399

ART. XV.—Aryan Mythology in Malay Traditions. By

W. E. MAXWELL, Colonial Civil Service.

OXE of the most striking coincidences in the traditions of

different Malay states is the constant recurrence of three
persons as the founders of kingdoms, the authors of govern-
ment and order, or the progenitors of a line of rulers. In
Menangkabau, the most ancient state of Sumatra, it is
related howlskandar Z'ul Karnayn ("lord of the two horns,"
or the East and the West; generally identified with Alex-
ander the Great) begot three sons named respectively
Maharaja Alif, Maharaja Dipang, and Maharaja Diraja.
When the three brothers had reached maturity, they proceeded
on a voyage together and arrived at Ceylon, where they
agreed to separate. " Then the eldest, Maharaja Alif,
claimed the crown, Mahota Singhatahana. And Maharaja
Dipang said, ' I too want it.' Maharaja Diraja said, ' I t
is mine, because I am the youngest.' Then an angel
descended and said, ' Which of you is Raja ? Why are
ye disputing ?' And they replied, ' It is about the crown
which was our father's.' Then said the angel, 'Are ye
willing to give it up to me ?' And they surrendered it to
the angel, who forthwith let it fall into the sea, and then
instantly vanished. Then said Maharaja Alif, ' How now,
my brethren, will ye sail towards the setting of the sun ?'
Maharaja Dipang replied, ' I intend to sail for a land
between the rising and setting of the sun.' And Maharaja
Diraja said, 'As my two elder brothers have thus decided, I shall
sail for the rising sun, and we will take our chance of what
fortune may befall us.' Then Maharaja Alif set sail for the
setting sun, namely, Roum; and Maharaja Dipang sailed
to the dark land, the country of China; and Maharaja Diraja
sailed away to the land of the rising sun, and after a long

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 400 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TRADITIONS.

time reached the top of the burning mountain (Menangka-

bau in Sumatra)." x
The main features of the foregoing legend are preserved
in the story communicated to Marsden, "as the belief of
the people of Johor," and published by him in his History
of Sumatra in 1811. It is as follows :
" It is related that Iskander dived into the sea, and there
married a daughter of the king of the ocean, by whom he
had three sons, who, when they arrived at manhood, were
sent by their mother to the residence of their father. He
gave them a makuta or crown, and ordered them to find
kingdoms where they should establish themselves. Arriving
in the Straits of Singa-pura, they determined to try whose
head the crown fitted. The eldest trying first could not
lift it to his head. The second the same. The third had
nearly eifected it, when it fell from his hand into the sea.
After this the eldest turned to the west and became king of
Rome. The second to the east and became king of China.
The third remained at Johor."
Johor is the southernmost state of the Malay Peninsula.
It was to this state that the Raja of Malacca removed after
the conquest of his country by the Portuguese under
Albuquerque in 1511, and here the royal line of Malacca
was continued for several generations. The legend pre-
served by Marsden appears to be a localized version of the
Menangkabau tradition, with the introduction of the changes
necessary to give Johor due prominence.8
Malacca, however, had her own traditional account of the
origin of her kings, who were said to be descended from
one of three princes, descendants of Iskandar Z'ul Karnayn,
who came down from the heaven of Indra and appeared
on earth at a place called Palembang in Sumatra. This is
1
From a Malay manuscript in my possession.
2
This incident about the loss of the crown is found in Perak legendary history
also. When the first Eaja of Perak was on his way up the Perak river,
he stopped at a place called Selat Lembajayan for amusement. One of his at-
tendants happened to point out some fish in the water, and in leaning over the
boat's side to look at them the Raja lost his crown, which fell from his head and
immediately sank. His people dived in vain for it, and from that day to this no
Sultan of Perak has had a crown.

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 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TRADITIONS. 401

