A Pre-Islamic element in the Malay grave
G.G. Hough’s short note argues that certain structural features of the Malay grave are survivals of a pre-Islamic aboriginal practice, drawing parallels with the Jakun grave to support this claim.
Summary
Hough identifies two non-Islamic features of the Malay grave: the pair of small batu nesan (gravestones) placed close together, distinguished by shape for male and female, and the wooden framework (dapur-dapur) enclosing the grave mound. He finds close parallels in the Jakun grave, which has two wooden nesan spaced similarly and a wooden framework called mendolor (with a lower framework called kalang dapur). He concludes that the Malay nesan and dapur-dapur are likely survivals of older aboriginal practice, the latter representing a fusion of hearth and canoe burial elements identified by Noone (p. 47).
Hough also notes possible Islamic influence flowing in the reverse direction, from Malays to Jakun: the practice of boarding off the body from the earth, and the word nesan itself, which derives from the Persian nishan and must have passed through Malay to the Jakun (p. 48). A final note questions Noone’s hearth-burial interpretation, suggesting that dapur-dapur may derive from a meaning of “outer portion enclosing something” rather than from hearth symbolism (p. 48).