Malay Local Society in the Pre-Colonial Period

O. Introduction

0-1. Objectives

MIZUSHlMA, Tsukasa Institute for the Study of Languages and

Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA),

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

This paper aims to describe the structural relationship between the local society and its outside world in the pre-colonial Malay Peninsula by focusing upon the role and status of the "media" who interlinked the two. 1

The Malay local society in the pre-colonial period can be perceived as the sphere where the three distinct worlds, i.e. the holy, spiritual, and secular worlds, interacted with each other. People in the local society conceived and faced the out­side world surrounding them in these three worlds respectively.

What was characteristic in the Malay local society of the concerned period was that the relationship with the outside world was mediated through the "media" in the respective worlds. These media composed actually the very nuclei of the local socie­ty, which has been often described as highly flexible in its outlook as well as its components. The main objective of this paper is to present analytical model of Malay local society and to argue that the Malay local society, contrary to its flexible outlook, had a very rigid and stable structure because of these media. 2

Since the beginning of British colonial rule, the role and status of the media has been greatly changed, which has caused structural change not only in the relation­ship between the local society and its outside world but also in the internal structure of local society. This is the second point to be briefly discussed using the available historical sources.

0-2. Local Society, Outside World, and Media It would be necessary before starting our argument to discuss whether the

concept of "Malay local society" can be taken for granted. This is because Malay settlement has been well known for its flexible boundary, floating popUlation, or the frequent shift of its site, which may give serious doubt to envisage "local society"

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for granted. Local society can be, generally speaking, defined as the sphere where people

make a living and where distinctive human organizations along with its physical environment is historically formed . As there cO\lld be found in any human history various types of local societies in the different stages of historical development and in the different physical environments, the study of local society has to be basically historical in nature, which takes, as well, the physical environments into considera­tion.

What is most important in generating distinctive features of local society is the world view held by the people in the concerned society. People create and reproduce their environment according to their world view, leading to the formation of distinc­tive society.

As for Malay local society, it has reproduced somewhat uniform style of set­tlements, even though flexibility has been said to be its dominant feature. This very fact indicates the stable structure of the Malay world view, which has recurrently given similar outlook to the Malay settlements. The same fact indicates the existence of social institutions which support the stability of the settlements. As will be dis­cussed below, the distinctive structural feature of the Malay world view was most evidently represented in the relationship between the local society and the outside world, which contributed to reproduce the same type of settlements anywhere in the Malay world.

For the people living in the local society in the pre-British period, the outside world surrounding them was the source of fearful authority and, therefore, often became the object of worship. In the outside world was located the center of the cosmos, which very often generated dangerous and threatening waves of movement intruding upon the local society. Though there was the boundary or intermediary zone separating the two worlds, the intermediary zone was highly fragile and subject to vanish at any moment. 3 It was due to this reason that the local society had to have, for its stability and survival, some type of media, who would be entrusted with the intermediary zone while inter linking the two worlds. Our primary objective, therefore, lies in describing the relationship among the local society, the outside world, and the intermediary zone.

It is, however, further to be noted that Malay local society in the Malay world view had become more complicated by the later pre-colonial period than the three divisions of the world described above. In their world view, the local society was the sphere where the three worlds of holy, spiritual, and secular nature overlapped with each other (see the analytical model of Malay local society in Fig .I . More detailed description of the model will be given later). Each of these worlds covered both the local society and the outside world with intermediary zones in between, each section having its own symbol respectively. More concretely, Malay local society had the following structure. (To simplify the argument, the local society and the outside

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world in the three respective worlds will be hereafter termed as local and outside section respectively.)

The holy world, first of all, meant for the people in the local society the one where Islamic beliefs, Islamic laws, and Islamic codes of conduct prevailed.

HOLY WORLD SPIRITUAL HORLD

o LOCAL SOCIm

SECULAR I'IORLD

•••••••••• ......... .......... ......... .......... ......... .......... ......... :-:-:.:.:-:.:.:.:.:

Figure 1. Malay Mode l of Local Society

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I NTER~lED IARY ZONE

OUTSIDE HORLD

The symbolic center of the outside section in the holy world was Mecca, while the Mosque was the institutional symbol of holiness located in the local section. The Mosque represented the symbolic presence of the intermediary zone crossing the two sections, too.

The medium that interlinked these two sections was the Imam, who presided over rituals in the Mosque, conducted rites of passage for the people, and celebrated the rituals of pilgrimage of those who dared a journey out of the local section to the center of the holy world (Le. Mecca). It may be added that the Imam played an important role in the funerals which was for the Malayan important step to reach eternal life in his next life in the outside world. 4

The spiritual world was, on the other hand, the world of folk beliefs which originated in the pre-Islamic period and were transcended through ages. The center of the spiritual world was the cosmos located in the outside section, and the jungle surrounding the local society mainly represented it. As the cosmos had enormous magical power, the one who could mediate the local and outside sections as medium should possess the competitive magical power. Such were the people called "Pawang (or Bomoh)", who were deeply involved with the life of local society in the concerned period.

The intermediary zone between the two sections in the spiritual world was sometimes symbolized as "kramat" of various types, including grave yards, extraor­dinary trees, etc. (see below for more details). Kramats were feared and, therefore, worshiped in every part of Malaya.

The intermediary zone was, however, not necessarily represented by the "kramat" only, due to the simple reason that the magical power of the cosmos was often too enormous to be confined in any specific sphere. This was the main reason why the spiritual world was feared most by the people and had the deepest influence upon the people in the local society.

The secular world was, on the other hand, the one of production and distribu­tion system. The symbolic center of the world was the Sultan and his court, both of which were located in the outside section. The medium who played the role of inter­linker of the two sections was the Penghulu, who represented the local section to the outside section and vice versa. The zone which can be considered as intermediary was the Penghulu' s "balai" or hall, which functioned as the sphere for dealing with secular matters.

The local society in the pre-colonial period was thus the crossing sphere of the holy, spiritual, and secular worlds. People in the local society were surrounded by the outside world where the centers of the respective worlds lay. People, voluntarily or involuntarily, had to face daily the dangerous outside world, direct contact with which might endanger their very existence. It was, therefore, essential for the local society to have some symbolic sphere, Le. intermediary zone, crossing between the two sections, into which direct contact with the outside world was expected to be

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confined, and to have some media with whom the sphere and the contact could be entrusted.

Such structural relationship between the local society and the outside world through the media as described here can be considered as the most salient feature of the Malay society in the concerned period. The characteristic physical feature of Malay local society, if any, would be the expression of this relationship. This was actually expressed as the incorporation of these media as the nuclei of local society. In other words the media assured a somewhat safer sphere for the ever-migrating population and allowed the flexibility of Malay settlements. 5

1. Holy, Spiritual, Secular Worlds and the Malay Local Society

In this chapter the analytical model of Malay local society will be more elabo­rated by utilizing the available historical sources. The general features of Malay society in the pre-colonial period will be at first described for an understanding of the historical background. This will be followed by a description of the features of each of the holy, spiritual, and secular worlds. The interaction among these three worlds in the sphere of local society will also be discussed while referring to the model.

1.1. Malay Local Society in the Pre-Colonial Period Malay society in the nineteenth century had vast areas of unopened lands

unknown to the people. Not only beasts like elephants or tigers but also ghosts or spirits filled it. Many of the records written in the period were full of accounts about them.

The total population in the Malay Peninsula in the 1830s was, according to Newbold, a little over half a million. This figure includes that of the Straits Settle­ments, which had around two hundred thousand inhabitants.6 The population densi­ty of the Malay population in Perak, Selangor, and Sungei Ujong was a little over eleven to one square mile.7

In this setting the size of Malay settlements was naturally quite small both in extent and in population. Settlements were spatially very thinly scattered, too. For instance, it is estimated that Perak in the 1820s had just under a hundred villages, of which three quarters had between ten and fifty houses. 8 They were located mostly along the river, the main traffic route in those days.

Another important aspect of the Malay settlements in those days was the high mobility, which applies to both their location and their inhabitants. This may be partly due to the fact that some of the inhabitants had transport, i.e. river-boats (perahu or baluk) for the purpose of fishing and trade, which made it easy for them to move about. 9 The nature of agriculture in the period was another cause of high

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mobility. Some of the crops grown were too exploitative to be grown on the same land for many years. Failure of crops due to the attack of epidemics, rats, birds, or insects was not rare. The attack of epidemic diseases, beasts, and floods, coupled with the political unrest of the period further enhanced the high mobility. The settlements newly springing up in formerly unoccupied areas were thus not only created by the large inflow of in-migrants from outside Malaya but also by the original settlers who escaped from the old settlements because of instability and poor security.

This high mobility, especially the one caused involuntarily, can be interpreted as the incapability of the media, who failed to guard the local society from the threats imposed by the outside world. To speak more concretely, the medium or Pawang, in the case of spiritual world, failed to protect the local section from the epidemics and other threats of outside section. In the holy world the medium or Imam could not afford to give full protection to the local society by the aid of God. In the secular world, on the other hand, the medium or Penghulu failed to keep the local section away from the political turmoil of the outside section. As a result, it can be interpreted, local society was thrown to the edge of collapse, which forced inhabitants to move involuntarily in pursuit of a safer new settlement. Viewed from a different angle, any local society with media powerful enough to compete with the threats from the outside world could offer a new shelter for the migrants. So far as any settlements in Malay Society in the nineteenth century were concerned, they were not fully qualified as local society unless they had these media among them. The media with the roles described above were in such a way the nuclei of local society and were an essential part of it.