related in detail in the Sajarah Malayu. The following

translation is from a manuscript, which formerly belonged
to the Rajas of Perak, a Malay state whose royal house is
an off-shoot of the Malacca line:—
"There was a kingdom in the land of Andalas called
Palembang, the ruler of which was named Demang Lebar
Daun. His descent was from the stock of Raja Cholan.
Muaratatang was the name of his river, and beyond it was
another river called Malayu. Now on this river Malayu
there was a hill called Bukit Sagantang Maha Miru. Two
widow women lived on this hill; one was called Wan Pak
and the other Wan Malini.1 They grew upland rice (padi)
on Bukit Sagantang Maha Miru, and their fields were of
great extent. Their crops were so abundant that the
quantity of grain could not be calculated. One night,
when the padi was nearly ripe, Wan Pak and Wan Malini
noticed from their house on the hill Sagantang Maha Miru
that their fields were blazing with light, as if they were on
fire. Then said Wan Pak to Wan Malini, ' What brilliancy
is this ? It frightens me to look at it.' Said Wan Malini,
' Let us make no noise. Mayhap it is the lustre of some
large dragon's jewel.' And Wan Pak replied, ' It is very
likely as you say.' Then they both held their peace from
fear and went to sleep. As soon as it was light, they arose
from their slumbers and washed their faces. Then said Wan
Pak to Wan Malini, ' Come, let us see what it was that was
shining so brilliantly last night.' And the other assented.
Then they both went up the hill Sagantang, and found that
their padi had produced grains of gold and leaves of silver
and stalks of brass. When they perceived the nature of their
crop, Wan Pak said, ' It is this padi that we saw shining so
brilliantly last night.' Then they walked to the top of the
hill Sagantang Maha Miru, and saw that the ground on the
top of the hill had also become gold. (By some it is said
that even up to the present time the soil of that hill is of
the colour of gold.) On the top of this golden hill Wan

1
" AVan Ampu and Malin."—Leyden's translation, p. 21.

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 402 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TRADITIONS.

Pak and Wan Malini saw three young men of exceeding

beauty. They were seated on a white elephant,1 and each
of them had girded on by his side a sword named ' Chora
Samandang KM.' This is the royal sword of state of all
Malay rajas. Each of them also held in his left hand a
wand (kayu garnit), that is to say, the chap halilintar ('the
seal of the thunderbolt').
Great was the amazement and wonder of Wan Pak and
Wan Malini at the appearance of three young men of such
surpassing beauty of feature and person and richness of
apparel. They thought, 'Perchance it is because of these
three young men that our padi has borne grains of gold and
leaves of silver and stalks of brass, and that the soil on the
top of the hill has also become gold.'
Then Wan Pak and Wan Malini inquired of the three
men, ' What may be the names of my lords, and whence do
my lords come ? Are ye of the sons of the Jin or of the
Peri? We have lived long here, and have never yet seen
any human creature come to this spot until to-day.' The
three young men answered, ' We are not of the race of the
Jin or of the Peri. We are men, and our descent is from
the children and grandchildren of Raja Iskandar Z'ul
Karnayn; our stock is that of Raja Nashirwan, and our
origin from Raja Soliman, on whom be peace. Our names
are Najitram, and Paldutani, and Nila Asnam.'8 Wan
Pak and Wan Malini then said, 'If my lords are descended
from Raja Iskandar Z'ul Karnayn, why do my lords come
here ?' Then were related by the three young men all the
adventures of Raja Iskandar Zu'l Karnayn; and Wan Pak
and Wan Malini believed their words; and being exceedingly

1
" One of them had the dress of a raja, and was mounted on a bull, white as
silver; and the other two were standing on each side of him, one of them holding
a sword and the other a spear."—Leyden's translation, p. 22.
2
"My name is Bichitram Shah, who am Baja; the name of this person is
Nila Pahlawan; and the name of the other Carua Pandita. This is the sword,
Chora sa-mendang-kian, and that is the lance, Limbuar ; this is the signet, Cayu
Gampit, which is employed in correspondence with rajas."—Leyden's translation,
p. 22. In some manuscripts the name transliterated by Leyden " Carua Pandita "
is Kisna Pandita."

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 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TRADITIONS. 403

joyful, they brought back the three princes to their house.

And they plucked their padi and became rich.1
Now it is said that the Palembang of that time is the same
Palembang that exists to the present day. "When the Raja
of Palembang, Demang Lebar Daun, heard it reported that
Wan Pak and Wan Malini had met the sons of a raja who
had descended from the abode of Indra, he went to their
house to see these princes. He conducted them to his own
capital, and the fame of these doings was published abroad
in all lands. And kings from all quarters and countries
presented themselves before the king. The eldest prince
was sought out by the people of Andalas and made by them
king of Menangkabau. And he took the royal title of Sang
Purba.8 Afterwards the people of Tanjong Pura came and
fetched away the second prince. His royal title was Sang
Manika. The youngest remained at Palembang with Raja
Demang Lebar Daun, and was made king at Palembang,
and invested with the royal title of Sang Mia Utama. To
him Demang Lebar Daun resigned his throne, and became
Mangko-bumi or chief minister."

