An Endearing Epistle from A Dutch Colonial Governor to A Malay Ruler in His Dominion

In this article a study is done on the National Library of Malaysia (Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia) MSS 4049 A Letter from A Dutch Colonial Governor-General in Batavia dated 1848 (MSS 4049 Surat daripada Governor General Belanda di Negeri Betawi bertarikh 1848). The study is in the forms of a transliteration, annotation and translation of the letter and also a general discussion of the historical background and content of the letter. Also a discussion on the common features of the Dutch letter with the style of the Malay rulers’ letter will be made, namely the writing of a short formulaic heading on top of the page as a kind of statement, kind words of endearment and honorable words of addressing the recipients, prayer to the Almighty for the long life and good health of the addressee and the mention of the exchange of precious gifts. One feature that is in complete contrast with the etiquette of Malay rulers’ letter writing was the conspicuous introduction in the opening line of the Governor- General’s letter, of the status of the sender with grandeurs mentions of one’s honor and awards, and also the use of plain paper without illumination by the Dutch Governor-General which contrasted to the Malay rulers’ letter writing style of using intricate illumination. This study also revealed that although the letter is from a Dutch colonial Governor-General to one of the Malay rulers in his dominions, the civility, mutual respect and appropriate decorum of addressing between rulers, were practiced and adopted.


Introduction
On 2012, April 9, we received a very interesting mail with a CD from the National Library of Malaysia (Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia) containing copies of four recently acquired manuscripts 1 . They are listed as follows:

1)
MSS 4013 Surat daripada Seri Paduka Sultan Pahang kepada anakanda yang Mulia Sultan Abu Bakar Yang Dipertuan Negeri Johor bertarikh 1932, 16 Disember (1351. ( In this article, however, only the MSS 4049 A Letter from A Dutch Colonial Governor-General in Batavia dated 1848 will be studied in the forms of a transliteration, English translation and annotation of the letter and also a general discussion of the historical background and content of the letter. The copy of the letter is appended with the paper. The MSS 4049 was acquired by the National Library of Malaysia (Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia) on 2007, April 12 from one Syarif Hud, and its source of origin was Pontianak West Kalimantan.

MS 4049 A Letter from A Dutch Colonial Governor-General in Batavia to the Ruler of Sambas A Brief Historical Background
The letter was written as a reply to an earlier letter from the ruler of Sambas. It was written by Jan Jacob Rochussen the Dutch Governor-General in Batavia, the capital of Dutch colonial government in Indonesia, in the Hijriah year of 1264 equivalent to 1848 CE (See the transliteration of the text below for the fixation of these dates). This is 24 years after the

Common features of the Dutch letter with the style of the Malay rulers' letter
The content of the letter is very interesting because it contains etiquettes of letter writing some having common features with the epistles among the Malay rulers, with some other features contrasted completely.
Some common features are: 1) The writing of a short formulaic heading on top of the page as a kind of statement, that is Qawluluhu Haqq (His word is true), which was similar in format with the letter of Sultan Ahmad I of Terengganu to General Baron van der Capellen in Batavia in 1824 with the heading al nujūm wa l-shamsu wa l-qamar (The stars, the moon and the sun).

2)
Kind words of endearment and honorable words of addressing the recipients: "Adapun akan tanda cinta kasih kita kepada Paduka Pengeran Ratu adalah kita mengirimkan Paduka Pengeran Ratu…" ("Verily as a sign of our affection to Your Majesty, we respectfully submit this epistle to Your Majesty….") "Barang disampaikan oleh Tuhan Sarwa Sekalian Alam, apalah kiranya datang kepada Paduka Pengeran Ratu Mangku Negara di Negeri Sambas. Maka dipohonkan atasnya umur panjang dengan sihat selamat yang tiada berkeputusan." ("We beseech God Almighty for a safe deliverance of our epistle to Your Majesty the ruler of Sambas. And we pray to God Almighty for your long life and excellent of health perpetually.") 3) Prayer to the Almighty for the long life and good health of the addressee: "Shahadan pada akhir satar ini lain tiada hanyalah doa kita mudah-mudahan Paduka Pengeran Ratu beroleh umur panjang dengan sihat selamat sejahtera yang tiada berkeputusan jua adanya." ("As a conclusion of our epistle wee beseech God Almighty for Your Majesty's long life and excellent of health perpetually") 4) The mention of the exchange of precious gifts: "Dan lagi persembahan Paduka Pengeran Ratu kepada kita jadi tanda tulus ikhlasnya iaitu satu buku air emas sebagaimana didapat dari tanah yang jadi satu ajaib berpatutan berat sembilan belas ringgit lebih tiga emas, itupun kita sudah terima dengan suka hati. Adapun akan tanda cinta kasih kita kepada Paduka Pengeran Ratu adalah kita mengirimkan Paduka Pengeran Ratu satu perangkat perabut minuman kopi dan selai yang berkembangan warna warna." (And Your Majesty's gift of a rare earth lump of gold ingot of nineteen and three gold in weight, was indeed a sign of your sincerity and we did accept it with deepest appreciation. And as a sign of our own affection to Your Majesty we herewith offer you gifts of a complete set coffee maker and jam manufactured in various colours.")

