Abstract
Myths and legends are the folk processes foregrounded in the past with their own interpretation on the universe and the creatures in it and apparently considered as the truth by the storyteller or its followers. The text Sulalatus Salatin excellently written by A. Samad Ahmad has now becoming the heritage of Malay supremacy. It is loaded with grandeur narrative elements of the fantasy to the realm of reality. Thus, this study examines the elements of historiography (the origin), symbolism, humanities and the majesty of figure through a metaphorical prose role particularly in researching the life hierarchy of the ruler and its people. This thorough study is conducted on the elements of plot, setting and unique character driven as the implicit narrative element, sarcasm, advice and the metaphorical to significantly prove such delivery style of philosophy. Myths and legends were addressed through various elements indicating the glory thoughts of the Malay author in conveying messages courteously and implicitly. Based on the results of this study, it was found that text Sulalatus Salatin has not only acted as Malay historical discourse alone, but each element presented implicitly contains high philosophical value of culture, religion and civilisation of the Malay race and reflects the high-end thinking credibility of the Malays. In addition, the metaphorical techniques used by the author in telling the story exhibits a style that is not easily comprehended on the surface, but encourages the readers to further analyse it in a real context. Hence, it is evident that Salatin Sulalatus previously seen from the lenses of myths and legends actually withholds a golden treasure of Malay thoughts in upholding its race.
Highlights
The Malay historical book (Sulalatus Salatin) was written back in 1612 by Tun Sri Lanang and is the oldest bumiputera text, which tells about the 15th century history of Malaysia
The myths mentioned above have demonstrated the greatness of the hereditary rulers of Malacca, which is related by the figures of demons, cows and Batala, mythological figures and the princess Mahtabu'l- Bahri and King Aftabu'l- Ardh, various characters from the sea, as well as the heavens together creating the magical and supreme descendent of the Melaka kings in Sejarah Melayu
Salatin Sulalatus is a testament to the foundation of human civilisation
Summary
The Malay historical book (Sulalatus Salatin) was written back in 1612 by Tun Sri Lanang and is the oldest bumiputera (indigenous) text, which tells about the 15th century history of Malaysia. The Sejarah Melayu (Malay History) has four features known as scientific, humanistic, rational and self-revelatory. It is certain that Sejarah Melayu covers human activities even with the presence of fairy tales. According to (Ahmad, 1957: 201), the Sejarah Melayu is crucial for European scholars to review and investigate matters pertaining to the Malay kingdom in the past. There are several versions of Sejarah Melayu texts. According to (Ahmad, 2008: 202), the main purpose of Sejarah Melayu book is as stated in the beginning of the book, which is to execute the will of the Sultan ‘Abdullah Shah Ma’ayah, which reads: “I demand to write chronicles to treasurer, fairy and regulations of the Malay rulers, their customs and traditions so that it shall be known by our ass.ccsenet.org.
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