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67-553: Tradition in the Malay Annals hold that the founder of the major line of rulers in the Malay world was a prince named Sang Sapurba who alleged to be the descendant of Dhul-Qarnayn . Sang Sapurba, then known as Sri Nila Pahlawan first revealed himself with his younger brothers, Sri Krishna Pandita and Sri Nila Utama, upon the sacred hill of Seguntang in the hinterland of Palembang. The name of the princes varied in different versions of

134-660: A tiger , most likely to be the Malayan tiger . Another candidate for the beast mentioned in the Malay Annals is mythical beast called janggi told in Minangkabau legends as a guardian of gold mines. Dark red hair called rambut janggi , said to be of this mythical beast but probably actually from orangutans , adorn lances that were kept by the Minangkabaus as heirlooms. Regardless of the exact species of animal,

201-791: A "Javanese chronicle" as his source for Parameswara's biography, and is therefore more likely to have transmitted biases among the Majapahit against their Sumatran predecessors in Palembang, whereas the Malay Annals seek to highlight historical connections between the Kingdom of Singapura and its successor states of the Melaka Sultanate and the Johor Sultanate , promoting the legitimacy of its contemporary publishers in Johore. It

268-546: A Roman, contradicting Ibn Hisham's commentary. Al-Tabari also reports that Wahb believed Dhu al-Qarnayn was a man from Byzantium named Iskandar. Academic scholars consider the Sa'b story to be an appropriation of the Syriac Alexander Legend. While Ibn Hisham's book made use of Wahb's earlier material, Tilman Nagel doubts that Wahb's text included this particular story given Ibn Hisham's sceptical attitude to

335-726: A administration of justice. In the East both the Syrian legend and the Quran, according to Ernst, have Alexander/ Dhu al-Qarnayn find a people who live so close to the rising sun that they have no protection from its heat. Some exegetes believed that Dhu al-Qarnayn lived near the time of Abraham . This was because the Quran lists the story of Dhu al-Qarnayn after that of an unnamed old man in Quran 18:60–82. Some exegetical traditions identified this figure with Khidr and some placed Khidr as living in

402-470: A castle with glass walls, and a campaign as far as the Andalusia region (classical era Spain). According to Wheeler, it is possible that some elements of these accounts that were originally associated with Ṣaʿb have been incorporated into stories which identify Dhu al-Qarnayn with Alexander. However, according to Al-Qurtubi , the original opinion of Wahb ibn Munabbih identified the legendary conqueror as

469-501: A challenge to the Majapahit Empire , while others believed that the "lion" refers to a Majapahit Buddhist sect. With regards to the historicity of settlement on Singapore itself, it remains debated if a 3rd-century Chinese account of a locality named Pu Luo Zhong refers to the main island of Singapore, Pulau Ujong . Nevertheless, other settlements such as Long Ya Men and Ban Zu on the island of Dan Ma Xi (assumed to be

536-660: A fleet from Minangkabau and succeed temporarily in ousting Sultan Abdul Jalil's successor Sultan Sulaiman and gain the Johor Sultanate, basing his legitimacy on the claim that he was the post-humous son of Sultan Mahmud Shah II. However, Bugis mercenaries that assisted him in this campaign changed sides and he was eventually forced to flee to Siak , where he founded Siak Sultanate . Dhul-Qarnayn Dhu al-Qarnayn , ( Arabic : ذُو ٱلْقَرْنَيْن , romanized :  Dhū l-Qarnayn , IPA: [ðuː‿l.qarˈnajn] ; lit. "The Owner of Two-Horns" ) appears in

603-508: A general policy of permitting religious freedom throughout his domains. A famous relief on a palace doorway pillar in Pasagardae depicts a winged figure wearing a Hemhem crown (a type of ancient Egyptian crown mounted on a pair of long spiral ram's horns). Some scholars take this to be a depiction of Cyrus due to an inscription that was once located above it, though most see it as a tutelary genie , or protective figure and note that

