayuda kawi miring, British Library, MSS Jav 4, ff. 2v-3r

took refuge in Java, where he founded the kingdom dated in the Saka year 682 (760 CE) affords the earliest
of Tarumanegara. Jayasinghawarman’s arrival in Java specimen of Kawi characters. After the decline of
coincided with the prominence of the Eastern Roman Majapahit, about 1478 CE, Kawi was gradually replaced
based at Constantinople, when demands for spices such by middle Javanese, which persisted up to c. 1628 CE.
as those found in the Malay Archipelago soared. His Kawi and its immediate descendants ceased to be used;
grandson, King Purnawarman, introduced the earliest in their place appeared four distinct families of scripts:
known script found in Java, though a Javanese tradition Batak, South Sumatran, Javanese-Balinese, and Bugis-
attributes the introduction of writing in Java to a semi- Makassar. There was no break of historical continuity in
mythical Brahmin called Tritresta. the development of the language. Javanese script is still
Brahmanism planted itself firmly in the courts of the used for Javanese, Madurese, Sundanese and Balinese,
Malay kingdoms by the 5th century. Side-by-side, a culture and also to some extent in Borneo.
bearing the stamp of Pallava influence grew, especially Pallava-Grantha and its variants remained as the
promoted by the Majapahit Kingdom. Between 1293 only scripts in South East Asia for several centuries.
and 1527, the Majapahit Empire united the archipelago These scripts reflect the cultural ties that South East
from Luzon, Philippines in the north to New Guinea Asian kingdoms had with the Pallava Dynasty through
in the east. Java became a great centre of Indian maritime contact. The Pallava Kingdom was eventually
literature and Sanskrit studies. Old Javanese literature, invaded by the army of the Chalukya kingdom whose
which flourished for nearly 500 years from 1000-1500 last king, Aparajitavarman, was defeated by the Chola
CE, comprised a mixture of Sanskrit and indigenous empire at the very end of the 9th century. After their
languages. Javanese was written in the Pallava alphabet; defeat, another Indian script, Pre-Nagari, made its
the earliest work in this language is Amaramala, an old appearance in Java during the Sailendra dynasty, and
Javanese version of the Sanskrit lexicon Amarakosa. By in Cambodia under King Yasovarman. South East
the 10th century, Kawi, a local Javanese script developed Asian kingdoms, however, were not passive imitators
from the Pallava alphabets, began to flourish. Kawi is an of the Pallava script, but creative adaptors who turned
abbreviation of the phrase ‘basa kavi’, or ‘the language a foreign writing system into a distinctive element of
of poetry’, and was widespread in Java, Sumatra, Bali
and the Malay Peninsula. In Java, the Dinaya inscription their political culture. w

62

Indian Pallava
prototype

600 Sumatra Mon Khmer
Khmer
650 Java Mon Champa
Java Champa
700
Java
750 Java
800
850 Khmer
900 Mon
950
1000 Thai
1050 Java
1100
1150 Sumatra Lao
1200 Burma

1250 Thai
Java
1300
1350
1400
1450
1500
1550
1600
1650

1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950

Java
Lampun Sumatra

Mon/Burmese
Thai
Lao

Khmer
Cham of Cambodia

Cham of Vietnam
Tagalog

Family tree of the akshara ‘ta’ in Southeast Asian scripts. Pallava prototype from Filliozat
1953:697; other forms from Damais 1955, fig.15

63

Behind and Beyond Wallace’s Line

Laurence Maille

At the entrance to the first gallery in the National life, Alfred also developed a passion for Botany and
Museum, Kuala Lumpur, two maps represent the Geology.
region as it was 20 000 years ago, dissected by In 1844, after losing his position due to the social unrest
several North-South lines that describe significant that followed these new laws, Wallace took a job as a
biogeographic divisions between the west and the east teacher at the Collegiate School in Leicester. In the
of the archipelago. It is not widely known today that library, he met Henry Walter Bates, who introduced him
the man behind the first line’s discovery is Alfred Russel to entomology; they became lifelong friends through
Wallace, a Victorian naturalist and contemporary of their mutual obsession with collecting beetles. A year
Charles Darwin. On his death in 1913, he was acclaimed later, after his brother William died, Alfred took over the
as ‘England’s Great Naturalist’; ‘One of the two most surveying business, working both in London and Wales
important and significant figures of the 19th century’; with his brother, John. During this time, he continued
and ‘The Great Man of Science’. Despite being one of to develop his passion as a naturalist, reading widely
the most popular men of his time, he has become almost
invisible over the intervening years, even to students in
his field. Since 2013, the 100th anniversary of his death,
however, the general public is re-discovering Alfred
Russel Wallace. Let us meet this extraordinary man
whose work is still relevant today.

