Page 75 - Hikayat-Patani-The-Story-Of-Patani 1

66 HIKAYAT PATANI

Tarab in part III hardly fits in with the severe judgment on the same
man — if he is the same! — which is expressed in part II, on the
occasion of the death of Alung Yunus.
According to the above hypothesis the author of part IV must have
been a man close in time to the bendahara Cerak Kin, and cannot there­
fore have written this story after 1700, as the latest possible date for
bendahara Cerak Kin seems to be 1680.
The author of part V was a man who must have had first-hand
information on all the events during the tumultuous reign of Marhum
Kalantan; but he also provides us with clear proof that putting facts in
a row is one thing, and writing history is another. The author, whose
knowledge of written Malay was limited, seems to have been close to the
Datuk Sai whose murder he witnessed; he most probably wrote his
story — which looks like an annotation on part of part II — shortly after
1707, as no later events are mentioned in this passage.
Part VI, finally, was obviously written by an expert on court traditions
and music, probably at a time when the glorious traditions of Patani’s
heyday were not too much a thing of the past, say before 1700.
Putting these factors together we get the following picture:

Time of writing Argument
Part I first draft after 1690, death of Raja Kuning; geneal­
in present form after 1720 ogy of Raja Hujan
Part II shortly after 1730 death of Alung Yunus
Part III between 1704 and 1707 first reign of Baginda, Alung
Tarab bendahara for first time
Part IV before 1700 author contemporaneous with
bendahara Cerak Kin, grand­
son of elephant doctor of Mar­
hum Bungsu
Part V shortly after 1707 Baginda in Teradih, Alung Ta­
rab still bendahara
Part VI late 17th century? royal adat well known

This table suggests a fairly complicated textual history of the Hikayat
Patani. The first form in which the HP existed may have consisted of
part I only. It may have been written not too long after the death of
Raja Kuning (Marhum Besar, in the latter part of the 17th century).
B still represents this original text, but in a later and edited form: the
Raja Hujan genealogy brings it down to perhaps 1780 at the earliest;