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0279 Cathay and the Way Thither : vol.2
Cathay and the Way Thither : vol.2 / Page 279 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000042
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AND THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

opposition to Kisiwa " Island." And below he adds, " The word Moli commonly used in the corrupt Arabic of Zanjibar, will vainly be sought in the Dictionaries." Mul-Java then is Java of the Main.

It is true that in the only other place where I have been able to find this name used, a passage quoted by D'Ohsson from the Mongol History in the Persian language, called Tarikh-i-Wassaf, it is stated that in 1292 Kublai Khan conquered " the Island of Mul-Java," which is described as lying in the direction of India, and as having a length of 200 farsangs, and a breadth of 100. It is added that the sovereign of this country, Sri Rama by name, died on his way to pay homage to Kublai, but his son arrived, and was well received, obtaining the confirmation of his government on condition of rendering a tribute of gold and pearls (D' Ohsson, ii, 465). As regards the use of the word island here, it is to be remembered that the Arabs used the wood Jazirah also for a peninsula, as we have already had occasion to observe. Thus Abulfeda calls the Spanish Peninsula Jazirat-ul-Andalus, and Ibn Jubair applies the plural Jazair to what we by a kind of analogy call the Two Sicilies (Reinaud's Abulfeda, ii, 234; Jour. Asiat., Jan., 1846, p. 224 ; see also Gildemeister, p. 59). Let it be remembered also that the terms Jawa, Jawi, with the Arabs were applied not merely to the specific islands of Java and Sumatra, but " to the whole Archipelago, its language, and inhabitants " (Crawfurd's Dict. of I. Islands, p. 165). To what region then would the full application Jazirah 11Iul Aiwa, or Peninsula of Java of the Main," apply so aptly as to what we call the Malay Peninsula, which, I may observe, Crawfurd in all his works on the Archipelago treats as essentially part of that region ? And turning to the fragments of hazy history preserved by the Malays, we find as one of the early kings over the Malay or Javanese settlers in the peninsula, SRI RAMA Vikrama. The reign of this king indeed, according to Lassen's interpretation of the chronology, is placed 1301-1314, some years too late for the date in Wassaf, but the Malay dates are very uncertain (see Lassen, iv, 542; and Crawfurd, o. c. 243). I have little doubt, then, that the Peninsula was the Mul-Java of the two authors, though possibly the extension of the name towards Siam and Cambodia may not have been very exactly limited, for we know from Debarros that the king of Siam claimed sovereignty over the Peninsula even to Singapore, and it may still have been in the former quarter that Ibn Batuta landed. Even if' this be not admissible, I may remark that we know little now of the eastern coast of the Peninsula or regarding the degree of civilisation to which it may have attained in former days. The elephant, however, abounds in its northern forests, and is still commonly domesticated. The aloes-wood also is found there, though lower in repute than that of Cambodia (see Crawfura in vv. Elephant and Agila).

At p. 469 I have quoted from Abulfeda a slight indication of the position of Kumâ,ra, which Ibn Batuta represents to have been a city belonging to Mul-Java, as at the northern end of the Malay Peninsula. It may however have been on the other side of the Gulf of Siam, and in that case it is possible that the name may be connected with Khmer, the ancient native name of the kingdom of Cambodia (see Pallegoix Des. du Royaume Thai ou Siam, i, 29, and illouhot's Travels, i, 278).