Nine saints of Java 9839986619

Table of contents :
1. The Makam of Shaikh Abdulmuhyi
2. Seh Siti Jĕnar facing the inquisition
3. Sunan Gĕsĕng
4. Ki Panḍan Arang at Tĕmbayat
5. Pangeran Panggung : his dogs and the wayang
6. The grave at Pamlaṭen and the Dutch rule.

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Java D. A. RINKES Translation by H. M. FROGER

Edited by ALUAH GORDON Introduction by G. W. J. DREWES

MALAYSIAN SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 1996

DEDICATION

TO HIS HIGHNESS PRINCE SADRUDDIN AGA KHAN without whose belief in the validity of our work and prac~cal support for it the Malaysian Sociological Research Institute might never have been born. It was His Highness' late father who remarked that the beauty of Islam is revealed in this Wider Malaysian area where Islam won the hearts and minds of men to establish itself without the support of any foreign power or outside armed intervention. To this historical truth would this work bear testimony. and TO MY MOTHER ERNA KREUDER GORDON who will not now read this book, but without whose love I could never have ·sustained what have often appeared as long and barren years.

ALUAH GORDON

Published in Malaysia 1996 Published by MALAYSIAN SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE (MSRI) No 19, Jalan Delima SS I00 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel : 241 7603 Fax : 243 3382

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 1996 Malaysian Sociological Research Institute (MSRI) No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission from the Publisher.

ISBN 983-99866-1-9 Typeset by EXPO Holdings. Malaysia

Printed in Malaysia by ART PRINTING WORKS SDN BHD

CONTENTS PAGE

PUBLISHER'S NOTE .. .. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .. .. EDITOR'S NOTE • • .. .. SKETCHES AND MAP . . .. .. INTRODUCTION: D. A. RINKES, A NOTE ON HIS LIFE AND WORK by G. W. J. DREWES

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XXI

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CHAPTER

I.

THE MAK.AM OF SHAIKH ABDULMUHYI • •

THE REUTWES OF THE SHAIKH

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THE TIGER-LEGEND AND THE 'MIRACLES' • • • •

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" SEMBAH KODRAT'S GRAVE

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SPECULATIONS

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aTHER GRAVES

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HOMAGE AT THE CAVE

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ELUCIDATIONS AND CORRECTIONS

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SEH sm JENAR FACING THE .. INQUISITION • • • • SIT/ JENAR REAFFIRMS HIS DOCTRINE AND JS BEHEADED SPECUUTIONS ON SUI JENAR'S APOSTASY • • • • •

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THE 'EIGHTH WAU' SOME DERWATIONS OF HIS NAME

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THE EIGHTH INSTRUCTION

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Vil

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SOME INFORMATION ON SIT/ JENAR'S PROBABLE GENEALOGY

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Sffl JENAR'S TEACHING AND CONVERTING AND HIS SUSPECTED POLITICAL INTRIGUES • • • • • • • •

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SPECULATIONS ON Sll'I JENAR'S .. BURIAL-PLACE . . • •

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THE FATAL 'HERESY' OF PANGERAN PANGGUNG AND SEH AMONG RAGA

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SUNAN GESENG DEMONSTRATES THE VANITY OF WORLDLY DESIRES

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SOME LEGENDS WOVEN AROUND SUNAN GESENG • • • •

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EPILOGUE w

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SUNAN GESENG

PAK JOUNG AND THE WATER BUFFALOES • • • •

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KI PANDAN ARANG AT TEMBAYAT • SUNAN KAUJAGA AND THE AUNG-AUNG

Kl AGENG V. THE AJAR

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!t{ASJID GALA IS MOVED AND GUNUNG MAUNG LOWERED

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Kl PANDAN ARANG AT WEDI • •

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GENEALOGY OF SUNAN TEMBAYAT

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SUNAN KAUJAGA CONVERTS Kl PANDAN ARANG .. • • •

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SUNAN KAUJAGA UNFOLDS THE MYSTERIES • • • • •

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JAPRUSA AND THE aTHER 'GHOSTS'

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VIII

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THE MIRACLE OF THE Fl.AM/NG HANDS

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Kl PANDAN ARANG AT TIRANG •

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THE CONVERSION OF BETARA KATONG • Kl PANDAN ARANG'S SUCCESSION • AND HIS DEMISE • • • • WHO WAS PANDAN ARANG? •

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SPECUUTIONS ON Kl PANDAN ARANG'S • WITHDRAWAL TO TEMBAYAT • •

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THE HISTORICAL ROLE OF TEMBAYAT SOURCES OF INFORMATION ..

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HISTORICAL EVENTS CONNECTED WITH TEMBAYAT .. ..

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WRITl'EN TRADITIONS FROM CENTRAL JAVA AND CHERBON • • • • • •

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AUUSIONS TO THE WAYANG TO DEMONSTRATE THE FOUR MYSTIC DEGREES • • • • ••

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SIM/UR AUUSIONS FROM MALAY LITERATURE • • • • • •

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CONCLUSION

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PANGERAN PANGGUNG: HIS DOGS AND THE WAYANG

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PANGERAN PANGGUNG IN THE HOUR OF DEATH • • • • • • • ABOUT HIS DOGS

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DOCTRINE OF PANGERAN PANGGUNG

VI. THE GRAVE AT PAMLATEN AND THE • DUTCH RULE .. • • • THE OMINOUS PROPHECY . IX

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THE RATU MANDAPA •

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CHERBON TRADITION

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CENTRAL JAVANESE TRADITION TRADITION OF THE WORM CONFORMITY WITH STORIES CONCERNING AL-HALLAJ • UTERARY EVALUATION EPILOGUE

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APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I

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165 173

RINKES' ROMANIZED JAVANESE APPENDICES

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE ONG. W. J. DREWES

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193 197

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

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ABBREVIATIONS

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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ARABIC TEXT ,_ OF QUOfATIONS FROM THE HOLY QURAN CITED IN DIVIDER PAGES • INDEX

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THOSE WHO GAVE

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241

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE

Tins translation is but one of the results of an overall research project on Islam in Malaysia. We should like to tell you how this project came into being. Many in Malaya had felt that Islam had had a pervasive influence, but little or nothing had been published on the subject. It was felt that no one individual was qualified to deal with all of the ramifications of Islam's impact. an~ therefore, a group study was necessary. This group was formed in 1957 under the guidance of Malaya's Grand Old Pandita, the late Pak Za'ba, Tan Sri Dr. Haji Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad. This effort brought forty-nine people together, all but a few of whom were Malayans. A Committee was fonned to sponsor the project: the late Dr. Za 'ba as Chairman, the late Nazir Mallal as Honorary Treasurer, this writer as Organiser and General Editor, the late Francis Thomas, then a Minister in the Singapore Government. and the late Gerald de Cruz (Haji Abdul Karim Abdullah), then Research Director of the ruling party in Singapore. Public funds supported the work of finding those qualified, organizing and editing materials, and carrying out necessary translations. Those who gave their time, experience, money, and most of all their dedication, gave without it being possible to demonstrate that this endeavour would ever have a meaningful conclusion. To those scattered many belongs our gratitude. After two years of work, the realiz.ation of the overwhelming need for further research into other aspects of the society was such that a blueprint of a permanent research institute was drawn up by Professor Fatimi and this writer. This conceptualization was shown to H. H. Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan on his visit to Singapore, and it was he who gave a minimal grant to enable us legally to establish the Malaysian Sociological Research Institute. The signatories ,to the Memorandum and Articles of Association were: the late Tan Sri Dr. Haji Zainal Abidin bin Ahmad (ZA'BA), the first Chairman; . Xl