Here once more we have the myth of the three high-born

personages with whom a new order of things commences.
The Perak version of the legend comprised in the foregoing
translation differs in many respects from that contained in
better-known copies of the Bajarah Malayu, as a reference
to the English and French translations will show. In the
translated versions the chief of the three princes is described
as seated upon a bull, white as silver, while the other two

1
'' Nila Pahlawan and Carua Pandita were married to the young females Wan
Ampu and Wan Malin, and their male offspring were denominated by Sangsa-
purba Baginda Awang, and the female offspring Baginda Dara; and hence the
origin of all the Awangs and Daras."—Leyden's translation, p. 24.
* Sang is a title applied in Malay and Javanese to gods and heroes of pre-
Muhammadan times. Applied to gods it is often coupled with the word hyang,
which means " divinity, " deity," and then becomes sangyang. Sang is still an
ordinary title among the chiefs of the aboriginal tribes of the Peninsula. It is
probably of Sanskrit origin and, like the sain and sahib of India, is probably
derived from swami. Purba is the Sanskrit word purva ' first.' Sang Purba may
therefore be translated " first deity," or " first chief."

VOL. XIII.—[NEW SERIES.] 28

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 404 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TRADITIONS.

stand one on each side of him, one of them holding a sword

and the other a spear.
The names introduced into the narrative are very instruc-
tive. The titles of the supernatural visitors are of Sanskrit
origin, while the name of the chieftain of Palembang is pure
Malay. Demang Lebar Dawn means "Chieftain Broad-leaf,"
and is thoroughly characteristic of the aboriginal Malay
tribes. To this day the latter name a child from some
peculiarity about the place in which it happens to be born
or the natural phenomena noticed about the time of its birth.
" Earth," " Mud," " Leaf," " Flower," " Thunder," and
" Lightning," are some of the names which the Sakai of
Perak give their offspring. Again, the method of cultiva-
tion in which the women are described as being engaged is the
most primitive known to the Malays, who in most populous
districts have long abandoned upland cultivation, with its
scanty returns, for wet cultivation on the plains. The latter
requires an advanced degree of agricultural skill, the use of
buffaloes in ploughing, and some ingenuity in devising means
of irrigation ; but the crops are far more abundant than those
obtained from the hill-clearings.
The hill-clearing system of agriculture is the primitive
mode of cultivation common to Indo-Chinese races from the
Himalayas to Borneo.1
The connexion of the sword, lance and seal with Hindu
Gods is not obvious, but it is a matter of general knowledge
that Hindu deities are generally portrayed with particular
objects connected with events in their mythical histories or
with the various powers and attributes assigned to them.
Thus Qiva is represented as bearing in his hands the holy
shell, the radiated weapon, the mace for war and the lotus.
The name of the sword is perhaps capable of satisfactory
explanation. The sacred river Ganga (the Ganges), ac-
cording to Hindu mythology, is called in heaven Manda-

1
Journ. Ind. Arch. vol. i. p. 455; Marsden, History of Sumatra, p. 62;
Forbes, British Burmah, p. 281; Newbold, Straits of Malacca, vol. i. p. 263 ;
Pallegoix, Siam, vol. i. p. 40; Low, Sarawak, p. 232; Asiatic Researches, vol.
vii. p. 190 ; Journ. Ind. Arch. vol. ii. p. 236.

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 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IX MALAY TRADITIONS. 405

Kini. When Ganga fell from heaven to the earth, Qiva

caught her in his bunch of matted hair, and idols represent
him with the sacred river springing from his head. It
appears, therefore, that the name of the river whose source
is Qiva's head has in Malay legend become the name of the
sword which Sang Purba holds in his hand. The transi-
tion is not a very startling one; the word remains, though
its original signification has been lost.
Chora is not a Malay word, and is probably identical with
the Sanskrit kshura ' a razor.'
Taking into consideration the Sanskrit names and the
mention of Maha Miru,1 the Hindu Olympus, it is not
difficult to see that the story of the three princes owes its
origin to accounts of the three deities of the Hindu Triad,
Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra (Qiva). The " white bull," the
" vahan " of Qiva, on which the centre character is generally
described as seated, takes the matter beyond the region of
conjecture altogether. The three persons who descend from
the abode of Indra to the sacred mountain Maha Miru, one
of them riding on a white bull, and at whose approach the
earth becomes gold, and the very corn is transformed into
stalks, leaves, and grains of precious metals, cannot but be
divine.
The legend may therefore be viewed in two aspects; first,
as an instance of the occurrence of the widely-spread myth
which connects the commencement of history with three
persons, be they deities, princes, or rulers; second, as an
independent tradition of the introduction of Aryan civiliza-
tion in Sumatra, already occupied by an aboriginal people.
It is with the first aspect of the legend that we now have
to deal. The tradition shown to exist in independent forms
among the Malays of Menangkabau, Johor, and Palembang,
appears again in the belief entertained by one of the wild
tribes of the Peninsula respecting the origin of their Batins

