Friday, April 04, 2008

LOOKING FOR A COMPLETE TEXT OF THE HIKAYAT PRANG SABII

One of the key texts of the long Atjehnese struggle for self-determination (starting from the Dutch invasion in 1873 more or less till the Tsunami) was the Hikayat Prang Sabii - The Narrative of the Sacred War.

This long poem (two thousand lines) was written by Teungku Djik Panté Kulu while traveling from Jeddah to Penang after completing the pilgrimage during the Dutch-Atjeh war.
It celebrated the resistance to the Dutch, and the urge to continue the struggle, not because victory was inevitable (it wasn't), but because it was the right thing to do.

Verses of this poem were recited before battle. When fighting the Dutch. When fighting the Japanese. When fighting the Indonesians.

Some people know it by heart. It is probably one of the very few things in their own language that they know so well, because literate Atjehnese have always written in Arabic or Malay more than their own language.

Anyhow. Can't find it on the net. Would appreciate pointers. Remember, two thousand lines. Thanks in advance.

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Note: As an indication of Atjehnese stubbornness, let me cite a description of one of Atjeh's greatest heroes, Tjut Nya Dhien ('Tjoet Nja' Dhien'):

"None of those men who were leaders in the long holy war of Atjeh against us hated us as fiercely or fought us as resolutely as she did, and few sacrificed so much, of both their power and property. Never, in her resistance, did she deviate by even one step, never did she doubt, never could she be bought. Transported, she died in exile. "Resigned", they say - but that cannot be believed! And why should we even desire any resignation from her? As a salve on the wounds of our conscience? For the greater glory of our triumph?
No! Let us honour her as indeed our bitterest enemy, who was finally broken by our might."


Tjut Nya Dhien (1848 - 1908) was the daughter of one commander (Nanta Setia) and the wife of another (Teuku Ibrahim Lam'nga) in the fight against the Dutch. Both fell in the battle of Sela Glé Tarun in 1873.

After their deaths, she assumed command of their troops and continued the struggle against the Dutch until 1901, spending most of that time in the jungles and hills.

Her second husband, Teuku Umar, died in battle in 1899. Together they fought the Dutch for nearly two dozen years.

When the Dutch captured her, Tjut Nya Dhien was old, worn-out, arthritic, and nearly blind. And still she fought - she was taken in battle. They exiled her to Sumedang in Java, where she died six years later. She spent those last years teaching the Quran to local people.
It wasn't until the republican period that her grave was found - the marker gave the nickname that she had been given by the locals, who never knew her real name. But there had been only one Atjehnese female political prisoner ever in that town......


Her daughter, Tjut Gambang (wife of Teungku Dhi Buket, who was the son of Teuku Tjik Dhi Tiro, Acheh's most famous guerilla leader) continued the war in the jungles of Atjeh, dying in combat in 1910.


You can probably understand why this material fascinates me. There is much here to admire.

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