Historical sources also evince that these media were the essential components of any settlements in the concerned period. T.Braddel, for instance, noted in the diary kept during his trip from Malacca that the settlements with more than forty­four families had mosque and Penghulu. His account was as follows:

Between Rheim and Ayer Panas there are four districts, each with its mosque and establishment, Punghulu, &c., but the population is very scanty; I should not think sufficient to authorize the establishment of a mosque, which according to Malayan custom requires forty-four families." 10

It seems that the figure of forty-four was thought to be the requisite number of population to constitute a basic unit in full status with mosque, Imam, Penghulu, and other establishments. The same figure appears in a few more articles. For instance the article describing Dutch administration in Malacca in the early nineteenth cen­tury recorded that " ... the Dutch availed themselves of the Malay village system. Every community of 44 families constitutes a village, which is entitled to have a mosque and the regular officers, Imaum, Khatib, Bilal and Punghulu." 11

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The oldest reference to this figure known to the author is by TJ.Newbold, who wrote that " .. . a Mukim [a primary administrative unit: see below] must consist of forty-four houses; the Khatbeh cannot be read in the mosque until the number be complete." 12

These statements indicate a prevalent norm in the period that a locality could fulfill the qualification as an independent unit only when it possessed a mosque, Penghulu, and some other officials in it and that for maintaining it there should be at least forty-four families or houses. 13

The importance of Pawang in the Malay society has been stressed by many other writers. Blagden noted that lithe Pawang is a functionary of great and tradi­tional importance in a Malay village ... [and] is regarded as part of the constituted order of society, without wh.om no village community would be complete." 14

Some of the current studies on Malay world-view also stress the importance of Pawang. Mohd Taib Osman, for instance, noted 11 ••• community life is not complete, especially in traditional and rural communities, without the pawang or the bomoh ... It is in the complex of beliefs and practices presided over by the pawang that the indigenous, Hindu, and Islamic elements usually interact and integrate into function­al wholes ... The pawang and bomoh are therefore the mainstay of Malay folk be­liefs." 15

A short conclusion from the investigation is that the salient feature of the Malay local society in the pre-colonial period was the incorporation of the media as its nuclei. For clarification of the historical change which occurred in the local society since the beginning of the colonial rule, it would be necessary to study the change of their role and status in it. Before it, the role and status of the media in the pre-colo­nial period should be clarified further by the available sources.

1.2. Medium and Holy World Holy world meant for the people in the Malay local society the one where

Islamic laws, codes of conduct, and beliefs prevailed. In a sense it may be called the world of orthodoxy. The symbolic center of the outside section in it was Mecca, and the Mosque was the symbol of holiness located in the local society.

One of the features of the holy world was its highly institutionalized nature even in the concerned period. According to Newbold, for instance, the Islamic insti­tution in Naning was organized in the following manner. Naning with a population of 5,881 in the year 1836 was divided into sixteen mukim, or the administrative units, and each of the mukim had one mosque. There were four officiating priests, i.e. Imam, Khatib, Bilal, and Penghulu-mukim (different from the Penghulu men­tioned so far), attached to each mosque, besides the two Kali-s (Kazi-s) 16Who presided over a number of mosques.

Imam performed the sacred rites of the Mohammedan religion such as Imamet, Mandi, and Kafan (washing and shrouding of the dead), and Selat Jenazet (prayer

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pronounced over the corpse before interment). Khatib recited Khatbeh (an oration or sermon) in praise of God, the prophet, and his vicegerents, on Friday, in the mosque. He also performed the Nikah (marriage ceremony). Bilal conducted sacrifi­cial duties, calling to public prayer, reciting of the Talkin (the service for the dead) after burying the corpse. Penghulu-mukim was -an inferior servant of the mosque. He kept the mosque clean and in good order. He removed the bodies of the dead, assist­ed at burials, went round villages to give notice of the performance of public prayer, and reported the absentees to the Imam. He beat the drum to assemble the people to the mosque for prayer, and sometimes read the Talkin. 17

These four officials were, according to Newbold, elected to their several of­fices, after an examination into their fitness and capabilities by the Kazis and elders. 18

This evidence indicates that the holy world or Islam was highly institutional­ized in its operation. 19

The organizational character was just one aspect of Islam. For the people living in the local society those officials, especially the Imam who occupied the central position in the mosque and Islamic activities, appeared as one who was entrusted with the management of the intermediary zone between the local and the outside sections of the holy world. The mosque was for the people always the local branch of Mecca,2° which was located very far and horribly sacred. Mosque was also the center of authority which sometimes inflicted punishments subject to the Islamic code of conduct and was, therefore, the source of fear.

The central figure involved with Islamic activities was the Imam. As stated above, he officiated at the death ceremony, which is for the Muslim the most impor­tant occasion when their future life is decided. Death for a Muslim is a kind of start­ing point for the journey to his next life. Besides the ritual connected with death, there were many roles the Imam performed. For instance Mohd Taib Osman noted as follows:

In a Malay community, either urban or rural, traditional or modern, the mosque (masjid: Taib) or surau and the imam (the leader who leads in the affairs of the religion) are central to the life of the community. Not only in religious matters like the congregational prayers, the observance of the ids (Id-ul-fitr or Id-ul-adha), the commemoration of the maulud (birth of the Prophet), remembrance of the mikraj (ascension to heaven by the Prophet), or any religious gathering where the doa has to be said, but in social mat­ters like betrothal , wedding, circumcision, thanksgiving or sending kins­men off to Mecca, the imam plays a leading role ... 21

Though it is yet to be verified whether such wide coverage of activities by the Imam could be also observed in the nineteenth century, there is no doubt the Imam performed the most important role as a medium interlinking the people in the local

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society with the outside world in the holy world. It is also important to find how the Imam was involved with Haji or pilgrimage

to Mecca, a symbolic center of the outside section of the holy world. The imam celebrated through ritual the departure and return of the pilgrim (Haji), who dared a journey out of the local section to the center of holy world.

The pilgrimage to Mecca was the "fifth pillar of Islam" and was a religious duty to be performed at least once in a life time. The journey was, however, a perilous one, so that "a Malay does not go ... without first consulting the horoscope to find out an auspicious day on which to start from his home, so as not to encounter dangers and foes on the way." 22

The Imam, as has been discussed here, was an important medium in the holy world. It is, however, noted that the holy world had its own limitation due mainly to its institutionalized nature. In contrast to the Bhakti movement observed in India, which had ardent aspiration to directly encounter God, the intermediary zone for the Malay Muslim was always confined in the mosque in order. In this sense the spiritu­al world, which will be discussed next, had much more influence upon the people's world view so far as the pre-colonial period was concerned.

1.3. Medium and the Spiritual World Malay society in the nineteenth century was full of spirits in the people's belief.

Maxwell, one of the pioneers among the British colonial officers who took interests in the popular belief among the Malays and gathered sources of the time, noted as follows:

According to the belief of the people (professed Mohammedans for genera­tions and generations!: note by Maxwell) the mountains and rivers of their country, the ground on which they tread, the air which they breathe, and the forests in which they seek for rattan, gutta, gums and other produce, abound with spirits of various kinds and of varying powers and disposi­tions. 23

Not only the natural environment but also artificial things were inhabited by spirits, too. "Supernatural beings that inhabit Perak's state drums and trumpets," Winsted noted, "might grow faint and unheeding unless drink were poured on them occassionally. ,,24

There were many types of spirits. Newbold described some of the spirits "supposed to exert a baneful influence." The Pontianak, for instance, was "supposed to be the ghost of a woman dying in child-bed, and is commonly seen in the form of a huge bird uttering a discordant cry. It haunts forests and burial grounds; appears to men at mid-night, and is said to emasculate them. It afflicts children and pregnant women, causing abortions." 25

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There were many more spirits, such as Polong (small spirit which can be domesticated. It is the bottle imp of the Malays, and is a useful emissary to effect revengeful purposes. It must be fed with the blood of its possessor), Menjungal (dwarf), Pemburoh (spectre huntsman who roams in the forest with demon dogs), Penangalan (it takes up its abode in the forms of females, and afflicts them with an unnatural craving for human blood), etc., etc. 26 Maxwell and Skeat also recorded the details of bad spirits. 27

Epidemics like small-pox or dysentry were also thought to be caused by spirits. Charles Gray who crossed the Peninsula in the year 1827 noted that the valley of Panting Pahat, which had been once well inhabited, was nearly abandoned on account of a plague, "or what the natives term hantu [ghost]." He supposed the plague as the cholera morbus. 28

Tigers, elephants, and other wild beasts possessed supernatural powers, too. A tiger was "believed to be a man or demon in the form of a wild beast." 29 "The Malay addresses the tiger as Datoh (grand-father: Maxwell), and believes that many tigers are inhabited by human souls." 30 For this reason, it was a system of propitia­tion, n:ot force, that was hoped to repel them. 31 The magical power of Pawang was, therefore, resorted to in such cases as will be discussed later.

There were many things to be observed or avoided in the daily activities of the people. They include, for instance, the position of a ladder, selection of timber for house construction, auspicious and inauspicious timings, avoidance of sunset, & c., all of which were more or less related to people's fear of spirits. 3~he deep in­volvement of the people with the spiritual world was recorded in many parts of the diary W.W.Skeat kept during his expedition in the northern part of Malay Peninsula at the end of last century. 33

Though spirits haunt any place, there were specific spots or objects domiciled by spirits. For instance a place where a man met a violent death was believed to be haunted by his spirit. 34 Such spots have been feared and worshiped to the present day. They are called Kramat.

There were many types of Kramat in the Malay world. Kramat could be a man or woman, grave, high place, rock, tree, or anything else. 35Kramat was the symbol of the intermediary zone between the two sections of the spiritual world. The inter­mediary zone was the area where spirits haunt at any time.

The medium who was entrusted by the local society with the control over this dangerous zone was called Pawang (or Bomoh). Pawang was the person who was in possession of magical power, so that s/he could compete with the awful power of the spirits. 36 It should be noted that Pawang had nothing to do with the official Muhammadan religion of the mosque and "belonged to a different and much older order of ideas." 37

The activities of Pawang were multi-faceted and were never confined within the Kramats. This was natural as the spirits could not be necessarily be confined in

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any specific spot but were believed to haunt any place at any time. Pawang pos­sessed special knowledge and skill, which has been generally known as Malay Magic.

The most important work about Pawang or Malay magic is Skeat's "Malay Magic" published in 1900, 38 though there have been many other works on the subject since the beginning of the nineteenth century. 39 From these studies, the following features of Pawang' s activities can be deduced.

The first and most important role of Pawang was, as has been suggested, to prevent the evil spirits from intruding into the local society by using his magical power. 40 Epidemics, wild beasts, supernatural occurrences, diseases, Amoks, or anything else could be the product of spirits and constantly gave threats to the people's lives. Pawang who had the competitive power to overcome them was, therefore, an indispensable part of local society for its stability and safety. They were deeply involved with the people's rites of passage and daily life. 41

Pawang's activities were, however, not confined in preventing the spirits from inflicting evils upon the local society. They were involved with production activi­ties, too. According to Skeat, Pawang's assistance was invoked "in all agricultural operations, such as sowing, reaping, irrigation works, and the clearing of jungle for planting, in fishing at sea, in prospecting for minerals ... ,,42 Skeat described in his article published in 1898 the details of rituals in rice production conducted by Pawang in Selangor. The Pawang, a female in this case, officiated the ceremonies of the reaping of the first ears of padi, its pounding, and other operations. The idea of the ceremonies, according to Skeat, was that "the padi may be induced to bear, by pretending that it has borne a child," and to bring prosperity to the society. 43

The deep involvement of Pawang with rice production was also described by Shaw in somewhat more systematic manner. 44 The Pawang, called Pawang padi, had the most important duty to determine the correct time for commencing padi planting operations, though he conducted some other ceremonies in the different stage of padi production as well. 45

Pawang played an important role in tin mining, too. Maxwell noted that "among the Malays no such enterprise [as tin mining: T.M] would be undertaken except under the auspices of a Pawang, or wise man, whose professional familiarity with demons and spirits procures him the deepest respect of his countrymen and is also the source of a comfortable income." 46 The magical power of Pawang was resorted to by the Chinese tin miners. An inspector of mines in Kinta, A.Hale, noted in 1885 as follows:

Pawang .. .in the olden time ... derived a very fair revenue from the exercise of their profession, in propitiating and scaring those spirits who have to do with mines and miners; even now, although the Malay Pawang may squeeze a hundred or perhaps two hundred dollars out of the Chinese

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towkay [headman: T.M] who comes to mine for tin in Malaya, the money is not perhaps badly invested, for the Chinaman is no prospector, where a good Malay Pawang has a wonderful 'nose' for tin, and it may be assumed that the Chinese towkay and, before his time, the Malay miner, would not pay a tax to the Pawang, unless they had some ground for believing that, by employing him and working under his advice, there would be more chance of success than if,they worked only on their own responsibility. 47

Pawang conducted once every two or three years an important ceremony to induce the tin-ore to remain. 48 Some of the Taboos observed in mining were also related with Pawang. 49 Pawang was thus essential for tin miners in order to find new mine-ore, to maintain its production, and to propitiate or prevent evil spirits from haunting mining operations.

The ability, knowledge, and skills of Pawang were acquired partly by birth, partly by training or by inheritance. In their treatment of spirits, they had to utilize their knowledge about herbs and chanting. There were many types of chanting for different purposes. 500ne of the important features to be noted in the performance of Pawang was the borrowing of Sakai 51 words. This means Pawangs resorted to the magical power of aborigines for their performance. 52

Pawang was in this way deeply involved with the people's daily life in many ways, and was, therefore, most influential among the three media in the local socie­ty.53

1.4. Medium and the Secular World The political conditions in Malay society were very unstable in the nineteenth

century. The rapid and immense inflow of Chinese immigrants followed by Indians, which was promoted by the development of tin mining and plantations, the conflict among the Chinese secret societies, disputes among the Malay chieftains, and other political disturbances contributed to intensify the political turmoil. The social disor­der. in the pre-colonial period was often recorded by the British colonial officers, who used to stress it in order to justify the British rule. One such example is the following famous but eccentric statement by Swettenham, the best known British officer in British Malaya:

In Selangor it is hardly an exaggeration to say that every man over twenty years of age, whom you met on the road, had killed at least one man. Indeed it was considered rather a reproach on anyone who had not done so ... 54

It was essential for the British, who had to launch colonial administration under such unstable condition, to find key people locally and to rule the country through them. It was Penghulu who were chosen for this task, 55 and the basic unit chosen

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for administration to be managed by Penghulu was Mukim. 56 Penghulus posted in each Mukim were to play the most important role in colonial rule in the local socie­ty. The post was newly created ,wherever they were not established. 57

Penghulus were surely not the new invention of the colonial government. Accounts about Penghulus in the pre-British period are abundant in many journals and articles written during the last century. 580ne of the earliest accounts describ­ing in detail their activities is one about Penghulus in Malacca under the Dutch rule. 59 According to this, the Dutch government were about to pass a regulation before the transfer of Malacca to the British in 1825 in order to regulate the activities of Penghulus, who had exercised a sort of independent power in the area. The abstract of the regulation had forty-two columns. Some of them can be summarized as follows:

1. Penghulus were to be appointed by the "owners of lands" but subject to Gover­nor's sanction. "Owners of lands" here signifies those who were granted large tracts by the government.

2. Penghulus must follow police regulations, to assist in executing police orders, to enquire into any offense and bring offenders to justice, and to protect their people.

3. Penghulus were to see that the tenants pay their tenth of the produce. 4. Penghulus and elders were to settle all cases of marriage and religious usages, all

disputes about money up to 100 Rs. 5. Penghulus were to keep a list of all persons in his district, age, trade, time of de­

parture &c., all births, deaths and marriages.

It is evident from the regulation that the Penghulu ' s power had been very extensive in Malacca before it was handed over to the British.

The role and status of Penghulu actually differed from place to place, so that it is indispensable to treat the subject basically by case studies. 60 Generally speaking, however, Penghulu ' s roles can be categorized into two. One was to represent the government (Le. Sultan) in the local society, and the other was to represent the local society in the Sultan's administration. Burridge, in his study of a village in Johore in 1950s, noted that Penghulu was "explicitly the representative in the mukim of the Sultan himself." 61 Though it is yet to be verified whether the loyalty shown to the Sultan of Johore in the 1950s could be also observed in the pre-British period to the same degree, there is no doubt Penghulu was expected by the Sultan to administer the local society as his representative. As described in the Penghulu's regulation under the Dutch government studied above, their duties were mainly related with the maintenance of peace and order, the collection of revenue, and the registration of birth, death, or marriage.

Though the Penghulu' s position needed confirmation by the Sultan, they were

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not necessarily posted by the Sultan. They were actually the representatives or the leaders of local society. The process of colonization could have been one of the factors, which made them the local leaders. New settlements were sometimes opened by the settlers introduced by Penghulus. The Penghulus' support must have had a critical significance especially at the initial stage of settling down when the production activities were not yet fully under way. 62

For taking leadership in the local society, there were a few qualifications char­acteristic of Malay society. 63 One of them was the comparatively smaller role played by wealth. Because of the equal division of inherited property under the Muslim inheritance law, any wealth amassed during the life time could become minimal in a few generations. Another important aspect of wealth was that it was not expressed in the form of land holding. A man's wealth might have been partly expressed in the style of the house he lived, the clothes he wore, or the boats in which he moved around.

The behavioral manners could be another way of expression of social status he belonged to. 64 The main way of expression of power could be found, however, in the control of labour. Because of the vast areas of unopen land relative to the smaller population, the control over working force was the most crucial aspect of power leading to the leadership.