1
Sagantang = Sughanda ? one of the four mountains which surround Sumeru
" towards the four quarters."-—Ward's Hindoos, vol. iv. p. 455. Cf. Jukunthou.
" La premiere chatne de montagnes qui entoure le Meru l'appelle Jukunthou."
—Paliegoix, Siam, vol. i. p. 432.

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 406 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TEADITIONS.

or rulers. The Mantra of Johor are an aboriginal tribe with

a Sanskrit name, a combination which may be explained
perhaps by the circumstance of their being skilled in all
kinds of spells and incantations, Mantra being Sanskrit for a
charm. In this tribe a chief is called Batin, and they say
that " the first of all Batins and rulers was Batin Changei
Besi, whose nails, as his name imports, were of iron. He
lived at Gunong Penyarong (Pagaruyong ?) in Menangkabau.
By him a Raja was placed over Menangkabau, a Bandahara
over Pahang, and at a later period a Punghulu over Ulu
Pahang.1
In Marsden's History of Sumatra there is an interesting
account of the religious belief of the Battaks of Sumatra,
which affords another illustration of the myth under con-
sideration. According to it the whole human race descended
from the three sons and three daughters of a female deity,
who was herself the daughter of the chief of the three gods
who are the objects of Battak veneration :2—
" They acknowledge three deities as rulers of the world, who
are respectively named Batara-guru, Sori-pada, and Mangalla-
bulang. The first, say they, bears rule in heaven, is the
father of all mankind, and partly, under the following cir-
cumstances, creator of the earth, which from the beginning
of time had been supported on the head of Naga-padoha,
but growing weary at length, he shook his head, which
occasioned the earth to sink, and nothing remained in the
world excepting water. They do not pretend to a knowledge
of the creation of this original earth and water, but say that
at the period when the latter covered everything, the chief
deity, Batara-guru, had a daughter named Puti-orla-bulan,
who requested permission to descend to these lower regions,
and accordingly came down on a white owl, accompanied by

1
Journal Ind. Archipelago, vol. i. p. 326. Changgai is a long finger-nail
worn as a mark of distinction. Cf. Hindustani chang, changul, ' claw.'
2
" For a knowledge of their theogony we are indebted to M. Sieberg, governor
of the Dutch settlements on the coast of Sumatra, by whom the following accouut
was communicated to the late M. Radermacher, a distinguished member of the
Batavian Society, and by him published in its Transactions."—History of
Sumatra, p. 3S5.

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 AKYAN MYTH0L0G5T IN MALAY TRADITIONS. 407

a dog; but not being able, by reason of the waters, to con-

tinue there, her father let fall from heaven a lofty mountain,
named Bakarra, now situated in the Batta country, as a
dwelling for his child; and from this mountain all other
land gradually proceeded. The earth was once more sup-
ported on the three horns of Naga-padoha; and that he
might never again suffer it to fall off, Batara-guru sent
his son, named Lagang-layang-mandi (literally, ' the dipping
swallow') to bind him hand and foot. But to his oc-
casionally shaking his head they ascribe the effect of
earthquakes. Puti-orla-bulan had afterwards, during her
residence on earth, three sons and three daughters, from
whom sprang the whole human race."1
What, then, is the primitive idea which lies at the root
of these numerous parallel accounts of the foundation of
kingdoms by three supernaturally-derived persons ? The
Battak legend, were other proof wanting, would naturally
lead us to connect them with a traditional account (of Aryan
origin) of the creation of man. The notion of the division
of the supreme God into a triad, and the commencement of
human history after a visit paid by the three deities to earth,
came to the aboriginal Malay tribes with the introduction of
Hindu civilization. It lost its original significance in the
course of ages among barbarous tribes, who were probably
demon- or spirit-worshippers, but survives in a more con-
crete shape, applied, as we have seen, to the national history
of the Malays, the Battaks and the Mantras. The reason-
ableness of this view is confirmed by the account of the
creation given in the Eddas:—
" Men came into existence when three mighty, benevolent
Gods, Odin, Hoenir and Lodur, left the assembly to make an
excursion. On the earth they found Ask and Embla (ash
and elm ?), with little power and without destiny; spirit
they had not, nor sense, nor blood, nor power of motion,
nor fair colour. Odin gave them spirit (breath), Hoenir
1
Verhandelingen van het Bataviasch Genootschap, 1787, p. 15. De Backer,
" L'Arehipel Incuen," p. 281.

