THE Raja of China heard of the greatness of the Raja of
Malaca, and sent an embassy thither, and directed the embassador to present to
the raja a pilu deeply laden with needles, and also silks, gold-cloth, and
kin-canbs, or kinka-dewonga, with a great variety of curious articles, such as
are nowhere else to be met with. After they had arrived in Malaca, Sultan
Mansur Shah ordered the letter of China to be brought up with the same honours
as had been conferred on that of Siam. He then received it by the hand of a
bentara, in the public hall of audience, and delivered it to the khateb, who
read it according to its diction.
This letter is dispatched from beneath the sandals of the
feet of the King of Heaven, to be placed above the diadem of the Raja of
Malaca. "Verily we have heard that the Raja of Malaca is a great raja, for
which reason we have desired his friendship and attachment, because we are also
descended from Raja Secander Zulkarneini, and of the same extraction as the
Raja of Malaca. There is no raja in the universal world greater than me, and it
is not possible to enumerate the number of my subjects, but the pilu which I
send you contains a needle for every house in my empire."On hearing the
purport of this letter the raja smiled, and having emptied the prahu of
theneedles, he loaded it with
sago-grains, and appointed Tun Parapati Puti, the younger brother of the bandahara
Paduca Raja, to conduct the ambassador back to China.
Tun Parapati Puti set sail, and how long was his voyage,
till he arrived in the land of China ;
and the Raja of China commanded the letter of Malaca to be brought up in state,
and caused it to be left at the house of the head mantri named Li-po, till it
was almost morning, when Li-po with all the mantris and head-men entered into
the palace of the raja, and Tun Parapati Puti entered along with them ; and
there came an innumerable flock of crows which entered along with them.
When they arrived at the outer gate, Li-po, and all the
chiefs who accompanied him stopped, and the crows also stopped along with them,
and sounded the great gong to give notice, which yielded a prodigious noise.
After which the door was opened, and Li-po with all who accompanied him
entered, and the flock of crows also. They then approached another gate, and
stopped and sounded a gong in the same manner as before, after which they entered.
The same process was repeated till they had passed seven doors.
When they reached the interior, the day was up, and they
were all sitting arranged in their several places, in the hall of audience. This
hall was one league in length, and it was not roofed in. From the great access of
persons, though the persons were closely jammed knee to knee, there was no
place left vacant ; and all those who attended were solely para-mantris and
hulu-balangs, and the crows extending their wings overshadowed the whole
assembly.
After this was heard the roaring of thunder, with
thunder-claps, and lightning flashing to and fro, and then the Raja of China
came forth, his form reflected like shadows in a place surrounded with mirrors,
which appeared to be in the mouth of a snake (naga.) As soon as they beheld the
Raja of China, all who were present bowed their faces to the ground, and
saluted the Raja of China, without lifting up their faces again. A man then
read the letter of Malaca, and the Raja of China was highly pleased with the
contents. The sago was then brought before the raja, and the raja of China
asked how it was made. Tun Parapati Puti replied that it was made by rolling it up into grains, and
that the raja of Malaca had sent him a grain for every person in his dominions,
till the prahu had been loaded, for so
great is the number of the subjects of our raja that it is impossible to count
them.
The raja of China said, "of a truth the raja of Malaca is a powerful raja, his subjects are
in truth very numerous, and no wise inferior to mine. It will be very proper for
me to connect myself with him." Then the China raja said to Li-po, "Since
the raja of Malaca is so powerful as to have these sago-grains rolled up by his
people, I in like manner am determined to have the rice which I eat husked, and
no longer to be beaten." Li-po replied, "very well, Sire,"and
that is the reason why the raja of China does not eat beaten rice unto the
present time, but only that which is peeled from day to day.
The raja of China has at his meals, fifteen gantangs (each
gantang five catty) of husked rice, one hog, and a tub of hog's lard. When Tun
Parapati Puti presented himself before him, he had ten rings on his ten
fingers, and whosoever of the Chinese mantris viewed them eagerly, he took one
of them off and presented it to him, and the same to the next person, who
viewed them attentively, and so on constantly, whenever he presented himself
before the China raja.
The raja of China one day asked him what food the Malaca men
were fond of, he replied, kankung greens (convol-vulus repens) not cut, but split lengthwise.
The raja of China ordered them to
prepare this mess according to the direction of Tun Parapati Puti; and when it
was ready, he sent for Tun Parapati Puti, and all the Malaca men, and they all
eat of it, taking it by the tip of the stalk, lifting up their heads, and opening
wide their mouths, and thus Tun Parapati Puti and the Malaca men had a full
view of the raja of China. When the Chinese observed this proceeding of the
Malaca men, they also took to eating the kankung greens, which they have
continued to the present time.
When the monsoon for returning arrived, Tun Parapati Puti
asked permission to return. The raja of China, judging it proper to ally
himself with the raja of Malaca, since he had sent to pay his respects to him,
said to Tun Parapati Puti, "desire the raja to pay me a visit, in order
that I may marry my daughter, the Princess Hong Li-po, to him." Tun
Parapati Puti represented, "Your son, the raja of Malaca, cannot possibly
leave the kingdom of Malaca, which is surrounded with enemies; but if you would
do a favour to the raja of Malaca, permit me to conduct your daughter, the
Princess, to Malaca."
