Bustanu's-Salatin, 



Its date and author 



By E. 0. Wixstedt. 



In his account of the Malay manuscripts belonging to the 

 Eoyal Asiatic Society London, that great scholar van der Tuuk, 

 following the interlinear Malay version instead of the Arabic in 

 the manuscript before him, stated that the Bustanu's-Salatin fi dzikr 

 al-awwalin wal-akliirin, " The Garden of Kings, showing forth 

 the origin of all creation and the end thereof/' was composed at 

 Acheh by Shaikh Xuru'd-din ibn 'Ali ibn Hasanji ibn Muhammad 

 ar-Eaniri of Gujerat in 1040 A.H. (1630-1631 A.D.) by order of 

 Sultan Iskandar Thani k Ala J ud-dm Mughayat Shah who reigned 

 from 1636 till 16-11 A.D. ! ■ This error was copied by most, if not 

 all, scholars until Dr. Eaden Husein Jayadiningrat wrote his 

 critical study of the Sultanate of Acheh (Bij. T. L. en Vk. van 

 A. /,, Kon. Inst. Deel LXV, p. 136 foil., 1910.) By this Javanese 

 scholar it was at last pointed out that the Arabic in the text re- 

 cords that Shaikh Xnriv'd-din came to Acheh on Sunday the 6th 

 of Muharram 10-17 A.H. (May 31, 163?) and got instructions to 

 compose this book from the Sultan on the 17th day of Shawwal 

 in the same Muhammadan year (March 4, 1638). These dates I 

 may add are given not only in the Arabiq but also in the interlinear 

 Malay text of Mr. R. J. Wilkinson's edition of two books of the 

 Bustanu's-Salatin (Singapore, 2 vols., 1899-1900). Again in the 

 margin of the Taju'l-Mulk, (printed at Mecca in 1311 A.H. and 

 in Egypt, — editions on sale in Singapore) is published a treatise 

 by Shaikh Xurud-din, called the Bad' Tchalh as-samawat wa'l ardh 

 u The origin of the creation of heaven and earth/' wherein in the 

 Arabic of the preface it is stated that the author came first to 

 Acheh on Sunday the 6th of Eajab 1047, but in the interlinear 

 Malay translation of the Mecca edition Sunday the 6th of Muhar- 

 ram 1040 and in that of the Egyptian edition Sunday the 6th of 

 Eajab 1040 is given as the date ! That the treatise repeats the 

 error of some of the MSS. of the Bustan is not surprising seeing 

 that it is really the first book of the Bustan under another name. 

 This fact, which unless I am mistaken has not hitherto been noted, 

 would make the treatise useful for the preparation of a critical 

 text of the Bustan (cf. for example Wilkinson's ed., p. 38, Fasal 

 pada menyatakan kejadian sliurga and the Egyptian ed.. p. 62.) 



That the correct date for the arrival of Shaikh Xuru'd-din in 

 Acheh was the 6th of Muharram 1047 A.H. is almost certain as 

 our Javanese scholar finds only that date (May 31, 1637) of all 

 the dates given fell on a Sundry. And the date when Sh'aikh 

 Xurrfd-din began to write the Bustanu's-Salatin will lie March 



R. A. Soc, No. 82, 1920. 



