Grave of Putri Selara Pinang Masak

In Jambi’s historical past (according to different legends), it is said that the Jambi Melayu Kingdom was founded by a person with the name of Orang Kayo Hitam and his wife Mayang Mangurai.  Confusingly, a large percentage of the Jambi populace has accepted many of these stories as fact, and many newspaper articles still present information that has long been proven in error. Although there may be some truth contained in Jambi’s legends, many of the stories cannot stand up to clear historical documentation. We have learned that it can be fun to just go along with these legends instead of trying to prove them wrong to everybody, it’s actually a lot of fun to talk about them!

Grave of Putri Selara Pinang Masak

In the legends, the mother of Orang Kayo Hitam is “Putri Selara (Selaro–in the local dialect) Pinang Masak. Her grave is located in the Village of Pemunduran, 37 kilometers (23 miles) to the east of the City of Jambi, beginning at the Duren Intersection in the City of Jambi.

In addition to the grave of “Putri Selara Pinang Masak,” there is also the grave of one of her daughters, “Orang Kayo Gemuk,” located in the same village. To locate the grave of “Purti Selara Pinang Masak,” you need to find the elementary school “SD Negeri No. 12″ along the main road in front of the Village of Pemunduran, then go north (back towards the City of Jambi) about two tenths of a mile. It can be seen from the road and has a large portal with her name on it (picture above).

The grave of Orang Kayo Pedataran (alt. spelling: Kedataran), a son of Putri Selara Pinang Masak, is located a short distance away in the Village of Pedataran. In the recent past that village, and two neighboring villages, joined to form the village of Sumber Jaya.

To find the graves of Orang Kayo Gemuk and Orang Kayo Pedataran, you need to jump on the back of somebody’s motorcycle and have them take you to them. People in the area would be happy to take you to these graves since they know you will give them a tip. We gave one guy the equivalent of $5.00.   That is approximately a days wage for some of these people. You will never find these graves without their assistance, so the money is well worth it.

We questioned the grave of Orang Kayo Pedataran, because the writing on it says “Keramat; L. Sale.” We understand that the word keramat means the grave has supernatural powers, and people can pray there and receive additional spiritual blessings. But why isn’t the name Orang Kayo Pedataran on the grave? The people in the village were not able to answer that question so we had to take their word that it was indeed the grave of the man in question.

Grave of Orang Kayo Gemuk

Though these graves aren’t a great distance from the City of Jambi, it could take you an hour or more to get there. The roads are full of holes and driving can be hazardous. Many sections of the road has been removed and filled in with gravel, making it a very dusty drive. Sometimes the holes are merely filled in with clay.

Don’t attempt to drive a sedan to this location or you will surely damage the bottom of your car. If there has been rain during the previous couple of days, it may be best not to go there, even with a 4-wheel drive vehicle. The clay used to fill holes makes it very difficult to pass and it’s easy to get stuck. No roadside service out there!

Below is a video we made of these three graves. The grave of another son of Putri Selaras Pinang Masak, the famous Orang Kayo Hitam, and information about him, can be accessed by clicking this link. The first son of Putri Selaras Pinang Masak, whose name was Orang Kayo Pinang (alt. spelling: Orang Kayo Pingai), is buried at this location.

The Legend of Putri Cermin Cina

Alternate Name

The Legend of Tuan Muda Senaning

Below is our translation of one of Jambi’s many legends. This particular story gives a little background information on the formation of a few villages that can still be found in Jambi. The Sultan (king) in this story, Sultan Mambang Matahari, is not found on any list of Jambi’s sultans. There may be a little truth to the below story, but when one of the main characters are evidently fictional, it leaves one to doubt the story in its entirety.

The Story of Putri Cermin Cina

A long time ago, in the area known as Jambi, there was a kingdom that was governed by a king named Sultan Mambang Matahari. This man had two children. A son named Tuan Muda Selat and a daughter named Putri Cermin Cina. Tuan Muda Selat was a very handsome young man, but was also very careless. Putri Cermin Cina, on the other hand, was very pretty, kind and meek.

