HIKAYAT TANAH HITU : A RARE LOCAL SOURCE OF 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY MOLUCCAN HISTORY《Hikayat Tanah Hitu》: 16至17世紀來源於摩鹿加群島的珍貴史資料
The article argues that the historiography of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries on the Moluccas has been dominated by European sources (Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch), while contemporary local accounts remain rare and underexplored. In this context, G. L. Koster focuses on the *Hikayat Tanah...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
October 2008
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40028/3641 |
| Summary: | The article argues that the historiography of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries on the Moluccas has been dominated by European sources (Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch), while contemporary local accounts remain rare and underexplored. In this context, G. L. Koster focuses on the *Hikayat Tanah Hitu* ("History of the Land of Hitu"), arguing that this text — associated with a confederation of Muslim villages (hitu) in the northern region of Ambon — constitutes an exceptional source for reconstructing indigenous perspectives on political and identity processes during a period of intense transformations.
Methodologically, the author employs a historiographical and philological reading based on the recent Dutch critical edition prepared by Hans Stravers, Chris van Fraassen, and Jan van der Putten, contextualizing the *hikayat* within the available European documentary ecosystem and assessing its potential as a "counternarrative" beyond the official chronicles.
As its main findings, the article contends that the *Hikayat Tanah Hitu* offers valuable information on the formation of local alliances, dynamics of Islamization and conversion, and regional historical memory, thereby allowing for the supplementation (and at times correction) of interpretations derived solely from colonial archives. The conclusion is that the systematic incorporation of this type of local source is indispensable for a more plurivocal history of the Moluccas. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |