Structure and function of the Salasilah Kutai,a Malay dynastic myth from East Kalimantan

Jul 8, 2026

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An analysis of the Salasilah Kutai, a Malay dynastic historiographical text from the Kutai court in East Kalimantan, explaining why its historical reputation among scholars is limited while its cultural value is strong. The discussion proposes that the text was produced in connection with Pangéran Sinom Panji Mendapa ing Martapura and argues that its dominant function is the legitimation of his reign. The study outlines its typological genre, dating arguments, and the narrative structure of the royal origin myth.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

Structure and function of the Salasilah Kutai

1. The structure of the Salasilah Kutai

# Structure and function of the Salasilah Kutai,a Malay dynastic myth from East Kalimantan' By EDWIN WIERINGAMünster/Westf. The Salasilah Kutai,a traditional Malay historiographical text from the court ofKutai in East Kalimantan,does not have a particularly good reputation amonghistorians.“This genealogy”,Hooykaas wrote in one of his schoolbooks, “records few genuine events,and its contents are far less important than those of theSejarah Melayu.Its value lies more in the non-historical material to be found in it;forpeople's thoughts and feelings in those former times are very clearly drawn,as are thedescriptions of palace ceremonial and dress customs.”2 The question arises why this seemingly 'unimportant'text was written.Theeight manuscripts which represent it are relatively young as they alldate fromthe nineteenth century.³Mees has suggested,however,that the Salasilah Kutaiwas originally written in the second or third decennium of the seventeenthcentury during the reign of Pangéran Sinom Panji Mendapa ing Martapura(henceforth abbreviated as Pangéran SPMM)after his victory over Muara-kaman.⁴Because the arrival of a Dutch squadron at Kutai in 1635 is notmentioned in the text,Mees thinks that the Salasilah Kutai must have beenwritten before that year.⁵ As already known,the Salasilah Kutai shares the same typological features astexts which have variously been called ‘chronicles of the realm’or'(dynastic-)genealogical narratives'.6 The narratives belonging to this genre,which are foundin the entire Austronesian world,from Madagascar to Polynesia,“serve to 'I would like to thank the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung(Bonn)for providing me with ascholarship in 1996-97 enabling me to work at the Institute of Ethnology,University of Münster.²Quoted inJ.J.Ras,1968,Hikajat Bandjar.A study in Malay historiography(The Hague:Nijhoff),p.14. See for their descriptions Constantinus Alting Mees,1935,De kroniek van Koetai.Tekstuitgavemet toelichting(Santpoort:Mees),pp.109ff.;266ff.,and W.Kern,1956,Commentaar op de Salasilahvan Koetai('s-Gravenhage:Nijhoff),pp.1-9.Mees,De kroniek van Koetai(see note 3)p.53.5 Ibidem. ‘Ras calls them‘chronicles of the realm³(J.J.Ras,1986,'Hikayat Banjar and Pararaton:a structuralcomparison of two chronicles',C.M.S.Hellwig and S.O.Robson(eds.),A man of Indonesianletters.Essays in honour of Professor A.Teeuw(Dordrecht,Cinnaminson:Foris Publications),pp.184-203),whereas Teeuw uses the term'(dynastic)-genealogical narratives'(A.Teeuw,1988,Indonesia as a“Field of Literary Study”.A case study:genealogical narrative texts as an Indonesianliterary genre’,P.E.de Josselin de Jong(ed.),Unity in diversity.Indonesia as a Field of Anthro-pological Study(Dordrecht,Providence:Foris Publications;2nd impression),pp.38-59). ## Structure and funcion of the Salasilah Kutai legitimize and extol native rulers and provide an order which superficiallyresembles Western chronological historiography because of its own ‘internalchronology'of genealogical sequence”.? Mees only looked to the last part of the Salasilah Kutai,i.e.the reign ofPangéran SPMM,to find a clue for its date.He failed,however,to notice thestructure and function of the text.The end of a narrative implies more than justits date.As Brooks argued in his Reading for the Plot:in narrative the endbestows final meaning upon what preceded it.⁸In the following pages I wantto make clear that the entire structure of the dynastic myth of Kutai shows thatthe legitimation of Pangéran SPMM is the text's dominant function. ### 1.The structure of the Salasilah Kutai The text of the Salasilah Kutai which is discussed here is the version edited byMees which is 4910 lines long.9 Structurally the Salasilah Kutai may be dividedinto the following sections: (1)The myth of origin of the royal house of Kutai(lines 1-2250:45.8%of thetext).The first section is concerned with two mythical marriages which symbo-lize a union between the upper and the nether world.10 This section

FAQs

Why have historians not regarded the Salasilah Kutai highly?

It is criticized for recording few genuine events compared with the Sejarah Melayu. Its main value is described as the clear portrayal of people’s thoughts and feelings and detailed depictions of palace ceremonial and dress customs.

What timing is suggested for when the Salasilah Kutai was written?

The manuscripts are relatively young and date from the nineteenth century, but one proposal places the original writing in the early seventeenth century during the reign of Pangéran Sinom Panji Mendapa ing Martapura, after his victory over Muara-kaman. The Dutch arrival at Kutai in 1635 is not mentioned, which supports an earlier date.

What is the document’s main argument about the text’s function?

The analysis argues that the entire structure of the Kutai dynastic myth is designed to legitimate Pangéran SPMM. The end and overall narrative structure are said to bestow final meaning, making legitimation the dominant function.

Jul 8, 2026

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