WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN 'BALA' IN SEVENTEENTH AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY MALAY-LANGUAGE COURTLY TEXTS

Abstract

This thesis is about the meaning and usage of the word ‘bala’ in Malay-language courtly texts from the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, namely Taj al-Salatin, Bustan al-Salatin, and Tuhfat al-Nafis. I intend to investigate the divine aspect of its meaning and how it is understood in these texts that are often regarded as key pieces of Malay-language literature. Paying attention to its earliest usage in Taj and Bustan, I argue that the use of ‘bala’ to signify calamity due to some rulerly misconduct or misdeed is an indication of an Islamised conception of this phenomenon that is already understood in pre-Islamic polities, whereby such calamity is sent by Allah as punishment to those who are not just or ‘adil’. In the texts themselves, the meaning of the word ‘bala’ is rooted firmly in the moral universe and logic of Islam, and such texts were produced in the court of Aceh, a court that was actively identifying itself as Muslim. The logic of ‘bala’ downplays the aura of the ruler as a figure of authority, his daulat, and the demand for absolute loyalty on the subject, with any objection deemed treason or derhaka. I discuss the role this Islamised understanding of trial and difficulty plays in the articulation of Muslim piety that helps to justify Bugis presence in the Malay realm in Tuhfat. Overall, the word ‘bala’ itself encapsulates a causal narrative, that ‘bad things happen’ because Allah punishes unjust rulers, and thus demonstrates the impact of Islam on ideas of authority and rulership.