One day a young merchant named Tuan Muda Senaning came to the area. In the beginning the objective of Tuan Muda Senaning was only to conduct business, but when he saw Putri Cermin Cina, he quickly fell in love with her. After a very short period of time, Putri Cermin Cina also fell in love with Tuan Muda Senaning, and she suggested that Tuan Muda Senaning talk to her father, Sultan Mambang Matahari so they could begin courting, and eventually receive a marriage proposal.

Wedding in Jambi: November 2010. Chet and Phyllis with bride and groom.

Not long after these two fell in love, Tuan Muda Senaning approached Sultan Mambang Matahari to present a marriage proposal. Sultan Mambang Matahari was very pleased to receive the proposal from Tuan Muda Senaning, but Sultan Mambang Matahari was forced to postpone the wedding three months because he had to sail to another island to locate items that would be necessary to conduct the wedding. Before he departed on his trip, Sultan Mambang Matahari placed Putri Cermin Cina into the care and supervision of his son, Tuan Muda Selat, who had the responsibility to protect her from any possible harm.

On day after Sultan Mambang Matahari departed in search of wedding provisions, Tuan Muda Senaning and Tuan Muda Selat were playing with tops in the courtyard of the palace. (“Gasing” is the name of tops in Indonesia. It is a traditional Indonesian game that uses small or very heavy spinning tops. The tops are made of wood, but they can be very dangerous.)

Wedding in Jambi; November 2010

Tuan Muda Senaning and Tuan Muda Selat were having a great time playing with the tops, laughing and really focused on their time of fun together. All of the laughter aroused the curiosity of Putri Cermin Cina, so she went to the window to see what all the laughter was about. When she looked out the window she saw the two young men winding their tops with the string, and that they were getting ready to throw them. The two young men saw Putri Cermin Cina looking out the window, and at the same time Tuan Muda Senaning and Tuan Muda selat threw their tops. Both of them collided with a very loud thud, and Tuan Muda Selat’s top went flying into the air.

Puti Cermin Cina dead after being hit by a flying top. In background, Tuan Muda Senaning on the ground, leaped up and having impaled himself on a spear.

The top flew toward the open window where Putri Cermin Cina was looking out, and it struck her in the forehead. She screamed out in pain when the top hit her and she fell to the floor. The top had cut a huge gash in her forehead and the blood began to flow profusely. When this happened everyone began to panic and tried to help Putri Cermin Cina. Although everybody did all they could to help her, they could not reverse what had happened and the beautiful young lady breathed her last breath.

Tuan Muda Senaning felt very guilty for the death of Putri Cermin Cina. He had lost all hope for life and didn’t want to live without her. He then saw two spears leaning against the wall. Very quickly he took them and pushed the ends of the spears into the ground, with the point sticking up. He then jumped upon them and the spears went through his stomach and came out his back. Tuan Muda Senaning died, following his true love, Putri Cermin Cina.

Following these tragic events the entire village came together to help bury the two bodies. The body of Putri Cermin Cina was buried along the edge of the river, whereas the body of Tuan Muda Senaning was taken to be buried in the village named Dusun Senaning.

Tuan Muda Selat was seriously disturbed due to the events. His father certainly would become extremely angry when he would hear the tragic news.

Tuan Muda Selat felt so guilty for the death of his beautiful young sister that he left his country, together with all the people in the village. All the people that followed him moved and settled in the village now known as Kampung Selat.

Not long after that Sultan Mambang Matahari returned from his three months trip of trying to find wedding provisions for his daughters wedding. Upon his arrival, the Sultan was startled because the village was very empty. When he went toward the palace he only found a few people who had remained behind to guard it. After Sultan Mambang Matahari understood what had happened he felt very sad. After this all the people remaining at the palace and in the surrounding village followed the Sultan to build a new village on the far side of the river. This particular location of this new village is located between the grave of Tuan Muda Senaning and the new village started by Tuan Muda Selat. The Sulatan’s new village was named Dusun Tengah Lubuk Ruso.

