6 THE EARLY MUHAMMADAN MISSIONARIES. 



the Sharif of Mecca went to India to remind the Great Mogul of 

 tithes clue to the Holy City: and they learnt for the first time 

 from Indian friends that Acheen was a Muhammadan kingdom and 

 it was likely they could collect funds in Sumatra ! [One may add 

 as another instance of Malay ignorance lines like Serban Kashmiri 

 warna liijau, Buatan Arab di-negeri Makkali.] 



(5) The Malay alphabet is not Arabic but Perso-Hindustani. 



(6) Many early books were translated from the Persian or 

 oftener from Indian versions of Persian originals. [E.g. the 

 lit. Iskandar Dzul-Kamain, the Bustanw's-Salatin, the Taju's- 

 Salatin, Ht. Muhammad Hanafiah, lit. Amir Hamza, the lit. 

 Bay an Budiman. Shaikh Xuru'd-din of Gujerat translated the 

 first two (Journal 17, page 174 and Bustanu' s-Salatin Vol. II, 

 page 26 Singapore 1900) ; and Brandes and van Eonkel have dis- 

 cussed the origin of the two last. But there is much more to be 

 done in this line of research. There is no evidence of direct Persian 

 influence on the Malays : it came through Indian channels.] 



(7) Malay religious literature, discussed in Vol. II of Snouck 

 Hurgronje's ' The Achinese/ is often repulsive to Arab ideas, and 

 is infected with that popular pantheism which India borrowed from 

 Persia. [The charms collected by Skeat in his " Malay Magic " 

 often exhibit this popular pantheism.] 



(8) The first Arabs proper came from the Hadthramaut 

 (ride Journal 77, page 174 and Journal 79, page 49). And the 

 Hadthramaut family of Savids got the throne of Pontianak in 

 Borneo as well as that of Siak. 



Direct Arab influence made itself felt strongly only after the 

 invention of steam-ships had made voyages easy. 



Jour. Straits Branch 



