Article

The maritime laws of Malacca. ed R. Winstedt and P.E. de Josselin de Jong

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The maritime laws of Malacca. ed R. Winstedt and P.E. de Josselin de Jong

Winstedt and de Josselin de Jong (1956) present a critical edition of the Undang-Undang Laut, the maritime code attributed to the court of Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca (r. 1424–1444), collated from thirteen manuscripts held in London, Leiden, and Breda. The edition establishes two distinct textual recensions of the code and provides an outline English translation, offering the most comprehensive scholarly treatment of this foundational document of Malay maritime law to that date.

Summary

The article addresses a central problem in the textual history of Malay legal literature: the relationship between the various manuscript witnesses of the Maritime Laws and their putative archetype. Winstedt and de Josselin de Jong demonstrate that the thirteen manuscripts fall into two main recensions—Group I (L.1705, L.3199, R.33, R.74, M.5, M.11A) and Group II (L.1726, L.3199B, M.3, M.19, M.47)—distinguished by differences in section order, inserted or omitted passages, and verbal identities. The Breda manuscript (Br. 6619), though the oldest dated witness (1066 A.H./1655 A.D.), is judged corrupt and of limited value for establishing the original text. The colophon in M.19, which records that the code was transcribed by Enche’ Maulana in 1083 A.H. (1672 A.D.), provides the terminus ante quem for the split between the two recensions (p. 25, p. 47).

The substantive content of the code reveals a highly regulated maritime society in which the captain (nakhoda) held quasi-royal authority aboard his vessel, with a detailed hierarchy of officers analogous to the court structure on land. The laws govern everything from the division of treasure trove found ashore and the handling of runaway slaves to the precise number of lashes for insubordination, the allocation of cargo space by ship beam, and the scheduling of departures relative to the monsoon. The editors note that the code’s ascription to Sultan Mahmud Shah and its presentation by named officials (Patih Harun, Patih Elias, and captains Zainal, Buri, and Ishak) in § 22 constitute a royal legitimization narrative, while the claim in M.19 that Kathi Sadar Jahan compiled the code is judged apocryphal (p. 24, p. 56).

The appendix collects miscellaneous maritime provisions found in some manuscripts but absent from the core twenty-four sections, including voyage bonuses for successful trips to Java, Bima, Timor, Makassar, and Tanjong Pura, as well as rules on fire safety, theft, and the duties of the juru-mudi and juru-batu in supervising baling operations (pp. 49–50, 58–59).

Key Findings

  • Thirteen manuscripts were collated for this edition, plus printed sections from de Hollander’s Handleiding; the two main recensions are distinguished by section order and textual variants, with the split predating 1083 A.H. (1672 A.D.) (pp. 22–27).
  • The Breda MS 6619 claims a date of 4 Jumada I 1066 A.H. (1655 A.D.) and is the oldest dated witness, though it is described as “illiterate” and “often corrupt” (p. 24).
  • The colophon in M.19 records that Enche’ Maulana transcribed the code in 1083 A.H. (1672 A.D.) at Pagar, establishing the latest possible date for the archetype (p. 47).
  • Specific penalties include: 100 lashes and compulsory marriage for fornication between unmarried free persons; a fine of 1¼ tael of gold if the man refuses to marry; death for a free man committing adultery with a sailor’s wife; 60 lashes for a watchman whose negligence allows a slave to escape; and 2½ emas for a man drifting downstream who takes fish from another’s trap (pp. 32–33, 42, 22).
  • Voyage bonuses for successful completion: 500 pitis per share to Java; 600 to Bima; 700 to Timor; two gantang of gunpowder to Makassar; 600 to Tanjong Pura (p. 58).
  • The code was formally presented to Sultan Mahmud Shah by the Dato’ Bendahara Seri Maharaja, who granted the titles Sang Naradiraja, Sang Setiadipati, and Sang Utamadiraja to the three principal captains (p. 56).

Conclusion

Winstedt and de Josselin de Jong establish that the Undang-Undang Laut is a genuine product of the Malacca court’s legislative tradition, composed under royal patronage during the reign of Sultan Mahmud Shah, and that its two surviving recensions represent a relatively early textual divergence. The code’s detailed provisions on commercial risk-sharing, crew discipline, and the captain’s judicial authority make it an indispensable source for understanding the legal and economic framework of pre-colonial Malay maritime trade.

Context

  • The edition draws on manuscripts in the Royal Asiatic Society (London), Leiden University Library, and the Royal Military Academy (Breda), with the Raffles collection providing the earliest dated copies (1806 A.D.).
  • The study supersedes Raffles’s 1817 translation and de Hollander’s printed text, and provides the critical apparatus necessary for future work on the relationship between the Maritime Laws and the broader Hukum Kanun tradition of the Malay polities.

References