MAI nak habaq sat. Kalagam, Kadaram, Kataha — ini semua nama Tamil dan Sanskrit yang digunakan seawal kurun kedua dan ketiga selepas Masihi untuk merujuk kepada negeri Kedah. Chieh-ch’a dan Kie-tch’a pula digunakan oleh ahli pelayaran Cina seawal kurun ketujuh selepas Masihi untuk merujuk kepada negeri Kedah. Kedah juga digelar Kalah atau Kalah-bar oleh ahli pelayaran Arab seawal kurun kelapan dan kesembilan selepas Masihi.
Kesemuanya menggambarkan Kedah sebagai negara yang makmur, gemilang dan mempunyai sistem keadilan yang teratur berdasarkan tamadun di Lembah Bujang ketika itu.
Dua tiga minggu yang lepas ini, saya memang tidak banyak memikirkan soal sejarah zaman gilang-gemilang kerajaan Melayu di Nusantara. Kepala saya pusing kerana berlari sana sini membuat liputan pilihanraya kecil di Bukit Selambau. Tetapi setelah selesainya hari pembuangan undi, saya telah berikhtiar untuk melawat Lembah Bujang. Bapa saya kata kali terakhir saya mengunjung ke sana saya berumur satu tahun.
Kerajaan Hindu-Buddha Kedah di Lembah Bujang menikmati zaman kegemilangannya dari kurun kelima hinggalah kurun ke-14 selepas Masihi. Inilah salah satu sebab mengapa saya memang bangga menjadi anak kelahiran Kedah.
Namun, saya sentiasa terkejut — kenapalah di dalam sukatan pelajaran sejarah, Kesultanan Melayu Melaka yang diagung-agungkan manakala Lembah Bujang hanya diberi ruangan yang kecil dalam halaman buku teks? Bukankah tamadun Lembah Bujang juga terdiri daripada orang Melayu? Kenapa hina sangat orang Melayu Kedah ini di dalam buku sejarah kita?
Mungkinkah kerana Kesultanan Melayu Melaka telah memartabatkan agama Islam di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu, manakala kerajaan Kedah yang berpusat di Lembah Bujang senang sekali mengamalkan agama Hindu-Buddha?
Bagi saya, kita perlu diingatkan tentang warisan Lembah Bujang. Kerana setiap pertikaian dan pertengkaran tentang institusi raja, hak istimewa orang Melayu, ketuanan Melayu, status agama Islam di Malaysia, dan sebagainya, adalah tidak bermakna jika kita tidak mengambil teladan dari tamadun Lembah Bujang. Dan inilah teladannya — lebih daripada seribu tahun dahulu, masyarakat Melayu di Kedah sudah pun tahu bagaimana untuk beradab, bertamadun dan berkawan dengan pelbagai bangsa dari seluruh dunia. 
Tania says
I do not see how this article helps the current situation is this country.
So the Malay [Malaysians] were not Muslims before. You think by pointing this out, the Malay [Malaysians] ruling the country will now be tolerant with other religions? The answer is no.
But I know what this article does for sure. It instigates more discontent for the non-Malay [Malaysians]/non-Muslims. Is this what we really want? Think about it.
enuzz says
Maybe you should read buku kesultanan Melayu Kedah. Sebenarnya agama Islam mula-mula sampai ke Kedah dulu baru Melaka. Tapi dalam buku teks kita, zaman sekolah dulu kata Islam sampai ke negeri Melaka dulu…I wonder why?…Lagi satu, dulu negeri yang terbesar di Semenanjung Tanah Melayu adalah Kedah kerana merangkumi negeri Perlis, Perak hingga dipanggil NEGARA KEDAH…Lembah Bujang mempunyai banyak sejarah tapi Melaka tetap dipanggil negeri bersejarah..ermm..Entahlah…maybe rakyat Kedah sendiri tak mau ambil tahu pasal sejarah Kedah…
roastpork says
History is written by the victors. – Winston Churchill
chinhuatw says
Enuzz, Kedah dulu memang lebih besar daripada hari ini, dan bukan sahaja merangkumi Perlis and Perak barat laut. Wilayahnya turut merangkumi seluruh negeri Pulau Pinang dan Satun – hari ini sebuah wilayah Thailand.
