By Al Azhar and Jan Van Der Putten
In the course of our research into the literary life of Riau in the nineteenth century and on the Dutch colonial officials on the scene at that time, we came across four letters from Raja Ali Haji (hereafter referred to as RAH) to Hermann von de Wall (vdW) which form part of the Van der Tuuk collection in the Leiden University Library. These letters shed some new light on the relations between these two men, as wel1 as on the personal life of the prolific Malay writer Raja Ali Haji. They also offer US some rare samples of nineteenth-century informal Malay, which differs considerably in style and phrasing from the Malay we know from the ‘sincere and frank‘ epistles discussed in other publications (e.g., Gallop and Arps 1991). Therefore we considered these letters important enough to publish in full here along with a short introductory note.
The letters concerned represent a correspondence between two friends who shared an interest in the Malay language and were each working on a dictionary, rather than between a native dignitary and a colonial official. Raja Ali Haji (1 809 - c. 1872) was a highly respected Malay intellectual of Buginese descent, who was related to the family of the Yang Dipertuan Muda ruling the Riau Lingga Archipelago from the island of Penyengat. Apart from occupying a position as legal advisor at the court at Penyengat (Matheson and Watson Andaya 1982:299), he was the author of a number of works mainly on history and ethics.1 He was preoccupied with Malay traditions and with foreign influences in the Malay world. He also took a deep interest in the Malay language, and produced two works on the subject: a kind of spelling textbook (Bustanul Katibin) and an encyclopaedic dictionary (Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa), which was never completed. The book on Malay spelling apparently was commissioned by the junior ruler of Riau, and was completed in 1857 (Von de Wall 1870:565). The dictionary was probably compiled at the time the author was helping with the work on Von de Wall‘s Malay-Dutch dictionary, for which he was an acknowledged informant (Von de Wall 187057[1]).
The Prussian future Malay expert Hermann von de Wal1 (1 807- 1873) came to the Archipelago as a cavalry sergeant in 1829. He made his way up the administrative career ladder via several posts in Borneo (1 834-55). As Assistant Resident, he was commissioned in 1855 to compile a Malay grammar and a Malay-Dutch and a Dutch-Malay dictionary (Indisch Besluit no. 7, 2 November 1855). For the execution of this task he was posted to Riau (Indisch Besluit no. 13, 10 June 1856), where he died on 2nd May 1873. His presence in Riau had a stimulating effect on the production of literary works, of which he collected many copies.[2] As is apparent from some other letters in the collection under discussion (Leiden Cod. Or. 3388b), he was well-known and highly respected throughout the Malay world of the Peninsula, West Borneo and the Riau Archipelago. During his stay in Riau, he published several studies on the Malay language and one volume of his extensive dictionary (1872). After his death, an abridged edition of the dictionary as a whole was published in three volumes by Van der Tuuk (1877-84).
The letters from Raja Ali Haji form part of a set kept in a large box in the Van der Tuuk collection in the Leiden University Library (Cod. Or. 3388). The letters in this box are kept in fourteen different folders, classified according to language, script, place of destination, and so on. Of the four letters reproduced below, three were separated from the other letters written in Jawi script and kept in a separate folder (Cod. Or. 3388, folder B[3], ‘Brieven van Radja Ali Hadji aan von de Walt).
The other letter was probably not recognized as being written by RAH because his signature is lacking; on the basis of the subject matter[4] and handwriting, however, we can safely assume that it is a letter from RAH to Von de Wall. The four letters are written in a clear hand in Jawi script on European paper. Three of them begin with a short salutation, in which vdW is addressed as paduka sahabat kita (my noble friend). Further expressions of courtesy are lacking, and the letters merely contain the information that RAH wished to convey. Thyee of them end with a date and the writer‘s signature (Raja Ali Haji). The letter which lacks this signature only states the Islamic month and year in which it was written.
Brief Descriptions and Summaries of the Contents
1. Dated Rabiulakhir 1275 H (8 November - 6 December 1858). No watermark. One folded page with one side written on, and on side four the address, 2 1.5 x 17 cm, 16 lines, with 2 1 lines in the right-hand margin, no signature.
After an expression of gratitude (vdW apparently had saved RAH from disgrace[5]), RAH informs vdW of the two things which he cherishes most in his life: his faith and his (good) name. If one does not preserve these two things, there is no reason to go on living.
