Brunei through the Silsilah, Adat, Hikayat and Syair: Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei reconsidered

Donald Brown’s work makes reference to the importance of the recorded line of succession of the Brunei sultans. The Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei, the chronicle of the ruling line of the Malay Muslim kingdom of Brunei, is best known from the Batu Tarsilah, a large stone inscription dated 2 Zulhijah 1221 (10 February 1807) located in the Royal Mausoleum of Brunei (Kubah Makam DiRaja), and two manuscripts written in Malay in Jawi script now held in London libraries which were published in 1968 by Amin Sweeney. However, a survey of writings on Brunei history suggests that at least 15 manuscripts of this work can be recorded into the mid-twentieth century. This chapter will survey all known manifestations of this text and trace its genesis and dissemination. The paper will also include transliteration and English translation of the episode recounting the seventeenth-century civil war in Brunei from a previously unpublished manuscript of the Silsilah Raja-raja Brunei.