The History of Java, v. 1-2

by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

The sovereign is chosen from the royal stock by a certain number of counsellors, who also possess the right of subsequently removing him; and such is their influence, that the sovereign can neither go to war or adopt any public measure, except in concert with them. They have the charge of the public treasure, and also appoint the prime minister. The prince cannot himself take the personal command of the army; but the usage of the country admits of a temporary resignation of office for this purpose, in which case a regent succeeds provisionally to the rank of chief, and carries on the affairs of government in concert with the majority of the council. Women and minors may be elected to any office of the state; and when this takes place, an additional officer, having a title which literally means a support or prop, is appointed to assist.

In Bóni the prince is elected by the Orang-pítu, or seven hereditary counsellors. In Gúa (Makásar) the prince is chosen by ten counsellors, of whom the first minister, termed Bechára Búta, is one; this last officer is himself appointed by the council of nine, termed the nine standards of the country, but in the exercise of his office possesses very extraordinary powers: it is said he can remove the sovereign himself, and call upon the electors to make another choice. The inferior chiefs, or Krains, who administer the dependent provinces, are appointed by the government, and not elected by a council, although in the exercise of their office their power is in like manner limited; the number of the council varying in different states. When the prince in council has decided upon war, the assembled chiefs, after sprinkling their banners with blood, proceed to take a solemn oath, by dipping their krises into a vessel of water, and afterwards dancing around the blood-stained banner, with frantic gesture, and a strange and savage contortion of the body and limbs, so as to give the extended kris a tremulous motion, each severally imprecating the vengeance of the deity against his person, if he violates his vow to exterminate the enemy, to conquer or die.

The proportion of the crop which falls to the share of the landlord has already been stated. In some districts a sixth, and in others a tenth, belongs to the sovereign; but in general the landlord, the capitalist, and the cultivator, may be considered to share between them the whole produce of the land. The monopolies which the chiefs assume to themselves have also been noticed. Besides these there are a few imposts in bazars, which, with some other pecuniary emoluments, accrue to the chiefs, but they are, for the most part, rather to meet their personal expenses than to defray those of the state, and consequently hardly deserve the name of public revenue.

The arms formerly used for offence by the inhabitants of Celebes were the súmpit, or tube through which the poisoned dart is blown, the kris, spear, kléwang (cutlass,) bádi, and párany: to them may now be added muskets, musketoons, and small cannon. Those for defence were chain armour (baju ránti) and two kinds of shields, the one long the other round, made of very tough light wood, and bound together very strongly by pieces of split rattan.

The Mahomedan religion is professed in all those parts of Celebes which have any pretensions to civilization, and the Koran, of course, is the standard of law and worship, as far as it is known. According to the records of Makásar, the Mahomedan religion was introduced there about the year 1603, by Khateb Tungal Datu Bandang, a native of Menángkabau on Sumátra. Nearly all the inhabitants of the south-west limb are Mahomedans, but of the centre and the other limbs of the island only a very small portion have been converted. There are Mahomedan schools in all parts of the south-west limb, but the Arabic language is only learnt by those designed for the priesthood. They do not consider themselves as belonging either to the sect of Omar or Ali, but as followers of the law of the prophet, without regard to either. Circumcision is performed on both sexes; on the males at ten or twelve years of age, on the females at six or seven.

It has been related, that the change of religion on Celebes happened just after the arrival of the Portuguese, who are said to have offered Christianity at the same time that the Maláyus offered Mahomedanism. The king of Makásar is said to have been doubtful which of these systems he should adopt, till he consulted the wisest men in his dominions, who advised him to embrace the religion of the Koran in preference to that of the gospel, stating as an argument in its favour, that it had arrived first, and that God would never permit error to arrive before truth. But this does not appear on the records of Makásar.

The public feasts formerly held, sometimes for weeks together, appear to have been for political rather than religious purposes: at present the Mahomedan fasts and feasts are observed. Formerly the dead were generally buried, but in some instances burnt. There is still to be seen in Lamúru a burial-place belonging to the royal family, containing jars or urns with the ashes of their ancestors, which are held sacred, indeed almost worshipped, at the present day. The Búgis name for the places of burial used before they were converted to Islamism is Patúnan, or the place of burning. It is not known that any tribes of the Turájas burn their dead at present: they are said to deposit them in excavated rocks on the sides of hills, and to be so anxious to be buried among their relations, that if a man of rank dies in a distant part of the country, the body is salted to preserve it, and, in that state, carried back to his own residence. Very little is known of these people by the inhabitants of the south-western limb, but they are universally considered as the first inhabitants of the island. They are a very fine race of people: the women particularly so. It is said they will not suffer strangers or Mahomedans to reside among them, and that the custom of procuring a certain number of human heads previous to marriage is as prevalent among them as with the Dáyas of Borneo, and the Harafúras of the Eastern Archipelago in general.

Each state has its own system of laws, but they nearly concur in the following principles. Each sovereign generally possesses the right of putting to death any of his subjects, except the members of his own family. Should any one of these commit a crime and escape into another territory, he cannot be touched, but if taken in his own country he must be brought before the bechára, who alone are capable of passing sentence on him.

Each petty state has its bechára, composed of the principal people, both Paseajáng'an and Palélé. All disputes between its followers are decided by it: it also judges and passes sentence in cases of theft, murder, and adultery, and decides all causes respecting the legal right to property; but an appeal may be made to the court or bechára of the principal state, the members of which are called the Kapála Bechára. The decision of any bechára is subject to the approval of the sovereign, where he is not himself a party interested: indeed he may, in general, supersede the authority of this court by deciding promptly, but it behoves him to attend strictly to the adat biása, or ancient customs of the state, in his decision, for the bechára has the power to remove the sovereign and elect a new one. The same persons at all times decide on the fact and the law.

It is difficult to ascertain which of the dialects spoken on Celebes has most claim to antiquity. I have already stated, that the Makásar and Búgis are considered as the two principal languages of that part of the island known to Europeans. The Makásar, the Búgis, and Mandharese, which may be considered as dialects of the same language, use the same character with some trifling variations. The Turájas or Harafúras of Celebes have a fourth language, probably the most original, but it is not known whether they are at all acquainted with writing.