Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd - Announcements

Royal Code Of Conduct
The Taj al-Salatin (Mahkota Raja-Raja) –
Moral Philosophical Works and the Royal Symbolic
System of Malay History
The Taj al-Salatin
(Mahkota Raja-Raja),
Penang, 31 July 1824
(4 Zulhijah 1239)
Its original manuscript was written by Bukhari Johori in 1603 and
copied by the scribe, Muhammad bin Umar Syeikh Farid of
Penang, dated 4 Zulhijjah 1239 (31 July 1824). Delving into the
subject of morality and philosophy, it devotes two of its 24 chapters on
the conduct of royal scribes and envoys.
As in Malay literature and historical texts pertaining to court
etiquette and customs, letter-writing indulged in lengthy reception of
royal correspondence in court. The letter’s form represented the King’s
command and presence. It had become the designated authority, granting the
letter with supreme status as the King himself.
In its wordings contained within this letter, the position between sender and
receiver revealed the political and diplomatic strata of early Malay
government.
The annals of the “Buku Sejarah Melayu” sheds light on events
pertaining to letters that are believed to have originated in the 16th century.
Rendered in ink, colours and gold on burnished English paper, its
illumination and painstaking magnificence exudes a timelessness, skills and
dexterity of the calligrapher etched forever in a bygone age.