Wallace was born in Wales in 1823. His parents, Thomas Alfred Russel Wallace, aged 24/25,
and Mary Anne Wallace, moved to Hertford in England before leaving for Brazil
when he was five. His family was from the lower middle
class but enjoyed broad access to books, maps and
horticulture. Like many of his contemporaries, young
Alfred left school at thirteen years old and was sent to
London into the care of his elder brother John. After a
few months in the capital, he joined his other brother
William as an apprentice in the surveying business. As a
surveyor, he had to make surveys to produce updated
maps. New laws, such as the Tithe Commutation Act
(1836), made accurate charts of farmlands, public
lands and parishes necessary. Always fond of outdoor

64

in the fields of Natural History, History and Political Wallace’s flying frog (Rhacophorus
Economy, and Phrenology. The writings of Charles nigropalmatus), named after Alfred Wallace;
Darwin, Alexander von Humboldt, Thomas Malthus, the first specimen to be formally identified
and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck influenced his vision of the
world and encouraged his insatiable curiosity. Wallace was collected by Wallace
was particularly inspired by the concept of organic
evolution as explained in the controversial ‘Vestiges of the Helen caught fire and sank. Although the passengers
Natural History of Creation’, written by Robert Chambers, were eventually rescued by a passing boat, the crew
about which he wrote in a letter to his friend Bates in had spent ten days in a lifeboat on the open sea, and
1847: sadly only a few drawings survived. Back in London, he
published several formal papers about his experiences,
‘…I should like to take some one family to study as well as two books: ‘Palm Trees of the Amazon and their
thoroughly - principally with a view to the theory of the Uses’ and ‘A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio
origin of species...By that, I am strongly of the opinion Negro’.
that some definite results might be arrived at…’
Wallace and Bates decided to fund a scientific expedition The call for other new horizons arrived in the form of
by selling specimens; they found an agent in London a letter. At the end of a stay in London in 1853, James
and left England for Para, Brazil, spending one year Brooke, already Rajah of Sarawak and Governor of
together collecting in the vicinity of Belem, before each Labuan, wrote to Wallace, inviting him to visit Kuching.
going off on their own. Wallace travelled far inland to In 1854, Wallace reached Singapore and then travelled
explore the Rio Negro, a major river in the Amazon in the Archipelago, where his most prolonged stay
Basin, while Bates stayed eleven years in Brazil, working was in Sarawak. From his eight years of travelling, he
on Mimicry (Batesian mimicry). In 1852, on his way brought back thousands of specimens of insects, birds
back to England, after several days at sea, Wallace’s ship and mammals, hundreds of new species. He earned his
living by collecting specimens and sending them back
in London to his agent for sale, which allowed him to