670-474: A golden crown studded with precious stones and a royal signet ring indicating his authority. According to the Malay Annals , the emporium of Singapore was founded in 1299 by Sang Nila Utama. While hunting on Bintan, he spotted a stag and started chasing it up a small hill but, when he reached the top, the stag vanished. He then came to a very large rock and decided to climb it. When he stood on top of

737-500: A literal term but instead referred to injuries that took place on the two sides of the head of the ruler. Cyril Glasse writes that the reference to "He of the two horns" also has a symbolical interpretation: “He of the two Ages”, which reflects the eschatological shadow that Alexander casts from his time, which preceded Islam by many centuries, until the end of the world. The Arabian word qarn means both "horn" and “period” or “century”. Classical commentary from Al-Qurtubi has reported

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804-515: A long time. Modern Islamic apocalyptic writers put forward various explanations for the absence of the wall from the modern world, such as "not everything in existence can be seen", similar to human intelligence and angels, or that God has concealed the Gog and Magog from human eyes. According to some historians, the story of Dhu al-Qarnayn has its origins in legends of Alexander the Great current in

871-475: A people who own nothing but dig graves outside their homes. Their king explains that death is life's only certainty, a reason for their practices. Ghazali's interpretation found its way into the One Thousand and One Nights . The esteemed medieval Persian poet Rumi (1207-1273) wrote about Dhu al-Qarnayn's eastward travels. Here, the hero climbs Mount Qaf , the emerald 'mother' of all mountains encircling

938-724: A result, Bendahara Abdul Jalil declared himself the next Sultan of Johor. Upon ascending the throne, the new Sultan Abdul Jalil IV killed all the wives of Sultan Mahmud to avoid the possibility of any future claims to the throne. However, according to the Hikayat Negeri Johor (Chronicles of the State of Johor) and the Pahang Manuscripts, a wife by the name of Cik Apung the daughter of Laksamana managed to escape to Minangkabau and gave birth to Raja Kechil. Less than two decades later in 1717, Raja Kechil would assemble

1005-488: A single night will usher in the Day of Resurrection ( Arabic : یوم القيامة , romanized :  Yawm al-Qiyāmah ). Dhu al-Qarnayn has most popularly been identified by Western and traditional Muslim scholars as Alexander the Great . Historically, some tradition has parted from this identification in favor of others, like the pre-Islamic Arabian kings Sa'b Dhu Marathid or al-Mundhir ibn Imru al-Qays . Cyrus

1072-465: A strange animal with a red body, black head and a white breast, which swiftly disappeared into the jungle. Impressed by this beast's beauty, he asked his chief minister Demang Lebar Daun what animal it was and was informed that it was a lion . Pleased with this as he believed it to be a good omen, he decided to build his new city in Temasek. He and his men stayed on the island and founded a city, renaming

1139-510: A transliteration of Temasek), along with their governance by local rulers, are recorded by the Yuan Dynasty Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan in his Daoyi Zhilue and later Ming Dynasty records. Although the archaeology of Singapore has lain rest to the idea that its 14th-century history is wholly fictional, it has been suggested that the figure of Sang Nila Utama himself, with his illustrious genealogy and fantastic deeds,

1206-555: Is related in chapter 18 of the Qur'an, al-Kahf , revealed to Muhammad when his tribe, Al-Quraysh , sent two men to discover whether the Jews , with their superior knowledge of the scriptures, could advise them on whether Muhammad was truly a prophet of God. The rabbis told the Quraysh to ask Muhammad about three things, one of them "about a man who travelled and reached the east and the west of

1273-492: Is said to have crossed the great central range of Sumatra into the Minangkabau Highlands , where one of his warriors, Permasku Mambang, slew the great serpent Saktimuna using his legendary sword, Cura Si Manjakini, and was made the king of a grateful people and the founder of the long line of Princes of Minangkabau. A. Samad Ahmad's version of the Malay Annals identified Sri Tri Buana who reigned in Palembang and