Refening to the attack on Reteh, he stresses that he knows that one may not enslave or dispossess rebels vanquished by legitimate Islamic rulers, but that war damages need not be compensated. This is what the books recommended to him by vdW state. In the Arabic codes, the rules are even more stringent. As he cannot bear to see widows (of the victims) whose idah period has not expired being violated by ‘villains‘ (orang fasikz), he has felt obliged to write a brief note on the subject of the prescribed waiting-period for widows as a reminder to these people. However, he dare not concern himself with the solution of the problem, as that is the responsibility of the Resident and the Yang Dipertuan Muda of Riau.
2. Dated 17 Safar 1287 H (19 May 1870). Watermark: H.F. DE CHARRO ZONEN. One folded page, with one side written on, 20.5 x 16.5 cm, 22 lines (including signature).
After the opening salutation, RAH reports on the progress of the work being done by a scribe named Raja Ismail. This scribe is working on three manuscripts, namely: a. the Arabic text Syarh al-Ka&, which he is translating int0 Malay; b. a historical work referred to as Sejarah Melayu, which he is copying; and c. a dictionary being compiled by RAH, which he is copying. As he has almost finished copying the historica1 work, RAH asks vdW‘s permission for the scribe to shift his attention to the Syarh al-Kafia. About the dictionary he reports that he has stopped at the letter K (bab al-Kaf) for a few days because he is supplementing the letters he has done before. He points to a word he has found that very morning, namely parindun[6], which he defines as ‘a pair of living creatures, whether human or animal‘. He encloses the unfinished sejarah with the letter, requesting vdW to return it to him so that it may be completed as soon as possible. RAH concludes the letter with the message that he wil1 visit vdW to decide on the books to be ordered from Egypt.
3. Dated 4 Jumadilakhir 1287 H (1 September 1870). No watermark. One folded page, with writing on both sides, 17 lines on the obverse and 15 lines on the reverse, 20.5 x 16.5 cm.
RAH draws attention to a dictionary entry (galur), and asks vdW to check whether it has been included in the dictionary. If not, RAH wil1 make a note of it and take it to vdW. RAH mentions two kinds of definition for the entries: a short, ‘simple‘ (mufrad) definition, as preferred by vdW, and a more elaborate (mufassar) definition, as intended for the special dictionary being prepared for Malays. RAH encloses with the letter the manuscript of a poem, Syair Siarah Said Qasyim[7], as a present for vdW, which he ‘may read to pass the time‘ (boleh dibaca2 permainan). The poem is about Said Qasyim, an employee of the Dutch East Indies Government in Borneo, and was written at his request by Raja Daud (RAH‘s half-brother). The latter had made two copies, one of which had been sent to Said Qasyim, while the other one was enclosed with the letter to vdW. RAH concludes his letter with an account of the arrangements he is making for the circumcision of his son Husin. He is having financial problems as a result of disappointing revenues from the islands of Karimun and Kundur (his apanage).
4. Dated 18 Muharam 1288 H (9 April 187 1). Watermark: AL MASSO. One folded page, with writing on one side, 20.5 x 16.5 cm, 13 lines.
RAH has had news from Datuk[8] that vdW has to leave for Batavia by the next mail for a period of two years for reasons of health, and wants to meet him before his departure. He is not able to come that Same afternoon, however, because he has to pick up his sick children on the island of Pengujan, and has to await the incoming tide. The letter concludes with an Arabic formula conveying a blessing.
Brief though these letters are, a few important points can be deduced from them. In the first .place, they clearly testify to a friendly relationship between the two men. Although the salutation ‘paduka sahabat kita‘ is a standard formula in Malay letters to European officials (Wilkinson 1957:190-91), the absence of any of the other courtesy phrases that are so common in Malay letters suggests a certain intimacy or familiarity. The fact that RAH refers to everyday events, such as the circumcision of his son and his inability to meet vdW because he has to pick up his children, clearly supports this point.
Furthermore, the letters supply clear evidence that RAH was assisting vdW with the collection and definition of words. RAH was working at the Same time on his own dictionary, of which only the material for the first six letters has so far been recovered and published.[9] Interesting evidence is moreover supplied of the clearly different perspectives from which the two men compiled their dictionaries: vdW restricted himself to a brief definition of words, while RAH elaborated on the meanings and usages of the entries for his dictionary and provided comments of an ethica1 nature, as is apparentlfrom the published parts of this dictionary.
Another matter on which light is shed, namely in the third letter, is the composition:of the Syair Pangeran Syarif Hasyim by Raja Daud. The information given here offers US a better insight int0 the history of the copies of this work kept in the Jakarta and Leiden collections. RAH implies that he does not consider this syair very important, incidentally, where he suggests thatsvdW read it in his leisure time.
