PART 3-Puteri Gunung Ledang: human
The second part of this essay discussed the probable origins of the Puteri Gunung Ledang, either as a nature goddess, an aquatic or underworld divinity, or based on a mantra, a former cereal goddess, before being demoted to a benevolent spirit or a demon.
However, there is one aspect of the Puteri which people rarely pay attention to, namely the aspect of the Puteri as a human. The traditional notion that the Princess is a spirit not of this world is the dominant view among Malays. Yet, it was in a famous traditional Malay epic that the Puteri Gunung Ledang found an identity as a human being, not aloof from the world, but endowed with all too human emotions.
Recap one tale in part two, recorded by William Walter Skeat in Malay Magic of the Puteri that shifted her ‘ghost court’ from Gunung Ledang to Bukit Jugra after the Portuguese attack on Malacca. Skeat also recorded an alternative origin of the Puteri: a human with a bloody reputation of a husband-killer:
“…the story was that the estimate lady, having disposed of her husband by pricking him to death with needles, decided to live free from the restrictions of married life.”
Skeat recorded this story in another book, Fables and folk tales from an eastern forest (1901), although the name of the wife is different:
“Ship-master Ragam was the master of a Malay merchant vessel, and one day he sailed from Jering taking with him his beautiful wife Che Siti of whom he was very fond. On the way she was annoyed by her husband’s incessant embraces and warned him to be more careful, reminding him that she was sewing…Such was his infatuation however that he paid no heed to her warnings, and as he was attempting once more to embrace her, she pricked him to the heart with her needle so that he died.”
Back to Skeat’s Malay Magic, he drew the link between this ‘Che Siti’ and the Puteri Gunung Ledang, and added some detail that he left out in Fables, namely the pool of blood on the ship (darahnya hanyut dalam sampan), and when she was questioned by a passing vessel, she answered, “it is only spinach-juice (kuah bayam). And she proceeded to the foot of Jugra Hill, and buried her husband, or what was left of him, namely one thigh.
This is an interesting story, most macabre. We have the wife, a husband-killer, the pool of blood, the cover story, and eventual hiding of the dastardly deed. Not a Hitchcock classic, but it is still spine-tingling. And the cover-story involving spinach juice or soup (kuah bayam) invokes the tale of the vampire despot of Kedah, Ong Maha Perita Deria, or Raja Bersiong, who lusted for human blood after tasting spinach soup mixed with a drop of blood (this tale was recorded in the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa). But most importantly, this is the only story (other than one film, discussed in Part 4) that attempted to give her a name, Che Siti. In other words, make her human.
One famous Malay epic, the Hikayat Hang Tuah, of unknown authorship, but written in the 17th century, is a chronicle of the legendary Malay warrior, Laksamana Hang (later Tun) Tuah, admiral of Malacca. This story is not considered an historical work, unlike the Sejarah Melayu, so it would take certain artistic licences with historical figures, and even legendary ones. Puteri Gunung Ledang fits into this category.
In the Hikayat Hang Tuah, the Puteri Gunung Ledang, instead of being an object of royal conquest, is re-casted as the daughter of Raja Melaka:
“Setelah genap bulannya, maka Raden Mas Ayu pun berputralah seorang perempuan, terlalu elok paras; maka dipeliharakan dengan sepenuhnya…Adapun yang perempuan itu dinamai Puteri Gunung Ledang…”
(When it was due, Raden Mas Ayu gave birth to a girl, of great beauty; and she was well taken care of…and the girl was named Puteri Gunung Ledang…)
Later, when she was of age, son of the king of Sailan (Ceylon), Raja Culan, sent an envoy to Malacca, requesting the hand of Puteri Gunung Ledang in marriage, which Raja Melaka agreed to. It was recorded that Raja Culan was into cock-fights (sabung ayam), and planned to postpone the wedding between himself and his bride in order to indulge in sabung ayam in the east coast. This activity of his led to a lengthy stay in Terengganu and after a tale that involved winning cock-fights and his opponent getting his eyes gouged out by the knig of Terengganu and an eventual rematch, his ships, which carried 90,000 of his men, caught fire and all of them died, and Terengganu was on fire for seven days.
After she knew of the fate that befell her fiancé, in anger the Puteri Gunung Ledang confronted her father. Knowing that as a woman, her opinion has no standing in society or the court, she manipulated her own father:
“Hatta maka terdengarlah Puteri Gunung Ledang akan bahtera tunangannya binasa itu. Maka ia pun amarah lalu ia pergi mengadap ayahanda baginda...Maka sembah Puteri Gunung Ledang, ‘Ya tuanku, patik ini adalah seperti pantun orang: namanya ada disebut, rupanya tiada. Akan patik ini pun demikiran laku. Apatah daya patik perempuan. Jika patik laki-laki, tahulah patik membicarakan dia.’”
(When Puteri Gunung Ledang heard of the fate that befell her fiancé’s armada, she grew in wrath and sought audience with her father… (when asked by Raja Melaka of her problem) She answered, ‘My lord, I am like how a pantoum describes me: I have a name, but no form. What could I do, for I am a woman. If I am a man, I would be able to express my view.)
