Islam, Trade and Politics - Research

Indonesian and Malay manuscripts and links with the Ottomans

 

Russell Jones

 

                        It is thought that the earliest conversion of a Malay ruler to Islam occurred in about 1280 AD. Not surprisingly this was in North Sumatra, the first landfall for vessels from the west. References to Ottoman links, direct or indirect, are to be found in early Malay texts, particularly ‘histories’ emanating from North Sumatra. That reputed to be the earliest, the Hikayat Raja Pasai, was compiled probably between 1428 and 1448.[1] But the extant manuscripts of this work are only about two centuries old, meaning that we have only distant loose copies of originals, transmitted for the most part orally through the centuries.

                        Nearly all Malay manuscripts are written on European-made paper, imported under the colonial governments from the Netherlands and Britain. A third source of European paper was north-eastern Italy, whence it came in through unofficial channels. This was distinguished by eagle and crescent watermark images, as it was designed especially for export to the Levant, and probably was imported to Indonesia by pilgrims returning from Mecca.[2] This took place mostly in the nineteenth century, and much of it was imported as blank paper ready for use.

                        Paper outside these categories, betraying more definite connections with the central Islamic world, is seldom found, and scarcely ever has been noticed.

                        In the National Library in Jakarta in 1971 I did find in an Arabic manuscript fragment an unusual watermark, consisting of a crescent, a star and a crown, which strongly suggested a Middle Eastern provenence. I photographed it  (Figure 1) but I did not record details of the manuscript.

                        I have come across only two similar marks elsewhere, amongst some samples of paper sent to me by Dr Terry Walz,Vice-President of the Lilian Barber Press in New York. These are from Islamic North Africa, and date from the eighteenth century. (Figure 2 depicts the clearer of the two, a clear betaradiograph, dating from AD 1722-23.) The other sample, dating from 1744-45, has the letters T N M below it. It appears that this paper was disseminated in the Islamic world. There must be more to be found.

In January 2010 I received two remarkable images from Dr Fakhriati in Jakarta (Figures 3 & 4). Figure 3 – I do not know who added the colour – shows what is identifiably the flag of Turkey, an unmistakable sign of its provenance.

Figure 4  shows in Arabic script “bayad Abu Sh-b-k Istambuli”. Could bayad indicate white (paper)? The word Istambuli does indicate manufacture in Turkey. Then below it has letters which could be ‘ain-alif-lam  alif-sad-ya-lam-ya. I cannot work it out further. This will reveal more under competent examination.

Dr Fakhriati writes that the manuscript (from which both images are presumably taken) is from Aceh Besar, north Sumatra. The first and last leaves are missing, so the name of the author and the date of writing are not known. The subject is Islamic law. The manufacture of  paper in Turkey is attested, but I do not have clear and dependable sources on its extent.[3]

Recently in Indonesia Dr Ahmad Rahman showed me papers with a similar inscription in Arabic, and other watermarks of interest. Apart from the fact that they occur in Arabic manuscripts found in Indonesia, I have not been able to ascertain further details.

Conclusions

I think we can draw the following provisional conclusions from these very few tantalising samples of watermarks evidently emanating from the Islamic Middle East.

a)         These watermarks seem to occur in documents written in the Middle East rather than in South East Asia. This differentiates these papers from the Italian ‘Eagle and crescent’ types, which were often taken to Indonesia as blank sheets. It is understandable that Turkey did not produce paper in quantities to export as raw material.

b)         The absence of bar shadows in the papers suggests that none (except no. 02) is earlier than the nineteenth century.

c)         They appear to be supports for manuscripts written in Arabic, not those in Indonesian languages.

 

There is scope for further research into papers bearing these watermarks, particularly directed towards manuscripts written in Arabic. The Islam, Trade and Politics Research Project would be grateful for reports of such unusual watermarks appearing in any manuscripts in the Indonesian region.

 

Russell Jones                                                                                                   October 2010.

Email:  rumajones26@tiscali.co.uk

Update:

Our posting of 11-10-10 has brought to light a wealth of information on the crescent/star/crown watermark in the Middle East, and one article devoted to it exclusively. To sum up rather hastily, this mark is shown to have been used in paper made in Italy especially for an Islamic market, and was used widely in the Chanceries of the Ottoman Empire between the 16^th and 18^th centuries. It is not found in paper used for publishing in Italy, where thin light weight paper was preferred. It was used in the thick, heavy paper used for manuscripts in the Near Eastern countries, where printing was not practised. It is associated with Venice, no doubt the port through which it was shipped abroad. The authors assert that towards the end of the 18^th century the crown/star/crescent mark disappeared, while the three crescents, usually in combination with different marks, survived into the 19^th century.

We know that the three crescent mark became common in Indonesian/Malay manuscripts, but any samples of the crescent/star/crown watermark from the nineteenth century that you encounter would be of great significance.

 

(The article is: Mosin, V. & M. Grozdanovic-Pajié. 1963. ‘Das Wasserzeichen “Krone mit Sterrn und Halbmond”.’ Papiergeschichte 13(4): 44-52.)