Finally, the letters mention the name of a scribe (or perhaps author?), Raja Ismail, who was working on not just one manuscript, but three, or at least two, at the same time (disambilkan). Although this name is not known to US from other contemporary manuscripts copied in Riau, the information given in-this connection does add to the picture of the transmission of Malay texts in Penyengat at the time.
The reason for RAH‘s request to vdW to order books in Egypt, incidentally, becomes apparent from information contained in another letter. For there he says that he had ordered books from people in Mecca, from whom there had been no response for about a year. Thanks to the help of vdW he had received them within two or three months, however.[10] This information clearly suggests that this was not the first time RAH had ordered books abr~ad~with vdW‘s help.
These letters thus shed light on some aspects of life at Riau in the 1860s. More research is needed to get a clearer picture of the contacts between the Dutch and the Malays here in this penod, as wel1 as a better idea of the relations at the court of Penyengat.
References
Arena Wati, 1989, Syair Pangeran Syarif Hasyim Al-Qudsi, Bangi: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Gallop, Annabel Teh, and Bernard Arps, 199 1, Golden Letters; Writing Traditions of Indonesia/Surat Emas Budaya Tulis di Indonesia, London: The British Library 1 Jakarta: Yayasan Lontar.
Hasan Junus, 1988, Raja Ali Haji; Budayawan di Gerbang Abad XX, Pekanbaru: Universitas Islam Riau Press.
Matheson, Virginia, and Barbara Watson Andaya, 1982, The Precwus Gift (Tuhfat al-Nafi); Raja Ali Haji ibn Ahmad, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.
Menick, R.H., forthcoming, Brieven van H.C. Klinkert.
Raja Ali Haji, 198617, Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa, Yaitu Kamus Logat Melayu Johor Pahang Riau Lingga, Pekanbaru: Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. [First irnpression in Jawi script in 1927, transliterated for this edition by R. Hamzah Yunus.]
Ronkel, Ph. S. van, 1909, Catalogus der Malekche Handschnfien in het Museum van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen, Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen 57.
Wall, H. von de, 1870, ‘Boekbeoordeling door H von de Wall: Kitab Perkeboenan bagi kanakkanak jang hendak menoentoet berladjar akan dija‘, Tijdschnftvoorlndische, Taal-, Landen Volkenkunde:565-74.
-, 1877-84, Maleisch-Nederlandsch Woordenboek, 3 vols, Batavia: Landsdrukkerij. Wilkinson. R.J., 1957, ‘Notes on Malay Letter-Writing‘; in: R.O. Winstedt, Malay Grammar, pp. 183-205, Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Second Revised Edition.]
Appendix
The Original Letters in Transliteration
1. Dated Rabiulakhir 1275 (i.e., 8 November to 6 December 1858)
Qaula l-haqq
Alhamdulillah wa al syukur Allah.
Kemudian kita menerima kasihlah yang amat banyak kepada sahabat kita yang sebenarnya tolan kita yang boleh menerangkan kebenaran kita seperti lepaslah keaiban kita dan kemaluan kita.
Syahdan yang kita pegang selama2 ini, biarlah kita jadi orang miskin atau jadi orang kecil, asalkan jangan kita cacat kepada agama atau nama. Karena apabila orang2 tiada memeliharakan yang dua perkara itu, tiada guna panjang umur di dalam dunia karena sama juga dengan binatang.
Itulah siang malam kita pinta kepada Allah Taala kita hidup dengan kesempurnaan yang kita sudah selama2nya mengetahui yang orang2 yang dialahkan dengan sebab bughat itu haram badannya diperhamba atau hartanya diambil jikalau satu jarum sekalipun, melainkan barang yang binasa di dalam peperangan itu, tiadalah harus diganti.
Inilah tersebut di dalam kitab2. Nanti kita tunjukkan kepada sahabat kita tentang hukuman bughat di dalam kitab yang sahabat kita suruh pakai kepada kita itu. Apalagi kitab Arab, maka yaitu terlalu banyak serta dengan keras larangannya tentang perkara itu.
