Valentijn’s copy of the Sejarah Melayu
This short note by R.O. Winstedt demonstrates that the Dutch orientalist François Valentijn (1666–1727) used the older Malacca text of the Sejarah Melayu rather than the Johore recension, based on a comparison of rulers’ names, ages, and reign lengths.
Summary
Winstedt compares the Singapore and Malacca ruler data in the Johore text (e.g. Shellabear’s edition), the older Malacca text edited from a Raffles manuscript (JMBRAS XVI, Part III), and Valentijn’s description of Malacca (translated in JMBRAS XVIII). The agreement in reign lengths and omissions—such as the absence of Raja Besar Muda and Raja Tengah, and the specific figures for Sultans Muhammad, Muzaffar, and Mansur—confirms Valentijn’s dependence on the Malacca recension. Winstedt notes that Valentijn likely did not possess the complete manuscript, as he was unaware that Mahmud had his son Ahmad killed, and he suggests that if Valentijn’s copy had survived, it would have preserved another witness to the oldest version of the Sejarah Melayu (p. 151).