Memang benar saudara/i bertanya: mengapa kita mengagung-agungkan Melaka sahaja? Sekalipun tamadun di â€Tanah Melayu“ lama itu amat pelbagai asalnya, apatah lagi jika kita memandang ke seluruh Nusantara.
Saya anak Perak and ganjil kenapa warisan kerajaan purba Ganganegara di Dinding (sebahagian daripada empayar Srivijaya yang agung) tidak dimajukan untuk menarik pelancong.
JC says
Asking this little article to “help” the current situation in this country may be asking it to do something outside its means.
Things may seem bleak, but we should not be disheartened. I think this article is timely, and comforting. I do not think it is meant to provoke; I think it keeps us all optimistic and hopeful for the future.
Tulang Besi says
But we are now Muslims..
Any problems…
All races were once non-Muslims..
Obviously Islam evolved among each at some point of time.
That does not make Tamil Hindus or mainland Chinese Malay [Malaysians] either.
YS says
I just came back from Solo/Yogjakarta, and experienced Borobodur in awe, as well as the Kraton (palace of the Sultan). These give a lot of “character” to the cities. I second the sentiment of the writer that parts of our history and heritage have been neglected. It does not matter if my ancestor is from Tanah Melayu, or if my religion is Islam or Hindu-Buddhist.
But it matters that we know history simply because these were parts of human civilisation, especially in the country where I live. This article is important as it points out that in my generation, we have been deprived of certain facts. At least we now have writers who start questioning. As citizens of this country, we have the rights to history, knowledge and information.
Hafidz Baharom says
The existence of Lembah Bujang and the fact that the government does not seem to highlight it is a simple fact that the government does not wish to highlight the Hindu and Buddhist era of Malaysia.
It is even probable that the government is doing this to avoid a tussle on the claims that the Malay [Malaysian] (Muslims) were here first.
James says
I think I agree that I did not see much of the history of Kedah’s Lembah Bujang being highlighted in our previous history textbooks. Maybe, the same should be asked of the new education minister……or maybe refer back to the old minister, Hishamuddin (since it was during his time).
Eric says
Can Tania enlighten us as to how this article is antagonising Malaysian non-Muslims exactly?
buana kirana says
Seperti ahli sejarah kita, Farish Noor, berkata, Hindu bukan saja berasal dari India, tetapi juga berasal serentak dari Nusantara. Interaksi orang Melayu dan orang-orang di serantau Asia telah menghasilkan agama orang Melayu asli ini yang dinamakan Hindu.
Akan tetapi, segelintir orang Melayu sengaja menyelindungkan fakta-fakta ini daripada anak Malaysia.
Mereka mengagung-agungkan Kesultanan Melaka tetapi meremehkan Kerajaan Srivijaya Melayu yang jauh lebih berpengaruh dan berwibawa.
Mereka memperbesarkan kecantikan Tulisan Jawi yg berasal dari Arab, tetapi mengabaikan Tulisan Rencong atau dipanggil Tulisan Kerinci yang dicipta oleh orang Melayu sendiri (http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulisan_Rencong).
Mereka menonjolkan Batu Bersurat Terengganu, tapi menganggap Batu Bersurat Kedukan Bukit bagai tidak wujud (http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Bersurat_Kedukan_Bukit).
Buku teks sejarah negara kita harus dibuang ke dalam tong sampah, sebab ia tidak menberi gambaran yang benar kepada warga negara kita tentang sejarah kita.
mahathir.not.my.dad says
Lembah Bujang is Indian, not Malay. The earliest Malay kingdom in the peninsular is Langkasuka, placed on the east coast in the Kelantan/Patani belt and which pre-dated Lembah Bujang. It was part of the extended Malay civilisation (Sri Vijaya, Majapahit) which included Angkor Wat and Borobodur. Of course the Malays in the peninsular were not Muslims, not until the the east coast kingdoms were converted about a hundred years before Parameswara’s conversion in Malacca (Terengganu stone and other such evidence).
There are four further points I would like to make:
1. The Malays [in Tanah Melayu] have not always been Muslims, irrespective of what the Malay [Malaysian] ruling classes would like to think.
2. The Malay race is at best a mongrel race, like most races in the world. If you don’t believe me, study the faces of Dr Zambry and Sivakumar, two of the main protoganists in the Perak affair, and tell me who is more Indian looking.
