Burckhardt and the Story of the Archipelago in Mecca

Burckhardt and the Story of the Archipelago in Mecca

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt published a book entitled Travels in Arabia , in London in 1829. In this book, Burckhardt recorded data and information related to the community of the Nusantara people in the holy land of Mecca-Medina in the early 19th century AD.

Burckhardt (1784-1817) was an English orientalist of Swiss origin who managed to infiltrate the holy land of Mecca-Medina (Haramayn) after a successful disguise; changed his name to Haji Ibrahim ibn Abdullah, identified as a Muslim from Albania, dressed in typical Middle Eastern clothing with a robe, turban, and a flowing beard, and mainly proficiency in almost perfect Arabic.

Before traveling to the Hijaz (Haramayn), Burckhardt had already explored other Middle Eastern countries which at that time were under the control of the Ottoman-Turkish power, such as Aleppo, Syria, Jerusalem, Petra (Burckhardt was recorded by history as a figure who rediscover the city of Puba in the middle of this cluster of Sahara cliffs), Sinai, Egypt, Nubia, and Sudan.

He also wrote down his wandering experiences in an extraordinary travel notebook; Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, Travels in Nubia, and Arabic Proverbs, or the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians.

Burckhardt was in Haramayn in 1814 AD. He also recorded several important events that occurred in Haramayn at that time, such as the Wahhabi rebellion against the Ottoman-Turkish government, the crackdown on the movement by Ibrahim Pasha and his troops, son of Muhammad. Ali Pasha who was the Turkish-Ottoman veli (governor) for the elayet (region) of Egypt. On this account, Burckhardt wrote Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys .

After completing the Hajj pilgrimage, Burckhardt joined the large procession of other caravans to Medina to visit the Prophet Muhammad's tomb and mosque. Well, that's when Burckhardt joined a small group of Malay-Archipelagic pilgrims in the procession of the big caravan.

The great distance between Mecca and Medina (about 490 KM) is reached on foot and by camel. No one walks alone or in small groups. All the Jama'at depart simultaneously with a large procession of traveling caravans which can number in the hundreds of people. This is to relieve the burden of a journey full of risks and dangers, especially the threat of rogues and ruthless Beduin pirates who come at any time.

Burckhardt wrote:

“ Today I have established a closer relationship with my traveling companions. In a small traveling caravan, each person is forced to be able to walk side by side with his company, not separated from him. The entourage were Malays, or as it is called in Arabic here as 'Jawi' .”

In addition to those from the coast of the Peninsula (Malacca), they also come from Sumatra, Java, and the coast of Malabar. All of them are British. Malays go on a regular pilgrimage accompanied by their wives. Most of them have chosen to stay in Mecca Mukarramah for several years to study the Qur'an and the sciences of the Shari'ah.

The Jawi people in Haramayn are known as religious people, disciplined in studying, or at least disciplined in carrying out their Islamic religious rituals. Few of them can speak Arabic perfectly, but all of them read the Qur'an, and are very eager to learn it even on the way.

They cover the cost of the trip by selling high-quality wood brought from their country, often also called Mawardi . The price of a pound weighed three to four dollars in their native country, and was sold in Mecca for two to twenty-five dollars.

Their loose clothes, their protruding jaws, their short and stocky stature, and their stacked teeth are the hallmarks of the typical Jawi identity. The Malay women wear Baju Kurung, but not all of them wear khimar, as well as embroidered silk shawls, made in China.

It seems that they are a nation that has strong, balanced customs, calm character, but sometimes also stingy.

Along the way they eat rice and salted fish. They cook rice with water without adding zibdah , ghee. Zibdah is a very expensive feed ingredient in Haramayn but they love it very much. Some Jawi people have come to my servants asking for zibdah to be added to their rice pots. Even though they have enough money, their diet is mediocre, rice and salted fish.

However, they were once cursed by hordes of desert thieves. The thieves looted the cooking utensils of the Javanese people; the rice pot being cooked by the water, their trays are made of Chinese copper, and their water kettles are not like the ones used by other Easterners (usually for washing and ablution), but these Javanese people carry expensive Chinese teapots.

During my time with the Malays, I had the opportunity to ask them about their opinion of the British colonial rule in their country. Surprisingly, they expressed their hatred and hostility towards the British side. They also cursed the behavior of the British people and cursed him to the end. The worst thing that they (the Jawis) disliked most from the British was the habit of getting drunk. Men and women mingle into one in social relations.

However, these Malays rarely criticized the British colonial administration's problems of justice. The British were actually better off when compared to the arbitrariness of the local Malay rulers (regents, etc.). So, although these Malays cursed the British with various curses and evil curses, they also praised him by saying "but their government is good"

Burckhardt said that all areas of the archipelago at that time were under the control of the British government, coinciding with the reign of Lieutenant Governor Sir Thomas Raffles (reigned 1811-1816).

At the same time, namely the first quarter of the 19th century AD, at that time there were several scholars of the archipelago who worked in Mecca, such as Mahmud ibn Arsyad al-Banjari (son of Sheikh Arsyad Banjar), Fatimah binti Abd al-Shamad al-Palimbani (daughter of Shaykh 'Abd al-Shamad Palembang), Shalih Rawah, Ismail al-Mankabawi al-Khalidi (Minangkabau), 'Abd al-Ghani al-Bimawi (Bima, Sumbawa), and others.