The Panji tales
This short note by R. O. Winstedt reviews R. M. Ng. Dr. Poerbatjaraka’s 1940 comparative study of eight Panji tale manuscripts, Pandji-Verhalen Onderling Vergeleken, published by the Batavian Society.
Summary
Winstedt summarises Poerbatjaraka’s method of dating the various Panji versions through internal evidence: the number and identity of princely siblings at Kuripan, the presence of the kingdom Gegelang (older) versus Oerawan (later), and the borrowing of characters from other literary works in the prefaces (p. 234–235). Poerbatjaraka concludes the tales date from the palmy days of Majapahit (c. 1350) or its decadence, and that no Old Javanese version ever existed, since the tales lack Indian metres and contain geographical names found in the Pararaton (1328) (p. 236).
Winstedt endorses this dating as consistent with his own view that Malay versions were known in Malacca by the mid-fifteenth century, and extends the discussion to the northern Malay peninsula, noting Javanese influence in Kelantan and Kedah, including the appearance of the Panji-related name Onengan in the Malay Annals and possible Panji relics in Kedah folk-tales such as Trong Pipit (p. 237).