Source of the Malacca, Johore and Pahang genealogies in the Bustan-al-Salatin
This short note by W. Linehan identifies the source of the Malacca, Johore, and Pahang royal genealogies found in the Bustan-al-Salatin.
Summary
Linehan, while stationed in Pekan (1923–1926), was lent a manuscript of the Bustan-al-Salatin by Tengku Sulaiman, the Tengku Besar of Pahang, which he identifies as the same “Pahang M.S.” previously examined by Barnes and discussed by Winstedt and Wilkinson. An extract from this manuscript (p. 144) contains a passage in which the Bendahara Paduka Raja states that he composed the genealogies of the rulers of Malacca, Johore, and Pahang, tracing their lineage back to Iskandar Zu’l-Karnain. Dr. Ph. van Ronkel confirmed that the same passage appears identically in the old folio MS at Leiden University Library, with only minor variant readings (p. 144). Linehan concludes that the Bendahara Paduka Raja is Tun Sri Lanang, author of the Sejarah Melayu (c. 1612), and that the genealogical account in the Bustan is largely derived from that work.