Tombstone of Sualan. The grave is said to have kramat (keramat), which is supernatual power.

The Village of Mudung Darat has an interesting story (legend) of how it received its name, as well as a story about the person that is accredited with founding it.  Because there are only bits and pieces of orally transmitted stories about this village, its impossible to authenticate its historical accuracy.

A resident of Mudung Darat, the late Mr. Siswoyo, compiled what he could about the village’s origin in 1999. From that unpublished article, as well as other orally received bits of information, we’ll translate this story into English.

At-Taqwa Mosque. Located on the east side of Mudung Darat Village.

The Founder of Mudung Darat Village

Behind the mosque At-Taqwa, in the village of Mudung Darat, there is a cemetery containing the graves of one “Sualan,” and his wife “Sulastri.” These graves are next to each other and are very prominent. They have a wall around them, which is lined with blue tile. The graves also have a roof, which in Indonesian graveyards always indicates a person of importance. “Sualan” is credited with having founded Mudung Darat village.  Siswoyo proposed that it’s possible that the real name of this man was “Sriwalan,” and that the local population changed the spelling to Sualan due to their inability to pronounce “SRIwalan.” For simplicity sake we’ll retain the spelling of this man’s name as it’s found on his tombstone (Sualan).

Tombstone of Sulastri. This grave, along with her husband Sualan's, is said to have spiritual powers. People come here to pray for any need they may have.

The Arrival of Sualan to Jambi

Legend has it that Sualan was a prince from the Mataram Kingdom II. As the story goes, the last of the Mataram kings had three sons, with Sualan being the youngest. After the king died the Mataram kingdom was divided into two parts, with the two oldest sons becoming the rulers over them. This left Sualan with no kingdom to rule, and being resentful, he led his group of followers from the island of Java, where the Mataram Kingdom was located, to Jambi, where there already was a blood relationship with the rulers at that location. (Historical dates of the division of the Mataram Kingdom was during the late 1700s to the early 1800s.)

Siswoyo’s documentation indicates that the Jambi Sultan (ruler) at that time was “ABD. Rahman,” which we presume to have been Sultan Abdul Rahman Nazaruddin. If this information is indeed accurate, we can place Sualan’s arrival in Jambi during the time frame of 1841-1855.

Sualan's Grave

After a period of acculturation into the Jambi community, Sualan requested from the Sultan, and was given a piece of land along Lake Teluk, which at that time was known as Lake Mudung. Sualan and his followers, becoming farmers and small scale ranchers, turned the marshy overgrown land into a prosperous and peaceful community.

For rapid transportation, both for produce and people, the community worked together to create a channel to connect Lake Teluk, their rice fields, and the Nengkuang River. The channel was said to have been ½ miles long, 12’ wide, and 9’ deep. This channel was called “Tali Gawe.” Evidence of a channel is still visible today, though no longer used.

At the time there were still many wild animals living in the area. One day Sualan caught a fawn (kijang) which he raised as a pet. The kijang was said to have become very tame and was free to roam around during the day, and always came back to its pen at night.

Sulastri's Grave

The Building of a Village

Life in Indonesia has traditionally been known to be partially nomadic, in that when one piece of land is no longer fertile, the people in a given area look for another location to move to. This was the case with Sualan and his followers. The land along Lake Teluk was no longer productive, and the families were growing, so according to tradition the community of men assembled to discuss the situation. During their community consultation they decided that they would move to an uninhabited area several kilometers to the northeast.

After moving into this area, and the settlement having been established, they desired to give their village a name. Thought was given to a name but none came to mind. One day as Sualan was out and about he noticed that his pet kijang was eating petai, which at that time was called pudung by the people living in the village. This led Sualan to name the village “Pudung Darat” (pudung land). Eventually the name evolved into “Mudung Darat.”

