Sejarah Melayu

Sejarah Melayu (Jawi: سجاره ملايو) or Malay Annals is a Malay literary work which covers a period of over 600 years that chronicles the, then and now, Genealogies of Rulers in the Malay Archipelago. This work was believed to have been commissioned in 1612 by the Junior King or Regent of Johor, The Yang di-Pertuan Di Hilir Raja Abdullah (Raja Bongsu), later, by the office title, HRH Sultan Abdullah Mu'ayat Syah ibni Sultan Abdul Jalil Syah). In 1613, the Johor capital of Batu Sawar was destroyed by Achehnese invaders and Raja Abdullah and his entire court was captured and exiled to Aceh.

Sultan Abdullah envoyed Seri Nara Wangsa Tun Bambang (Tun Bambang) to consult Bendahara Paduka Raja Tun Muhammad Mahmud (also known by the name, Tun Sri Lanang) on Thursday, 12 Rabi'ul Awal 1021, corresponds to 13 May 1612 to edit The Naskhah of Sejarah Melayu, accompanied by the Orang Kaya Sogoh from Gowa.

Frontispiece of a copy of Malay Annals

Tun Sri Lanang was the editor and compiler of Sejarah Melayu, who edited and compiled the bulk of it in Johor and completed it during his captivity in Aceh.^[1]

The original version of Sejarah Melayu was written during the reign of Malacca Sultanate in Malacca. It was brought together when HRH Sultan Mahmud Shah fled from Malacca in 1511 AD. During 1528 AD, the original naskhah (copy) were brought to Johor from Kampar. The Portuguese seized The Naskhah Sejarah Melayu in 1536 AD while attacking the Old Johor (Johor Lama). The naskhah, later on were returned to Johor by Orang Kaya Sogoh.

The subjects covered in the work included the founding of the Kingdom of Malacca and its relationship with neighbouring kingdoms, the advent and spread of Islam in the region, the history of the Royalty in the region as well as the administrative hierarchy of the Malacca kingdom and its successor states. During the Johor Sultanate political turning point from 1612, the Sultans convened for a political legitimacy. With providence from genealogy and historical dating, their Royal Highnesses, the Sultans took liberties for better political reasons.

The manuscripts were originally written in the classical Malay language on traditional paper in old Jawi script. An edition was published in 1924, in Roman script by William Shellabear.^[2]

The Malay Annals was listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme International Register in 2001.