It was this manipulation of the Puteri that disturbed her father, and after the Raja Melaka found out from Hang Tuah of the fate of Raja Culan, ordered the pacification of Terengganu.
At the end of his reign, the Raja Melaka was about to resign, and in an act that is described by Dr Farish Noor as ‘proto-feminist’, he relinquishes the throne of Melaka to Puteri Gunung Ledang, but still sought the fortification of Melaka:
“Di Melaka ini kita hendak rajakan anak kita yang perempuan, Puteri Gunung Ledang itu, ganti akan ganti kita, kerana kita sudah tualah…Pada bicara kita, kita hendak kotai dengan bedillah negeri Melaka ini, kerana anak kita perempuan.”
(In Melaka, we wish to crown our daughter, Puteri Gunung Ledang, for we are old…in our estimation, we must fortify Melaka with cannons, for our successor is a woman.”
And Puteri Gunung Ledang was enthroned, in a ceremony lasting 40 days and 40 nights. And later, she inherited from her now ascetic father ‘emas suatu gedung’ (a mansion full of gold). She was portrayed as a just and fair ruler:
“…maka Puteri Gunung Ledang pun rtetaplah di atas kerajaannya dengan adilnya dan murahnya akan segala rakyat dan dagang senteri yang perggi dtaang itu sangat tafahusnya. Maka negeri Melaka pun sentosalah…”
(And Puteri Gunung Ledang ruled from her throne as a just ruler, and the people and merchants come and go often. And the kingdom of Melaka was prosperous…)
Unfortunately for her, he rule coincided with the coming of the Portuguese, with imperial ambitions in the East. Melaka fought the Portuguese invasion, but lost:
“Maka tatkala itu Puteri Gunung Ledang pun lari ke hulu Melaka dengan segala dayang-dayang perwaranya.”
(At that moment, Puteri Gunung Ledang fled to Malacca upstream with her dayang retainers.)
And:
“Bermula Puteri Gunung Ledang lari itu kira-kira 10 hari perjalanan jauhnya ke negeri Melaka itu. Maka Puteri Gunung Ledang pun jatuh ke dalam hutan rimba yang amat besar hampir dengan negeri Batak. Maka diambil oleh segala menteri Batak itu, dirajakannya Puteri Gunung Ledang itu dalam negeri Batak itu…Maka tiadalah tersebut lagi perkataan Puteri Gunung Ledang itu hingga datang sekarang.”
(The Puteri Gunung Ledang fled for ten days form Melaka. And she stumbled into a great forest close to the Batak kingdom. And the mandarins of the Batak chose her as their ruler in the Batak kingdom…And of that, we hear no more of the Puteri Gunung Ledang until today.)
While the appointment of Puteri Gunung Ledang might not necessarily mean some form of ‘proto-feminism’, the rise of women on the throne did occur in Malay history and literature. In pre-Islamic Java, in the kingdom of Majapahit, after the death of Jayanagara, Patih Gajah Mada, the great man respected by all of Java (except Sunda) raised the late ruler’s stepsister, Dyah Gitarja, as the new Queen of Majapahit, with the royal title of Tribhuwana Wijayatunggadwei (1328-1350).
In the Islamic era, three Malay kingdoms, namely Acheh, Kelantan, and Patani had reigning queens. In Acheh, four successive female rulers reigned in Acheh, though with lesser power than their male predecessors: 1. Ratu Safiatuddin Tajul Alam (1641-1675), 2. Ratu Naqiatuddin Nurul Alam (1675-1678), 3. Ratu Zaqiatuddin Inayat Syah (1678-1688), and 4. Ratu Kamalat Syah Zinatuddin (1688-1699). In Patani, the queens of Patani held full power, and even dared challenge the authority and military might of Siam: 1. Ratu Ijau (1584-1616), 2. Ratu Biru (1616-1624/1628), 3. Ratu Ungu (1624-1635), and 4. Ratu Kuning Marhum Pahang (1635-1649/51). In Kelantan, the famous female rulers of pre-Jembal dynasty Kelantan were Cik Siti Wan Kembang (date unknown, probably mid-14th to mid 16th century) and Puteri Saadong (around the 17th century).
The author of the Hikayat Hang Tuah might have been influenced by the situation around him, and noticed the trend of female rulers in the Malay kingdoms, and decided to place the Puteri Gunung Ledang, former goddess or demon or spirit, and make her human, a princess in the proper sense of the word, and award her the throne of Melaka. There is also another famous Malay epic poem (syair), called Syair Siti Zubaidah Perang Cina, a tale of Siti Zubaidah, daughter of Pendeta Ulama, king of Irakan Kistan, and wife of Sultan Zainal Abidin of Kambayat Negara (probably Champa). When her husband was kidnapped by the seven Chinese princesses and kept imprisoned in a poisoned well, she led a rescue mission, and on the way, she conquered Yunan, and became king there, adopting the male name Syahar. She later succeeds in her mission, and was raised as Permaisuri Lela Bangsawan in Kambayat Negara.
Thus, we have a third image of Puteri Gunung Ledang, not a spirit, but a human being, with human emotions, different from the aloof spirit in other images.
(End of Part 3)
*Part 4: Puteri Gunung Ledang in books and films
*Part 5: Bibliography
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