65

Wallace (right) and
Geach, Singapore,
February 1862

continue his travels and his researches, a backpacker of Wallace continued his journey in Asia with teams of
the 19th century. One of the first articles Wallace wrote assistants; between 1854-62, they procured 125 660
while in Sarawak was published in September 1855: ‘On natural history specimens. The samples included
the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species’, insects, birds, reptiles, mammals and shells collected
later known as ‘The Sarawak Law’. He suggested that from Singapore, Sarawak (Borneo), Bali, Lombok,
the distribution of animals and plants was related to Makassar (Sulawesi), the Maluku Islands, Papua, Java
gradual geological changes over time. These concepts and Sumatra. On his way back to London, Wallace
are now part of what we call Biogeography. stopped in Singapore in February 1862 where he
During his sojourn in Asia, the thirty-something Wallace took the time to visit a photographer’s studio, giving
wrote several letters to the already well-established us the only known photography of Wallace during his
Charles Darwin in London. In the nineteenth century, stay in the Malay Archipelago. Accompanied on the
scientists and explorers often exchanged their ideas and photograph by his friend, Frederick Geach, a mining
specimens by mail, testing their theories with each other. engineer, Wallace looks young and surprisingly modern.
Darwin and Wallace were no exception. In 1858, Wallace Another picture taken in Singapore is of his Malay head
sent his most famous letter to Darwin, along with his assistant, Ali, who was in charge of the expeditions and
paper : ‘On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely the preservation of the birds. Ali had Wallace’s total
from the Original Type’. The essay was a shock for Charles trust.
Darwin, who saw twenty years of research brilliantly Back in London, Wallace published several articles, one
summed up in a few pages. Charles Lyell, a prominent of the most important being ‘On the Physical Geography
Scottish geologist, and Joseph Hooker, an outstanding of the Malay Archipelago’, in the Journal of the Royal
palaeobotanist, both close friends of Darwin, presented Geographical Society of London (June 1863). In
a joint paper to the Linnaean Society on July 1st 1858 these seventeen pages, he described what would later
with Darwin and Wallace clearly attributed as co- be called ‘Wallace’s Line’, a demarcation of different
discoverers of the new theory. This communication is species on either side of an imaginary line between the
not only a milestone in their friendship, but it laid down west and the east of the Archipelago. In the conclusion
the bases for the science of Evolution, popularised by to his article, Wallace stressed that in the pursuit of
Darwin’s book, ‘On the Origin of Species’ published in profit, evidence for the extent of ‘variation of living’
1859. (we would now say, biodiversity) might be destroyed.
He called upon government and scientific institutions
to take a step towards securing collections available
for study and interpretation. He also emphasised the
accountability of his generation to the ‘future ages’
(future generations), which amounts to a definition of
‘sustainable development’ in the context of Wallace’s
time.

The map that illustrated the article shows the limit
between the Indo-Malayan and the Austro-Malayan

66

Wallace’s line starts between
Bali and Lombok, then runs
north between Borneo and
Sulawesi before heading south
of the Philippines

regions, which would later be named ‘Wallace’s Line’ by The intuition of 19th century scientists that the
English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley. The Wallace distribution of species was an inheritance of geology,
line delineates the eastern boundary of Asian fauna. was not proved until 1912 with the publication of
In 1895, Richard Lydekker, an English palaeontologist, Alfred Wegener’s challenged hypothesis of Continental
delimited the western boundary of strictly Australian Drift and its demonstration in the 1960s by the theory
fauna. These two lines trace the 180-200 metres depth of Tectonic Plates. This shows that the separation of
contours around the Sahul and Sunda continental shelves Pangaea into Laurasia in the north and Godwana in the
respectively. Later, Max Wilhelm Carl Weber, a Dutch south at the beginning of the Mesozoic, allowed the
naturalist, defined another imaginary line. For Weber, ancestors of marsupials and other species on the Sahul
there was no sharp delineation between the Asiatic and
Australian region. In the eastern part of the archipelago Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), in the
Asiatic animals gradually decline, while Australian fauna year that he died
comes more and more into prominence. Thus, Weber
abandoned the idea of a line, preferring to show a
gradient. What Paul Pelseneer went on to call ‘Weber’s
Line’ in 1904, is, in fact, an area containing a 50/50
proportion of Australian and Asiatic fauna elements.
Weber used molluscs and mammals in his analysis, but
the exact location of the line varies from one group
of animals to another. Asian reptiles and butterflies
penetrate further east than birds and snails. The area
between the Wallace and Lyddekker Lines is often
regarded as a transition region called Wallacea. A large
number of endemic species and a non-homogeneous
fauna characterise this region, where the precious
spices, cloves and nutmeg, first developed.