1340-452: The Malay Annals ; the historicity of the events as recorded there is debated by scholars, and some contend that Sang Nila Utama may be a mythical figure, even if the historicity of Singapore's 14th-century settlement is no longer disputed. Even so, as De Jong argued in his article The Character of Malay Annals , the stories of the Malay Annals could have been realistically mixed with the historical figures and events. Sang Nila Utama

1407-653: The Hellenistic Near East. The wall Dhu al-Qarnayn builds on his northern journey may have reflected a distant knowledge of the Great Wall of China (the 12th-century scholar Muhammad al-Idrisi drew a map for Roger II of Sicily showing the "Land of Gog and Magog" in Mongolia ), or of various Sasanian walls built in the Caspian Sea region against the northern barbarians, or a conflation of

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1474-529: The Malay Peninsula , eventually leading to the establishment of the Melaka Sultanate ; the destruction of Singapore is instead blamed on a king known as Iskandar Shah , the fifth Raja of Singapura and fourth successor to Sang Nila Utama, and the island's conquerors are identified as Javanese of Majapahit . These differences may reflect ideological differences in their sources; Pires named

1541-551: The Minangkabau royalty of Central Sumatra and the Cholan emperor Rajendra I in the Malay Annals . Sang Nila Utama Sang Nila Utama was a prince from Palembang and is the founder of the Kingdom of Singapura in 1299. His official title adopted upon his coronation was Sri Tri Buana ( Sanskrit : श्री त्रि भुवन , romanized :  śrī tri bhuvana ), which can be translated as "Lord of Three Worlds";

1608-488: The Qur'an , Surah al-Kahf (18) , Ayahs 83–101, as one who travels to the east and west and sets up a barrier between a certain people and Gog and Magog ( Arabic : يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ , romanized :  Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj ). Elsewhere, the Qur'an tells how the end of the world will be signaled by the release of Gog and Magog from behind the barrier. Other apocalyptic writings predict that their destruction by God in

1675-466: The "Three Worlds" may refer to the three realms of the universe—the heaven of the gods, the world of humans, and the underworld of demons or his lordship over Java , Sumatra and Temasek/Singapura . This title is attested to elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Sang Nila Utama died in 1347 and his son, Sri Wikrama Wira succeeded him. The account of his life and those of his successors is given in

1742-610: The Achehnese installed a prince from Siak to the throne of Perak following the demise of Sultan Salehuddin Shah (r.1630–1635) in exile in Aceh. The new Sultan who reigned as Muzaffar Shah II (r. 1636–1654) also claimed descent from a branch of Sang Sapurba dynasty in Siak. He married Fatima Puteh the elder daughter of Raja Muda of Pahang, Raja 'Abdu'llah by his wife, Putri Perak, who in turn was

1809-780: The Alexander identification: Alexander lived only a short time whereas Dhu al-Qarnayn (according to some traditions) lived for 700 years as a sign of God's blessing, though this is not mentioned in the Quran, and Dhu al-Qarnayn worshipped only one God , while Alexander was a polytheist. The various campaigns of Dhu al-Qarnayn mentioned in Q:18:83-101 have also been attributed to the South Arabian Himyarite King Ṣaʿb Dhu-Marāthid (also known as al-Rāʾid). Ibn Hisham gives an extensive forty-five page account of King Ṣaʿb in his work The Book of Crowns on

1876-802: The Dhu al-Qarnayn narrative, and the lack of any early commentaries identifying Dhu al-Qarnayn as Cyrus. Archeological evidence cited includes the Cyrus Cylinder , which portrays Cyrus as a worshipper of the Babylonian god Marduk , who ordered him to rule the world and establish justice in Babylon. The cylinder states that idols that Nabonidus had brought to Babylon from various other Babylonian cities were reinstalled by Cyrus in their former sanctuaries and ruined temples reconstructed. Supported with other texts and inscriptions, Cyrus appears to have initiated