Syahdan dari sebab inilah kita takut akan orang yang fasik2 yang tiada takut akan Allah Taala barangkali ada kepada tangannya anak bini orang yang belum lepas idahnya atau dengan tiada rida dirinya dicabulinya, diperbuatnya tidak ketahuan. Maklumlah sahabat kita orang yang jahil2. Jadi pekerjaan itu zalim, memberi cedera kepada ugama dan kepada negeri. Maka sebab itulah kita beri ingatan kepada orang2 itu dengan surat yang sedikit itu, karena pekerjaan mengingatkan orang wajib kepada kita. Hendakpun kita aturkan bini2 orang begini2 dan anak yang kecil2 begini2, itu tiada sekali2 kita berani karena pekerjaan itu tuan residen dengan Yang Dipertuan. Tiadalah kita boleh campur di situ. Inilah yang kita pegang adanya.
Maktub Rabiulakhir sanah 1275
(The letter is addressed on side four as follows: ‘alamat surat kepada sahabat kita tuan van de Wal asisten residen‘.)
2. Dated 17 Safar 1287 H (19 May 1870)
Qaula l-haqq
Salam yang dipesertakan beberapa hormat kepada paduka sahabat kita tuan van de Wal.
Syahdan adalah kita memaklumkan daripada kitab Syarh al-Käfia ada yang sudah diterjemahkan dengan bahasa Melayu, akan tetapi pada pikiran kita, jika benar kepada paduka sahabat kita, biar habis Syajarah Melayu disurat oleh Raja Ismail itu. Nanti boleh dipindahkan daripada menyurat syajarah itu kepada Syarh al-Käfia pula, sebab syajarah sudah separuh, tiada berapa lagi habislah. Sebab dia menyurat pun bukannya satu sahaja, disambilkan pula menyurat salinan kamus yang kita perbuat itu, ia juga menyurat. Syahdan empat lima hari ini terhenti menyurat bab al-Kaf, sebab kita lagi menambah2 pada yang tertinggal2 itu, disusup mana2 yang tinggal itu pada kotak2 nya. Pagi ini dapat satu pula bahasa tertinggal pada bab al-Pa, yaitu bahasa panndun, yakni ‘satu kelamin daripada hewan sama ada manusia atau hewan adanya‘. Inilah kita kirimkan boleh paduka sahabat kita lihat sebentar syajarah, kemudian kirimkan kembali supaya segera disudahkan.
Dan lagi bila2 paduka sahabat kita senang kita hendak datang menentukan kitab2 yang akan dipesankan di Mesir itu adanya. Intihä.
Tersurat pada 17 bulan Safar sanat 1287
Raja Ali Haji
(N.B. At the top of the letter the word ‘panndun‘ is written in Jawi, and in the right-hand margin, near the underlined word ‘keiurnin‘, the words ‘iuki bini‘.)
3. Dated 4 Jumadilakhir 1287 H (1 September 1870)
Qaula l-haqq
Salam yang dipesertakan dengan hormat kepada paduka sahabat kita tuan van de Wal.
Syahdan adalah kita menyatakan kepada paduka sahabat kita pasal daripada perkara kamus tentang daripada bahasa ‘galur‘, adakah sudah terbuat atau belum. Coba periksa pada bab al-Kaf awalnya, akhirnya Ra, kita lupa. Jikalau belum ada kita kirimkan, boleh dibuat karena bahasa ‘galur‘ lagi tengah mufassarnya yang am manfaatnya. Sebab itu kita panjang dua hari lagi habislah. Apabila habis kita bawa kepada paduka sahabat kita.
Syahdan yang kita pun tahu juga yang maksud paduka bukannya perkara mufassar, hanyalah dikehendaki paduka sahabat itu hanyalah bahasa maknacmufrad jua. Maka sudah jugalah ia makna mufrad. Adapun makna mufassar pada kamus yang dicadangkan khas pada orang2 Melayu jua adanya.
Dan lagi ini ada kita kirimkan syair karangan saudara kita Raja Daud, yaitu syair Siarah Said Qasim tatkala ia mengerjakan gubernemen. Adalah ia minta buatkan kepada saudara kita itu akan kisah dia tatkala ia mengerjakan gubernemen, serta dikirimkannya segala perjalanan kelakuannya pada masa ia bekerja pekerjaan gubernemen, minta syairkan. Maka disyairkan oleh saudara kita itu Daud, sudah dua. Yang satu dikirimkanlah kepadanya, yang satu inilah kita hadiahkan kepada paduka sahabat kita adanya. Boleh dibaca2 permainan.