PUBLISHER'S NCJl'E

the late Dato' Sir Mahmud bin Mat, the first Vice Chairman;

the late Nazir Mallal, the first Honourary Treasurer; Alijab (Shirle) Gordon, Honorary Secretary, who was appointed Chainnan in 1989; Professor S. Q. Fatimi, one of the initial members of the Board of Governors;

Dr. Quah Quee Guan; Dr. Ho Yuen, who later served in Professor Fatimi's place on the Board of Governors and who was Chainnan from 1961 and until 1989. MSRI, a non-profit organization, was inaugurated on November 27, 1959, with Prince Sadruddin generously agreeing to serve as its Patron. The Objects of MSRI are: (a) To analyse the existing cultures of Malaysia and Malaya in particular in order to determine both their essential character and their ultimate objectives. (b) To contribute towards the crystallization of Malayan consciousness through a discovery of the factors of unity in the national life as manifest in the cultures of Malaya in their continuous stream. (c) To encourage the development of a functioning intelligentzia within the Malayan context. (d) To preserve and consolidate the national heritage in such form as it may exist. (e) As a part of object (a) above to research into the phenomenon of lsllm in Malaya and its impact on the plural society. (f) As a part of object (e) above to carry on, further the pwpose, the intent and the subjects dealt with in the project 'Islam in Malaya'. (g) To foster and encourage the research of any intellectual of this country within the scope and not contrary to the direction of the Institute as set forth above, and the Institute shall retain the copyright thereof. (h) As part of the objects stated above, to set up a Scholarship/Fellowship Fund to give scholarships and/or fellowships to people considered suitable material in order to enable them to further their research or studies in the manner and according to the continuous direction of the

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PUBLISHER •s NOTE

Institute. They shall be responsible to the Institute for any research or studies which they shall embark upon, and the Institute shall retain all rights thereto including full copyright to all such works. Such studies do not necessarily mean a study or study course in a recognized Institution. (i) To foster and/or publish any work, in any language, the Institute deems of national value, and the Institute shall retain the copyright thereof. (j) To foster the use of Malay as the National Language in the additional publications of the Institute. (k) To disseminate the work of the Institute among the masses and to bring awareness to and encourage knowledge of its objects and its work. (1) For the purpose of carrying out the objects stated above to establish under the Institute a full research and reference library. (m) To receive, purchase, hire or build premises and all equipment necessary for publication in accordance with the objects set out above. (n) To receive, purchase, hire or build premises to house the Institute and/or lodge research workers in an atmosphere congenial to research. (o) To take such steps by personal or written appeals, public meetings or otherwise, as may from time to time be deemed expedient for the purpose of procuring contributions to the funds of the Institute in the shape of donations, annual subscription or otherwise. We who fonned this peoples' research organization did so with the conviction that the demonstrable need for self-critical social research would bring to this 'paper-institute' the necessary finance to support the work needed to be done. But this was not to be. We then convinced ourselves that if with no funding we nevertheless persevered and brought out published work that this would surely bring financial support. But this also was not to be. We struggled with practically no paid staff and no publication funding and produced our original research in books, /ntisari (Research Journal of Wider Malaysia), Benih (Seed, our National Language Tabloid for secondary school students), and yet we couldn't solve the problem! Pandita Za'ba had said. 'My people believe in buildings.' We had rejected this priority. We were proven wrong. In 1971, facing extinction, no longer with a piece of earth on which to squa'7 we stopped xiii

PUBLISHER'S NorE

our work to concentrate all our efforts on funding, to build a strong financial base once and for all. In that year, we completed a Feasibility • Report for the building of Wisma Intisari (The Home of Intisari) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This Malaysian three million dollar building complex, as costed in 1973, would have provided MSRI with a centre for its work, lecture theatre, research library and reading room, and was to have included office space for rental to ensure a guaranteed annual income to support the employment of permanent staff and multiple projects. The equipment, furnishings and library purchases at that time would have required another Malaysian one million dollars. The German charity, Brot fUr die Welt (Bread for the World) turned the world for us. They gave us a grant of DM 820,000 (M$7 l l ,306. l 2), which along with other smaller donations (Lee Foundation, M$77,379.69; Caritas lntemationalis, Rome, M$22,600.00; Anglican Church of Canada, MS 12,577.00; Dutch Bishops' Lenten Appeal, MS 8,474.71), enabled us to purchase 57,000 square feet of land at No 16 Jalan Pinang, Kuala Lumpur, which also had on it a large old house to serve as a temporary centre. But in 1974, the best laid plans ... went astray. Many were detained; the editor detained and banished. MSRI went into a long hibernation that only ended by the grace of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who brought the editor home again in 1982. But two years earlier in 1980, clearly unable to make ends meet, MSRI had sold that hard-earned land-base! No new research work has ever begun. We would only now honour our debt to the many who contributed their time to produce works such as this volume, which has languished in the dust. And may it be useful to those who would dare to face the multifacets of our Wider Malaysian religio-cultural inheritance. ALIJAH GORDON

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XIV

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research project on Islam in Malaya was financially supported as a unit. Many gave, and it is not possible to isolate which contributions supported the translation, editing, annotating and typing that went into this work. Thus our gratitude must go to all who generously contributed to the total project of which this book forms a part. Their names are listed at the back of this volume. For the work itself we must thank: Professor S. Q. Fatimi for requesting that Rinkes' work be translated into English; Mrs. H. M. (Jetti) Froger who, with a minimum of compensation, worked long and hard to translate the unusually difficult style of Rinkes' original and who then gave the Editor her time to check the translation against the original Dutch; Linda Tan Seng Huat, who gave up a vacation to checking and beginning the defining of terms; Mrs. G. W. Jameson, who with no compensation whatsoever reconstructed the literal and still awkward translation into a more readable English and who then, with the voluntary assistance of Mrs. G. Nihal Singh, checked the English version against the original Dutch; Dr. A. van Marie of the Koninklijk lnstituut voor de Tropen, Amsterdam, who answered queries and recommended the modernization of spellings and the extension of Rinkes' cryptic notes, which was then done by the ever willing Lois Kieffaber; Anis bin Tairan of Teachers Training College, Singapore, who kindly assisted Miss Kieffaber; the Librarians, University of Singapore, and especially Beda Lim formerly of the University of Malaya Library for his assistance to Miss Kieffaber with her preliminary Bibliography; Lois Kieffaber, herself, for her constant loyalty to the work; Mrs. Ruth Daroesman, formerly of the Economic Research Centre, University of Singapore, for her willingness to answer further queries on the Dutch text; Dr. S. Nieuwolt, formerly of the Geography Department, University of Singapore, who patiently gave considerable time that the Editor might again check galley proofs of the translation against the original Dutch text; Dr. Amin Sweeney, who with his ever present smile, answered further questions on the translation; S. V. Perumal for his assistance to the Editor in the preparation of the Bibliography and the compilation of the Glossary of Terms; to the ever reliable Raymond Tan, who typed the Glossary of Terms, and Bibliography; to Professor Elmer H. Douglas, who kindly verified the 'Arabic found in the text; to Shakib G. T. Gunn for his willing assistance; Tan Choon Ghee, Penang artist, who from the very poor

