Page 13 - Hikayat-Patani-The-Story-Of-Patani 1

4 HIKAYAT PATANI

Patani. That represented by the Kedah annals has them coming from
Kedah and its first, legendary ruling family. In that account, Patani’s
first ruler was a woman, whose brothers were the first rulers of Perak
and Lan Xang (in Laos) and the second ruler of Kedah.12 The other
tradition, represented by the HP, gives what appear to be Thai names
to the ruler of Mahligai, to his son the founder of Patani, and to the
latter’s three children.13 14 It is likely that the confusion in oral and written
traditions centring both on the immediate origins of the ruling dynasty
(here called the “Inland Dynasty”) and on their Thai or Malay con­
nections with other localities on the peninsula, reflects a period during
which Patani’s predecessors were eclipsed by its neighbours. When a
new Patani came gradually to prominence late in the fifteenth century
or early in the sixteenth its “pedigree” could be a matter of dispute
between various factions within the state which identified their fortunes,
and those of Patani, with competing cultural traditions and political
connections.
Patani traditionally has been held to be one of the cradles of Islam
in Southeast Asia, yet little can be said with certainty about the coming
of Islam to Patani. d’Eredia, writing in 1613, stated that Islam was
adopted in Patani and Pahang before being introduced in Malacca.11
Islam certainly was established in Trengganu by 1386—87 at the latest,15
and there is no reason why it should not have reached nearby Patani
by that date, particularly given Patani’s repute as an early centre of
Islam. But how, and from where, did it arrive? Local Patani tradition
attributes the conversion of the ruler to people from Pasai, present in
Patani as a trading community,16 an explanation which fits well with
recent argument on the subject.17 The date of Patani’s conversion, or
the date of the first conversions in Patani, may well be as early as this,
but it remains to be established.
According to local chronicles there were two rulers of Patani before a
datable rebellion against the Thai monarchy of Ayudhya in 1564: Sul­
tans Ismacil Syah and Mudhaffar Syah. Ismacil Syah was born the son
of Phaya Tu Kerub Mahajana of Kota Mahligai, and before founding
Patani was known variously as Phaya Tu Antara (probably “Indra”) 18

12 HMM, pp. 63—64.
13 See below, Chapter VI, section 1.
14 Mills, 1930, p. 49.
13 Cf. Drewes, 1968, p. 455.
10 See below, Chapter VI, section 2.
17 Summarized in Drewes, 1968, pp. 433—59.
18 For these names see Chapter VI, section 1.