In the case of Malay society in the pre-colonial period the control over labour was made possible through the exploitation system of slavery and that of kerah (forced labour). 65 According to Maxwell, "The ownership of a number of slaves and debt-bondsmen was a mark of a man of rank, wealth, and influence, and the aggregate amount of capital represented by his debt-bondsmen often amounted to several thousand dollars." 66 Swettenham also noted that "Many chiefs in Perak have a following principally composed of young men and girls, for the most part debtors ... the Raja's power and his pride consists in the number of armsbearing followers he has at his beck and calL" 67

Slavery, especially that of debt-bondage, was commonly found in Malay Socie­ty in the pre-colonial period. 68 In the process of the British authority'S attempt to abolish slavery in the late 19th century, several reports were submitted to the coloni­al and home governments. 69 Among the several sources on slavery in the period, Maxwell's article is most comprehensive. 7oAccording to him, there were several types of slavery in Malay society, which could be categorized into two, i.e. slaves (' abdi) and debtors (orang ber-hutang). 71 The former includes captives taken in war, "infidels" (Batak or Sakai) captured by force, man-slayers or other criminals who were unable to pay the price of blood or other fines and who surrendered himself and family to the Raja as slaves, and the offsprings of female slaves. The latter or debtors were often called as Hamba. Compared with slaves, the debtors were free. However, the debtors were obliged to serve their creditors in all kinds of menial employment as well, so that both were not always distinguishable.

14

The total number of those under slavery was, in the case of Perak, around 3,000 or one-sixteenth of the whole Malay population. 72So far as the Sultan's court was concerned, the number of female slaves outnumbered male slaves. 73 It is a well known fact that the monopoly of female slaves was one of the important sources of the Sultan over his followers. 74

Though most of the upper class were known to keep a certain number of slaves even into the early part of this century, 75 it is not clear whether it had anything to do with the Penghulus' leadership. There is hardly any source showing the relation­ship between the Penghulu' s position and slavery. 76 The matter should wait to be verified until the involvement of slaves in production activities is further clarified.

The other type of labour control was "kerah" or forced labour, which was exploited as a sort of tax. Forced labour was utilized by those in the administration, but it was the Penghulu who was responsible for gathering necessary labourers under the Sultan's order. People were naturally reluctant to submit to the order, and tried to avoid it as much as possible. 77 In Perak, for instance, "Even when a coloni­al regime had reduced the service obligation to a mere six days in each year, Perak villagers were prepared to resist by force until overawed by a detachment of a hundred armed police." 78 Penghulu, therefore, must have been looked upon more as a government official than as the representative of the local society in the mobili­zation of forced labour. 79

Penghulu was thus the leader of local society as well as the representative of Sultan's power in it. He played the role of interlinker between the local society and the Sultan's court, or performed as a medium between the two. As the Penghulu's balai 80 was the meeting place of the inhabitants of the local society, we may take it as the symbolic sphere of the intermediary zone between the local section and the outside section of the secular world. 81

1.5. Sultan, Medium, and the Three Worlds The last problem to be discussed is the Sultan's position related with the analyt­

ical model of Malay local society presented here. Sultan was the head of the Sultan's court, 82 which was the center of the out­

side section in the secular world. He was, however, deeply involved with the spiritu­al world, too. The most well known case is about the Perak Sultanate. According to Winstedt, "in the old annual ceremony of expelling malignant spirits from a Malay State, the ruler took a leading part." 83

Somewhat detailed account of ritual performed by Sultan Muda of Perak is noted by Shaw. According to Shaw, it was customary in Perak to banish solemnly all evil influences from the country by the rite called mengilirkan sumbang "ere human statute purged the gentle weal" in olden times. The ceremony was conducted as follows:

15

ship, it could continue to be an institution to accept any changes so far as those media could function as its core. And when they cease to function or lose their role in it, the local society itself would cease to function, too. 96

2. Disintegration of Malar Local Society

This chapter briefly traces the historical process of disintegration of Malay local society. It should be noted that the disintegration to be discussed here does not mean that of stereotipic "closed, static community" as has been often the case regarding "Indian village community." Malay local society is well known for its flexibility and openness. What is meant by "disintegration" is the historical change in the structural relationship between the local society and the outside world caused by the change in the role used to be performed by the core elements of the local society, i.e. the three media, which in due course has led to the disintegration of local society itself. In this paper the changes experienced by the three media, i.e. Imam, Pawang and Penghulu, will be briefly summarized. More detailed investiga­tion will be done in future when studies based on case study on later development are more readily available.

First of all the late nineteenth century in Malaya was a period that experienced drastic changes. Migrants not only from China, India, or Europe but from neighbor­ing countries ushered in. The fast developing western states received thousands of migrants from the north-eastern part of Malaya like Kelantan, Patani, or from the neighboring islands of Java, Sumatra, in the last quarter ofthe nineteenth century.97

The immense flow of the new migrants meant the rapid progress of opening and clearing jungle, which had been the dwelling place of spirits, wild beasts, and other dangerous beings. It had been the world of spirits. Along with this process, fewer and fewer people came to believe in the existence of spiritual beings. Sakai and other aborigines, who had dwelled in the jungle and had been thought to be pos sessed of supernatural power, were pushed further to the interior and were kept away from the daily life of the Malay, too. Diseases were now not caused by the spirit and could be treated in the hospital. The whole process of development meant the diminishment of spiritual world and minimized the necessity of holding the intermediary zone as buffer, which has naturally deprived the pawang of many of the roles expected by the local society. Today there are no spirits haunting Malay society except the rare cases of mass trance or incurable disease thought to be caused by spirits.

The fall of Pawang's position in the local society was also observed in other fields, too. The agricultural development of Malaya from the late nineteenth century was the process to replace rice cultivation by plantation crops, especially rubber. The increasing involvement of Malay peasants with rubber production proportionally

18

diminished the importance of rice, along with that of related rituals formerly per­formed by Pawang.

The role played by Pawang in tin-mining had the same fate. As mentioned above, Pawang had performed important rituals to develop and revive tin mines and had been granted a share from the tin-produce. However the share had ceased to be paid to him any more in the case of Larut by the late nineteenth century. 98 Pawang in other mines must have had the same fate.

Besides these factors, the increasing influence of Islamic orthodoxy and Euro­pean education can be added as the main contributor of subduing the Pawang's influence. 99

Pawang's position in the Malay local society has been thus greatly diminished in proportion. to the diminishment of the intermediary zone in the spiritual world. "As the people themselves point out," Burridge noted, "there would be so little for him [Pawang: T.M] to do that he would starve." lOO

The effect of the large inflow of migrants was also observed in the secular world. The colonial government or the indigenous state governments under it had to adjust the traditional political institution to the new situation. The most effective and influential political restructuring under the colonial government was the revalua­tion of Penghulu 's role and position in the local society. As mentioned above, at the initial stage of British rule several kampungs were clubbed together into Mukim, a basic administrative unit, and a Penghulu was appointed to administer it or was picked up whenever he was not found.

One of the most critical changes under the British government was the shift of administrative focus from men to land. 101 The primary aim of the British govern­ment was to rule the people through land ownership and maximize its revenue by allocating more taxable land. The main duties of Penghulu, therefore, became mainly those concerning with land administration and land revenue collection. In performing his duty primarily as land revenue collector it was not always necessary for Penghulu to be conscious about the corporate agreement as the basic unit of land administration became a land lot, neither a kampung or a mukim. The role expected from him was not to attain the agreement among the villagers but to dispose of problems from the administrative point of view.

Not only the roles played by Penghulu but the Penghulu himself has been changed. Penghulu, now appointed not by the Sultan but by the colonial govern­ment, tended to be chosen not through inheritance as he had often been before but by the qualification and administrative capability. 102 They were now not respect­able from the conventional view. 103 In some cases newly appointed Penghulus were too young to command respect enough to perform their duties. Finally, they were very often transferred from place to place, only to lose any territorial base they had once possessed.

It may be also argued that the power base of local leadership had to experience

19

changes, too. 104 With the shift of power from the control of men to land, the direct control over labour has lost its significance. The two systems of commanding la­bour, slavery and corvee (kerah), were both abolished at the early stage of colonial rule. 105 The power structure in the country side gradually tended to be defined by the stratification of land ownership. In case loan was necessary, people pledged or sold their land plot instead of pledging themselves as debt-slaves . 106

Penghulu thus became a government officer, who was not the representative of the local society but the agent of the colonial government. 107They became too much centralized to be entrusted with the intermediary zone between the local socie­ty and the outside world. The role to safeguard the local society was not held by him any 'more. In a word he lost the position as the media interlinking the local society with the outside section in the secular world. 108

On the other hand, the role played by the Imam in the holy world seems to have increased since the late-nineteenth century. 109Islamization has been steadily taking ground in the Malay local society while minimizing the sphere of non-Islamic beliefs, i.e. spiritual world. 110

The process of Islamization was facilitated by two factors. One was the spread of mosques and the other was the popularization of pilgrimage to Mecca. As men­tioned above, Islam in Malaya had a highly institutional nature and the spread of mosque in any part of Malaya has greatly facilitated the close contact of Islamic teachings with the villagers. The increasing number of pilgrims to Mecca from Malaya from the 1880s has also intimated the people's relation with Mecca, or the center of the holy world.

Such closeness of the people with the center of the holy world and the spring­ing up of mosques or the intermediary zone may, ironically, mitigate the fear rooted in the people's mind towards the holy world. At the same time, because of Malay nationalism and the later politics which placed Islamic orthodoxy as the center of Malay identity, the political side of Islam has been increasingly stressed the secular politics. In a word the holy world has rapidly lost its "horribly holy" aspect. Islamic administration has been centralized by the government, so that infringement against Islamic codes of conduct is now with the Shariah court. The mosque is not neces­sarily a place to be feared.