1943-506: The Earth, its veins spreading below every land. Upon Dhu al-Qarnayn's request, the mountain reveals how earthquakes occur: when God wills it, one of its veins pulsates, triggering a tremor. Atop this grand mountain, Dhu al-Qarnayn encounters Israfil (archangel Raphael ), prepared to sound the trumpet on Judgement Day. The Malay epic Hikayat Iskandar Zulkarnain links several Southeast Asian royal lines to Iskandar Zulkarnain; this includes

2010-480: The Great has also gained popularity among modern Muslim commentators. The verses of the chapter reproduced below show Dhu al-Qarnayn traveling first to the Western limit of travel where he sees the sun set in a muddy spring, then to the furthest East where he sees it rise from the ocean, and finally northward to a place in the mountains where he finds a people oppressed by Gog and Magog: The story of Dhu al-Qarnayn

2077-538: The Great , the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and conqueror of Persia and Babylon. Proponents of this view cite Daniel 's vision in the Old Testament where he saw a two-horned ram that represents "the kings of Media and Persia" ( Daniel 8:20 ). Brannon Wheeler argues that this identification is unlikely on the basis of a lack of Arab histories viewing him as a conqueror in the sense described in

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2144-674: The Great and portrays him as the first person to complete the Hajj pilgrimage. Another Hispano-Arabic legend featuring Dhu al-Qarnayn, representing Alexander, is the Hadith Dhulqarnayn (or the Leyenda de Alejandro ). In one of the many Arabic and Persian versions depicting Alexander's encounter with Indian sages , the Persian Sunni Sufi theologian al-Ghazali (1058–1111) describes a scene where Dhu al-Qarnayn meets

2211-646: The Islamic conquests in the west, representing a glorification of the South Arabian traditions and their conquests in Egypt. Anna Akasoy agrees with Alfred Beeston that Sa'b's entire existence is fictional and a product of Yemeni chauvinism, noting that later Yemeni Kings whose existence is confirmed were assigned similar exploits borrowed from legends of Alexander. In modern times, some Muslim scholars have argued in favour of Dhu al-Qarnayn being actually Cyrus

2278-406: The Islamic epithet Dhu al-Qarnayn "Two-Horned", first occurred in the Quran. The reasons behind the name "Two-Horned" are somewhat obscure: the scholar al-Tabari (839-923 CE) held it was because he went from one extremity ("horn") of the world to the other, but it may ultimately derive from the image of Alexander wearing the horns of the ram-god Zeus-Ammon , as popularised on coins throughout

2345-623: The Kings of Himyar , relying on the Yemeni author Wahb ibn Munabbih . In this account, King Ṣaʿb was a conqueror who was given the epithet Dhu al-Qarnayn after meeting a figure named Musa al Khidr in Jerusalem. He then travels to the ends of the earth, conquering or converting people until being led by al Khidr through the Land of Darkness . Other elements include a journey to a valley of diamonds,

2412-468: The Malay Annals. In Winstedt 's version, they are known as Bichitram, Paladutani dan Nilatanam, while in Abdullah 's version, they are Bichitram Syah, Nila Pahlawan dan Kama Pandita. Two young women who dwelt upon the hill, Wan Empuk and Wan Malini, are said to have seen a great light shining through the darkness of night. On ascending the hill in the morning they found that their rice crops had transformed

2479-684: The Middle East, namely the Syriac Alexander Legend . The first century Josephus repeats a legend whereby Alexander builds an iron wall at a mountain pass (potentially at the Caucasus Mountains ) to prevent an incursion by a barbarian group known as the Scythians , whom elsewhere he identified as Magog . The legend went through much further elaboration in subsequent centuries before eventually finding its way into