67

Original drawing of the ‘Wallace Line’ showing the division between
Asian and Australasian flora and fauna

shelf (Australia) to evolve separately from those on the Chance prevented him from taking a direct boat to
Sunda shelf for more than 200 million years, supporting Sulawesi; instead, he spent several weeks in Bali and
the observations of 19th century naturalists. Lombok, where he was able to collect evidence of a
Back in England, Wallace published his own observations hiatus between species only a few kilometres apart.
in highly successful narratives of his journey: ‘The Malay Returning from Asia, he was forced to earn his income
Archipelago’ dedicated to Charles Darwin ‘as a token from his writings by grading school exams, and from
of personal esteem and friendship and also to express money he received from the Civil List. At 60 years of
my deep admiration for his genius and his work’. age, Wallace even embarked on a tour of North America.
The original journals that he used to write ‘The Malay In his writings, he opposed vaccination, eugenics and
Archipelago’ are accessible online. In Chapter Ten, there vivisection. He supported women’s rights movements
is a particular paragraph where his arrival in Bali and and land nationalisation. For some supporters, Wallace’s
Lombok in June-July 1856 is described thus: engagement ‘with progressive politics and spiritualism
likely contributed to his lack of employment and his
‘…It was after having spent two years in Borneo, peripheral status in the historical records.’ Wallace died
Malacca and Singapore, that I made a somewhat in 1913, in his 91st year. He was celebrated as one of
involuntary visit to these islands on my way to the most important men of the 19th century. Not only
Macassar. Had I been able to obtain a passage did he elaborate the theories of Biogeography and
direct to that place from Singapore, I should Island biology, he also helped to develop the theories of
probably never have gone near them, and Natural Selection and the Evolution of Species. Wallace
should have missed some of the most important touched people by his compassion, humanity, and lack
discoveries of my whole expedition the East...’ of pretence. He is still a towering figure for scientists in
his field, and is on the way to becoming an ecological

star of the 21st century. w

68

Navigating Sundaland

Maganjeet Kaur

The flood that engulfed the world during the Holocene China Sea as its territory. The nine degrees north
was of such epic proportions that its echo still lingers in latitude is generally taken as its northern boundary
our collective memories. It was for this flood that Noah since this shows a transition between Indochinese and
built an ark, as did Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Sundaic flora.
and Manu as recorded in the Shatapatha Brahmana and How did early modern humans, adapted to an open
the Matsya Purana. The land bridge between North environment in Africa, cope when they reached this
America and Asia was submerged, the coast of China vast, and possibly hostile, continent? Was the thick
flooded, and the Arabian Gulf inundated. However, it rainforest a barrier to their movements? It appears
is here in maritime South East Asia that the flood had that Sundaland may not have been uniformly tropical.
its greatest impact – the region lost half of its landmass. Scientists Christopher Wurster and Michael Bird point
Around 20 000 years ago (ya), when ice sheets were at out in their The Conversation article that two different
their maximum coverage, sea levels were 120 metres subspecies of orangutan and two distinct subspecies
lower, exposing a continent in maritime South East of the Sunda clouded leopard inhabit Sumatra and
Asia double today’s size. Dubbed Sundaland, the Indian Borneo. These animals are absent from Java and the
Ocean bordered its western and southern edges while Malay Peninsula. On the other hand, the small Indian
the Huxley Line marked its eastern boundary. Its north- civet can be found on mainland Asia and Java but is
east corner is now completely submerged but, during absent from Sumatra and Borneo. If Sundaland were
the time it was fully exposed, it counted parts of South a homogenous continent, there would have been no

Huxley’s Line

A boundary to delineate Australian and South between Taiwan and the Philippines. He called Thomas Henry Huxley, known
East Asian fauna was first proposed by Alfred this boundary Wallace’s Line. However, as as Darwin’s ‘bulldog’ for his
Wallace in 1863. This boundary followed a Wallace did not accept the northern modification vocal championing of Darwin’s
deep-sea trench, making movement of fauna to his boundary, the lines are known separately. theory of evolution by natural
only possible via a deep-sea crossing. Then in Zoogeographers take Huxley’s line as the eastern selection
1868, Thomas Henry Huxley presented a paper boundary of Sundaland, as it provides a hard
to the Zoological Society of London in which 69
he modified Wallace’s boundary to run north barrier to any movement of fauna. w

Kota Tampan Niah Cave

74 000 year-old 40 000 year-old skull
tool-manufacturing site (known as Deep Skull)

Lida Ayer Perak Man Tabon Cave

two 63-73 000 11 000 year-old 47 000 year-old tibia bone
year-old teeth skeleton 16 500 year-old skullcap

