Hikayat Iskandar Zulkarnain Explained

Hikayat Iskandar Zulkarnain (Arabic: حكاية إسكندر ذو القرنين|italic=yes,) is a Malay epic in the tradition of the Alexander Romance describing fictional exploits of Alexander the Great (Iskandar), identified with Dhu al-Qarnayn (Zulkarnain), a king briefly mentioned in the Quran. The oldest existing manuscript is dated 1713, but is in a poor state. Another manuscript was copied by Muhammad Cing Sa'idullah about 1830.^[1]

There are two versions of the text: a recension from the Malayan peninsula and a Sumatran recension. The Sumatran version begins with a doxology not found in the Peninsular, whereas the ending of the Peninsular is extended past that of the Sumatran to include up to the point when Alexander died.

Influence of the Alexander legends on Malaysian tradition was significant. Court chronicles were produced to claim genealogical descent from Alexander. Some claimed this descent from Alexander occurred through the lineage of Raja Rajendra Chola, an emperor from the eleventh century described in the Malay Annals.^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} Influence also poured into Buginese and Javanese literature.^[9]

Synopsis

Iskandar Zulkarnain is claimed to be a direct antecedent of the Minangkabau kingdoms of Sumatra by their rulers. The best known Minangkabau ruler, Adityavarman, who ruled over Sumatra between 1347 and 1374 AD claimed for himself the name Maharajadiraja, 'a great lord of kings.' It was William Marsten who first publicized this link at the end of the 18th century.^[10]

Sources and historical context

The hikayat genre was first introduced to Pasai in the mid-fourteenth century. The text has no ultimate source but is a composite of various origins, including the Arabic Sīrat al-Iskandar, the Shahnameh of the Persian poet Ferdowsi, and the Malay Hikayat Muhammad Hanifiyyah.^[11]

Related texts

Two related Malaysian texts include the Hikayat Raja Iskandar ("Story of King Alexander")^[12] and Hikayat Ya’juj wa-Ma’juj ("Story of Gog and Magog").^[13]

Editions

• Pieter Johannes van Leeuwen, De maleische Alexanderroman (Meppel, 1937)

See also

• List of Hikayat
• Indonesian literature
• Alexander the Great in legend

Notes and References

1. http://mcp.anu.edu.au/N/Isk_bib.html malay concordance project Hikayat Iskandar Zulkarnain
2. Book: Balai Seni Lukis Negara (Malaysia) . Seni dan nasionalisme: dulu & kini . Balai Seni Lukis Negara . 1999 . 9789839572278.
3. Book: S. Amran Tasai . Sejarah Melayu: sebagai karya sastra dan karya sejarah : sebuah antologi . Djamari . Budiono Isas . Pusat Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan Nasional . 2005 . 978-979-685-524-7 . 67.
4. Book: Radzi Sapiee . Berpetualang Ke Aceh: Membela Syiar Asal . Wasilah Merah Silu Enterprise . 2007 . 978-983-42031-1-5 . 69.
5. Book: Dewan bahasa . Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka . 1980 . 333, 486.
6. Book: John N. Miksic . John N. Miksic . Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300_1800 . 30 September 2013 . NUS Press . 978-9971-69-574-3 . 147–.
7. Book: Marie-Sybille de Vienne . Brunei: From the Age of Commerce to the 21st Century . 9 March 2015 . NUS Press . 978-9971-69-818-8 . 47–.
8. Book: Yusoff Iskandar . Pensejarahan Melayu: kajian tentang tradisi sejarah Melayu Nusantara . Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pendidikan, Malaysia . 1992 . 978-983-62-3012-6 . 147.
9. Book: Ng, Su Fang . Alexander the Great in the Middle Ages: transcultural perspectives . 2016 . University of Toronto Press . 978-1-4426-4466-3 . Stock . Markus . Toronto Buffalo London . 105–106 . The Alexander Romance in Southeast Asia: Wonder, Islam, and Knowledge of the World.
10. Early Modern History page 60
11. Book: Zuwiyya, Z. David . A Companion to Alexander Literature in the Middle Ages . Brill . 2011 . Z. David Zuwiyya . 73–112 . The Alexander Romance in the Arabic Tradition.
12. Book: Daneshgar, Majid . The Qurʼan in the Malay-Indonesian world: context and interpretation . 2019 . Routledge . 978-0-367-28109-0 . Daneshgar . Majid . First issued in paperback . Routledge studies in the Quran . London New York . 212–228 . Dhu l-Qarnayn in Modern Malay Qurʾānic Commentaries and Other Literature on Qurʾānic Themes . Riddell . Peter G. . Rippin . Andrew.
13. Doufikar-Aerts . Faustina . 2003 . Sīrat Al-Iskandar: An Arabic Popular Romance of Alexander . Oriente Moderno . 22 (83) . 2 . 505–520 . 0030-5472.