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

photographs included with Rinkes' original text managed to produce the sketches included here; Mrs. Judy Berry who read proofs and typed endless queries; the Koninklijk lnstituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde of The Hague, Netherlands, who supplied the photograph of Rinkes; the Lembaga Kebudajaan Indonesia, who held the copyright, for pennission to translate and publish this work, originally printed in six parts in 1ijdschrift voor lndische Taal-, I.and- en Volkenkunde (Journal of Indonesian Philology, Geography and Ethnology); and to dear Fred Zimmennann, our original printer, who personally cared for the book - to all our deep appreciation. Finally, it must be said that without Professor Dr. G. W. J. Drewes, this work could never have been completed. It was only Professor Drewes' continuing generosity in settling our far too many doubts that allowed us to go on. How can one adequately thank such goodness? Perhaps only by using and thus appreciating the many notes that allow this book to be understood by those unfamiliar with Java, for more often than not these elaborations are from his faultless pen. Professor Drewes also kindly translated from Javanese into English some particularly difficult passages, where Rinkes himself doubted the validity of his own translations. The final Bibliography is again through Professor Drewes' co-operation. Lastly, it was at the Editor's request that Professor Drewes wrote the most valuable Introduction: "D. A. Rinkes: A Note on His Life and Work." We are, indeed, beholden to this eminent scholar, who gave so freely of himself where others of lesser accomplishment hesitated: Hutang emas dapat dibayar Hutang budi dibawa mati Debts in gold may be settled by payment;

debts in wisdom are carried to the Hereafter As explained in the Publisher's Note, MSRI's work was interrupted for one generation, and sadly our Professor Drewes is now gone. My grateful thanks to those who helped resurrect and finish this work: Haji Ibrahim Ismail of the University of Malaya Library; Mrs. Caroline M. Wiedenhof, Second Secretary of the Netherlands Embassy, Kuala Lumpur (and Mr. Atok Ilhan for this arrangement); Professor Ahmad Ali Hanesh; Dr. Willem van der Molen; Professor Dr. Ahmat Adam; Gouri Subramaniam, Personal Assistant to the Editor; and Kay Lyons who prepared the initial Index and who tolerated endless calls for opinions on the English. At last it was Professor Dr. M. C. Ricklefs who advised on spellings of names, polished and made the Index more

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

intelligible and responded to innumerable queries on the text. May God reward them, each and every one. I would apologize for any and all failings that still exist. It was the words of the late sympathetic Professor C. Hooykaas in relation to another work: "don't let better be the enemy of good" that finally pushed me to finish the book despite my all too appropriate feelings of inadequacy.

ALUAH GORDON

Ma la yudraku kulluh,

la yutraku kulluh That which is not attained completely, is not to be left out completely.

.. xvu

EDITOR'S NOTE

This book is a translation of a series of six articles by D. A. Rinkes, entitled "De Heiligen van Java" (The Saints of Java), which appeared in Dutch in the Journal 1ijdschrift voor lndische Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde during the years 1910-1913. "De maqam van Sjech 'Abdoelmoe):lji", which appeared in Vol. 52 (1910), pp. 556--574, has become Chapter I, '7he Makam of Shaikh Abdulmuhyi". The "Aanhangsel" (Appendix) to this article (pp. 575589) follows Chapter VI. "Seh Siti djenar voor de inquisitie" from Vol. 53 ( 1911 ), pp. 17-56, appears as Chapter II, "Sch Siti Jenar Facing the Inquisition". "Soenan Geseng", Vol. 53 ( 1911 ), pp. 269-293, appears as Chapter III, "Sunan Geseng". A postscript, "Toelichtingen en Verbeteringen" (Elucidations and Corrections), pp. 294-300, gave further information on the first two articles. That which pertains to the earlier article on Abdulmuhyi appears at the end of Chapter I, and that portion relevant to the second article has been incorporated into the footnotes of Chapter II. "Ki Pan4an arang te Tembajat" from Vol. 53 (1911), pp. 435-510, has become Chapter IV, "Ki Pan4an Arang at Tembayat". "Pangeran Panggoeng, zijne honden en bet wajangspel" from Vol. 54 (1912), pp. 135-169, appears as Chapter V, "Pangeran Panggung: His Dogs and the Wayang". "Het graf te Pamlaten en de Hollandsche heerschappij", Vol. 55 (1913), pp. 1-41, appears as Chapter VI, "The Grave at Pamlaten . and the Dutch Rule". In his fourth, fifth and sixth articles, Rinkes included extensive appendices of romanized Javanese texts. These have not been included; however, stencilled copies are available from the publisher, Malaysian Sociological Research Institute. A list of those texts is found as an appendix. It must be remembered that Rinkes was writing for a rather select group, Dutch-reading scholars on Indonesia. He assumes on the part of

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EDITOR'S NOTE

the readers: a familiarity with the relevant languages (Javanese, Malay, Sanskrit, and )\rabic); geographical knowledge of Java; and an awareness of Dutch sources in this field of study. Thus he did not feel the necessity to define most of the non-Dutch words, an understanding of which is indispensable for comprehension of the text. Further, he so abbreviated his references that they were unusable to other than scholars familiar with the subject. We have attempted to define concepts and to supply meanings of non-English words. Footnotes have been vastly expanded, and Abbreviations are explained and precede the Bibliography, which we have added. The Dutch spellings of Malay and Javanese words used by Rinlces and his contemporaries have been modernized, and ehas been added to assist in pronounciation. Language authorities in Peninsular Malaya and Indonesia adopted different methods of romanization in the past, and we employed the 'English' method of modernization used in Malaya prior to the more recent romanization system. Thus oe becomes u, dj j, tj ch, etc. The spellings of titles of published works, however, have not been changed. Javanese or Malay spellings of words of 'Arabic origin are retained in the text, for the words are now as much Javanese or Malay as words of Latin origin are English, but where Rink.es treats of the derivation or meaning of such words, 'Arabic transliterations with appropriate diacritical marks are given. The copyright for the Tljdschrift voor lndische Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde belonged to what became the Lembaga Kebudajaan Indonesia (Institute for Indonesian Culture). When the copyright still obtained, the Lembaga kindly permitted us to translate and publish this work with the request that copies be given to fifty Indonesian universities and centres of higher learning.

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ALIJAH GORDON

xx

SKETCHES AND MAP

Adjoining Chapter I I II

The Masjid at Kampung Pamijahan (Saparwadi) The Steps Up to the Grave of Shaikh Abdulmuhyi

m

The Entrance to Shaikh Abdulmuhyi's Grave

IV

Within the Enclosure Around Shaikh Abdulmuhyi's Grave

Adjoining Chapter IV V VI VII

The Gapura P~ngrantungan at Sunan Tembayat's Grave The Gapura Panemut at Sunan Tembayat's Grave The Gapura Pamenchar at Sunan Tembayat's Grave (Original Photograph) Sketch Map of 'I!mbayat and Environs

The six sepia sketches were done by Penang artist Tan Choon Ghee from the plates in the Dutch original.

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XXI

J

A

Introduction D.A.RINKES:

A Note on His Life and Work

D

ouwe Adolf Rinkes was born at Joure, in the province of Friesland (Netherlands), on November 8, 1878. He was of true Frisian stock, both his father and his mother, Minke Minderts Hoekstra, being Frisian. In the small town of Joure, the centre of the municipality of Haskerland, the Rinkes family had lived for generations. Jan Jans Rinkes, the great-grandfather of D. A. Rinkes, was a well-to-do comdealer. His son lnne Jans, D. A. Rinkes' grandfather, became burgomaster of Haskerland. In addition to a commercial spirit and administrative capacity, other talents showed in the family. The younger brother of grandfather Inne Jans, Simke Heerts Rinkes, was a Latinist of repute, who, after completing his study of the classics at the University of Leiden with a thesis on Cicero's Oratio prima in Catilinam, was nominated vice-principal of the grammer-school at Arnhem... His untimely death at the age of 36 put an end to a very .. prorrus1ng career. D. A. Rinkes' father, Jan Innes Rinkes, was again a man of business, but Douwe, the second son, who became the eldest child in a family of five after the death of the first-born at a tender age, did not follow in his father's footsteps. After attending the secondary school at Sneek, a small town near the Frisian lakes, famous as a yachting centre, he bade farewell to his native soil and moved to Wageningen to continue his studies at the School of Agriculture and Forestry. This school, established in 1874, afterwards ( 1917) developed into the present Agricultural University of Wageningen. At the end of the two years' course, Rinkes passed the obligatory government examination in the colonial section of the school (1898) and was certificated in tropical agriculture. In the summer and autumn of that year, he did the last part of his military service as a sergeant in the reserve, and in February, 1899, he went to Java, on his own account, to try his fortune outside the Netherlands, like so many of his fellowstudents. His first post in the Netherlands-Indies was that of assistant at