Moh Khiew Cave Tam Pa Ling Cave Laili Cave

25 000 year-old (outside map, in Laos) 44 600 year-old
skeleton 63 000 year-old human activity
skeleton and mandible

MaStlraacictsaRiver South China
Sea
Huxley’s Wallace’s
9 degrees North Line Line

Siam River

Indian Ocean North Sunda River
MSatrkaaistsar

Coast lines during the Last Sunda East Sunda River
Glacial Maximum (LGM) Strait
~20,000ya, sea-levels at 120m Leang Bulu'Sipong
Today’s coast lines
43 000 years old painting
Savanna Corridor

Lubang Jeriji Saleh

37 000 years old painting

70

Replica of ‘Deep Skull’ at Gallery A

barriers to movement – the animals would not have A tributary of the Malacca Straits River met with
evolved separately and they would have been found in the Perak River, taking early modern humans to
all parts of the continent. Lenggong Valley where the Kota Tampan stone- tool-
Wurster and Bird modelled the environment during the manufacturing site is said to provide proof of their
last ice age and postulated the existence of a corridor of arrival prior to 74 000 ya. Its 11 000-year-old descendant
open Savanna-type vegetation flanked by wet tropical (Perak Man) showed that they adapted well to the
rainforest. Although this model is not universally environment and stayed on in the valley for a long time;
accepted, it serves to explain how the Savanna Corridor their modern-day descendants, the Semang, continue to
(shown on the map) could have been a barrier to the live in the area.
free movement of certain animals, while providing an Early humans did not leave behind much evidence of
effective highway for early humans to disperse rapidly their existence, possibly because it has been drowned
when they reached the continent. together with the continent. It thus falls upon a small
A network of paleo rivers would also have assisted their number of individuals to chronicle the story of this
movements around the continent. Deep-sea research great human journey. The first such individual we
carried out by geologist Gustaaf Molengraaff indicates encounter died around 25 800 ya at the Moh Khiew
a main range that stretched across the Sunda Sea from Rock Shelter in the Krabi river valley of southern
Sumatra to Borneo. Two main river systems drained the Thailand. This person lived in a community that used
waters of this range: the North Sunda River discharging flaked stone tool artefacts and its skeleton shows it
into the South China Sea, the East Sunda River into the shared ancestry with present day Melanesians, as well
Makassar Strait. Many of the rivers currently flowing as Australian aborigines. Two teeth found in Lida Ayer
through Sumatra and Borneo were part of these river cave date to 63-73 000 ya, indicating colonisation of the
systems. In fact, the Musi River in Sumatra and the western seaboard of Sumatra at a very early stage.
Kapuas in west Borneo both belonged to the North The presence of early humans in Borneo is shown by
Sunda River system. Although the two rivers are today the famous Deep Skull found in Niah Cave in Sarawak,
separated by the South China Sea, fish faunae in the dated to between 45-39 000 ya. Archaeological research
Kapuas share more similarity with the Musi than to here shows that the stone-tool technology brought from
those of the Mahakam in east Borneo! Africa, which had served them well in their trek across
By taking the coastal route from Africa and following the Indian subcontinent, may have been discarded in
the Indian Ocean coastline, early modern humans favour of new technology made of bamboo and wood,
would reach the Malacca Strait. Here, they would have raw materials more readily available in the rainforest
encountered the mouth of the Malacca Straits River, environment.
a paleo river system that drained the waters from the Moving north, an individual left her mark in a cave in
Malay Peninsula and Sumatra into the Indian Ocean. Palawan (Philippines), which was then separated from
Navigating this river would have taken them close to Borneo by only 12 kilometres. The skullcap of Tabon
Singapore, opening up the rest of the continent. Thus, Man (or rather woman) dates to 16 500 ya. The earliest
the Straits of Malacca has always been an important modern human remains found in this cave, however, is
transportation highway, even during prehistoric times! a tibia bone said to be 47 000 years old; the cave shows
continuous settlement until about 9000 ya. Another

