Babad Tanah Jawi
Encyclopedia
Babad Tanah Jawi is a generic title for a large number of manuscripts written in Javanese language
. Their arrangements and details vary, and no copies of any of the manuscripts are older than the eighteenth century.
Due to the scarcity and limitations of primary historical records, Babad Tanah Jawi, is one of a number of accounts of Indonesian legends that scholars use to help illuminate aspects of the spread of Islam in Indonesia, the dominant religion in the Indonesia
n archipelago since the sixteenth century.
The texts attribute the first Javanese conversions to Islam to the Wali Sanga
("nine saints"), although their names and relationships vary across the texts to the extent that perfect reduction and agreement between them is not possible. Although most of the manuscripts accept the convention of nine saints, a number list ten. These names commonly appear throughout the Babad Tanah Jawi texts:
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
. Their arrangements and details vary, and no copies of any of the manuscripts are older than the eighteenth century.
Due to the scarcity and limitations of primary historical records, Babad Tanah Jawi, is one of a number of accounts of Indonesian legends that scholars use to help illuminate aspects of the spread of Islam in Indonesia, the dominant religion in the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n archipelago since the sixteenth century.
The texts attribute the first Javanese conversions to Islam to the Wali Sanga
Wali Sanga
The Wali Sanga are revered saints of Islam in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java, because of their historic role in the Spread of Islam in Indonesia. The word wali is Arabic for "trusted one" or "friend of God" , while the word songo is Javanese for the number nine...
("nine saints"), although their names and relationships vary across the texts to the extent that perfect reduction and agreement between them is not possible. Although most of the manuscripts accept the convention of nine saints, a number list ten. These names commonly appear throughout the Babad Tanah Jawi texts:
- Sunan Ngampel-DentaSunan AmpelSunan Ampel was one of Wali Songo, who spread Islam in Java. He can be considered a focal point of the wali songo, because several of them were descended from him and/or studied with him....
- Sunan KudusSunan KudusSunan Kudus , founder of Kudus, is considered to be one of the Wali Sanga of Java, IndonesiaHe is said to have originated the wayang golek, and founded the masjid at Kudus using the doors from the palace of Majapahit.- History :He was born Jaafar As-Sadiq, the son of Sunan Ngudung and Syarifah ,...
- Sunan MuryaSunan MuryaSunan Murya is, according to the Babad Tanah Jawi manuscripts, one of the Wali Sanga involved in propagating Islam in Indonesia....
- Sunan BonangSunan BonangSunan Bonang, whose real name was Raden Maulana Makdum Ibrahim, was born in Tuban, East Java in 1465 CE and died in 1525 CE at Pulau Bawean.He was one of the Wali Songo, along with his father Sunan Ampel and his brother Sunan Drajat....
- Sunan GiriSunan GiriSunan Giri , Muhammad Ainul Yakin Sunan Giri (also called Raden Paku or Joko Samudra), Muhammad Ainul Yakin Sunan Giri (also called Raden Paku or Joko Samudra), Muhammad Ainul Yakin (born 1442 CE in Blambangan (now Banyuwangi) is considered to be one of the Wali Sanga of Indonesia.- History :...
- Sunan KalijagaSunan KalijagaSunan Kalijaga , born as Raden Mas Said son of a Regent of Tuban in East Java, Indonesia, was one of the "nine saints" of Islam . Initially a grass salesman, the "Kalijaga" title was derived from an orchard known as "Kalijaga" in Cirebon. Other accounts suggest the name derives from his hobby of...
- Sunan SitijenarSunan SitijenarSunan Sitijenar is, according to the Babad Tanah Jawi manuscripts, one of the Wali Sanga to whom Indonesian legend attributes the establishment of Islam amongst the Javanese, Indonesia's largest ethnic group.-References:...
- Sunan GunungjatiSunan GunungjatiSunan Gunungjati was one of the Wali Songo, or Nine Apostles of Islam. He founded the Sultanate of Bantam, as well as the port town of Cirebon on the north coast of Java...
- Sunan WalilanangSunan WalilanangSunan Walilanang is, according to the Babad Tanah Jawi manuscripts, one of the Wali Sanga to whom Indonesian legend attributes the establishment of Islam amongst the Javanese, Indonesia's largest ethnic group.-References:...
- Sunan BayatSunan BayatSunan Bayat is often mentioned in the Javanese manuscripts of the Babad Tanah Jawi as a Wali Sanga , although the chronicles do not generally consider Bayat as one of the main sanga...
(an oft-mentioned tenth saint)
Further reading
- Hans RasHans RasJohannes Jacobus Ras was emeritus professor of Javanese language and literature at Leiden University, the Netherlands...
, The Babad Tanah Jawi and its reliability. Questions of content, structure and function. In: C.D. Grijns and S.O. Robson (eds.), Cultural contact and textual interpretation. Papers from the Fourth European Colloquium on Malay and Indonesian Studies, held in Leiden in 1983 (1986, Dordrecht, Cinnaminson: Foris. VKI 115, pp. 246–273) - Hans RasHans RasJohannes Jacobus Ras was emeritus professor of Javanese language and literature at Leiden University, the Netherlands...
, The genesis of the Babad Tanah Jawi. Origin and function of the Javanese court chronicle. (1987, BKI 143: 343-356)