As Gullick notices, the roles played by the Imam increased more than his conventional role of leading the Friday prayer as the Malay communities increased their settled nature. I11 The Imam now conducts many rituals essential to the Islam­ic way of life. Today it is fairly difficult to assess the role of Imam as medium, espe cially since the Islamic revival in Malaysia. Though the nature of intermediary zone in the holy world has been changed, the sphere of the holy world itself seems to be expanding in recent days. We may have to wait for some time to make full assess­ment.

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3. Summary

The often reported incidence of mass hysteria or the talks about Bomoh in today's newspaper indicates the deeply rooted fear of the people in the Malay socie­ty towards the outside world. However, the structural relation between the local society and the outside world in the pre-colonial period so far clarified in this paper has been greatly deformed due to the changes in roles played by the three media in the holy, spiritual, and secular worlds respectively. Such change as this has led to the disintegration of Malay local society. Under this process many of the rich tradi­tions inherited in it have disappeared, been forgotten, or even done away with. Isabella Bird, who travelledPerak and other parts of Malaya in 1879, wrote that "in these kampungs the people have music, singing, story-telling, games, and religious ceremonies ... " 112 It is rather a regrettable finding that many of the kampungs today have few of them. Reversing the trend of impoverishment of Malay culture and creating blooming tradition by consciously inheriting the old but rich tradition needs much patience and time ahead.

Abbreviations: HA Journal of Indian Archipelago JMBRAS Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society JSBRAS Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society

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NOTES

This study was financed by the Japan Society for Promotion of Science for the year 1990-91 and by the Japanese Ministry of Education (overseas research project) for the year 1991-92. I am grateful to both of them for the precious opportunity. During my stay in Singapore, the staffs of the Centre for Advanced Studies and of the Central Library in National University of Singapore, the librarians in the Singapore National Archives and National Library, and the staffs of many other departments supported me in many ways. The research in Malaysia, now in progress for the year 1991-1992, was made possible by the guidance from the Socio-Economic Research Unit (SERU) in the Prime Minis­ter's Department. Arkib Negara Malaysia supplied me with an enormous number of microfilms on the relevant subject. Though the records are not yet utilized at the present research stage, they will revolutionarily upgrade the Japanese historical study on Malay­sia in near future. I am deeply grateful to all these people including those whose names I am unable to mention here.

(1) The Malay society in the 19th-20th centuries was basically composed of the three differ­ent spheres, i.e. the plantations dominated by the south Indians, the tin mines dominated by the Chinese, and the Malay local society. They were geographically segregated and had little social contact with each other. The "Malay local society" to be taken up for discussion in this paper, therefore, covers only a part of the Malay society.

(2) The present paper is not the type of historical study that aims to bring up new findings by using original sources. It aims, rather, to present the historical perspective of changes which have occurred in the Malay society by reinterpretatingthe studies so far done. The author believes any study on local society should be based on the detailed case study on a particular locality, which task will be taken up at a later stage. The model presented here is, therefore, a kind of ideal type and allows distinct interpretation ac­cording to locality.

(3) The fragility and the danger of the intermediary zone is referred to by W.W.Skeat. According to him, " ... the intermediate zone is not necessarily considered less dangerous than that of definitely evil influences. Thus the most dangerous time for children to be abroad is sunset, the time when we can 'call it neither perfect day nor night'; so too a day of mingled ram ana sunshine is regarded as fraught with peculiar dangers from evil spirits, and it would be quite in keeping with such ideas that the intermediate zone, whether between high and low water-mark, or between the clearing and primeval forest, should be assigned to Kala, the Destroyer." (W.W.Skeat, Ma/ay Magic, first published by Macmillan and Co. Ltd. 1900, reprint, OUP, 1984, pp.90-91.)

(4) As to the roles played by Imam in the funeral, see W.W.Skeat, Ma/ay Magic, op.cit., pp.397-408.

(5) Compared with the local society in other worlds, for instance that of India in the pre­colonial period, people in the Malay local society lacked any type of communal organi­zation both socially and economically. Because of the existence of the media, their rela­tion with the outside world could be formed individually, too. Indian local society, on the other hand, had the caste tie in its social aspect and the mirasi system (sharing

22

system of the produce according to the role in reproducing the local society) in its economic aspect. As to the Indian local society. see T.Mizushima. A Study of Local Society in South India. Regional Views. No.3. Komazawa University. March 1990.

(6) The Census operation started from 1871 in the Straits Settlements. 1891 in the Federated Malay States. and 1911 in the rest of the states. The total population in Malay Peninsula in the year 1911 was 1,409.882. (A Report on the 1947 Census of Population. in J.M.Gullick. Malay Society in the Late Nineteenth Century. f.n.7. p.14. For the popula­tion of other states in the nineteenth century. see J.M.Gullick. Indigenous Political Systems of Western Malaya. University of London. The Athlone Press. 1958. p.105; Emily Sadka. The Protected Malay States. University of Malaya Press. 1968. pp.3-4.) There had been prepared. in addition. a few population statistics by the police depart­ment. They were. however. irregularly conducted and were not reliable. (H.Marriott. Population 'of the Straits Settlements and Malay Peninsula during the Last Century. fSBRAS. 62. 1912.) Spenser St. John and H. Marriott respectively estimated the total population of the Malay Peninsula by using the information found in the Newbold's work. (Spencer St. John. The Population of the Indian Archipelago. flA. VoUII. 1849. pp.380-381; H.Marriott. Population of the Straits Settlements and Malay Peninsula during the Last Century. fSBRAS. 62. 1912.) There are a few discrepancies in the figures produced by each of them with the original source. As to the population in the late nineteenth century. see J.M.Gullick. Malay Society in the Late Nineteenth Century. Singapore. OUP. 1989. pp.23-24.

(7) Emily Sadka. The Protected Malay States. op.cit.. pA.

(8) J.Anderson. Political and Commercial Considerations Relative to the Malayan Peninsu­la and the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca. Penang, 1824. reprinted in fMBRAS, 35-4.1962, pp.182-l86. cited in Gullick. Malay Society .... op.cit.. p.98.

(9) Andaya notes that Johor's leadership of the Malay world in the seventeenth century was due to the fighting men and ships it could command. (B .W.Andaya, Perak: The Abode of Grace A Study of an Eighteenth Century Malay State, East Asian Historical Mono­graphs. OUP, 1979. p.23.)

(lO)T.Braddell, Notes of a Trip to the Interior from Malacca. flA. Vol.VII. 1853. p.8l.

(11) Notes on Malacca. flA, New Series. Vol.l, 1856. p.52.

(12) T.J.Newbold. Political and Statistical Account ... , op. cit.. VoU, p.25l.

(13)The figure of forty-four must have had some symbolic implication to mean "sufficiency". The number of days the newly wed bridegroom was expected to remain under the roof (and eye) of his mother-in-law in the case of royalty was forty­four.(W.W.Skeat, Malay Magic. op.cit.. p.384.) After the delivery of a baby. the mother was secluded for forty-four days for purification. (Richard Winstedt. The Malay Magi­cian being Shaman, Saiva and Sufi. revised and enlarged with a Malay Appendix. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961, pp.l06, 109. The original publication was

23

titled Shaman Saiva and SUfi A Study of the Evolution of Ma lay Magic, Constable & Co.Ltd., 1925.) The numerical symbolism was discussed by Maxwell. According to him, for instance, the figure of thirty-three or ninety-nine meant "very numerous." This, Maxwell argued, was the result of Hindu influence upon Malay culture. (W.E.Maxwell, A Journey on Foot to the Patani Frontier in 1876JSBRAS, 9,1882, p.14.)

(14) C.Otto BJagden, Notes on the Folk-Lore and Popular Religion of the Malays, op.cit., p.l; W.W.Skeat, Malay Magic, op.cit., p.56.

(15) Mohd. Taib bin Osman, Malay Folk Beliefs An Integration of Disparate Elements, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, 1989, pp.xxiii, 3, 54.

(I6)The Kazi-s acted as guardian to orphans, as arbitrator of "all knotty religious points" which the Imam and other officials under him could not decide, and confirmed mar­riages. (T.J.Newbold, Political and Statistical Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca, op. cit., VoU, p.248.)

(17) Ibid., VoU, pp.248-250.

(18)Ibid., VoU, pp.248-250.

(I 9) Gullick argues that rapid and extensive bureaucratization of Islam was observed in the protected Malay states in the last years of the nineteenth century, due to a number of factors such as the reaction to the deprivation of the secular power of the rulers under the residential system (Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit., p.285). What Gullick argues relating to bureaucratization is based upon the late appointment of kadi-ship in Perak in the year 1880 and Selangor in the year 1885 (Gullick , Indigenous ... , op.cit., p.139, f.n.2.). "There were no Kathis (Muslim judges and registrars)," Gullick noted, "until the era of British protection." As is evident by the case of Naning, however, the post of Kadi-ship had existed much earlier than the British period. It is also important to note that there existed the notion of hierarchy among those concerned with Islamic institu­tion.

(20) "For the poor, attendance at the Friday service is equivalent in merit to performing the pilgrimage." (Haji Abdul Majid, A Malay's Pilgrimage to Mecca, JMBRAS, IV, 1926, p.269.)