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NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

the Botanical Gardens at Buitenzorg (now Bogor), where he was put in charge of the demonstration fields designed to illustrate the cultivation of market-crops to the indigenous population. Apparently, a career in the Netherlands Indies Civil Service was more attractive to him than his initial occupation, in spite of the fact that at the beginning of this century the supply of candidates for this overrated department of colonial administration was far in excess of the demand. In consequence of this, the training college for the Civil Service in Holland, the 'Indische Instelling' at Delft, had closed its doors. Its colonial counterp~ however, had continued to function, and it was to this school, the so-called 'Section B' of the Gymnasium Willem 111 1 at Batavia (Jakarta), that Rinlces went to prepare for his prospective vocation. His aspirations seemed to be attained when, in October, 1903, he was appointed to the Civil Service in the rank of 'adspirant controleur' (junior district officer) and stationed at Korinchi, then in the territory 'West Coast of Sumatra'. 2 But things took a different tum. His stay there was short; within a year he was transferred to Java, where for a few months he served with the same rank in the western part of the island, the Preanger Regencies. At the beginning of 1905, he had to tender his resignation because of illness and was temporarily appointed to the 'Algemene Secretarie', the central office of the Netherlands Indies government at Buitenzorg (Bogor), where the Governor-General had his residence. Shortly afterwards, he was granted two years' sickleave and returned to Holland. It can hardly be doubted that the administrative function to which he had so aspired that he had been willing to return to school for a period of three years had fallen short of his expectations. Nevertheless, these years had not been unfruitful. The tuition he had received at 'Section B' had shown him where his real interest lay. This is apparent from the preface to his thesis, where Rinkes voices his feelings of indebtedness and gratitude to his masters of 'Section B' for their excellent teaching "which engendered my interest in Oriental languages and literature and everything connected therewith". Among these teachers, Dr. Hazeu and Dr. van Ronkel are named. Dr. Hazeu, an amiable and unassuming man of great ability, who afterwards became I. Despite its lofty name, this 'gymnasium' (in Dutch, grammar-school) was a secondary school, without Latin and Greek. 2. Here, he wrote his first paper, Een p/echtigheid in Korintji, which appeared in Weelcblad voor lndie, Surabaya, 1904, No. 23, pp. 303-6. In 1906, Jambi and Korinchi were made into one residency, Jambi .

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XXIV

INTRODUCTION

Professor of Javanese at Leiden, was in charge of instruction in Javanese. He was an eminent Javanist and the author of a still valuable synoptical work on the Javanese theatre and of several papers on Javanese literature and folklore, which bear testimony to his exact knowledge and scientific approach. He had an intimate knowledge of the Javanese world; his relations with it were manifold, and with the Javanese literati of the Central-Javanese principalities he maintained friendly intercourse. Small wonder that his lessons roused the interest of those of his pupils who were alive to the importance of a thorough knowledge and understanding of indigenous life and culture. Dr. van Ronkel's specialization was Malay language and literature. His achievements in this field are well-known and need not be mentioned here. An exhaustive list of his publications was printed in Bingkisan Budi, the memorial volume offered to him on the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1950. During the time when Rinkes was among his audience, the teaching of Islamic law and institutions had also fallen to his task. A complete text of van Ronkel's lectures on these subjects during the years 1899-1904, comprising 4 7 5 pages in manuscript, is in the possession of the Oosters Instituut at Leiden. From these lectures, it is apparent that he treated the subjects in question in a comprehensive way. Moreover, the influence of Snouck Hurgronje, whose efforts had placed the study of Islamic law on a new footing and whose masterly work on the Achehnese had appeared a few years before, shows ever and anon. In the course of the lessons, Snouck Hurgronje's name would have come up frequently, and many a time the importance of his scientific work in the domain of Islamic studies would have been brought to the fore. Bearing in mind van Ronkel's lifelong interest in Malay literature and the numerous collections of Malay manuscripts which he catalogued, one may be sure that in connection with the origin of Indonesian Islam, the source of many a literary work in Malay must have been dealt with. I possess a little duodecimo book, presented to me by Rinkes on his return to Europe in 1927. It is the Bibliotheque Nationale edition of Vaugelas' French translation of the History of Alexander the Great by Quintus Curtius, published in three parts, 1897-1902. On the fly-leaf it bears Rinkes' signature, with the addition '0.1. ambtenaar, Buitenzorg', indicating that he must have acquired this book in 1905. It was a rather unlikely book to appeal to an ailing officeclerk, unless he had a special interest in the story of the great Alexander. Is it too hazardous a conjecture that it was his interest in the Malay version of the romance of Alexander that made him buy it? An interest provoked by van Ronkel's lessons in Malay literature? XXV

NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

However this may have been, Rinkes' interest in Indonesian languages and literature had been roused to such an extent that after the two years spent in the Civil Service, he resolved to take the shortest cut to their study and on the highest level attainable, viz., at the University of Leiden, where in 1871 the study of these languages had been added to the curriculum of the Literary Faculty and a doctor's degree could be taken.

Shortcuts are sometimes longest and often arduous in the extreme. In Rinkes' case, the last proved very true. Since he had not attended a grammar-school, he could not sit for any examination in the Literary Faculty until he had acquired his matriculation certificate. This meant that before going to Leiden, he had to master Latin and Greek in order to prepare for the matriculation examination in the shortest possible time. It was by good luck that he found two very competent and experienced teachers in Dr. Sonnani, principal of the grammar-school at Nijmegen, who in later years became widely known for his muchused Dutch adaptation of Kaegi's Greek grammar, and Dr. van Konijnenburg, vice-principal of the same school. Coached by these two old hands at the trade, he was able to sit for his matriculation after only one year's study, and in the autumn of 1906 the way to the university lay open before him. This success proves Rinkes' intellectual capacities, energy and zeal, the more so when one takes into account that he was home on sick-leave. But another conclusive proof was still to follow. It is one of the peculiarities of the Indonesian languages programme of the Dutch universities that it opens with a three-year preparatory course in 'Arabic, Sanskrit, Islam and the cultural history of India. Experience shows that this is a hard nut to crack, and that the intricacies of ~abic and Sanskrit grammar are more easily mastered by young people fresh from the grammar-school than by older students. Rinkes, a public servant on leave, was pressed for time. Of his two years' leave, one had already been spent in preparing for his matriculation, so he could not afford to do this part of the programme at a more leisurely pace than his study of Latin and Greek. On the contrary, he could not even afford to keep in step with the ordinary student, but had to quicken his pace and try to pass the 'candidaats' -examination in a shorter time than that taken by other students. Fortunately, his professors appreciated his difficulty, and from the beginning he did not find them lacking in willingness to come to his aid. Each in his own way extended a helping hand to this stubborn Frisian, who attempted to achieve the well-nigh impossible and pursued his object with the dogged perseverance for which his race is noted. XXVI