2546-542: The Quran through a Syrian version. However, some have questioned whether the Syriac Legend influenced the Quran on the basis of dating inconsistencies and missing key motifs, although others have in turn rebutted these arguments. While the Syriac Alexander Legend references the horns of Alexander, it consistently refers to the hero by his Greek name, not using a variant epithet. The use of

2613-458: The Quranic figure or given the title Dhu al-Qarnayn : Dhu al-Qarnayn, the traveller, proved a popular subject for later writers. In Al-Andalus , for instance, an Arabic translation of the Syriac Alexander Legend appeared, entitled Qissat Dhulqarnayn . This work explores Dhu al-Qarnayn's life – his upbringing, journeys, and eventual death. The text identifies Dhu al-Qarnayn with Alexander

2680-507: The Sultans of Perak agreed with Shellabear and Leyden's versions, tracing the lineage of the rulers of Perak directly from Sang Sapurba. If these versions of the Malay Annals and the Perak text are to be taken into account, the line of rulers descended from Sang Sapurba should have begun with Sang Nila Utama who founded the Kingdom of Singapura in 1299. Four generations of rulers reigned over

2747-485: The claims of Southern Arabians, and notes that al-Tabari relied on Wahb's Alexander story yet included no Himyarite (South Arabian) elements. Following a detailed analysis, Nagel instead defines the milieu in which this version emerged as that of South Arabians in early eigth-century Egypt, and observes that Southern Arabs were one of two factions who vied for power in the Umayyad empire. Richard Stoneman notes that Wahb

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2814-470: The crown into the sea, an action imbued with symbolic meaning as "sovereignty" in the Malay world relied strongly on ceremony and attire, could represent the shift of power from Palembang to Singapura as the new centre of power for the Malay kings. It has been pointed out that lions have never lived in Singapore (not even Asiatic lions ), and the beast seen by Sang Nila Utama was therefore suggested to be

2881-492: The earlier one, called Dhu al-Qarnayn al-Akbar, who lived in the time of Abraham , and the later one, who was Alexander. In one account concerning Abraham building a well at Beersheba , Dhu al-Qarnayn seems to have been placed in the role of Abimelech as described in Gen 21:22–34. Other notable Muslim commentators, including ibn Kathir , ibn Taymiyyah , and Naser Makarem Shirazi , have used theological arguments to reject

2948-404: The earth, ask what his story was. If he tells you about these things, then he is a prophet, so follow him, but if he does not tell you, then he is a man who is making things up, so deal with him as you see fit." (Qur'an 18:83-98). A well known narration from a Companion of Muhammad, Ali denies that the term "Qarnayn" literally meant horns. He instead narrates that the term "Dhul Qarnayn" was not

3015-549: The founder of ancient Singapura as the youngest brother of Sang Sapurba, Sri Nila Utama. In A. Samad Ahmad's version, Sang Sapurba was said to have reigned only in Minangkabau. On the other hand, Shellabear and Leyden 's versions noted that Sang Nila Utama who reigned in Bintan and later founded ancient Singapura was the son of Sang Sapurba. The Misa Melayu and Silsilah Perak that contains comprehensive genealogical tree of

3082-406: The grain into gold, the leaves into silver, the stalks into golden brass. Proceeding further, they came across three young men, the eldest of whom was mounted on a silver white bull and was dressed as a king, while the two younger, his brothers, bore a sword , a lance and a signet that indicated sovereign power. The two women were greatly astonished at the refined appearance and elegant apparel of

3149-610: The granddaughter of Sultan Mansur Shah I of Perak (r. 1549–1577). Earlier in 1623, Pahang was united with the crown of Johor and the rulers from Melaka dynasty continued to reign in the state until 1688, when the Bendahara of Johor effectively consolidated the state as his personal fief. The royal line of Sang Sapurba was finally ended in Johor when Mahmud Shah II of Johor (r. 1685–1699) was assassinated by Megat Seri Rama, popularly known as Laksamana Bintan, leaving behind no male heir. As

