Lutfiyah Alindah
Abstract
The spread and development of Islam in the archipelago cannot be separated from the merchants and navigators and also ulama. The arrival of the traders and ulama not only brought the Islam religion, but also Islamic literature, such as Hikayat Patani, one of the classic pieces of Malay literature influenced by Islamic thought relating the prosperity of the Patani Kingdom (presently in southern Thailand) for the period between c.1584 and 1711. Pattani’s golden age was during the reign of its four successive queens from 1584 where the kingdom’s economic and military strength was greatly increased. However, by the middle of the 17th century, the Patani kingdom fell into gradual decline because of political intrigues and craftiness.
Most studies regarding the history of the Patani kingdom focus on the glory and the greatness of the kingdom. Only a few researchers have endeavored to describe the collapse of the kingdom and also the fall of the empire. By applying Critical Discourse Analysis, this research will investigate the political intrigues and the craftiness within the Patani kingdom and the gradual declination of the kingdom. This article describes the intrigue conducted by the treasurer of the kingdom. The first intrigue was agitating the king’s sons to rebel against the Patani kingdom. The second was the manipulation of the Patani nobles to destroy all of the descendants of the Patani dynasty. The third was an attack on the palace. On the other side, the queen of Patani used her yellow shawl as an intrigue to show her supporters implicitly that she gave up the palace for the unity of the kingdom.
(Published in Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Volume 12/2019 (Number 1), Page 85-100)