71

Chao Phraya

MahakamPerak

Malacca StraiRtsiver
Siak NorSthiaSmunRdaivReivrer Kapuas

Musi

East Sunda River

The map shows four paleo river systems and their the Chao Phraya, which would have been an entry point
possible connections with modern-day rivers. The into Indo-China. Sumatra’s Kampar River likely joined
Malacca Straits River system connected with the rivers in Johor River to form a branch of the Siam River. The North
northeast Sumatra (e.g. the Siak and Rokan rivers) and Sunda River system connected with the rivers in eastern
with those in western Malay Peninsula (e.g. the Perak, Sumatra (e.g. Indragiri and Musi) and with Kapuas River
Bernam and Muar rivers), draining these rivers to the in Borneo. The East Sunda River system included the
Andaman Sea. Rivers from the eastern Malay Peninsula, rivers draining the north coast of Java, the south coast of
including the Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Endau Borneo and southeast Sumatra.
rivers, were branches of the Siam River system, as was

woman left her skull and jawbone at the Tam Pa Ling Although Tam Pa Ling woman displays Sub-Saharan
rock shelter in Laos 63 000 years ago. These display African features, the rest of the human remains featured
Sub-Saharan African features, indicating a very early in this article (Deep Skull, Mon Khiew, Perak Man and
migration. The rock shelter, situated 1000 miles inland Tabon Man) have Australo-Melanesian affinities linked
in Laos, could once have been reached overland, or to the first modern humans who migrated into the region.
from Sundaland by following the river system north. Migrations by later groups, notably the Austroasiatic
Early modern humans used Sundaland as a springboard and, especially, the Austronesians, subsequently came
to Australia: the Madjedbebe site in the Northern to dominate the region. Descendants of the earlier
Territory displays human occupation dating to 65 000 humans, however, remain in small pockets – the Maniq
ya. If these people had followed the Malacca Straits of southern Thailand, Semang of Malay Peninula,
River, modern humans would have passed close to Aeta of the Philippines, Papuans of New Guinea and
Singapore from where a sandy path connected to Australian aborigines.
Belitung Island, and then across open sandy plains and Ancient rock art provides a treasure trove when
beach ridges to Java. A number of water crossings led investigating ancient human movements and settlements.
to Timor-Leste, where human occupation dating to Such paintings are especially prevalent in Borneo and
44 600 ya is evidenced at Laili Cave. From Timor-Leste, the eastern Indonesian islands where they have survived
Australia was another water crossing. Alternatively, they for thousands of years in secluded cliffs and caves. An
could have bypassed Java completely and instead made interesting example is at Lubang Jeriji Saleh in Borneo.
their way via a deep-sea crossing to Sulawesi; numerous Handprints in this cave could date to 52 000 ya while
cave paintings here demonstrate early human activity. the painting of a banteng bull in the same cave dates
They would have reached Australia by island hopping to 37-40 000 ya. Among the paintings in Leang Bulu’
through Wallacea. Sipong 4 in South Sulawesi is an image of a buffalo
hunted by a group of half-human, half-animal beings.

72

Handprints at Gua Tewet, Kalimantan

At 43 000 years old, this artwork was the oldest known was about 20 000 ya. Temperatures have been warming
figurative painting in the world until recently eclipsed since then, leading inevitably to flooding as the ice sheets
by a 45 500 year-old life-sized painting of a warty pig at melt. We are currently in an interglacial; sea levels today
Leang Tedongnge, also in South Sulawesi. are at the same level as the last interglacial 120 000 ya.
The world has seen a number of floods, some localised,
which have raised sea levels to its current levels. Three
sudden ice melts around 14 000, 11 500, and 8000 years
ago had a catastrophic impact on Sundaland, drowning
half the continent.