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 408 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TRADITIONS.

sense, Lodur blood and fair colour. . . . From this pair

the whole human race is descended."1
Nor is this the only passage in the Eddas which bears upon
the legends which I have quoted. A striking parallel with
the Battak legend of Naga-padoha, on whose three horns the
earth is supported, and whose occasional movements cause
earthquakes, will be found in the account of the punishment
of Loki:—
" When the gods had captured Loki, they brought him to
a cave, raised up three fragments of rock, and bored holes
through them. They then took his sons, Vali (Ali) and
Narfi (Nari). Vali they transformed into a wolf, and he
tore his brother Narfi in pieces. With his entrails they
bound Loki over the three stones, one being under his
shoulders, another under his loins, the third under his
hams; and the bands became iron. Skadi then hung a
venomous snake above his head, so that the poison might
drip on his face; but his wife Sigyu stands by him and
holds a cup under the dripping venom. When the cup is
full, the poison falls on his face while she empties it; and he
shrinks from it, so that the whole earth trembles. Thence
come earthquakes. There will he lie bound until Ragnarock."8
Surely there is more than chance coincidence between the
three horns of Naga-padoha, on which the earth of the
Battaks is supported, and the three rocks to which Loki
(fire) is bound. Though bound hand and foot, Naga-padoha
sometimes shakes his head, even as Loki shudders in spite of
the iron bands which bind him, and in either case the whole
earth trembles, and men say that there is an earthquake.
If it has been satisfactorily shown that the history of the
arrival of Sang Purba and his companions at Palembang is,
in common with certain other legends, mythical and not

1
Thorpe, Northern Mythology, vol. i. p. 10. " As the common ancestor of
the German nation, Tacitus, on the authority of ancient forms, places the hero or
god Tuisco, who sprang from the earth; whose son Mannus had three sons,
after whom are named the three tribes, viz. the Tugaevones, nearest the ocean ;
the Hermiaones, in the middle parts ; and the Istsevones."—Thorpe, Northern
Mythology, vol. i. p. 232, quoting Tacitus, Germania, c. 2.
2
Thorpe, Northern Mythology, vol. i. p. 78.

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 ARYAN MYTHOLOGY IN MALAY TRADITIONS. 409

historical, being in fact only a local development of a primi-

tive Aryan belief, it only remains to demonstrate the danger
of attempting to fix dates for events of this kind.
It will probably be conceded that sufficient ground has
been furnished for the reconsideration of the arguments by
which the foundation of Singhapura by a son of Sang Purba
has been attributed to the twelfth century A.D. !
In everything Malayan, the language, the literature, and
the folk-lore of the people, the three stages, 1. Aboriginal,
2. Hindu, 3. Muhammadan, can be plainly detected. It is
not uncommon to find three synonymous terms for some
common object, one of which will be pure Malay, one
Sanskrit, and one Arabic. Thus the human body is tuboh,
(Malay), salira (Sanskrit), and badan (Arabic). The Abori-
ginal list of demons, already sufficiently large, has been
successively enriched by the addition of the Sanskrit bhut
(Malay bota) and the Arabic Jin and sheitan. In the
historical legends preserved in the Sarajah Malayu there
may be found, in one place, aboriginal traditions which are
traceable also among tribes in Sumatra and the Philippines;
and, in another place, stories and allusions which belong to
the continent of India, while over all there is a varnish of
Arabic nomenclature and embellishment which the Muham-
madan chroniclers have permitted themselves to bestow,
undeterred by any consideration for truth or sense of
fitness. Destitute of the critical faculty, they accepted as
history the legends which had been handed down from time
immemorial in the kingdoms of which they wrote, and knew
no more than the Malay peasant of to-day that the traditions
of their forefathers related to anything more than events in
the lives of their Eajas.

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