Syahdan lagi yang kita pada bulan ini adalah di dalam hal sedikit susah hendak melepaskan khitan anak kita itu Husin. Jadi kita di dalam sehari dua ini bimbanglah dengan pekerjaan membuat2 bangsal2 buruk dan lainnya daripada tempat makan2 lebai2. Buruk tiadalah dengan sepertinya, sekedarkan melepaskan yang fardu jua adanya. Sebab kita terlalu picik daripada rezeki, bukannya seperti yang telah lalu. Daripada tahun yang lepas2 ada juga yang lebih-lebih sedikit daripada hajat yang diambil daripada pulau2 Karimun dan Kundur. Sekarang yang dua2 pulau itu sudah kurang semuanya, tiada jadi lagi timahnya dan lainnya adanya. Intihä.
Tersurat pada 4 bulan Jumadilakhir sanah 1287
Raja Ali Haji
4. Dated 18 Muharam 1288 H (9 April 187 1)
Qaula l-haqq
Salam kepada paduka sahabat kita tuan van de Wal.
Syahdan kita dapat khabar kepada Datuk semalam, yang paduka sahabat kita akan berangkat ke Betawi kepada mil ini, lamanya dua tahun karena berobat. Jadi jika kita tiada uzur, petang2 sekarang atau esok kita berjumpa paduka sahabat kita jua. Pagi ini kita hendak pergi mengambil anak2 kita di Pengujan dibawa di Penyengat sebab demam. Dan air terlalu kering, jadi terhenti kita sebentar menantikan pukul sepuluh menurunkan sekoci, baharu dapat air adanya.
Syahdan suatupun tiada burhan al-hayat hanyalah doa bil‘ajihi ‘alaina ji Ead al-laila wa n-nahar amin.
Tersurat 18 bulan al-Muharam sanah 1288
Raja Ali Haji
Source: http://www.kitlv-journals.nl
[1] For a bibliography of the works written by Raja Ali Haji, see Hasan Junus 1988.
[2] For his collection of Malay manuscnpts, see Van Ronkel 1909. The effects of the activities of European collectors on literary production are apparent from the letters written by Klinkert to the Bible Society from Riau in the mid- 1860s. Initially (June 1864), Klinkert complained about the difficulties of finding manuscripts in Riau, while later he complained about not having sufficient funds to purchase al1 the manuscnpts offered to him. (Copies of those of Klinkert‘s letters which have been tracked down so far were kindly supplied to US by Drs. R. Menick, of Leiden University, who is prepanng an edition of Klinkert‘s letters.)
[3] The folders are marked with the letters A to M. The three separate letters were placed in a folder marked ‘B‘ (capital), while the other Malay letters addressed to Von de Wall were in a folder marked ‘b‘ (lower case).
[4] The letter refers to, among other things, the waiting-penod for widows before remamage (idah), which corresponds with the contents of letters by RAH from the same period which we recently discovered in Jakarta (and an edition of which is soon to be published).
[5] In another letter dated Rabiulakhir 1275 (forming part of two manuscripts with letters kept in Jakarta, see Van Ronkel 1909:467), RAH reported to vdW that he had been informed by one Raja Husin of a smear campaign against him, with imputations that he had kept two concubines from Reteh. RAH informs vdW that the women in question had come to
him asking him what the Islamic law said about the idah period which they had to observe after their husbands were killed in the attack on Reteh (from 13 October to 7 November 1858). RAH had jotted down the rules on idah in a smal1 note, which he also sent to vdW (and which also forms part of the Jakarta collection). He asks vdW if he has any idea of how to get out of this delicate situation with the Resident‘s help. This apparently had been successful.
[6] Von de Wall, in his dictionary, lists this wqd under the entry ‘induk‘, as an unusual contraction alongside ‘perindoeà n‘
[7] We have presemed the spelling used by RAH here. The syair in question is of course ‘Syair Pangeran Syarif Hasyim‘ (Arena Wati 1989).
[8] The ‘Datuk‘ mentioned in this letter probably was Haji Ibrahim, who bore the title ‘Datuk Orang Kaya Muda‘. He was the other acknowledged informant of vdW (Matheson and Watson Andaya 1982:407), who himself was a writer and a dignitary at the court of Riau Lingga.
[9] The letters K and P mentioned in the present correspondente are not included in the published material, which stops at the letter C (Raja Ali Haji 198617).
[10] The other letter referred to here is a letter from RAH to vdW dated 3 May 1870 (which forms part of the collection in Jakarta). The relevant passage reads: ‘kita berpesan kepada tuan2 haji2 yang di dalam Mekah sampai setahun tiada dapat khabar dan kepada paduka sahabat kita ini dua tiga bulan sudah hasil maksud‘.