There is an alternate legend of how the village got its name, and it centers on a certain kijang that was spotted by Sualan, which was said to be eating pudung. This magical kijang was said to have had gold antlers. Another person’s account said the kijang had a gold hide. Today the term “KijangMas,” or “gold kijang,” is commonly seen in and around the village of Mudung Darat.

Various Information about Mudung Darat

Both graves under one roof.

• The gold kijang is found in other legends of S.E. Asia.
• In the year 1999, Siswoyo indicated that 100% of the population of Mudung Darat were Muslims. It is now over a decade later and there’s no reason to assume this information has changed. There are no places of worship for any other religion there.
• Nothing in the recorded documents of Siswoyo mentions Sualan’s wife, Sulastri, yet she is buried next to him, with the same type of decorated tomb.
• The writings on both Sualan and his wife Sulastri’s tombstone begins with the word “Kramat,” which is an alternate spelling of keramat. That word means that the graves contains or has supernatural powers. If people pray here, they believe additional spiritual assistance can be obtained.
• Mudung Darat, as of June 2001, had a population of 1,407.
• Buyut, the term used in the writing on the tombstones, means great-grandparent, or ancestor. In Javanese custom, from where this couple and many of their followers originated, buyut is used in reference to ancestral and sacred places, such as cemeteries.
• Pictures and maps of Mudung Darat and the area can be found with this reference (pages 104-110). Language information about Jambi and Mudung Darat can also be obtained from that same reference.

Sign on the front of the mosque (mesjid) At-Taqwa.

The below information came from a September 2011 interview with a resident of Mudung Darat Village; Mr. M. Hatta (61 years old).

• If you do something wrong around the grave, like gambling or drinking, you will get sick, or go crazy.
• If you pray at the grave for someone to be cursed, you will go crazy.
• His version of the legend about starting a new village indicated that, “if they find a white kijang, that is where they will build a village.” According to Mr. Hatta’s version of the story, Sualan did indeed see a white kijang eating petai.
• Kramat (keramat): This is the word at the beginning of each of the couple’s tombstone. Mr. Hatta indicated that at locations that have this magical/supernatural power, you can call the person that’s buried there and they will come out from the grave and perform miracles. For people who go to the graves to pray, they can ask for anything (child of a specific sex; healing, etc.).
• When they first arrived in Jambi, Sualan and his family and followers first lived in Mudung Laut, close to Madrasah Nurul Iman.

Unanswered Question

• What does the “Ki” mean on the Sualan’s tombstone? Residents of the village could not answer that question.

Very Old Wood Head Stone

Behind the birthing clinic, PUSKESMAS Putri Ayu, and to the west of the water tower known as the Dutch Benteng (fort), there are a couple of graves, which nobody knows who or what is buried there. Since this area of the City of Jambi is said to have been the location of a palace for the sultan, there’s a tremendous amount of historical value to everything located in this area. While searching for the grave of Putri Ayu, we came upon these two unmarked graves.

I took some time to interview people in the surrounding neighborhood, as well as nurses in the clinic about who was buried there, but they didn’t know. Being unrelenting in satisfying my curiosity, I continued questioning the caretaker of the clinic, as well as the workers at the Jambi War Museum just across the street. I still came up with no clear answer.

Almost giving up hope for any additional information, I laid my questions aside. Then while interviewing a man about the Dutch Benteng (water tower), he seemed quite knowledgeable about the area, so I asked him about the graves. This gentleman told me that it was only pets of some notable figure from a long time ago that was buried there. Maybe a pet of a sultan or one of their wives.

It’s possible for these graves to be that of pets, because one of the most notable historical figures in Jambi (Orang Kayo Hitam) has his pet cat buried close to him.

Tragically much of Jambi’s history has either been lost, having been destroyed by the Dutch and Japanese when they pulled out of Jambi, or it was never documented in the first place.

Below is a video we made of these graves.