Features of the Dutch letter which contrasted to the Malay Rulers' letter writing styles
One feature that is in complete contrast with the etiquette of Malay rulers' letter writing is the conspicuous introduction in the opening line of the Governor-General's letter, of the status of the sender with grandeurs mentions of one's honor and awards: This is in complete contrast with the opening paragraph of the letter of Sultan Ahmad I of Terengganu to General Baron van der Capellen in Batavia in 1824 (appended below), with the mention of sincere intention and purity of heart: "Bahawa warkah al-wujud hidayat al-mamdûd yang terbit daripada fuad al-zakiah yang amat gilang-gemilang hingga putih jernih bercahaya yang tiada menaruh cemar dalamnya, iaitu daripada Paduka Seri Sulţan Ahmad ibn al-Sulţan Zainal`Ābidin yang di atas takhta kerajaan di dalam negeri Terengganu dengan segala daerah takluknya sekalian." ("This is an epistle of sincere wishes of complete cooperation coming out of our deepest thought of purity and wisdom without any tinge of defection, from us Royal Highness Sultan Ahmad ibn al-Sultan Zainal`Ābidin sitting on the throne of the State of Terengganu and all its territories.") Another feature of the Dutch Governor-General's letter which contrasted to the Malay rulers' letter writing style was the use of plain paper without illumination, while illumination among Malay letters was a practice with a long tradition, although according to Gallop (1994: 39), little is known about the context and techniques of Malay illuminations. In this context among the beautiful illuminated Malay letters, was perhaps from Sultan Ahmad I of Terengganu to General Baron van der Capellen in Batavia in 1824, mentioned above.

Conclusion
In this paper a study of a letter written in 1848 by the Dutch Governor-General in Batavia, to a Malay ruler of Sambas, was made in the forms of brief description of its historical background, analysis of its content and styles as compared to the Malay rulers' letter writing styles, and finally a transliteration and annotation of the letter. It is found that four of its features were having similarities with the Malay rulers' letter writing styles, namely short formulaic heading on the top of the page, kind words of endearment and honorable words of addressing the recipients, prayer to the God Almighty for the long life and good health of the addressee, and mentioning of the exchange of precious gifts.
However, two features were in complete contrast with that of the Malay rulers' letter writing style. Firstly, the conspicuous introduction in the opening line of the Governor-General's letter, of the status of the sender with grandeurs mentions of his honor and awards, and secondly was the use of plain paper without illumination, while illumination among Malay rulers' letters was a practice with a long tradition.
This study also revealed that although the letter was from a Dutch Colonial Governor-General to one of the Malay rulers under his dominion, the civility, mutual respect and appropriate decorum of addressing between rulers, were practiced and adopted. An important finding of this study is that this Dutch's government officer's epistle was indeed employing an etiquette of diplomatic parlance between two governments so as to preserve peace and avoid armed conflicts that could bring great loses on both sides. Another important finding was the exchange of gifts between two governments to instill friendship and goodwill. The availability of foreign government letters kept in the treasury of local government were indeed rare because of the destruction of most palace's treasury or due to thefts and robberies. epistle safely into the possession of His Majesty the king of the state of Sambas. And we beseech that Your Majesty will be showered with a long life and an excellent of health. And consequently we wish to inform Your Majesty that your epistle of Sya'ban 13, 1264 was safely delivered into our possession. Moreover, Your Majesty's gifts to us as a sign of sincerity of heart in the form of a rare earth lump of gold ingot of nineteen and three gold in weight, was indeed a sign of your sincerity and we did accept it with deepest appreciation. And as a sign of our own affection to Your Majesty we herewith offer you gifts of a complete set coffee maker and jam manufactured in various colours. As a conclusion of our epistle we beseech God Almighty for your long life and excellent of health perpetually.

Transliteration and Annotation of The Letter from Gouverneur Generaal Van Nederlands-Indie to Paduka Pengeran Ratu Mangku Negara Negeri Sambas Dated 1264 H / 1848 CE
This epistle was written in our palace of the State of Batavia on February 27, the year of ….