Page 91 - INDONESIA ISLAMIC CULTURE
P. 91

Banten Harbor.           international isolation after the exodus of   kingdom, was a very deferential person          trading cities in the world. However, the   regions even further in the archipelago.
                                   the Chinese from the region.            who used to pray in the palace’s mosque               Malaccan Empire did not last long. A   This new maritime trade traffic visited
          Source: Atlas Sejarah
          Indonesia Masa Islam     From the above facts we may say that    and who recited the Qur’an there. He                  century after its foundation, Malacca fell   the territories that had been frequented
          (Historical Atlas of     the Islamization of the archipelago took   was also known for his intimate relations          into the hands of the Portuguese (1511).  by international Muslim traders. As a
          Indonesia’s Islamic      place in line with political engineering   with religious scholars and to have                                                       result, after the fall of Malacca, other
          Period), 2010.           in the kingdoms. The Islamization       appreciated Islamic jurists. A similar                The Growth of the Kingdoms             Islamic kingdoms were established in the
                                   process was so effective that Islam was   picture was found in the kingdom of                 The fall of Malacca to the Portuguese   western hemisphere of the archipelago.
                                                                           Malacca. The written by the Portuguese
                                   integrated into the kingdom’s political   Tomé Pirés in the 16  century show that             practically ended its leading rule in   One of the leading Islamic empires in
                                                                                             th
                                   system, that was in like the development   the king of Malacca tried to introduce             Nusantara. However, the event did      Sumatra was Aceh that reached the peak
                                                                                                                                                                                           th
                                                                                                                                                                                                  th
                                   of the international maritime trade. Under   Islamic teachings in his kingdom, in             not have a significant impact on the   of its power in the 16  and 17  centuries.
                                   these conditions, the Malay Islamic     line with his intensifying relations with             development of Islam in general. The   Initially it was only a small-scale trade
                                   world had indeed become intensely       the trade centers in the Muslim world                 Portuguese conquest was immediately    center, like others in north Sumatra, but
                                   engaged in the early formation process   in the Middle East. This is evident from             followed by the creation of socio-political   soon it developed rapidly after having
                                   of its kingdoms, and in formulating     the Malay text, the Undang-undang                     and religious conditions that served as   become directly involved in international
                                   the social and cultural foundations of   Malak (Laws of Malacca) that, shows                  the basis for the ongoing process of   maritime trade. Since the fall of Malacca,
                                   those kingdoms. In Samudera Pasai       the legal prohibition on usury in trade,              intensive Islamization and the spread of   foreign Muslim traders who previously
                                   and Malacca, the integration of Islam   such as stated in Qur’an (QS 2: 275), it              Islam more widely over various regions.   concluded their businesses in Malacca
                                   and politics was clearly reflected in the    was in force as a royal official regulation,     This, in turn, brought about the birth of   had moved to Aceh. Sultan Ali Mughayat
                                   political behavior of the rulers. The Malay   requiring business transaction to abide to      new centers of Islamic power, that were   Shah (d. 1530) was responsible for laying
                                   kings not only presented themselves as   the teachings of Islam.                              not only concentrated on the northern   the foundation of the establishment of the
                                   the holders of political control, but also as                                                 coast of Sumatra, but also scattered over   Kingdom of Aceh. During his reign, the
                                                                                             th
                                                                                  th
                                   the supporters of intensive Islamization.   In the 14  and the 15  centuries,                 other regions in the archipelago.      territory of Aceh was no longer limited
                                   The religious elites and Islamic scholars   Samudera Pasai and Malacca came to                The creation of these conditions was   to the Aceh River valley, then known
                                   occupied important positions in the     the fore as leading Islamic power centers             supported mainly by the development of   as Aceh Besar but had also covered
                                   political life of the kingdom, next to the   in the Nusantara world. Particularly for         maritime trade after the fall of Malacca,   the surrounding areas. In 1520, he
                                   economic elites who were known as       Malacca, some historians even noted                   it also showed an increase in the volume   conquered Daya in the far west and then
                                   ‘orang kaya’ – ‘the powerful man’..     that the kingdom attained remarkable                                                         Pidie and Pasai in the eastern regions
                                                                           progress in commercial economy and in                 of commercial activities involving other   respectively in 1521 and 1524. In this
                                   The North African traveler of the 14    the the process of Islamization. Meilink-             regions in the Nusantara world. After the   way, Ali Mughayat Shah had laid the firm
                                                                  th
                                   century, Ibn Batutta’s noted the great   Loelofsz, an economic historian, for                 fall of Malacca the trade route moved   foundation for his successors for the
                                   attention of the Samudra Pasai ruler    example, notes that Malacca seemed                    from the Strait of Malacca to the Sunda   growth of the kingdom and Aceh came
                                   gave to Islam. According to him, Sultan   to have been designed as a trading                  Strait, and to the west coast of Sumatra.   up as a leading Islamic power in the
                                   Malik al-Zahir, the second ruler of the   center in the archipelago, just like other          From Strait of Sunda traders went to   archipelago.



          82   Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives                                                                                                                    Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives  83
   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96