Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

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Batu Bersurat, Terengganu
(Inscribed Stone of Terengganu)
Inscribed 2009
What is it
The Inscribed Stone of Terengganu provides the earliest
evidence of Jawi writing (Malay written in an Arabic
script) in the Muslim world of Southeast Asia.
Why was it inscribed
The Stone is a testimony to the spread of Islam,
offering an insight to the life of the people of the era
and depicting the growing Islamic culture reflected in
religious laws.
Where is it
Terengganu State Museum, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
With the arrival of Islam in Southeast Asia in the 10th
or 11th century, an Islamic way of living based on the
teachings of the Koran and the Hadith (practices of the
Prophet) became widespread, and with this, the use of the
Jawi script. It heralded a new age of literacy, when converts
to the new faith gradually replaced the previous Hinduderived
script with Jawi, as a way of expressing their new
belief. As a testimony to the spread of Islam that emanated
from the Middle East, the Inscribed Stone offers more
than just a glimpse of the life of the people of the era. This
historical artefact also depicts the growing Islamic culture
reflected in a set of religious laws. A feature of this historic
movement was the growth of maritime commerce that
centred around Kuala Berang, the place where the Batu
Bersurat was found in 1887 and whose significance was
recognized in 1902. The Inscribed Stone alludes to regional
trade that flourished in the course of Islamization, with its
trading patterns and the related movement of peoples.
While the Islamization of Terengganu (a state on the east
coast of the Malay Peninsula) was pursued effectively, it
did not put an end to the old way of life. The Batu Bersurat
bears witness to a new way of thinking that did not
jeopardize the previous way of life unnecessarily – indeed,
the Inscribed Stone also contained a number of Sanskrit
terms, a memorial to Southeast Asia’s Hindu past.
The Stone is 89 cm in height, 53 cm in width at the top,
and weighs 214.8 kg. All of its four sides have inscriptions
in Malay written in the Jawi script, and dated AH 702 (1303).
116 Batu Bersurat, Terengganu (Inscribed Stone of Terengganu)
� The front of the Stone of Terengganu, with
the Jawi script going horizontally across its face.
One side of the Inscribed Stone of Terengganu, �
with the Jawi script running vertically.
The promulgation of Islamic laws established Islam as
the state religion of Terengganu, the first recorded state
in the Malay Peninsula to do so, and defined a new way
of life for the people. The first side records this recognition
of Islam as the state religion, while the other sides record
commandments and regulations.
The Inscribed Stone of Terengganu has assumed
additional importance, especially in the context of
understanding the political and social history of Southeast
Asia, and the transformation of the religious and economic
life of its people associated with trade and commerce of
the era. The presence of traders from various Asian regions
illustrates not only the variety of cultures that interacted in
the area, but also the migratory patterns of the time.
This translation of the text on the front of the Stone
establishes its great significance:
Behold the Prophet of God and his apostles.
Praise the God Almighty for giving us Islam.
With Islam, truth revealed to all Thy creatures.
On this land the religion of the Holy Prophet shall prevail.
The Holy Prophet, the upholder of truth in Thy kingdom.
Hear ye kings, these messages.
Messages from the Almighty, ye doubt not.
Goodwill, with thee fellow men, saith the Almighty.
Be it known, the land of Terengganu, the first to receive
message of Islam.
On the noon on Friday in the month of Rejab whilst
the sun was in the north by religious reckoning.
Seven hundred and two years after the demise of the
Holy Prophet.