Malay Seals from the Islamic World of Southeast Asia

A stamp or mohor, the official seal of a royal official in the days of the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam. In the collection by H. Harun Keuchik Leumik, in Banda Aceh. Photo by Irfan M Nur, taken on 09/10/2010.

---

The photo above, the first time I posted in 2010 on my facebook account, so the photo was circulated online until it was detected by Annabel Teh Gallop, Dr., kurator at the British Library. At that time, she was working on a scientific study of the seal of Islam in Southeast Asia. Long story short, he contacted me through a Facebook message, asking for permission to include the seal photo in her scientific studies. I agree with these conditions, enter the name of the collection owner H. Harun Keuchik Leumik, then an agreement was made, and I sent 12 high-resolution seal photo files.

2010-2020, meaning 10 years, Dr. Annabel Teh Gallop gave me an award by sending a gift from her work, I am happy and proud to receive it.

Thick book and this is so spectacular!

^{image source}

Malay seals from the Islamic world of Southeast Asia, by Annabel Teh Gallop.
Singapore: NUS Press in association with the British Library, 2019.
852 pp. ISBN: 978-981-3250-86-4
Distributed in North and South America by Chicago University Press
Distributed in the UK by Bernard Quaritch Ltd ⁽¹⁾

The catalogue is published in Indonesia by the Lontar Foundation, with a jacket design based on the illuminated Johor letter shown above. ⁽²⁾

I got a lot of important and interesting information in this book, I think historical data that has never been released before, including:

^{King Serdang's seal: Sultan Basaruddin Saiful Alam, vizier of the Sultan of Aceh, date AH 1271 (AD 1854/5)}

---

^{King Langkat's seal: Pangiran Indera Diraja Amir, warrior of the Sultan of Aceh, date AH 1271 (Ad 1854/5)}

---

^{King Trumon's seal: He who entrusts himself to God, the deputy of the ruler of Aceh, Tuanku Raja Bujang, son of Tuanku Sekandar of the state of Trumon.}

---

And this is a photo of the seal that I sent to Mrs. Annabel, published in this book.

---

The Malay world of maritime Southeast Asia has long been connected by political, economic, and cultural networks, the lingua franca of the Malay language, and the faith of Islam. Malay seals – defined as seals from Southeast Asia or used by Southeast Asians, with inscriptions in Arabic script – constitute a treasure trove of data that can throw light on myriad aspects of the history of the Malay world, ranging from the nature of kingship to the form of Islamic thought embraced. ⁽³⁾

I wish that Mrs. Annabel Teh Gallop is blessed with strong health and longevity and can complete the next spectacular work. This is just a work about seals, not including the contents of the letter.

Greetings from Aceh
Irfan M Nur (@vannour)