Slendang (also selendang) was the shoulder-cloth or scarf of the Malay-Indonesian world — a long narrow piece of cloth worn over the shoulder, used both as a dress accessory and as a ceremonial object. In Godee Molsbergen’s account of Soury’s embassy of 1641 the slendang appears as a ceremonial offering at the lusthof (pleasure-garden) feast of 14 July 1641: when the slendang was offered to Commissaris Soury, he gave a royal gift in money “to show that he knew the world.”
Description
The slendang is a long, narrow shoulder-scarf of the Malay-Indonesian world, traditionally of cotton or silk, often richly decorated. It is worn over the shoulder by both men and women, and serves as a multi-purpose cloth: as a dress accessory, as a wrap for carrying things (including infants), as a sweat-cloth, and — at court — as a ceremonial object of presentation. The offering of a slendang to a guest was an act of formal courtesy, and the proper response was a return gift.
The pleasure-garden feast of 14 July 1641
In the ceremonial sequence of Soury’s embassy, the lusthof (pleasure-garden) feast of 14 July 1641 — described in chapter XI of Tijdens de O.I. Compagnie — was the moment at which the slendang was offered. The Queen’s pleasure-garden lay magnificently against the mountainside, where water from two caves formed a great pond stocked with thousands of carp; the banks were spread with costly carpets. Seven meals were served in the Atjeh manner, for the high guests in golden dishes. The Queen commanded musicians to perform songs. After the meal all the guests bathed in the pond. During the further meals Javanese, Siamese and Moorish musicians and dancers entertained the company.
“Om te toonen dat Soury zijn wereld kende, gaf hij, toen hem de slendang werd aangeboden, een royaal geschenk in geld” — To show that Soury knew the world, when the slendang was offered to him he gave a royal gift in money. The offering of the slendang was thus a moment at which the guest’s quality was tested — and Soury, by his ready gift of money, demonstrated that he understood the ceremony and was equal to it.
Significance
For Atjeh’s history, the slendang is a small but recurring ceremonial object of the sultanate’s court ritual — the shoulder-cloth offered to honoured guests at the close of formal entertainments, with the expectation of a return gift. Soury’s response — a royal gift in money — was a small act of diplomatic competence that Godee Molsbergen singles out as evidence that “Soury zijn wereld kende” (Soury knew his world). The episode is also a reminder that the Atjeh court’s ceremonials were not empty formalities but tested the mettle of the visiting embassy.
See Also
- Pieter Soury’s mission to Atjeh (1641)
- Atjehsche ambassade ceremony (1 July 1641)
- Pieter Soury
- Atjehsche feestjas
- Baleh-baleh
- Sembah
- Sultana of Atjeh (1641)
- 14 July
- 1641
- Acheh
Source
Tijdens de O.I. Compagnie, by Dr. E. C. Godee Molsbergen, Oud-Hoogleeraar, Landsarchivaris te Batavia (Amsterdam: N.V. Swets & Zeitlinger Boekhandel en Uitgevers Mij., 1932), chapter XI (“Atjehsche ambassade. Inlandsche feesten. Maagden als losprijs”), pp. 39–43 of the numbered-letter sequence.