INTRODUCTION

At that time, Sanskrit and the cultural history of India were taught by Professor Speyer, who had filled the vacancy left by the retirement of H. Kem, the most prominent linguist in the Netherlands in the latter part of the 19th century. Speyer was the author of a book on Vedic and Sanskrit syntax, but he was also well-versed in Indian story-literature. He had published an English translation of the Jatakamtilil, the 'garland of birth-stories' of the Buddha, and edited the text of the Avaddnafataka, a 'century of edifying tales' belonging to the Hinayana. His interest in Indonesia was limited to the domain of archaeology; the sculptural rendering of Buddhist tales on various ancient monuments had drawn his attention towards the historical remains of Buddhism in Java. In the preface to his thesis already quoted, Rinkes speaks very highly of Speyer's lucid style of teaching and his unfailing readiness to help. Speyer's almost paternal attitude towards his pupils must have impressed him deeply, as it did others, for he strikes a personal note and adds: "You were the first to render actual help, to alleviate my disadvantages, to spare your pupil all useless labour. I know that without your aid, I would not have succeeded; without your subtle cooperation, the courage to hold on would have failed me." Apparently, Speyer's friendliness served as an antidote to the despondency which from time to time must have come over him when, urged on by the strict demands of his other professor, Snouck Hurgronje, he passed in review the obstacles which he still had to sunnount before reaching his goal. For, in contradistinction to Rinkes' attachment to Speyer, his relationship with Snouck Hurgronje, the professor of 'Arabic and Islamic studies, seems to have been of a different character. Rinkes professes his profound reverence for Snouck Hurgronje's immense learning; his heartfelt gratitude for the lavish way in which he imparted his knowledge; his deep respect for his painstaking accuracy. But it is evident that his awe of Snouck Hurgronje's powerful personality precluded wanner feelings. He was, however, not overawed to the extent that there was no place left for criticism, and he even vented this criticism in his thesis by observing of Snouck Hurgronje's method of teaching that "perhaps in some respects it might have been less discouraging, at least to me": a candid statement not comparing unfavourably with the unqualified eulogies in commendation of their professors which others deem obligatory on such occasions. This sign of discontent does not alter the fact that Rinkes was fully aware of the valuable, even indispensable, assistance which Snouck Hurgronje had lent him in other respects. For instance, it was only by his influence with the Colonial Office that Rink.es' leave was extended

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XXVII

NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

to a period of four and a half years, notwithstanding the inauspicious precedent of van Ophuijsen, then professor of Malay at Leiden, to whom, in similar circumstances eleven years earlier, no extension of leave had been granted. Rinkes passed his first examination in February 1908; and then had about two years left for his final ( 'doctoraal' -) examination and the writing of his thesis. Thanks to the excellent tuition in Javanese and Malay, which he had received at 'Section 8', and also to his subsequent practice of Indonesian languages in the Civil Service, this final examination, comprising Javanese, Malay and Indonesian linguistics, proved not unduly difficult. He mentions the pleasant hours spent with Professor van Ophuijsen, a talented self-taught man, well up in Malay and Batak, but dismisses Vreede, the professor of Javanese (d. 1908), with a cursory remark and regrets that the preparation of his thesis did not leave him the time to attend the lectures of Vreede's successor, Professor Jonker who, besides being a Javanist, had written a number of fundamental works on some languages of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Considering that Rinkes passed his final examination in January, 1909, only a few days after Professor Jonker had given his inaugural address, and had to complete his thesis within the same year, this excuse is reasonable enough. In fact, he seems to have been pretty well thrown upon his own resources, as far as Javanese was concerned. For his thesis, Rinkes turned again to Snouck Hurgronje who, as he says in the preface to this work, from the beginning was likely to have most to do with his academic study. From this statement, one may infer that from the outset Rinkes intended to direct his attention chiefly towards Indonesian Islam and religious literature. His aspiration tallied happily with Snouck Hurgronje's wish to have the materials collected by himself in this field put to scientific use. So Rinkes became the first of those students who took their degrees with Snouck Hurgronje by utilizing his rich collection of manuscripts for their doctoral dissertations on subjects pertaining to Indonesian Islam. Snouck Hurgronje, than whom no better guide to the contents of these manuscripts could be found, had only three years before returned from Indonesia, where he had been living for seventeen years. Already famous as an Islamist before he went to Indonesia - his book on Makka, 3 written after his stay there in 1885, had brought him 3. Me/cka, 2 Volumes with Pictorial Atlas, 1888-1889. The second volume was translated from the original Gcnnan into English by J. H. Monahan and published in 1931 as Meklca in the latter part of the 19th century: Daily Life, Customs and Leaming. XXVlll

INTRODUCTION

international renown - he had planned initially to travel in Indonesia for two years to pursue his aim of studying the significance of the Muslim faith in the lives of its adherents in a peripheral area of the Islamic world. But, instead of returning to Leiden where a professorship was awaiting him, he had entered the service of the then Netherlands Indies Government as Adviser for Arab and Islamic Affairs. 4 It goes without saying that during the fifteen years of his official career in the Indies he had every opportunity of observing the religious behaviour of the population and, through his close association with religious circles, he became familiar with the intimate side of Indonesian devotional life, which is apt to escape the notice of the casual observer. Now Snouck Hurgronje had always stressed that in Islam it is law and doctrine and mysticism together which constitute sacred learning. But his observation of Indonesian Islam and his research into its historical development had made it clear that as regards the importance of each of these components in religious life, the Indonesians had always valued right thinking far more highly than the fulfilment of the Law. In their opinion, however, right thinking was not so much thinking along the lines of scholastic theology as speculative philosophy about the Unique Being and its mysteries, as set forth in the writings of authors whose orthodoxy was open to question. Furthermore, the mystic fraternities, with their various ways of attaining unity with the Supreme Being, had for centuries occupied a large place in their religious education and practice. So mysticism, orthodox as well as heretical, had spread everywhere and, in its most popular form, had become a receptacle where degraded remnants of authentic mystic conceptions mingled with scraps of pre-Islamic lore and ancient magic. This situation is clearly reflected in many of the manuscripts gathered by Snouck Hurgronje in Java and Sumatra. Being mostly of the type of note-books wherein pupils of religious teachers set down everything that had interested them in the course of the lessons received, they represent faithfully what kind of instruction was given and which subjects were commonly treated. Moreover, many a page of these manuscripts is filled with the customary {llriqat matter of litanies, 4. In this capacity, he wrote the bulk of his official recommendations, now published in three volumes as Ambteliju Adviezen van C. Snouck Hurgronje, ed. by E. Go~ and C. Adriaanse (State Historical Publications, small series 33-35, The Hague. 1957-1965).

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XXIX

NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

prayers and diki,t formulas, as passed down to their pupils by teachers authorized to transmit the doctrines and practices of the various fraternities which flourished in Indonesia. Rinkes directed his attention to the oldest among these, viz., the ShaJJiriyya Tariqa. The subject he chose for his doctoral dissertation had already been outlined by Snouck Hurgronje in his capital work on the Achehnese. In the second volume of this book, a number of pages (14--20) are dedicated to "a remarkable Malay", AbdurRa'uf ('AbdurRa'iif] of Singkel by name, but known in Acheh as T~ngku di Kuala, since his tomb is situated near the kuala or mouth of the Acheh River. This AbdurRa'uf studied Muslim theology in Arabia for many years and with many teachers, but his spiritual guide and teacher in the way of God was Abmad Qmhishi of Madina (d. 1661), who initiated him into the ShaJJariyya fraternity. Ahmad Qushishi had many Indonesian pupils. As observed by Snouck Hurgronje (op. cit., II, p. 10 note 1), the salasilahs (i.e. spiritual genealogical tables, the 'chains' of mystic tradition) of the most celebrated mystics in the Archipelago up to about 1850 generally have as their starting-point this Al)mad Qushashi of Madina who, in his tum, counted many teachers of Indian descent among his spiritual ancestors. 5 Whereas most of these Indonesian pupils of Abmad Qushish1 have sunk into oblivion, AbdurRa'uf has provided posterity with a short account of his life as a scholar, added to his book 'Umdat al-mu'!ajin ila suliik maslak al-mufria111 (Support of those desirous to walk in the way of the 'solitaries'). Now, Rinkes set himself the task of giving a more elaborate description of AbdurRa' uf 's training and tutorial activities, first, passing in review the long list of his teachers and gleaning further particulars from his own works, and secondly, analysing AbdurRa'uf's 'Umdat. The chief contents of this book are directions for practising the various methods of dikir approved of by the pious men of yore. The last chapter, however, is a discourse on the ethics of the conscientious mystic, in which a number of precepts respecting moral conduct, abstracted from the ethical literature of Islamic mysticism, are summed up.

