| Description |
xxi, 322 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm |
| Series |
South-East Asian historical monographs |
|
South-East Asian historical monographs.
|
| Contents |
Facsimile of a Royal Letter or Surat Cap -- Minangkabau Royal 'Warrant' -- 1. 'The Poorest Pretence of Monarchs the World Has Known' -- 2. Landscape and History. A Shadow of Homage. Adityawarman's Kingdom. The European Search for an 'Emperor' of Minangkabau. Encircling Sumatra: The Portuguese. Early Dutch Perceptions. Dutchmen Identify an Emperor Inland -- 3. Terra Incognita: Cultural Encounters on the West Coast of Sumatra. Suku and Laras Loyalties. Contract and Perjanjian. Representation. Dutch Intervention. Cultural Encounters. Terra Incognita -- 4. In the King's Name. The King in the Darat. The King in the Rantau. Ambiguous Interaction. Using the Royal Name. 'Manipulators and Falsifiers' -- 5. 'Under the Clouds of Minangkabau'. A Meeting: The Court Described. A Royal Audience. Disputed Succession. Three Kings. The Capital and the King -- 6. The Power of Words: Letters and Dissent on the West Coast, 1669-1690. Letters and Dissent. A Priest King |
|
Royal Letters: Two Minangkabau Kings Announce Themselves. A 'Bare Name'. 'Noxious Agitators'. A Battle of the Signs: Words in Contest. The Word versus Deed Paradigm in Seventeenth-century Dutch Discourse -- 7. Surat Cap: The Royal Voice of Minangkabau Kings. The Scope of Minangkabau Letters. Malay Royal Letters. Minangkabau Royal Letters. Minangkabau Surat Cap. Dating the Malay Letters. God's Deputies. Children of Iskandar. Royal Regalia. Royal Writing -- 8. Saints and Signs: Broadcasting the Royal Word. Raja Ibrahim. Raja Sakti. The Authority of the Sign. The Presumed and the So-called. Raja Kecil. Broadcasting the Royal Word -- 9. Royal Words: Titah Yang Dipertuan. The Language of Space. The Language of Abundance. The Language of Greatness. Local Knowledge and Malay Heritage -- 10. A Kingdom of Words |
| Summary |
"A Kingdom of Words is a study in cultural history which investigates the role of kingship in the central Sumatran kingdom of Minangkabau between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries. Minangkabau kingship, the book argues, has often been misunderstood by Western writers who have emphasized the marginal and 'symbolic' role of royal authority within the Minangkabau polity. The present study challenges this view by focusing attention on the very aspects of Minangkabau sovereignty which European colonial writers most despised, namely, the language of kingship and the signs of power which the rulers and their representatives used to proclaim their authority." "The study argues that language was a potent source of authority in seventeenth-century Sumatra and points to important differences between European and Sumatran assumptions about authority and representation in this period. By investigating the process through which royal authority was communicated and enacted in the Minangkabau world, this book contributes to current thinking about the nature of South-East Asian political systems and comparative understanding of power."--BOOK JACKET |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [287]-311) and index |
| Subject |
Minangkabau (Indonesian people) -- Kings and rulers.
|
|
Minangkabau (Indonesian people) -- History -- Sources.
|
| SUBJECT |
Sumatera Barat (Indonesia) -- History -- Sources
|
| LC no. |
98018943 |
| ISBN |
9789835600357 |
|
983560035X |
|