3216-461: The heavy things on board into the sea to lighten the ship. But still water kept entering the ship. On the advice of the ship's captain, he threw his crown overboard as a gift to the sea. At once, the storm died down and he reached Temasek safely. He landed safely on the beach, and went to hunt wild animals near the river mouth on a patch of open ground, now referred to as the Padang . Suddenly, he saw

3283-473: The hill of Seguntang into the great plain watered by the Palembang river , where he married Wan Sendari , the daughter of the local chief, Demang Lebar Daun , and was everywhere accepted as ruler of the land. Prior to his marriage, Sang Sapurba made the famous pact with Demang Lebar Daun, who abdicated in favour of him: Demang Lebar Daun said, "Your Highness, the descendants of your humble servant shall be

3350-399: The island kingdom before the last ruler, known in certain accounts as Parameswara , fled after a Majapahit invasion in 1398. In 1400, Parameswara reached the mouth of Bertam River in the Malay Peninsula , where he established Melaka Sultanate . During the reign of Mansur Shah of Melaka (r. 1459–1477), an heir apparent named Raja Muhammad whose mother was a captured princess of Pahang ,

3417-465: The island to Singapura, which in Sanskrit means "Lion City". Sang Nila Utama fathered two sons with Wan Sri Bini, born Raja Kechil-Besar and Raja Kechil-Muda the elder son was married to Nila Panchadi, a princess from India and the younger was married to his cousin, a granddaughter of Demang Lebar Dawn. After ruling Singapura for 48 years, Sang Nila Utama died in 1347 and Raja Kechil-Besar ascended to

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3484-451: The narration from Al-Suhayli commentaries that he favored the identification that Dhu al-Qarnayn were actually two different persons, where one lived during the time of Abraham , while the other has lived during the time of Jesus . Regarding the Gog and Magog, a minority of Muslim commentators argue that Gog and Magog here refers to some barbaric North Asian tribes from pre-Biblical times which have been free from Dhu al-Qarnayn's wall for

3551-430: The rock, he looked across the sea and saw another island with a white sandy beach which had the appearance of a white sheet of cloth. Asking his chief minister what island it was, he was told that it was the island of Temasek now known as Singapore . While his ship was out at sea, a great storm erupted and the ship was tossed about in the huge waves and began to take in water. To prevent it from sinking, his men threw all

3618-464: The same inscription was also written on other palaces in the complex. This theory was proposed in 1855 by the German philologist G. M. Redslob, but it did not gain followers in the west. Among Muslim commentators, it was first promoted by Sayyed Ahmad Khan (d. 1889), then by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad , and generated wider acceptance over the years. Other persons who either were identified with

3685-461: The subjects of your Majesty's throne, but they must be well treated by your descendants. If they offend, they shall not, however grave be their offence, be disgraced or reviled with evil words: if their offence is grave, let them be put to death, if that is in accordance with the dvine law. And the king replied, "I agree to give the undertaking for which you ask: but I in my turn require an undertaking from you, sir. " And when Demang Lebar Daun asked what

3752-535: The symbolism of the Asiatic lion as an emblem of power was strongly established through the spread of Buddhist culture in Southeast Asia. There are however a number of other theories about the origin of the name Singapura , with the earliest attestation of any variant of the name being the Ramayana . It has been suggested that the "lion" refers to the lion throne originally set up by Parameswara in Palembang as

3819-514: The throne as Sri Wikrama Wira , becoming the second Raja of Singapura; Kechil-Muda was appointed his prime minister and Bendahara of its port. Sang Nila Utama was buried on Bukit Larangan, now known as Fort Canning Hill ; the exact location of his grave is unknown, although the altar at Keramat Iskandar Shah may share a site with the royal burials atop the hill. The events in the tale of Sang Nila Utama are highly symbolic and are unlikely to be sober retellings of historical events. The casting of