Two negative handprints can be seen above the pig As the land halved and the coastline doubled, the
image at Leang Tedongnge. Negative handprints are population either moved deeper inland or settled as
a recurring theme in Bornean and Eastern Indonesian coastal communities, where they adapted to maritime
caves. They are a type of stencil where the hand is activities. The memories of the floods stayed with them.
placed against the cave wall and pigment applied around
the hand to make the central image stand out. These Time has since turned these memories into legends. w
handprints are not unique – similar paintings have been
found in many locations around the world, including Gradual drowing of Sundaland meters above
in Africa, Argentina, Australia and France. Did this art current sea level
form develop independently in the different regions?
Could it have been a cultural element or a component years Before Present (BP) x
of a belief system spread throughout the world by
the earliest humans as they left Africa to populate the 20 500 14 000 11 5009700 4000 x5
world?
The flooding of Sundaland was triggered by the melting 1000
of glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. Glacial periods,
or ice ages, occur every 100 000 years or so, followed x 30
by shorter interglacials of about 10 000 years during 50
which time the climate is considerably warmer and x
more stable. These periods are, however, not uniform –
short warm phases known as interstadials occur within x 80
ice ages while mini ice ages have been spotted within
interglacials. Historian Kwa Chong Guan postulates x 118
that a mini ice age brought about the demise of the
Yuan Dynasty and consequently contributed to the meters below
decline of trade in South East Asia. current sea level
Glaciation not only sees reduced temperatures but also
lower sea levels. These rebound during an interglacial Around 20 500 years Before Present (BP), sea levels were around
when water, trapped in the ice caps, is released back 118 metres below present level (bpl), exposing Sundaland to its
into the oceans. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), maximum extent. A rapid increase around 14 000 years BP saw
when ice sheets covered three times the present area, sea levels rise to 80 metres bpl, but with no major change to
the land connections. Even at 11 500 years BP, when sea levels
reached 50 metres bpl, the Malay Peninsula, Java and Borneo
were still connected, although the Gulf of Thailand and the Java
Sea became prominent water bodies. Sea levels continued to rise
and reached 30 metres bpl around 9700 years BP. It is possible
that the separation of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and
Borneo finally occurred only when the levels reached 20 metres
bpl or more. At 4000 years BP, the seas were 5 metres higher
than current levels. Sea levels gradually fell to reach current levels

around 1000 years BP.

73

A Volcanic Arc

An 1888 lithograph of the 1883 eruption
of Krakatau.

Sundaland is a biogeographical region – a grouping of recent memory took place on 26-27 August 1883 when
modern-day countries sharing a geographical corner. Most of Krakatau erupted with such intensity that it was heard as far
Sundaland sits on top of the Sunda continental shelf, a fairly as Alice Springs, 3600 kilometres away in Australia, and near
stable tectonic plate. However, its southern section, along the Mauritius, 4780 kilometres to the west.
central mountain spines of Sumatra and Java, rests on the
highly volcanic Sunda-Banda arcuate system. Located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra,
Krakatau may have been the cause behind the formation of
The Sunda-Banda arc was formed by subduction of the Indo- the Strait itself. The Javanese ‘Book of Kings’ (Pustaka Raja)
Australian Plate under the Sunda Plate. This arc consists of talks about a volcanic eruption in 416 CE that sundered Java
two mountain chains – the inner chain makes up the volcanic and Sumatra, implying that these two islands were originally
mountains of Sumatra and Java as well as extending into joined. It may be the reason early Indian merchants referred
the lesser Sundas and Maluku, while the parallel outer chain to both Java and Sumatra interchangeably as Yavadvipa
makes up the non-volcanic islands off southwest Sumatra, (Barley Island). Whilst there is no geological evidence for
Sumba, Timor and Tanimbar. A deep marine trench separates this cataclysmic event, history has recorded many eruptions;
these two chains. it is no wonder Krakatau was known as Gunung Api (Fire
Mountain) during the eight century Sailendra Dynasty. From
The arc contains 82 active volcanoes and is part of the Pacific Krakatau’s caldera, a new volcanic island has emerged – Anak
‘Ring of Fire’. The most devastating volcanic explosion in
Krakatau (Child of Krakatau), which popped up in 1927. w

South China Sea

Sumatra Sunda Borneo Pacific Ocean
Plate
Makassar Strait Sulawesi Maluku
Bangka Banda Sea
Tanimbar
Indo- Sunda Java Sea
Australian Strait Java