tEd. Note: .ariqa: •way', mystics path to the Real; dikir, dzik.r: •remembrance' of God; see Glossary. 5. As, for instance, the famous Indian saint Mutaammad al-Ghawth (died 1562), whose tomb at Gwalior (Central India). built during the reign of Akbar, is one of the oldest masterpieces of Mughal architecture in India. Muflammad al-Ghawth is the author of a well-known manual of Sha~yya mystic practice called Al-Jawahir al-lchamsa (The Five Jewels).

XXX

INTRODUCTION

Finally, Rinkes discussed shortly the propagation of the Shattariyya Tarlqa in Java. concluding with an outline of some of the subjects commonly dealt with in the Javanese note-books, which he had examined, primarily the doctrine of the Seven Grades (martabat tujuh), to the spread of which Mu}:tammad b. Fa(j] Allah al-BurhinpiirT's AlTulfa al-mursala ilii 'l-nabi (written in 1590) seems to have contributed considerably.6 On examining afresh the salasilahs of the Shattariyya Order, as given in the Javanese notebooks, Rinkes found ample conftrmation of Snouck Hurgronje's statement that in many cases the Javanese had become acquainted with this Order through the intermediary of AbdurRa'uf. For AbdurRa'uf had imparted his knowledge to a certain Abdulmuhyi, who afterwards settled in the kampung of Saparwadi, now called Pamijahan, in the neighbourhood of Parakan Honje, to the south of Tasikmalaya (Preanger Regencies), and it is this Abdulmuhyi who figures as the first Javanese transmitter in many genealogical lists. His tomb at Pamijahan, on the slope of a hill outside the hamle~ is held in high veneration and attracts many pilgrims from Eastern Preanger. It is little wonder that the first item on Rinkes' scientific programme after his return to Java in January, 1910, was a visit to Pamijahan, which village could be easily reached from Batavia (Jakarta), where he had been appointed Javanese master at the selfsame 'Section B' of his early training. As a result of this visit, he wrote his first paper on the "Saints of Java" published in the 1ijdschrift of the Batavia Society. Unlike the articles which foil owed, this one is based entirely on oral information gathered on the spot. It may be considered as a sequel to his doctoral dissertation and, at the same time, as an hors d'oeuvre to the series of papers which he had planned to write on the Wali Sanga, the 'Nine Saints' of Javanese tradition. Most unfortunately, this series, after an auspicious start with the significant story of Seh Siti Jenar, came to an abrupt end when only four out of the 'Nine Saints' had been dealt with. 7 These saints are: Seh Siti Jenar, buried at Pamlaten, . near Cherbon; Sunan Ges!ng, the Saint of Ke4u; 6. Cf. A. H. Johns, "Malay Sufism... in JMBRAS, Vol. XXX, Part 2 (Aug. 1957), and my remarks in Bijdragen (see Abbreviations], Vol. 115 (1959), p. 281-304. 7. It seems that a wide divergence of opinion with the editor of the Trjdschrift concerning the necessity of the long annexes, with illustrative fragments from Javanese manuscripts, was at the hcan of Rinkes' decision to discontinue the series: a most regrettable decision. to which he clung even in later years when continuation would have been welcomed.

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XXX1

NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

Sunan Bayat, alias Ki Pan(jan Arang, buried at Tembayat, in the neighbourhood of Klaten, Central Java; Pangeran Panggung, the Saint of Tegal. There are no indications as to who were still to follow, and it would be difficult to prognosticate in which way Rinkes would have brought this series to completion, since in Javanese tradition there is no certainty as to which Saints are to be reckoned as the sacred nine and which are not. For, when all the famous Saints of yore are passed in review, their number is far greater than nine. For instance, in the Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-lndie, 2nd edition, Vol. II, p. 90, fifteen saints are mentioned by name, among whom Maulana Maghribi, Sunan Bonang, Sunan Girl, Sunan Ngampel, Sunan Gunung Jati, Sunan Kudus, Sunan Muria, Sunan Drajat and Sunan Kali Jaga are said to constitute the Wali Sanga. Elsewhere, we find different statements. 8 Apparently, it is difficult to draw the line between the Wali Sanga and the Saints of primarily local importance, whose tombs are held in veneration by the inhabitants of more or less restricted areas. To be sure, the (sometimes alleged) tombs of the Wali Sanga are also held in high esteem by the population of the districts where they are situated but, nevertheless, to belong to the corporation of the Nine Saints means to belong to a higher category than that of the local Saints, since these nine holy men, all of them contemporaries, according to legend are said to have been of universal importance to the lslamization of Java. Not only, as legend would have it, were they instrumental in bringing about the conversion to Islam, but they mark the beginning of a new era in Javanese history and culture, the Jaman Kuwalen (Era of the Saints), which is subsequent to the Jaman Buda, the Hindu-Javanese period. 9

8. e.g.. Babad Tjirbon. Verhandelingen [see Abbreviations], Vol. LDC ( 1911 ). Canto XXIIl: Maulini Maghribi, Sunan Bonang. Sunan Giri, Sunan Gunung Jati, Sunan Kudus. Sunan Drajat, Pangeran Majagung, Seh Ben~ong, Sch Lemah Abang (= Siti Jenar); Cod. Or. Leiden no. 7406, a manuscript from W. Java. p. 11: Pangeran Bonang, Pangeran Majagung, Pangeran Ch!rbon, Seh Umah Abang, Seh Ben~ong, Maulana Maghribi, Sunan Ampel Denta (= Sunan Ngampel), Sunan Giri, Sunan Kali Jaga. 9. In this connection, it may be remarked that nine was a sacred number in the classificatory system of pre-Islamic days, as it still is in Bali; so it seems that the number of the Saints did not result from addition, but is a survival of older conceptions concerning the powers presiding over the cosmic order and human life and efforts. Should this supposition be valid, the difficulty of giving an exact enumeration of the Wali Sanga would be understandable .

