Papers on Malayan fishing methods. T.W. Burdon and M.L. Parry. Monographs on Malay subjects, No 2
Richard Winstedt and P. E. de Josselin de Jong published their translation and edition of a Malay customary law text from Sungai Ujong in 1954, drawing on two early-twentieth-century manuscripts (a Jawi text and a Romanized version of 1904) to present one of the most complete surviving codifications of Minangkabau-influenced adat law from Negeri Sembilan. The work demonstrates that the legal and social order of this riverine district was structured around a sixfold taxonomy of normative sources, a detailed criminal code with graduated fines, and an elaborate moral philosophy linking Islamic jurisprudence to indigenous custom.
Summary
The text opens by declaring its Minangkabau identity—“We are people of Minangkabau, who are under the vault of heaven and in the womb of the earth, who lean against Mount Merapi”—and situates itself within the territory stretching from Pintu Raya upstream to Si-Lagundi downstream (p. 6). The editors note that the Jawi manuscript reveals a dialect closely akin to Minangkabau in pronunciation, word-structure, grammar, and vocabulary, with characteristic forms such as basar for Malay besar and the prefix ma- where Malay would use meng- (pp. 3–4).
The substantive law is organised around six categories of normative authority: ancient custom (chupak yang asali), created custom (chupak buatan), inherited lore (kata pusaka), decisions of common accord (kata muafakat), ancient lore awaiting ratification, and decisions to be reached by later deliberation (pp. 6–8). Criminal provisions specify fines in gold for theft of persons, buffaloes, fowl, rice, betel, jack-fruit, sugar-cane, and coconuts, with the thief’s life or death turning on whether he possesses money to pay (pp. 14–15). A system of twenty-five tanda beti (serious clues) and twenty-five tanda jahat (signs of guilt) governs evidentiary procedure, while twenty-five items of chemo evidence cover circumstantial proof (pp. 13–16).
The philosophical and social sections enumerate eighteen characteristics of man, fifteen types of person, three degrees of intelligence, and the requisite qualities of king (ten), chief (six), captain (four), scholar (four), and youth (five) (pp. 19–21). Historical narrative attributes the founding of the legal order to three ancestral brothers—Datok Katumanggungan, Datok Parapateh Sabatang, and Datok Sri Maharaja—who fixed the standard measures (one chupak = 12 tael, one gantang = 48 bungkal) and swore before the Ruler never to alter the code (pp. 22–23). The text closes with practical regulations on agriculture, trade, craftsmanship, animal husbandry, and religious study, each governed by a list of ten conditions (pp. 32–34).
Key Findings
- The text explicitly identifies its community as Minangkabau and names the three shires (Tanah Datar, Lubuk Agam, Lima Puluh) with their respective titles, establishing a direct genealogical link between Negeri Sembilan adat and the Minangkabau heartland (p. 24).
- Theft of a buffalo carries a fine of 12½ emas plus subsidiary denominations, with the thief living if he has money and dying if he has none; theft of rice (the “staff of life”) attracts a heavier fine of 1 tael, 1 paha, and 12½ emas (pp. 14–15).
- The two moieties Koto-Piliang and Bodi-Chaniago are distinguished by regalia: Koto-Piliang possesses the Golden Tiger, the Chinese Mirror, the Naked Sword, and the Seal of Greatness, making it the senior moiety (p. 27).
- Seven types of councillor are described in vivid detail, from the “bossy” who cuts off speech to the “simple” who merely follows the crowd and earns the least gold (pp. 17–18).
- The ancestral oath sworn before the Ruler—“By the Magic of our forebears we swear never to institute a change in this code in all the country”—was sealed by the planting of a tree in every district and village as a token of just law (p. 23).
- The editors identify the Jawi manuscript (R.A.S. Maxwell 118) as written a few years before the Romanized version (118A) of 1904, with the latter showing strong Malay linguistic influence over the original Sungai Ujong dialect (p. 3).
Conclusion
Winstedt and de Josselin de Jong present a text that functions simultaneously as a working legal code, a moral treatise, and a foundational charter of Minangkabau identity in Negeri Sembilan, demonstrating that adat and shara’ were conceived not as competing systems but as mutually reinforcing layers of a single normative order in which “custom is founded on law and law is based on Allah’s Book” (p. 23).
Context
- The two source manuscripts (Maxwell 118 and 118A) are held in the Royal Asiatic Society collection; the Romanized version was produced at Malacca in 1904.
- The article appears in JMBRAS Vol. 27, Pt. 3 (No. 167), July 1954, pp. 1–68.