South Sulawesi A.D 1300-1600: ten bugis texts

Abstract

The text sets out to examine ten Bugis works written in the Bugis-Makasar script, which purport to speak of South Sulawesi before the formal acceptance of Islam in the early seventeenth century. Chapter One discusses the various philological problems of transcribing, translating and editing Bugis works, and sets out the methodology to be followed. Chapter Two consists of the texts in Romanized transcription and English-language translation. Each text is prefaced by a brief introduction which discusses the pre­vious history of publication (if any), the manuscript versions representing the work and the selection of a single manuscript for editing; the date of composition and the work as a historical source are briefly discussed. Chapter Three looks at the relationship between history and writing for the pre­ Islamic period. This leads to an examination of the evidence for the origins of literacy in South Sulawesi,and the definition of the period covered by the following historical enquiry as circa A.D.1300-1600. The characteristics of Bugis sources for this period are then briefly outlined. Chapter Four describes the general features of pre-Islamic South Sulawesi Society as they appear from Bugis and Makasar sources. Where possible, the evidence of­fered by the sources is examined against anthropological and archaeological data. Chapter Five looks at some questions regarding the political history of pre-Islamic South Sulawesi. These questions concern the location and origins of specific chief­doms, their internal organization, their historical expansion or decline, and their In­fluence, if any, outside the region with which they have been more recently as­sociated. In setting into context the conclusions suggested by the new data, the evidence of published Bugis and European sources is briefly re-examined. Show more