Four Malay letters from Raja Ali Haji to Von De Wall

Abstract

In the course of our research into the literary life of Riau in the nineteenth century and on the Dutch colonial officials on the scene at that time, we came across four letters from Raja Ali Haji (hereafter referred to as RAH) to Hermann von de Wall (vdW) which form part of the Van der Tuuk collection in the Leiden University Library. These letters shed some new light on the relations between these two men, as well as on the personal life of the prolific Malay writer Raja Ali Haji. They also offer us some rare samples of nineteenth-century informal Malay, which differs considerably in style and phrasing from the Malay we know from the 'sincere and frank' epistles discussed in other publications (e.g., Gallop and Arps 1991). Therefore we considered these letters important enough to publish in full here along with a short introductory note. The letters concerned represent a correspondence between two friends who shared an interest in the Malay language and were each working on a dictionary, rather than between a native dignitary and a colonial official. Raja Ali Haji (1809 c. 1872) was a highly respected Malay intellectual of Buginese descent, who was related to the family of the Yang Dipertuan Muda ruling the Riau Lingga Archipelago from the island of Penyengat. Apart from occupying a position as legal advisor at the court at Penyengat (Matheson and Watson Andaya 1982:299), he was the author of a number of works mainly on history and ethics.1 He was preoccupied with Malay traditions and with foreign influences in the Malay world. He also took a deep interest in the Malay language, and produced two works on the subject: a kind of spelling textbook (Bustanul Katibin) and an encyclo paedic dictionary (Kitab Pengetahuan Bahasa), which was never com pleted. The book on Malay spelling apparently was commissioned by the junior ruler of Riau, and was completed in 1857 (Von de Wall 1870:565). The dictionary was probably compiled at the time the author was helping with the work on Von de Wall's Malay-Dutch dictionary, for which he was an acknowledged informant (Von de Wall 1870:571). The Prussian future Malay expert Hermann von de Wall (1807-1873) came to the Archipelago as a cavalry sergeant in 1829. He made his way up the administrative career ladder via several posts in Borneo (1834-55). As Assistant Resident, he was commissioned in 1855 to compile a Malay grammar and a Malay-Dutch and a Dutch-Malay dictionary (Indisch Besluit no. 7, 2 November 1855). For the execution of this task he was posted to Riau (Indisch Besluit no. 13, 10 June 1856), where he died on 2nd May 1873. His presence in Riau had a stimulating effect on the