3. All this race thing is stupid. As Tok Guru Nik Aziz said at Zaid Ibrahim’s book launch, none of us, Malay, Chinese, Indian or Orang Asli [Malaysian], chose the race that we were born into. A person’s superiority in the eyes of God is the one who has the most piety and follows God’s commands. So, “ketuanan Melayu” is both un-Islamic and quite nonsensical.
4. Arising from the human genome project, we now know the races of the world developed over less than 100,000 years for climatic, dietary and other reasons from a single tribal source out of Africa, a tribe that survives to this day as the San tribe of the Kalahari desert. So forget about being Chinese, Indian, Malay, white, black, pigmy or Watusi. We are all part of the San tribe, otherwise erroneously referred to as the human race.
cktan says
It’s inferiority; trying to erase everything that is different from what they are. History is history. Plenty of examples of other efforts to erase e.g. renaming the streets name, changing or editing history textbooks.
With regards to Lembah Bujang, I felt shameful especially after visiting Borobudor and Prambanan in Indonesia.
~ sigh ~
Drag Racer says
Saudari harus masuk http://www.sejarahnagarakedah.blogspot.com
Maka saudari akan dapat mencari jawapannya kenapa Lembah Bujang dibiarkan.
sans says
I think it is important to highlight all our history in all its facets, so we undersand we are part of a larger community in Southeast Asia.
Right now history is slanted to only a single narrow narrative. And with that narrow narrative, we will never celebrate all that is Malaysia but continue to segment even our history which is our collective heritage into narrow religious and racial spheres.
wy kam says
Great article. Indeed, I always wonder why our “official history” is so whitewashed.
mythlord says
As a history student from the Universiti Malaya, I find the comments regarding the history of our country to be, at best, flawed.
A few clarifications:
1) Why is Malacca mentioned more substantially compared to Kedah, or Lembah Bujang? The reason is simple. We have more data on Malacca compared to Kedah. Other than the extensive Chinese, Arab, Indian and Portuguese records, the Malay world has produced its own history on the rise and fall of Malacca i.e. Sejarah Melayu.
This locally produced written history is not found when it comes to Lembah Bujang, other than passing references in Tamil and Chinese records. The lack of local written data, with only the presence of architectural ruins makes it difficult for anyone to come up with a volume of books on it, much less form an entire chapter on Lembah Bujang in school textbooks.
There is a book on Lembah Bujang written by my lecturer, Supian Sabtu, “Tamadun Awal di Lembah Bujang”, but that’s pretty much it. The same reason Srivijaya is not touched upon extensively compared to Malacca is because of this lack of written data (excepting the six fragmented batu bersurat).
2) No one is denying that Islam came to Kedah before Malacca. The school textbooks do mention this fact, albeit briefly, for the reason mentioned above.
3)To YS, yes, we do have a right to learn our history. Here’s a suggestion: pick up a book. There are a lot of books regarding Malaysia’s history produced by our universities, and without the so-called “official whitewashing”. Clearly, if one wants to learn of their history, they need to have the initiative to do it on their own, and with the comments I read here, I see no problem with that.
4) The presence of Sanskrit word in the Malay vocabulary and temples signify the coming of Hindusim and Budhism to the Malay world. What it does not prove, however, is that Lembah Bujang and Langkasuka were Indian kingdoms as opposed to Malay ones. One must understand the difference between an Indian kingdom and an Indianised kingdom. The ancient kingdom pre-Malacca definitely belonged to the second category.
Indianised here means that the kingdom was built, accepting Indian culture, religion, art and architecture and technology as well as lifestyle. It does not prove that these kingdoms were Indian outposts. The same logic can be applied to today’s situation, where the people who accept the English language, American culture, democracy, Western-style clothing and eat with forks and knives are Westernised, but are not of the Western race.
So, before anyone starts throwing their history books into the dustbin, remember that history is only written as a response to the availability of data. Lack of data produces only a small space in the history books, while a lot of data…you get the picture.
Hafidz Baharom says
…did somebody say that Lembah Bujang was Indian….?
I wonder if he was being cynical or just plain ignorant.
Dani says
To those who still think Lembah Bujang was an Indian kingdom please read this blog and try to think for yourself.
http://sharmalanthevar.blogspot.com/2013/12/bujang-valley-malaysian-indian.html