The Malay Alexander Legend
by
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The Malay Legend ofAlexander the Great is a mirror for Malay princes. It is a handbook of advice for how an Islamic prince should rule His people. Alexander appears to be mentioned in the Holy Koran as D’Zoelkarnain the horned king, guided by the prophet Khidir, he provides an example for how a Malay Islamic pince should handle kingship. We also see in these legends so much of the real Alexander, his quest for knowledge, his prowess in battle and delight in travel and adventure. An exhilarating mix of history and fairytale – a story of genies and giants, flying carpets, magic and demons. It unlocks for us the Malaccan sultanate and life in the Malay archipelago so many centuries ago.
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About the Book
The Malay Legend ofAlexander the Great is a mirror for Malay princes. It is a handbook of advice for how an Islamic prince should rule His people. Alexander appears to be mentioned in the Holy Koran as D’Zoelkarnain the horned king, guided by the prophet Khidir, he provides an example for how a Malay Islamic pince should handle kingship. We also see in these legends so much of the real Alexander, his quest for knowledge, his prowess in battle and delight in travel and adventure. An exhilarating mix of history and fairytale – a story of genies and giants, flying carpets, magic and demons. It unlocks for us the Malaccan sultanate and life in the Malay archipelago so many centuries ago.
About the Author
When Catherine was given a silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great on her wedding day, little did she know then that the fascination of this coin would set her off on a lifetime’s discovery of Alexander the Macedonian King who conquered the known world in his lifetime and entered the legends of countries throughout the world, including Malaysia. It was discovering the Malay texts in Bahasa Indonesia through a 1930s edition of De Maleische Alexanderroman by the Dutch scholar van Leeuwen that prompted her desire to make this Malay story accessible to people today by rendering it into English. Eirene Mutto and Sudeshni Iachimpadi did sterling work in interpreting the old Indonesian text and turning it for the first time into English.