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XXXll

INTRODUCTION

Therefore, it is a great pity that the series was interrupted before those Walis had been dealt with, who from various points of view are more interesting. Rinkes' idea of gathering oral tradition in loco and publishing the data collected in this way, together with those culled from printed sources and manuscripts - though excellent in itself must have influenced the order of publication, since this order became dependent on his more or less haphazard visits to the tombs. Apparently, at that time, Rinkes had no occasion to visit the southern part of central Java, the domain of Sunan Kali Jaga, or the coastal area of Java, where the tombs of famous saints like Maulini Maghribi, Sunan Girl, Sunan Ngampel and Sunan Bonang are situated, so that the discussion of these had to be postponed. In consequence, we cannot but say that Rinkes' papers on the Saints of Java, valuable though they are, are still far from constituting a Javanese hagiology. Nevertheless, by opening up a new field of inquiry, he showed himself to be a man of marked initiative, which entitles him to our gratitude, the more so because it can hardly be doubted that subjects like mysticism and saint worship did not appeal very strongly to his predominantly practical mind. The Frisians are said to be a ratiocinative race (Frisia ratiocinatur). Sensible, perhaps, of the justness of this characterisation, Rinkes acknowledged, in the preface to his thesis already quoted before, that "although we Frisians are by no means 'wooden-minded literalists', 10 our soberness and inclination to pessimism do not predispose us particularly well to re-feeling the mystic emotions of other people, if these are couched in such mysterious jingles." Likewise, in his rendering of the miraculous stories about the Saints, from time to time, he cannot refrain from displaying his sceptical attitude, as if to stave off beforehand the imputation of believing himself the absurd things which only scientific interest brought him to relate. After the publication of his last paper on the Saints, Rinkes published nothing of importance on Indonesian Islam or Indonesian literature. This is not so remarkable when one keeps in mind the gradual increase of his duties, both official and non-official. In the course of 1910, Rinkes, though remaining Javanese master at 'Section 8', was appointed linguistic officer and seconded to the Adviser for

10. No doubt this expression was borrowed by Rinkes from D. B. Macdonal~ who in his Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitvtional Theory. p. 172, wrote of Ibn Karrlm that we must see in him "one of those wooden-minded literalists for whom a metaphor is a ridiculous lie if it cannot be taken in its external

meaning". XXXlll

NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

Native Affairs, Dr. Hazeu. His chief duties were to promote the publication of reading matter for the indigenous population and to organise circulating libraries. In 1911, he was relieved from teaching so th~ besides seeing four of his papers through the press, he had time left for editing the Babad Tjerbon 11 and for writing prefaces to a Javanese reader composed by Ki Padma Susastra 12 and to an index to the Javanese newspapers in the collection of the Batavia Society. 13 The publications last mentioned were promoted and supervised by himself, the former, because he was in urgent need of more modern reading matter for his Javanese lessons, the latter, because it was a prerequisite to the composing of a descriptive catalogue of the Javanese manuscripts in the library of the Batavia Society, as was the Javanese bibliography by Poerwasoewignja and Wirawangsa which appeared in two volumes, 1920-1921. 14 The text of the Babad Tjerbon, which he edited, was taken from a manuscript in the possession of the late Dr. J. L. A. Brandes, who had prepared an abstract of its contents and numerous notes to the text. On the death of this eminent Javanist, these were found among his papers and, as this Babad deals with the lives of many Saints, the edition of this posthumous work of Brandes was meat and drink to Rinkes. Noticing that there were divergent redactions of the text, which showed rather important differences, he even conceived the plan of publishing afterwards the results of his comparison of the variant readings. But this plan came to nothing, nor did Rinkes ever find the time to carry out the more ambitious project of editing that part of the Serat Kan4a which deals with the Islamization of Java.t5 When Brandes died (1904), two voluminous works were still in the course of publication, viz., van der Tuuk's Kawi-BalineeschNederlandsch Woordenboek of which Brandes was the editor, 16 and 11. Published in the v~rhandelingen Bat. Gen .• Vol. LDC ( 1911 ). The Sabad Tjirbon has not been translated into English (nor is it in Dutch). There is not even a complete and critical edition of it; the text edited by Dr. Rinkcs is only a fragment. 12. Javaansche Samenspraken, with an introduction by Dr. D. A. Rinkes, Batavia, 1911. This introduction contains biographical data concerning the author of these 'Javanese dialogues'. Ki Padma Susastta. 13. lnlwudsopgave der Javaansche Couranten in de Bibliotheek van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen by Raden Poerwasoewignj~ Batavia, 1911. 14. Pratilan kawontenaning boelcoe-boelcoe, etc., 2 vol., Batavia, 1920, 1921. 15. The prospective publication of this text is mentioned in 1ijdschrift Bat. Gen., Vol. LIV (1912). p. 139, note I. 16. Vol. I, 1897; Vol. II, 1899; Vol. Ill, 190 I.

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XXXIV

INTRODUCTION

Brandes' descriptive catalogue of the Javanese, Balinese and Sasak manuscripts which had belonged to van der Tuuk and were bequeathed by him to the Leiden University Library. 17 Rinkes undertook the thankless task of editing the fourth volume of van der Tuuk's magnum opus, so that in 1912, after an interval of eleven years since the publication of the third volume and eighteen years after the death of the author, this invaluable dictionary was at last complete. The other work had to wait until 1915, when the third volume appeared, and its publication was not completed until 1928, when Dr. Th. Pigeaud edited the fourth and last volume. For at the beginning of 1912, Rinkes had been temporarily appointed Deputy Adviser for Native Affairs to assist Dr. Hazeu who, in addition to his Advisership, had been put in charge of the Department of Education. About a year and a half afterwards, Rinkes became Adviser, whereas Hazeu remained at the head of the Department of Education. The post of Adviser was by no means a sinecure. It involved manifold and diverse duties, and what with the rise of the Sarekat Islam in the years 1910-1916 and the complications brought about by the First World War, Rinkes' term of office ( 1912-1916) was a very busy one. It is beyond the scope of this short biographical note to go into his activities in his advisory capacity. Suffice it to say that in order to follow closely the development of the Sarekat Islam, 18 he had to travel widely in Java. His findings were laid down in his reports to GovernorGeneral ldenburg, and these reports were not without their influence upon his policy with regard to this popular movement. 19 Since this policy was considered far too lenient by the majority of Europeans, 17. Beschrijving tkr Javaansche. BaliMesche en Sasaksche Handschriften, (found in the estate of Dr. H. N. van der Tuuk and bequeathed by him to the Library of Leiden University) Vol. I. 1901; Vol. Il, 1903. 18. Rinkes' view of this development was given in a short article by his hand in the Dutch weekly De Amste~r, Saturday, Oct. 14, 1916. 19. In ldenburg's secret cabinet-letter of July 2, 1913, No. 43/1 to the Minister for the Colonies, Rinkes' considerations are mentioned twice in a commendatory sense (Bescheitkn /Htreffetuk th vereeniging "Sare/cat Islam", Batavia, 1913, pp. 72, 77). As to Snouck Hurgronje's judgment on ldenburg's policy towards the Sarekat Islam, see his Verspreide Geschriften. IV, D, p. 410. A sketch of the genesis of the policy framed by ldenburg was given by (his grandson) F. L. Rutgers, ldenburg en de Sare/cat Islam in 1913, Amsterdam, 1939; see also Robert van Niel. The Emergence of the Modem Indonesian Elite, The Hague. 1960, pp. 95--7.

