Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa
Sumatra (al-Jāwa, الجاوة)
Title
The Sultan of Sumatra's greeting ceremony
Short description
The Sultan of Sumatra's greeting ceremony which include singing and horse dances. The author specifies that the singers are males. In Ibn Baṭṭūṭa's perception, the "horses' dances" are something wonderful and similar to the ones he witnessed before in Delhi. This kind of ceremony at Sumatra's court is confirmed in the two main chronicles that we have: the Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai and the so-called Malay annals.
Text on source
ووقف السلطان على فيله إزاء قبة الجلوس ورفع فوق رأسه شطر مرصع، وجعل عن يمينه خمسون فيلًا مزينة وعن شماله مثلها وعن يمينه أيضًا مائة فرس وعن شماله مثلها وهي خيل النوبة، ووقف بين يديه خواص الحجاب، ثم أتى أهل الطرب من الرجال، فغنوا بين يديه، وأتي بخيل مجللة بالحرير، لها خلاخيل ذهب وأرسان حرير مزركشة، فرقصت الخيل بين يديه، فعجبت من شأنها، وكنت رأيت مثل ذلك عند ملك الهند، ولما كان عند الغروب دخل السلطان إلى داره، وانصرف الناس إلى منازلهم [ص. ٤٤٨]
English translation
The Sultan remained on his elephant opposite the pavilion for assemblies. Above his head a parasol encrusted with precious stones was raised. There were fifty caparisoned elephants on his right and as many on his left. There were a hundred horses on his right and as many on his left. They were Nubian horses. His privy chamberlains stood before him. Then male musicians [ahl al-ṭarab min al-rijāl] came and sang [ġannū] before him. Then came horses with silk coverings, gold anklets and gold-embroidered silk halters and they danced [raqaṣat] before him. I wondered at their performance; I had seen something similar before the king of India. Towards sunset the Sultan went into his house and the people went home.
Folios/Pages
879
Date
1341 circa
Observations on the events description
The identity of the mentioned Sultan has been debated. He might have been Aḥmad, the third in his lineage (Hill, 1963:15).
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.
Participants
No other participants in this event description.
How to quote
Pintimalli A., "The Sultan of Sumatra's greeting ceremony" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 06 04.doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130
This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 