Then the raja of China ordered Li-po to prepare a fleet to
conduct the Princess to Malaca, consisting of a hundred pilus, under the
command of a high mantri, named Di-po. Then the raja of China selected five
hundred daughters of his para mantris, of great beauty, whom he appointed to be
handmaids to the Princess. Then the Princess Hong Li-po, and the letter, were conducted
on board the vessels, and Tun Parapati
Puti set sail with them for Malaca.
When they reached Malaca, the Sultan Mansur Shah was informed that Tun Parapati Puti had
returned, and brought with him the Princess of China, at which he was greatly
delighted, and went himself to receive the Princess to the isle Pulu Sabot.
Having met her with a thousand tokens of respect, he conducted her to the
palace, and the Sultan was astonished to behold the beauty of the Princess of
China, and said in the Arabic language, "0 fairest of created creatures,
may God the Creator of the world bless you."
Then the Sultan directed the Princess Hong Li-po to be
converted to the religion of Islam, and after she was converted the Sultan
espoused her, and had by her a son named Paduca Maimut, who begat Paduca Sri China, whose son was Paduca Ahmed,
who begat Paduca Isup. All the daughters of the Chinese mantris were likewise converted
to Islam, and the raja appointed the hill without the fort for their residence,
and the hill got the name of Den-China, or the China residence, (in Siamese;)
and the Chinese formed a well at the foot of this China hill. The descendants
of these persons are denominated beduanda China, or the Chinese personal
attendants.
Sultan Mansur Shah
bestowed an honorary dress on Di-po, and all the rest of the mantris who had
conducted the Chinese Princess; and when the monsoon for returning arrived, Di-po
asked permission to return, and Tun Talani and the mantri Jana Petra, were
directed to attend the ambassador to China, and the Sultan again sent a letter
to the raja of China, on account of his becoming connected with him by this marriage.
Then Tun Talani sailed away for China, when a violent storm arose, and carried
him with the mantri Jana Petra, to Burne. When the Sangaji of Burne was
informed of this circumstance, he sent to call them into his presence, and Tun
Talani and the mantri Jana Petra were brought before him.
Then the raja of Burne said to the mantri Jana Petra, "what
is the stile of the raja of Malaca's letter to the raja of China ?" Tun
Talani replied, "I, his servant, (sahaya,) the raja of Malaca, to the
Paduca y father, the raja of China."The raja of Burne enquired, "does
the raja of Malaca send this humble salutation to the raja of China, as an
inferior?" Tun Talani remained silent, but the mantri Jana Petra pushed
forward and said "No, Sire, he does not greet him as an inferior, for the
meaning of (sahaya) the word used in the address, signifies slave in the Malayu language, and of
course the phrase 'Sahaya Raja Malaca dulang kapada Paduca Ayahanda Raja
China,' signifies "we the slaves of the raja of Malaca, humbly salute the
Paduca our father, the raja of China.'' Then said the raja of Burne, "does
the raja of Malaca send a humble salutation to the raja of China ?" Tun
Talani was again silent, and the mantri Jana Petra pushed again forward and said,
"No, Sire, he does not send a humble greeting to the raja of China, for the phrase Sahaya Raja Malaca denotes all
of us here, who send the greeting, not the raja of Malaca," on which the
raja of Burne remained silent.
When the monsoon for returning arrived, Tun Talani and the
mantri Jana Petra asked permission of Sangaji of Burne, to return, and the raja
of Burne sent a letter to Malaca, couched in this style, "May the greeting
of the Paduca Ayahanda arrive beneath the majesty of the Ayahanda."Then
Tun Talani and the mantri Jana Petra returned, and when they reached Malaca,
they presented the letter of the raja of Burne to Sultan Mansur Shah, and
related all the circumstances which had
occurred to them, to the great satisfaction of the raja, who rewarded highly
Tun Talani and mantri Jana Petra, and presented them with honorary dresses, and
he highly praised the mantri Jana Petra.
When Di-po and the rest of the Chinese mantris, who had
conducted the Princess Hong Li-po to Malaca, returned to China, they presented
the letter of the raja of Malaca, and the raja of China was highly pleased with
the contents. Two days after this the raja was seized with an itch of the
whole body, and ordered a physician to
be called, and asked for medicine. The medicine, however, produced no effect,
and whatever number of physicians attended the raja, the effect was entirely
the same.
There was, however, an aged physician, who presented himself
to the raja, and said, "Sire, Sir Kopea, this disease of yours is sent by
the visitation of God, and is not to be cured by remedies, for the cause of it
is particular." The raja asked, "what is its cause ?" The
physician answered, "it is a judgment on account of the raja of Malaca's
sending you a salutation as an inferior, and it cannot be cured without Your
Majesty's drinking the water which has washed the feet and face of the raja of
Malaca."When the raja of China had heard this opinion, he ordered a messenger
to be sent to Malaca, to ask the water which had bathed the face and feet of
the raja of Malaca.
The ambassador sat out and reached Malaca, made his
application to Sultan Mansur Shah, and the letter from China was read in the
public hall by the khateb. Then the water was delivered to the ambassador, who
was honoured with a dress according to his rank; and having received a letter
to the raja of China, he set out on his return. As soon as he arrived, he
delivered the letter of Malaca with the water, of which the raja drank, and in
which he bathed himself, when the itch totally disappeared from his body, and
he was cured.
Then the raja of China vowed that he would not suffer
himself to be so saluted by the raja of Malaca, and that no such practice
should be admitted between their posterity. After this a friendly intercourse
on equal terms, subsisted for a long period between the raja of China and the
raja of Malaca.