Plate Sunda-Banda arc Lombok Flores

Indian Ocean Bali Sumbawa Timor
Sumba

74

Image Credits

pp. 2-3 (sea image)- Karen Loh pp. 43 (bottom) - Andre Oortgijs (CC BY-SA 3.0)
pp. 44 - Joaquim Alves Gaspar (CC BY-SA 3.0)
pp. 4 - filhistory.com (public domain) pp. 45-47 - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 48 (top) - Department of Museums Malaysia
pp. 5 (top) - Collectie Tropenmuseum (public domain) pp. 48 (bottom) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 49 - Collectie Tropenmuseum (public domain)
pp. 5 (bottom) - James Francis Warren (public domain) pp. 50 - Gunawan Kartapranata (CC BY-SA 3.0)
pp. 51 (top) - Charles Hose (public domain)
pp. 6 - Wikiwand (Military history of Indonesia) pp. 51 (bottom) - Maganjeet Kaur
pp. 56 - Ms Sarah Welch (CC BY-SA 4.0)
pp. 7 - Wikimedia Commons (public domain) pp. 57 (left) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 57 (right) - Petr Ruzicka (CC BY 2.0)
pp. 8 - Wikimedia Commons (public domain) pp. 58 (top) - Gordon Johnstone (CC BY-SA 3.0)
pp. 58 (bottom) - Htawmonzel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
pp. 10-11 - Kayla Lee Pei Qi pp. 59 - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 60 - Bkusmono (public domain)
pp. 12-14 - Muhammad Azam Adnan pp. 61 - Pallava prototype from Filliozat 1953:697; other
forms from Damais 1955, fig.15; adapted by Mariana Isa
pp. 15 - Bodleian Library, Oxford pp. 62 - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 63 (top) - Rushenb (CC BY-SA 4.0)
pp. 16 - Anne Deguerry Viala pp. 63 (bottom) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 64 (top left) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 17 - Cheong Weng Onn pp. 64 (top right) - Wallace Memorial Fund (CC BY-NC 3.0)
pp 64 (bottom) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 18 - Michael J. Lowe (CC BY-SA 2.5) pp. 65 - (top) - Altaileopard (CC BY-SA 3.0)
pp. 65 - (bottom) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 19 (left) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain) pp 66 - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
pp. 67 - Wellcome Collection (CC BY 4.0)
pp. 19 (right) - Collectie Tropenmuseum (public domain) pp. 68 - adapted from Bird et. al. (2005, pp. 2230 & 2234) by

pp. 20 - Zahara Shariman Maganjeet Kaur
pp. 69 - Cheong Weng Onn
pp. 21 (top) - Wikimedia Commons (public domain) pp. 70 - adapted from Voris (2000, p. 1156) by Maganjeet

pp 21 (bottom) - Adiput (public domain) Kaur
pp. 71 (top) - Luc-Henri Fage (CC0)
pp. 22 - Karen Loh pp. 71 (bottom) - Maganjeet Kaur, based on Tubagus (2014)
pp. 72 (top) - Plate 1 in The eruption of Krakatoa, and subsequent
pp. 23 (top, bottom-left) - Rijksmuseum (public domain) phenomena, Parker & Coward (public domain)
pp. 72 (bottom) - adapted from Preece (2013) by Maganjeet
pp. 23 (bottom right) - Amsterdam Municipal Department Kaur

pp. 24 (top) - Amsterdam City Archives

pp. 24 (bottom) - Stadsarchief (public domain)

pp. 25 - adapted from dbnl.org by Maganjeet Kaur

pp. 26-27 - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

pp. 28 - NusHub (CC BY-SA 3.0)

pp. 29 - Shafinaz Ahmad Shaharir

pp. 30 (top) - Shafinaz Ahmad Shaharir

pp. 30 (bottom) - Cheong Weng Onn

pp. 31 (left) - Adapted from M.A. Fawzi, B. (1986) by

Maganjeet Kaur

pp. 31 (right) - Shafinaz Ahmad Shaharir

pp. 32 - Afidah Rahim

pp. 33 - Afidah Rahim

pp. 34-35 - Afidah Rahim

pp. 36 - Junko Mori

pp. 37 (top) - MOA Museum of Art, Japan

pp. 37 (bottom) - pp. 39 - Junko Mori

pp. 40 - Eric Lim, at Smokehouse

pp. 41 (top) - Adapted from Hale (2018, pp. 40) by

Maganjeet Kaur

pp. 41 (bottom) - WPSamson (CC BY-SA 4.0)

pp. 42 (top) - Eric Lim

pp. 42 (bottom) - Arkib Negara, 1998/0006791

pp. 43 (top & centre) - Eric Lim

75

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