(21) Mohd Taib Osman, Malay Folk Beliefs .. . , op.cit., p.xxii.

(22) Haji Abdul Majid, A Malay's Pilgrimage to Mecca, JMBRAS, IV, 1926, p.269. Accord­ing to the same source, which gives a very detailed account of pilgrimage in the early part of this century, the pilgrimage to Mecca was accompanied by a very high death rate. He notes that "in 1924, which was by no means a bad year as far as the health of pil­grims went, among Malay pilgrims registered at the British Consulate, Jeddah, 15% deaths were reported within six months." (Ibid., p.287.)

(23) W.E.Maxwell, Shamanism in Perak, JSBRAS, 12, 1883, p.223.

24

(24)R.Winstedt, The Malays A Cultural History, first published 1947, revised edition 1981, Singapore, p.21.

(25)T.J.Newbold, Political and Statistical Account .. . , op.cit., VoUI, pp.191-194.

(26) Ibid., pp.191-192.

(27) WE.Maxwell, The Folklore of the Malays, fSBRAS , 7, 1881; WE.Maxwell, Shaman­ism in Perak, fSBRAS, 12, 1883. Skeat, Malay Magic, pp.93-106. Many more accounts concerning the Malay spirits are found in the articles in the fSBRAS and the fMBRAS.

(28) Charles Gray, Jownal of a Route overland from Malacca to Pahang, across the Malayan Peninsula, JIA, Vol.VI, 1852, p.370.

(29)WE.Maxwell, The Folklore of the Malays, fSBRAS, 7,1881 , pp.22-23.

(30) Ibid., p.23.

(31)Ibid. , p.23.

(32) Ibid.

(33) W WSkeat & F.F.Laidlaw, The Cambridge University Expedition to Parts of the Malay Peninsula, 1899-1900, fMBRAS, 26-4,1953.

(34) WE.Maxwell, A Journey on Foot to the Patani Frontier in 1876, fSBRAS, 9, 1882, p.17.

(35)For details, see WWSkeat, Malay Magic , op.cit., pp.61-71, 673-674; C.Otto Blagden, Notes on the Folk-Lore and Popular Religion of the Malays, fSBRAS , 29,1896, pp.l-12.

(36) Actually some of the kramats were the graves of by-gone Pawangs. (Winstedt, The Malays ... , op.cit., p.24.)

(37) C.Otto Blagden, Notes on the Folk-Lore and Popular Religion of the Malays, op.cit., p.5, cited in WWSkeat, Malay Magic, op.cit., p.56.

(38) WWSkeat, Malay Magic: Being an Introduction to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula, Macmillan and Co., 1900, reprint, OUP, Singapore, 1984.

(39) Some of the important works on Malay magic are as follows: R.O.Winstedt, Shaman Saiva and SUfi A Study of the Evolution of Malay Magic , Constable & Co.Ltd., 1925; ditto, The Malay Magician being Shaman, Saiva and Sufi, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, revised edition first published 1951, further revised and enlarged, 1960/61; John D.Gimlette, Malay Poisons and Charm Cures, first published 1915, reprinted in Oxford in Asia Paperbacks 1971; WWSkeat, Malay Magic ... , op.cit.

(40) "The chief point of importance," writes Blagden, "is to keep these wild spirits in their

25

proper place. viz. the jungle. and to prevent them taking up their abode in the villages." (Blagden. Folk-Lore .. .• op.cit.. p.4.) His statement signifies that the jungle occupied the main position of the cosmos in the outside section of spiritual world. It may be noted that the places called kramat were observed as the symbols of intermediary zone very close both to the inside and outside sections.

(41)Pawang. for instance. conducted rituals in house building to ward off the evil influences. (Gullick. Malay Society ...• op.cit.. p.182.) For more detailed description of Malay magic in daily life. see Winstedt. The Malay Magician ...• op.cit.. chapter XI. passim; R.J.Wilkinson. Papers on Malay Subjects Life and Customs Part I: The Incidents of Malay Life. Kuala Lumpur. 1908.

(42) Blagden. Folk-Lore ...• op.cit. p.6. cited in Skeat. Malay Magic. op.cit. p.57.

(43)W.W.Skeat. Some Records of Malay Magic by an Eye-Witness. JSBRAS. 31. 1898. pp.2-1S.

(44)G.E.Shaw. Rice Planting. Papers on Malay Subjects, Malay Industries Part 1II. R.J.Wilkinson (ed.). Kuala Lumpur. 1911.

(4S) Winstedt also describes the involvement of magician (Pawang) with the rice production by using the manuscripts written by Perak Malay headmen in the early part of this cen­tury. (Winstedt. Shaman ...• op.cit.. chapter IV. passim.)

(46) W.E.Maxwell. A Journey on Foot to the Patani Frontier in 1876. JSBRAS. 9. 1882. p.10.

(47)A.Hale. On Mines and Miners in Kinta. Perak. JSBRAS. 16. 188S. pp.304-30S.

(48) Ibid .• pp.306-307. footnote.

(49) Ibid. passim.

(SO) As to the samples of chanting and charms. see. for instance. Skeat. Malay Magic. chap­ters V & VI and Appendix. or Gimlette. Malay Poisons ...• op.cit.. appendix I.

(Sl)The term was generally used to refer to the aborigines. The classic work on the aborig­ines in the Malay Peninsula is by W.W.Skeat & C.O.Blagden. Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula. first edition in 1906. reprint by Frank Cass & Co .• 1966.

(S2) Maxwell's argument was that spirit-worship was the religion of the ancestors of the Malay. which was at some period modified by Hindu influence. This spirit-worship was. according to Maxwell. still at the bottom of Malay beliefs despite the several centuries of Mohammedan influence. CW.E.Maxwell. Shamanism in Perak. JSBRAS. 12. 1883. p.222; ditto. The Folklore of the Malays. JSBRAS. 7.1881. p.l2.) It seems that one of the motives of Maxwell collecting many Malay folklore and magic lay in this.

Among his many articles on Malay beliefs. Maxwell wrote in detail the treatment of a patient by a Pawang who used Sakai language in the performance. (W.E.Maxwell.

26

Shamanism in Perak. op.cit.) The following is how the patient was treated by the Pawang.

The diagnosis of the Pawang were effected in two ways. "Either the Pawang becomes entranced and sees (tilik) in his disembodied form secrets concealed from ordinary mortals and is able on recovering sensibility to declare the nature and cause of the dis­ease. or else he calls down (menurunkan) some familiar demon (whom he has probably inherited from his guru or preceptor). and. becoming possessed by him. speaks. at his prompting. words of wisdom or folly as the case may be." In the case which Maxwell himself witnessed in Perak. the patient was in an insensible state after the delivery. She was said to be the victim of demoniacal possession. and her only chance of recovery lay in the exorcism of the devil in her. The Malay Pawang sat opposite to the patient. with a large bunch of leaves in each hand. The people of the house and others surrounded them. The drum beater was called bidu and was very often the Pawang's wife as in this case. She beat the drum and commenced a shrill chant addressed to the hantu blian or tiger­spirits. to which class of demons the Pawang 's family belonged. The Pawang had bound a few cords crossing his back and breast and wore strings round his wrists. They were to protect the Pawang from the malevolence of the evil spirits by whom he might be pos­sessed. As the drum beater screamed out her chant. the Pawang became subject to some unseen influence and was losing control. He began to nod. sniffed at the leaves. waved them over his head. struck one bunch against the other. and finally fell forward burying his face in the leaves and sniffing in imitation of a tiger. He was on all fours. growled and roared. and thus possessed by the tiger-demon. At this stage. "he spoke in a feigned voice. pronouncing Malay words with the peculiar intonation of the Sakai aborigines and introducing frequently Sakai words and phrases unintelligible to most of the Malays present."

The treatment still continued. including the chanting. scattering bertih (rice parched in the husk). performing a singular dance. sprinkling tepong tawar (a fluid held in a brass bowl). and getting under the mat for some time. The Pawang then sat up to be ques­tioned. his wife acting as interpreter when the Sakai dialect was unintelligible to the audience. (Ibid .• passim.)

Though the rest of the account is skipped here. it is already evident that the Pawang was trying to enhance his magical power by borrowing the supernatural power thought to be possessed by the aborigines.

Winstedt. on the other hand. attributes the relation between Malay magic and the Sakai as the general tendency of the Malay who "has always been apt to ascribe greater power to foreign magic. whether that of a naked illiterate aborigine from the woods or that of a Hindu trader or an Arab missionary. "(R.O.Winstedt. Shaman Saiva and Sufi A Study of the Evolution of Mal ay Magic. Constable & Co. Ltd .• London/Bombay/Sydney. 1925. p.46.) As Winstedt pointed out. it seemed to be generally considered that foreigners or strangers possessed special power. In Perak some of the Sultan Mudas. the state Pa­wang. were of foreign descent and claimed magic powers. (Winstedt & Wilkinson. A History of Perak. op.cit.. p.l35.) Another instance is the Arab Syarif family. one of the two most prominent family groups in eighteenth-century Perak. who were given an honoured position as they were believed to possess special qualities. "supernatural power". (Andaya. op.cit .• p.165.) Gullick refers to another instance of the state ceremo­ny of Sultan Idris' installation in Perak in the year 1889. in which a pagan invitation to the spirits of the country to ward off evil was included. (J.M.Gullick. Malay Society ... .