3886-399: The time of Abraham. Since the pericope of Dhu al-Qarnayn appears right after that of the old man, Dhu al-Qarnayn was also inferred to have lived in this time period, in the time of Abraham. To avoid a chronological discrepancy, several medieval exegetes and historians did not identify him Dhu al-Qarnayn with Alexander. To resolve these, al-Tabari inferred that there were two Dhu al-Qarnayn's:

3953-478: The truth of this relation, Nila Pahlawan said that let the crown he is wearing serves an evidence of descent and if any farther proof wanting, consider the phenomenon which the women have seen on their rice grounds. Then out of the mouth of the bull there issued a sweet-voiced herald, who at once proclaimed in Sanskrit language, the eldest prince to be a king bearing the title of 'Sang Sapurba Trimurti Tri Buana'. The newly installed sovereign afterwards descended from

4020-506: The two. Dhu al-Qarnayn also journeys to the western and eastern extremities ("qarns", tips) of the Earth. Ernst claims that Dhu al-Qarnayn finding the sun setting in a "muddy spring" in the West is equivalent to the "poisonous sea" found by Alexander in the Syriac legend. In the Syriac story Alexander tested the sea by sending condemned prisoners into it, while the Quran refers to this as

4087-409: The undertaking was, the king answered, "that your descendants shall never for rest of time be disloyal to my descendants, even if my descendants oppress them and behave evilly. " And Demang Lebar Daun said, "Very well, your Highness. But if your descendants depart from the terms of the pact, then so will mine. " And Sang Sapurba replied, "Very well, I agree to that covenant." At a later date Sang Sapurba

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4154-551: The young men, and thought that they must be the cause of the phenomenon which had appeared in their rice grounds. The curious young women immediately inquired who they were, where they came from and whether they were spirits or fairies. The eldest prince replied that they were neither spirits nor fairies, but that of men and they are princes from the line of the Great Alexander seeking his inheritance on earth. Then, Wan Empuk and Wan Malini asked what proofs they could produce of

4221-416: Was a Prince of Palembang, born to King Sang Sapurba , supposed descendant of Alexander the Great and a Bactrian princess, through his interpretation in Islamic legend as Iskandar Zulkarnain and the pseudo-mythical ancestor to many monarchs and chiefs of the Malay world. He was wed to Wan Sri Bini, daughter of the widowed Queen Parameswari Iskandar Shah of Bintan Island and received high honours comprising

4288-506: Was a highly popular title amongst contemporary rulers both in mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia. Parameswara's rule, unlike Sang Nila Utama's, involves deceit and treachery, namely assassinating its local ruler after enjoying his hospitality for nine days, and unlike Sri Tri Buana's illustrious settlement is terminated almost immediately by the Siamese superiors of this murdered chieftain. The conquest of Singapore forces him to flee to

4355-551: Was a literary device intended to cover up the ignominious history of the founder of Melaka, the Sultan Parameswara. As related in the Suma Oriental of Tome Pires , there are striking similarities between the biographies of both individuals, namely their birth in Palembang, and founding (or usurpation) of Singapore. Confusing matters further is that "Parameswara", deriving from the Sanskrit for "Supreme Lord",

4422-440: Was banished for committing murder and went into exile. He was then proclaimed and installed as Sultan of Pahang in 1470. The Portuguese invasion of Melaka in 1511 caused a major split of the royal house when Muzaffar Shah the son of Mahmud Shah of Melaka (r.1488–1511) was invited by the people of Perak to rule the state. Another son, Alauddin Riayat Shah II established the Johor Sultanate to succeed Melaka in 1528. In 1636,

4489-407: Was known for the composition of qisas , in which folklore is served up as history. According to Stoneman, the South Arabian legend was composed within the context of the division between the South Arabs and North Arabs that began with the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684 AD and consolidated over two centuries. He too dates the story to the 8th century CE, intended to give a parallel for, and to justify,

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