XXXV

NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

alarmed by the rapid growth of the Sarekat Islam and its sometimes rather crude signs of discontent with the existing order, Rinkes got his full share of the abuse showered upon the champions of a "weak-kneed ethical policy" by the colonial newspapers of those days. Fortunately, it was not in him to worry over such attacks and, in later years, when he was Head of Balai Pustaka (Volkslectuur), the well-known Government publishing house of vernacular literature, he even took a certain delight in conscientiously filing all criticisms written in the same strain which were directed against the institution that he had created and was fostering with so much care. The founding of Balai Pustaka was prompted by a more or less accidental development of the situation, rather than brought about by far-sighted planning. In December, 1914, Hazeu went on leave to Europe. When he came back in April, 1916, he did not return to the Department of Education but, for the time being, was put in charge of the Bureau of Native Affairs which was temporarily left without a Head on account of Rinkes' leave and subsequent voyage to Jiddah. He had been commissioned to go there by the Minister for the Colonies because of the precarious situation which had arisen among the Indonesian pilgrims who were stranded in Arabia owing to difficulties of transport and now were suffering from lack of money. There was nothing remarkable in this commission, for it stands to reason that the Adviser for Native Affairs, whose office had so much to do with the pilgrimage, was sent to tackle this job. Rinkes reported on the situation he had found in Jiddah and the measures he had taken and thereupon returned to Java, arriving at Batavia (Jakarta) on the 2nd of September, 1917, after a two months' voyage from Jiddah. During his absence, Hazeu was in control of the Bureau for Native Affairs, and since he was many years Rinkes' senior in service and had older claims to this post, the Government maintained him at the head of the Bureau as Commissioner for Native and Arab Affairs, whereas Rinkes was nominated Head of the newly created Kantoor voor de Volkslectuur or Balai Pustaka. Until that time, the publication of books in the more important vernacular languages had been the task of a commission (Commissie voor de Volkslectuur) made up of a restricted number of governmentnominated private persons and government officials who had a lilting for this kind of work and were willing to do it in addition to their professional duties. This commission, inaugurated in 1908, was affiliated to the Bureau of the Adviser for Native Affairs, who was its XXXVI

INTRODUCTION

first chairman. For this specific kind of work, he had one or two clerks at his disposal, so that his Bureau was the centre of these educational activities. As mentioned before, this item of the Adviser's manifold duties had been assigned to Rinkes on his appointment to the Bureau in 1912. From this year onward, he had been chainnan of the commission and had taken a very active part in its transactions. At firs~ the commission had directed its attention to the editing of more or less generally known legends and tales and of literature which would stimulate the taste for reading. It had books by European authors translated into Indonesian languages and also encouraged persons who showed an inclination to write fiction or travelogues to try their hand at writing. Although, after about ten years of steady labour, a number of books had been published, and not less than 700 circulating libraries had been founded, it could not be denied that the commission had had to work in a very roundabout way. Moreover, the printing of the books had to be done by private printing offices, whereas the marketing had to take place through the intermediary of the government store of schoolbooks which, when all is said and done, could only be called a very inefficient and cumbersome way of book-producing and bookselling. But now that Rinkes had become available to shoulder the work of Volkslectuur, exclusive of all other pursuits, the best expedient to concentrate and intensify the activities in this field was to transfer the authority and the prerogatives of the commission to an independent bureau under his direction. Equipped with a budget of its own, this bureau in due course could also talce in hand the sale and administration of the Vollcslectuur publications and, eventually, their printing at its own printing plant. Besides, it could attend to the task of regularly reviewing the Indonesian and Chinese-Malay20 press, a task hitherto performed as best it could by the Bureau of Native Affairs. With a scanty staff of lower personnel, Rinkes started on his way. But he was not born in a family of traders for nothing; he knew how to make the most of the public money allotted to this much-criticized institution, which constituted an entirely new effort in adult education. In a few years, he had gathered around him a competent staff of 20. In this context, 'Chinese-Malay press' means those newspapers which were edited by Chinese journalists on behalf of the Chinese population of Indonesia These papers were written in the peculiar variety of the Malay language which is called Chinese-Malay by European Malay scholars; hence the name. These papers were a category apart; therefore: Indonesian and Chinese-Malay press (of Indonesia) .

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NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

Indonesian writers and editors, translators and proof-readers. He organized a sales department and a store-house, spread a network of agencies all over the country, and founded well-nigh two thousand circulating libraries, in addition to those already existing. He even managed to set up a printing plant, housed -in a bamboo shed, at a considerable distance from his office. His long-cherished ideal of a complete publishing agency, inclusive of a printing plant under its own roof, materialised when the government printing office moved to a new building, and he could lay his hands on the abandoned premises. The spacious former composingroom, which could seat his numerous staff, was made into editorial and administrative offices, while an entirely new printing plant was constructed at the back of the building. No longer at the mercy of private printers, Rink.es could now carry out his plans of publishing periodicals in a number of Indonesian languages. In 1918, he had already launched an illustrated Malay monthly, Sri Poestaka, which was sold on subscription, but also sent to the libraries sponsored by Volkslectuur. This monthly was now followed by Pandji Poestalui ( 1923 ), initially an illustrated weekly, but soon brought out twice a week, and the Javanese weekly Kadjawen (1926), which after a short time was also published twice a week. Last, came the Sundanese weekly paper Parahiangan ( 1927), so that, including the weekly review of the Indonesian newspapers, every day a new issue of one of these periodicals went to the press. In the annual reports, which from 1922 onward were published regularly, one can follow the expansion of the bureau's activities after it had passed through the years of consolidation. In the first years, there was already a marked increased in output, owing to Rinkes' strenuous handling of the business. From 1908-1917, the commission had seen to the publication of about 280 books and pamphlets. In the first report, however, the total amount of books and pamphlets published until the end of 1922 is given as 770, an increase of about 500 in a period of five years. One of Rinkes' most successful ideas was the publication of an almanac, available in four languages: Javanese, Malay, Sundanese and Madurese. Fifty thousand copies of this most popular little book had already been sold in 1923, while in later years its sale mounted to I00,000. Considering the circumstances of those days, these numbers were stupendous. The ambulant bookstall was another bright idea of his. It consisted of a motor-van, the sides of which could be turned into show-cases. Manned by salesmen, whose voluble tongues warranted them an XXXVIIJ

INTRODUCTION

attentive audience at every village market, these vans penetrated into the interior, far outside the radius of activity covered by agents, and contributed a great deal to propagating the name of Balai Pustaka. The best propaganda for Balai Pu~taka, however, was the wide range of its publications. There was, in fact, something for everybody: editions of works belonging to ancient literature; translations from European fiction; manuals of vocational training; books on horticulture and fruit-growing, on infant care and education, on book-keeping and commerce; translations of acts and regulations intended for government servants, and so on. Considerable time and care must have been spent in contacting and stimulating prospective authors and translators and supervising their writings before publication could be taken in hand, but one also wonders at Rinlces' ingenuity in picking out new subjects every time. Though probably it was the other way round; whenever Rinkes happened to meet a man who could write on some subject with a certain competence, he collared him and prevailed upon him to take up the pen. It goes without saying that by making use of the Malay language for the treatment of so many subjects never treated before by Indonesian authors, Balai Pustaka was helpful in the modernisation of this language. Moreover, the Malay periodicals published by Balai Pustaka, being read everywhere, contributed to the spread of the language throughout the archipelago. Important, too, was that the Balai Pustaka was not averse to accepting tales and novels written in imitation of European models, but in which the scene was laid in an Indonesian environment. Since these novels usually dealt with problems of a social order, much discussed by the younger generation, some of them ran into several editions. Whatever their reception by the literati of those days, today they are considered the first specimens of modem style Indonesian fiction and, therefore, have found recognition even in circles which, from the very beginning, had looked askance at government-sponsored literature. In 1920, after three years of strenuous work, Rinlces fell ill and was sent to Europe on sick-leave. His scientific work had long since come to a standstill, and when he returned to his post in 1922, he did not resume it. Gradually, he had drifted away from his fellow orientalists, though with the younger ones his contacts had, in fact, never been very close. Apparently, while attending to the interests of Volkslectuur, his inborn business instinct had developed at the cost of scientific research. Considering the end to which he put his knowledge and his experience, there is no reason to blame him for that. Balai Pustaka was always in

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NINE SAINTS OF JAVA

his mind, and he even renamed "Balai Pustaka" the yacht that be had brought with him when returning from leave in 1922.21 In the last years of his career, Rinkes lived under the impression that. in spite of all outward show of appreciation for his work. the authorities did not pay much attention to bis urgent demands for better trained personnel, preferably young orientalists, who would be able to replace him on his retirement from office. lndee