27

op.cit., pp.6-7, 33-34.) Gimlette also noted the importance for the magician to use incantations that were unintelligible. "Powerful incantations that are difficult to under­stand are essential; he uses many Sanskrit and Arabic words and sometimes rigmarole. (Gimlette, Malay Poisons .. . , op.cit., p.45.)

(53)Pawang himself was sometimes feared as witchcraft. According to an account in 1903, a Pawang named Pawang Musah moved about from village to village, getting the credit for the deaths of children being driven out. (H.Marriott, Malay Witchcraft, JSBRAS, 39, 1903, pp.209-21O.)

(54)F.A.Swettenham, Some Account of the Independent Native States of the Malay Peninsu­la, JSBRAS, 6,1880, p.179. Swettenham never forgot adding the following statement to justify the colonial rule. "Such was the state of the Peninsula in 1874, and enough has been told to shew that there was ample reason to justify Governor Sir Andrew Clarke in taking some effectual step to put a stop to those crimes ... " (Ibid., p.180.)

(55) The best case was Birch, Swettenham, and Low, the earliest colonial officers deeply involved in the colonial administration in Perak, who made efforts to utilize Penghulus for local administration. (Emily Sadka, Introduction to The Journal of Sir Hugh Low, Perak, 1877, ed. by Emily Sadka, JMBRAS, 27-4,1954, pp.26-28.) In Selangor it was in the year 1833 when a full establishment of Penghulus was set up, though there had occurred political disturbances by the beginning of colonial rule. (Emily Sadka, The Protected Malay States, op.cit., p.14.)

(56) The basic unit of administration under Penghulu had not been necessarily Mukim. It differed from case to case. For instance Hugh Clifford recorded that Penghulus had a greater extent of country under their charge in Ulu Trengganu than was customary in other parts of Trengganu where each village was managed by its own Penghulu, and that "villages situated in close proximity one to the other being wholly disconnected in so far as their administration is concerned" in the case of thickly populated portions of Treng­ganu. (Hugh Clifford, Expedition to Trengganu and Kelantan Report by Hugh Clifford 1895, JMBRAS, 34-1,1961, pp.69-70.)

Another case where Penghulu was described as the village headman was of Patani. (W.E.Maxwell, A Journey on Foot to the Patani Frontier in 1876, JSBRAS, 9, 1882, p.44.)

(57)Lim Teck Ghee, Origins .. . , op.cit., pp.146-151.

(58) See note 60.

(59) Notes on Malacca, JIA, New Series, VoU, 1856, pp.52-55.

(60)The following are some of the important studies referring to Penghulu in the different parts of Malaya. As was stated above, the present paper aims to present the analytical

. model of Malay local society. It does not deny, for instance, the involvement of Penghu­lu with the holy world in the area like Kedah where the Penghulu's main work was related to the Islamic religion. (Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit., p.283.) For the overall

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view of the Penghulu's position and activities in the colonial period in the different parts of Malaya, see ibid., chapter 5, passim. Kedah: Sharom Ahmat, The Political Structure of the State of Kedah 1879-1905 ,

Journal of South East Asian Studies, 1-2, 1970. Negri Sembilan: P.Favre, A Journey in the Menangkabau States of the Malay Peninsula,

JIA, VoUll, 1849. B.Macpherson, Narrative of a Trip to Dok in the Muar Territory, JIA, New Series, Vol.II, 1858. Martin Lister, The Negri Sembilan Their Origin and Constitution, JSBRAS, 19, 1887.

Naning: T.Braddell, Notes on Naning, with a Brief Notice of the Naning War , JIA, New Series, VoU, 1856. T.J.Newbold, Political and Statistical Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca, I&ll, London, John Murray, 1839, Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints, Oxford Univ. Press, 1971, VoU, chapter V, passim.

Malacca: T.Braddell, Notes of a Trip to the Interior from Malacca, JIA, Vol.VII, 1853. Notes on Malacca, JIA , New Series, VoU, 1856. A.B.Ramsay, Some Notes on Kampong Officials in the Alor Gajah District of Malacca

1932-35 ,JMBRAS, XXIII-3, 1950. Johore: P.Favre, A Journey in Johore ,JIA, Vol.III, 1849. Panghulu Kisang's State­

ment ,JIA, VoUII, 1849. Kenelm O.L.Burridge, Managerial Influences in a Johore Village, JMBRAS, XXX-I, 1957.

Penang: J.D.Vaughan, Notes on the Malays ofPinang and Province Wellesley , JIA, New Series, VoI.II, 1858.

Province Wellesley: J.R.Logan, Plan for a Volunteer Police in the Muda Districts, Province Wellesley, submitted to Government by the Late J.R.Logan in 1867 , JSBRAS, 16, 1885.

Patani: W.E.Maxwell, A Journey on Foot to the Patani Frontier in 1876 , JSBRAS, 9, 1882.

Trengganu: Hugh Clifford, Expedition to Trengganu and Kelantan Report by Hugh Clifford 1895 ,JMBRAS, 34-1,1961, pp.69-70.

(61)Kenelm O.L.Burridge, Managerial Influences in a Johore Village, JMBRAS, XXX-I, 1957, p.95.

(62) J.M.Gullick, Indigenous Political Systems of Western Malaya, op.cit., p.30; Emily Sadka, The Protected Malay States, op.cit. , pA. Some cases of involvement of Penghu­Ius with the introduction of new settlers in the colonial period are described in the following writings: Lim Teck Ghee, Origins .. . , op.cit., p.52; Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit., pp.103-106.

(63) As to the village-level leadership in the pre-colonial period, see for instance, Gullick, Indigenous Political System ... , op.cit., pp.34-37.

(64) There were many manners which ought to be observed in the Malay society, This is well described in the following work. TJ.Newbold, Political and Statistical Account .. . , op.cit., VoUI, pp.176-179. See also Gullick, Indigenous Political System ... , op.cit., pp.81-82.

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(65) "The outward and visible sign of high social status was a large household and personal following. Debt-bondage and corvee labour .... were the basis of the personal and domes­tic service at the disposal of a person of position." (J.M.Gullick, Malay Society ... , p,48.)

(66)W.E.Maxwell, The Law relating to Slavery among the Malays, JSBRAS, 22, 1890, p.249.

(67)A letter to the Governor from F.A.Swettenham, dated 30th June 1875, in Isabella Bird, The Golden Chersonese, London, 1883, reprint., OUP, Singapore, 1990, pp.370-375.

(68)The best known states for debt slavery were Perak and Pahang. (Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit., p.99.)

(69) Some of the important reports on slavery are contained in the British Sessional Papers. They are as follows; C1320, Vo1.53 , 1875, p.55-; C1505, Vo1.54, 1876, p.287-; C3285, Vo1.46, 1882, p.661-; C3429, Vo1.46, 1882, p.683-. Evidences given by some slaves are also included in the bulky report on the court trial of the murder of Birch, who was the first Resident of Perak and was killed due partly to his attempt to abolish the slavery. (C.O. 273, Vols.86-88, especially Vo1.87, pp.229-, 306-, 330-, 333; Vo1.88, pp.16-18. A few short reports on slavery in Perak are included in the appendix of Isabella Bird's The Golden Chersonese, op.cit., pp.370-379. See also ibid., pp.358-361. The Laws of the principality of Johore contain lots of regulations on slaves. See Translation of the Malayan Laws of the Principality of Johor, JIA, Vo1.9, 1855, pp.71-95. ) As Gullick properly points out, the Europeans' accounts on Malay slavery reflected the Victorian way of thinking against slavery, so that a suitable balance of text critics is necessary. (J.M.Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit., p.11.)

(70)W.E.Maxwell, The Law relating to Slavery among the Malays, JSBRAS, 22, 1890, p.248-249. References to slavery can be also found in the following accounts . Resident's Report to the Supreme Government dated 10th January, 1824 (Notices of Singapore, JIA , Vol.lX, 1855, p,461; The Piracy and Slave Trade of the Indian Archipelago, JIA, Vol.lV, 1850; Translation of the Malayan Laws of the Principality of Johor, JIA, VoI.IX, 1855; Notices of Singapore, JIA, Vol.IX, 1855; W.Linehan, Reinstatement of an Orang Hulur, JMBRAS, IV, 1926.Sullivan's work on slavery discusses the nature of slavery and tries to locate it in the specific stage of historical development in Malaya. (Patrick Sullivan, Social Relations of Dependence in a Malay State: Nineteenth Century Perak, Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Monograph No: 10, 1982.)

(71) W.E.Maxwell, The Law relating to Slavery among the Malays, op.cit., p.248.

(72) Ibid., pp.248-249. This figure was based upon the census report procured by the chiefs of the village communities for the year 1879. According to the census, the total number of free native Malay population was 47,359 (24,188 males and 23,171 females). The number of slaves was 1,670 (775 males and 895 females) and the number of slave debtors was 1,380 (728 males and 652 females). The total population in Perak was, therefore, 50,439 among whom slaves and slave debtors numbered 3,050 or 6 per cent of the total population. (Letter from Hugh Low, Resident, Perak, to the Honourable the

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Colonial Secretary. April 26.1882. in I.Bird. The Golden Chersonese. p.378.) Ernily Sadka notes the total population of the Malays including slaves and bondsmen in 1879 as 59.682. Her figure is based upon 1891 census of Perak. which I have been yet to see. (Emily Sadka. The Protected Malay States. op.cit.. p.3.)

