The Bugis Chronicle of Bone transed. by Campbell Macknight, Mukhlis Paeni, and Mukhlis Hadrawi (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Bugis Chronicle of Bone transed. by Campbell Macknight, Mukhlis Paeni, and Mukhlis Hadrawi Salina Hj Zainol The Bugis Chronicle of Bone. Translated and edited by Campbell Macknight, Mukhlis Paeni, Mukhlis Hadrawi. Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2020, 153 pp. ISBN: 9781760463571 The preparation of this meticulously edited book has undergone quite a long journey i.e. since 1975 until its publication in 2020. It started with research conducted by Macknight in Leiden on the version of the Bugis Chronicle published [End Page 225] by B. F. Matthes in his Boegineesche Chrestomathie (1864–1872). During his research, Macknight was fortunate enough to have been assisted by a team of prominent scholars and experts including local Bugis scholars such as Mukhlis Paeni and Mukhlis Hadrawai, and a number of his other Buginese friends. Finally in 1980, Macknight and his team decided to choose NBG 101 as the version of the Bugis Chronicle to work on. Since then, a lengthy, multi-layered procedure began, first of transcribing the chronicle from Bugis Lontara characters to romanised text, followed by the process of translating the chronicle from the Bugis language to English. At the same time the team also worked on identifying place names mentioned in the chronicle with their modern equivalents in South Sulawesi especially in Bone. Publication of the book after so much toil is a testament to rigorous scholarship and perseverance. The translators and editors are well known scholars in the history of South Sulawesi as well as Bugis language and culture. Macknight has written a number of works on the history of South Sulawesi. Mukhlis Paeni has contributed to the cataloguing of South Sulawesi manuscripts, while Mukhlis Hadarawi is a local scholar researching on the language and culture of South Sulawesi. The manuscript at the heart of this volume, the Chronicle of Bone, NBG 101, was originally found in the house of Besse Kadjoewara, the ruler of Bone later known as Arung Pasempe, at Pasempe on 9 December 1859 during the Bone war of 1859–60. It contains the chronicles of the rulers of Bone beginning with the rule of Tomanurrung until the reign of Matinroe ri Bontoala or Arung Palakka. The present book is important because it not only discusses the contents of the manuscript but also provides insight into other important aspects related to manuscript research such as principles of transcription and of translation, as well as listing previous editions of translations of the same manuscripts. The editors also provided vital information on other versions of the chronicle found in various institutions. The book's most significant contribution is in facilitating access to nonBugis speaking scholars to the contents of the manuscript by translating it into the English language. Apart from that, the editors offer an understanding of the content of the manuscript to scholars who are unable to read Lontara, a Bugis writing, by thoughtfully providing a romanised transcript. The editors also compare the chronicle with other related manuscripts, in addition to identifying and synchronizing place names found in the manuscript to modern geographical locations in South Sulawesi. This is helpful as it enables readers to understand the background and early history of Bone based on the manuscript. The Bugis Chronicle of Bone is an important work for specialist readers who want to understand indigenous sources as well as history written by and for local populations. The editors and translators of this book have rendered great service in making otherwise inaccessible local Bugis lontarak script available to non-lontarak users. Such painstaking efforts, coupled with scholarship of a very high order, would suffice to commend this book to scholars researching on the early history of South Sulawesi and especially on the kingdom of Bone. [End Page 226] Salina Hj Zainol University of Malaya Copyright © 2021 Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society