Aceh's forgotten political science roots!

To this day, the roots of political science, which is part of social science, are always taken from ancient Greece. Because of that, the names and works of ancient Greek philosophers of the 5th century BC (BC) such as Herodotus, Plato, Aristoteles are always the main references.

Asian philosophers who are also considered the originators of political science are Confusius and Mensius as Chinese philosophers in the 4th century BC, while from Indonesia is Prapanca with his work Negarakertagama (see: Prof. Miriam Budiardjo, "Basics of Political Science", Publisher PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 2008, page 5).

The original title of the Negarakertagama manuscript was Desawarnana, meaning History of the Villages. Since it was rediscovered in a temple by the Dutch during an attack on one of the Balinese kingdoms in 1918, the old manuscript of Desawarnana was renamed Negarakertagama, meaning The Story of State Building.

In the 1980s, I read the manuscript of Negarakertagama, which contains 98 pupuh (songs), many times while studying at the Faculty of Literature and Culture at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Yogyakarta.

In response to Prof. Miriam Budiardjo's explanation in the book Basics of Political Science, I can add several more manuscripts from Indonesia that contain similar content; such as La Galigo from South Sulawesi, Bhagawatgita from Bali and Tajussalatin and Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan from Aceh.

Kisason Hiyawan's saga, although it is in the form of a fable, the story of the animal world, is aimed at mankind. The story is in a framed form, which is connected.

Need for an Intelligent Interpreter

Every time I met Sayed Ali Abdullah, an Acehnese painter and writer - during his lifetime - I was always convinced by him that the Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan was "A Complete Political Science book".

It is true, if we read the saga at a glance, it feels like mere entertainment, but if we read it as well as taste and ponder, then we recognize the story in the Kisason Hiyawan saga as an actual reference for Political Science.

Sayed Ali Abdullah's statement is not an exaggeration, because in the saga we can find all kinds of political intrigues, both with positive and negative connotations. All forms of political intrigue are contained in it.

How could it not be! The purpose of a government is to prosper and prosper the people. In order to achieve this holy goal, a person who is interested and talented as a leader needs to have the authority called power. However, that power does not run smoothly.

It is always plagued with various thorns that stand in the way of achieving the original goal. This is what all leaders have faced throughout the ages, from then until now.

Envy, divide and conquer, greed, broken promises, slander, scissors in the fold, elbowing, peanuts forgetting the skin or forgetting the land, sycophants, hypocrites, enemies in the blanket and various other political intrigues remain ready to ambush power. All of these are clearly depicted in "Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan" (The Story of the Beast World).

Unfortunately, we very rarely find accomplished interpreters of this manuscript! Hence, we need many new "Sayed Ali Abdullahs".

In the 3rd century BCE the story of the animal world was written in Hindustan (India) by Baidaba for the reference of his king Dabshalim. Then in 750 AD Ibn Muqaffa' copied it into Arabic and titled it Kalilah and Dimnah.

It is this Arabic edition that later went global and is widely appreciated today, including in Indonesia. Even in Europe, Kalilah and Dimnah is aligned with classical Greek works. This fact proves that this work is very influential and has survived from generation to generation.

The Acehnese version of Kalilah and Dimnah

When we compare Ibn Muqaffa''s translation of The Story of the World of Animals (Arabic) with the Acehnese version, we immediately encounter various differences. The title of the text is different.

Ibn Muqaffa gave the name "Kalilah and Dimnah", while the Acehnese poet gave the title "Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan" (Tale of the World of Beasts). In Kalilah and Dimnah, there are two parties who tell all the animal stories. First, the Brahmin Baidaba who tells the story to King Dabshalim, followed by other framed stories.

Secondly, Kalilah and Dimnah who told the story to each other, which was followed by other frames. We also find that Kalilah or Dimnah become involved as actors in the story. It should be noted that Kalilah and Dimnah are the names of two coyotes.

In the Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan, we do not find the names of the four characters, namely Brahmin Baidaba, King Dabshalim, Kalilah and Dimnah. They have been replaced by two Persian royal figures, King Anusyirwan (Aceh: Naseuruwan) and Brahmin Bazurwiyah. Most of the time, it was King Naseuruwan who asked the questions, and then the Brahmin (Aceh: Beurahman) answered with the stories that the king asked.

Why do we not find the four most important characters in the story of Kalilah and Dimnah in Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan?. One answer could be that Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan (hereafter abbreviated: HKH) is an adaptation and excerpt of certain parts of the story of Kalilah and Dimnah.

Therefore, not all of the stories in Kalilah and Dimnah are found in HKH. Again, even if they are, the story material is not exactly the same.

For example:

In Si Bangai and Si Bingong, the story of the monkey and the wood splitter. While in HKH the actors are two monkeys and two carpenters, in Kalilah and Dimnah (hereafter: KDD) the actors are a monkey and a carpenter.

The same is true for the story of the Poor Pungguk. In HKH, a group of cold monkeys come across a fungus (Aceh: kulat) that they mistake for fire. They gather firewood to "burn" the fungus. Then, Pungguk came to disturb them.

In KDD, a group of apes who were cold encountered a flock of fireflies that they mistook for fire. The firewood they were looking for was thrown at the flying fireflies to catch fire. The crow came to advise them.

In addition, many stories in the HKH are not found in the KDD, but still the story of Bazurwiyah who was told to King Anusyirwan Adil of Persia.

Another major difference is the format of the writing. Kalilah and Dimnah are written in prose, while Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan is composed in verse, kata bersanjak. That is a characteristic of Acehnese writing in the past, almost everything was written in verse (poetry).

Is it because of the verse form that the story of Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan was written in a short version? I do not believe so. Practicality is one of the characteristics of Acehnese people.

The transliterated Hikayat Kisason Hiyawan is only 175 pages (one page of 6 stanzas) long, considered adequate to be used as a source of political advice for the Acehnese.