(73) T.I.Newbold. Political and Statistical Account .... op.cit.. Vol.II. pp.176-179.

(74) Winstedt & Wilkinson. A History of Perak. op.cit.. p.92.

(75) The princely household in Kuala Trennganu seemed to keep between five and ten debt­bondsmen or women as late as 1918. (Gullick. Malay Society .... op.cit.. p.73. originally referred in S.T.Robert. Trengganu Ruling Class in the Late Nineteenth Century. fMBRAS.50-2. 1971. p.28.)

(76) Braddel recorded a legend in which special relationship between a Penghulu and a community of slaves was maintained in Nanning in Negri Sembilan. (T.Braddell. Notes on Naning. with a Brief Notice of the Naning War. flA. New Series. VoU. 1856. pp.226-227.) It is. however. doubtful how such case can be generalized.

(71) W.E.Maxwell. The Law and Customs of the Malays with Reference to the Tenure of Land. fSBRAS. 13. 1884. pp.1lO-113.

(78) Gullick. Malay Society .... op.cit.. p.lOO.

(79) Ibid .• p.l 00.

(80)Hardly any reference can be found about Penghulu's balai in the historical sources. On the other hand the importance of balai in the Sultan's court in eighteenth century Perak is noted by B.W.Andaya (Barbara Watson Andaya. The Nature of the State in Eight­eenth Century Perak. Pre-Colonial State Systems in Southeast Asia. Monographs of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. No.6. Kuala Lumpur. 1979. p.29.)

(81) A close. though exceptional. relation between Penghulu and Sakai was observed in Negri Sembilan. According to Hale. "the four principal Lawgivers or Penghulus of Negri Sembilan. are descendants of a Malay chief who ... married one or more Sakai princesses ... when new Penghulus of Iohor and Ulu Moar are appointed. the Batins or Sakai chiefs have a strong voice in the matter. as they are supposed to be the people who know most about the legitimate descent; reciprocally the Penghulus confirm newly appointed Batins [Sakai chief: T.M]. (A.Hale. Folk-Lore and the.Menangkabau Code in the Negri Sembilan. fSBRAS. 31.1898. pp.47-48. See also ibid .• pp.53. 55) See also Martin Lister. Malay Law in Negri Sembilan. fSBRAS. 22.1890.

(82) What is stressed by Andaya is that "the concept of collective government was an inali­enable part of the Perak political system as it was actually practised." (W.B.Andaya. Perak .. .. p.30.)

(83)R.O.Winstedt. Shaman, Saiva and Sufi .... op.cit.. pp.42. 50.

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(98)A.Hale, On Mines and Miners in Kinta, Perak, JSBRAS, 16, 1885, pp.306-307, footnote.

(99) Winstedt, The Malays ... , op.cit., p.24.

(lOO)Burridge, Managerial Influences .. . , op.cit., p.99.

(lOI)As to the land tenure and lilIld administration in the colonial and pre-colonial period, the following are useful. W.E.Maxwell, The Law and Customs of the Malays with Reference to the Tenure of Land, JSBRAS, 13, 1884; Wolfgang Senftleben, Background to Agricultural Land Policy in Malaysia, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1976; Straits Settlements, Commissioner of Lands, Papers and Correspondence relating to the Land Revenue Administration of the Straits Settlements, 1823-37, Singapore, 1884; Lieut. Colonel W.Barron, Report on Survey Operations in the Straits Settlements, 1887; Corre­spondence relative to the Mission of Mr.Young, Commissioner to enquire into Land­Administration in the Straits Settlements in 1837-8; W.E.Maxwell, Straits Settlements, Present and Future Land Systems, Rangoon, 1883; W.E.Maxwell, Memorandum on the Introduction of a Land Code in the Native States in the Malaya Peninsula, Singapore, 1894 (?); W.E.Maxwell, Straits Settlements, Paper to be laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor, The Torrens System of Convey­ancing by Registration of Title, Singapore, 1883.

(102)The selection of Penghulu differed from place to place. See P.H.Kratoska, Penghulus in Perak and Selangor: The Rationalization and Decline of a Traditional Malay Office (JMBRAS, 57-2, 1984) for Selangor and Perak, and A.B.Ramsay's Some Notes on Kampong Officials in the Alor Gajah District of Malacca 1932-35 (JMBRAS, op.cit.,) for Malacca.

(103)See for instance, Sharom Ahmat, The Political Structure of the State of Kedah 1879-1905 , Journal of South East Asian Studies, 1-2, 1970, pp.119-121.

(104)As to leadership in the rural area in the twentieth century, see, for instance, the follow­ing works. K.O.L.Burridge, ManageriaL, op.cit., pp.l04-108; S.Husin Ali, Patterns of Rural Leadership in Malaya, JMBRAS, 41-1,1968; Conner Bailey, Broker, Mediator, Patron and Kinsman An Historical Analysis of Key Leadership Roles in a Rural Malay­sian District, Ohio University Center for International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, 1980, Athens, Ohio.

(l05)After the British Parliament abolished slavery in 1813, it was the Dutch Governor who abolished it in Malacca when it was returned to the Dutch from the British in 1818. J.S.Timmermann Thyssen, the Dutch Governor in Malacca, prohibited debt slavery there in the declaration dated November 3, 1819. (TJ.Newbold, Political and Statistical Account .. . , op.cit., VoU, pp.141-145.) The move against the abolishment of slavery by the Malay ruling class, however, surfaced soon in the 1820s. They wrote to John Craw­furd, a Resident in Singapore, in the year 1824, protesting against the British interfer­ence into the matter. (Notices of Singapore, JIA, Vol.lX, 1855, pp.460-461.) Before the British took legal steps to abolish slavery in Malaya, the process of freeing

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slaves seemed to have started. According to Maxwell, many of the slaves were set free in Perak, where debt-slavery was abolished in 1883, because many of those involved with the murder of Birch in 1875 were punished either by death or by banishment. Besides them "such men of ~nfluence as have remained have generally been powerless to enforce the ancient laws against their slaves or to obtain their enforcement through the British officers ... Most of the owners of slaves and debtors have come to look upon them as a comparatively worthless kind of property. Since they can neither compel them by force to work nor punish them for disobedience or misbehaviour, the mere nominal ownership is of limited practical value."(W.E.Maxwell, The Law relating to Slavery among the Malays, JSBRAS, 22,1890, p.253.) Contrary to the statement by Maxwell, Hugh Low, who succeeded Birch, noticed in 1877 the danger of taking a policy of free­ing slaves and took a very prudent attitude towards it. (The Journal of Sir Hugh Low, Perak, 1877, op.cit., pp.44-45, 101-102.)

(106)Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit. , p.214.

(107)lbid., pp.11O-111, 250.

(108)The decline of Penghulu's leadership may be explained as the result of direct contact of the government with the Ketua Kampong (village headman) while bypassing the Peng­hulu. This explanation is, however, hard to sustain. The fact is that the area entrusted to Penghulu is too big and too much populated to be managed by him. Ketua Kampong, though recommended by the political party today, is still under the command ofPenghu­lu.

(l09)Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit., p.276.

(l1O)lt goes without saying that the expansion of Islamic belief at the cost of pre-Islamic belief had started much earlier than the late-nineteenth century. The laws of Kedah in the seventeenth century includes a code specifying "thieves, robbers, cock-fighters, opium smugglers, gamblers, worshipers of trees and rocks, drunkards, all these sin against Allah" and must be reported by the elders of a village to the headman. (R.O.Winstedt, Kedah Laws, JMBRAS, 6-2, 1928, p.8.)

(111 )Gullick, Malay Society ... , op.cit., p.280.

(112)I.Bird, Golden Chersonese ... , op.cit., p.313.

35

The Folk Knowledge in Batu Pahat - History and Development of Malay Magic -

1. Introduction

MIYAZAKI, Koji Institute for the Studies of Languages and

Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA),

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies

Skeat is one of the forerunners of Malay studies. He once collected materials mainly from Selangor bomohs and published them in a book under the title Ma/ay Magic. Although he adopted the term "magic", what he recorded was the knowl­edge held by the Malay bomohs, which covers divination, cosmogonal myth, charms, folk medicine, and all other items related to Malay folk belief and customs. The present writer, too, adopts the extensive use of the term "magic", following Skeat.

The present paper forms a part of the far-reaching effort of the present writer who is planning to conduct an extensive research of magic; it will cover practices, texts, regional variations, and overseas counterparts.

In the course of this study the materials on present-day practice and knowledge will be studied first, not excluding those held by the Malay people originating from Java who have already established their position in Malaysia. At the second stage the texts used in or concerning Malay magic from the earlier periods will be careful­ly examined from a comparative perspective. The present paper forms a part of the first stage.

Studies on magic are necessary for many reasons. First of all, any cultural element should be properly recorded, especially when it is going to vanish in the course of social change. Whether it is positively appreciated or negatively discard­ed, any cultural practice deserves being recorded, as it is one of the artifacts of human creative activity.

In the second place, magic is based on certain cosmological theories which are often not recognized by the participants of the culture. Yet such theories are the backbone according to which people think, imagine and behave. Studies of magic will reveal a particular conceptual system as well as general concepts in the cosmo-

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