Marco Polo (Venice, c. 1254–1324) was the Venetian traveller whose Travels (Il Milione) records, in connection with his crossing from Java minor to Kalï-patnam in Tinnevelly, a “very small island that is called Gauenispola” — which Rouffaer identified with the Poelo Bras of the Eerste Schipvaart, and which De Roo de la Faille decodes as a bedekte taal form for the ancestral land of Taroema. Polo also records the “peculiar language” of the island — the bahasa kapoer of Malajoe — which is the principal bedekte taal register of Malay-Javanese historical geography.
The Gauenispola passage
After his description of Java minor, Marco Polo crossed to Kalï-patnam in Tinnevelly and “incidentally mentioned a very small island that is called Gauenispola”. He did not say what he had to tell of it. That, De Roo de la Faille notes, would have left us indifferent, were it not that Rouffaer had identified the place with the Pulo Xuta of the Eerste Schipvaart (vol. II, pp. 212-213): “a high island on which stands a watch-tower or Farol that warns the inhabitants and is lit at night when there are ships on the coast”. A fire-beacon in the manner of the Voor-Indische primitive light-towers, such as Haafner had described at Bimilipatam; the Malay name is roemban. Since 1875 the Willemstoren has stood on Poelo Bras.
Decoding: Gawé-nis and the vanished Kapoelaga
The name Gauenispola — also spelled Gamis- or Djamispola, and P.Gomes — De Roo de la Faille decodes through the bedekte taal lens. The “peculiar language” of the island — the bahasa kapoer of Malajoe — is the kapoer of Barus camphor. The first part of the name Gawé-nis — Malay gawé “make”, i.e. “maaksel” — combined with the inversion pola-ga-nis (or -m-is), produces Ka-poe-laga-nis, the name of the “vanished” kingdom that was called after the kapoelaga (cardamom), the plant with the very fragrant knob. In Sanskrit kakkola, in Arabic qaciolah — the latter the name by which Ibn Battuta recorded the capital Qakola of Moel Djawa, the ancestral land of Taroema.
The Kakoela-Qaciolah connection
The same name, De Roo de la Faille argues, underlies the Kakoela of Javanese storytellers — shortened to kakoe — and the Qakola of Ibn Battuta’s account of Moel Djawa. The cardamom-name is the bedekte taal form by which the ancestral land of Taroema at the bay of Aroe was concealed beneath the names of trade-goods. The same name, De Roo de la Faille argues, underlies the aroemanis name of a mango-variety — the same aroem of T-aroem-a.
The “Pulo Xuta” and the Willemstoren
The Pulo Xuta of the Eerste Schipvaart, which Rouffaer identified with Polo’s Gauenispola, is the Poelo Bras on which, since 1875, the Willemstoren has stood — the Dutch colonial light-tower at the northern entrance to the Strait of Malacca. De Roo de la Faille reads the Xuta as ksoe-ta, whose inversion ta-k-soe is the name of the Balinese djero Taksoe — the “mysterious genius loci” who manifests himself by incarnating in one of those present, and who dwells in the neighbourhood of the god-houses in some tree on which a small wooden offering is fixed.
Significance
For AcehWiki, Marco Polo’s importance lies chiefly in his Gauenispola passage — the first European record of the bedekte taal form by which the ancestral land of Taroema was concealed beneath the names of trade-goods — and in his record of the “peculiar language” of the island, the bahasa kapoer of Malajoe. His identification, by Rouffaer and De Roo de la Faille, with Poelo Bras also fixes him as the first European witness to the northern entrance of the Strait of Malacca — the strategic choke-point that the Atjehnese sultanate would contest in the war of 1539.
Account from Atjeh als land voor handel en bedrijf (1925)
Marco Polo was Venetian traveler whose account of Ferlac = Peureula in last part of 13th century provides earliest European mention of north Sumatran coast.
Account of Peureula
According to Dr. R. Broersma’s rendering, Polo called it Ferlac, told Mohammedan merchants were masters and indigenous population were cannibals. Modern assessment notes mixed population where Atjehers form large majority.
See Also
- Pulo Bras
- Willemstoren
- Straits of Malacca
- Taroema
- Bedekte taal
- Bahasa kapoer
- Kapoer baroer
- Ibn Battuta
- Moel Djawa
- G. P. Rouffaer
- P. de Roo de la Faille
- Historische Curiositeiten uit Malajoe en Java
- Peureula
- Perlak
- Samoedra
Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu
Great world traveler who around 1290 mentioned six ‘koninkrijken’ (kingdoms) in the Aceh region - evidence of multiple polities/vested settlements under various princes in the area.
Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 25.
Source
Historische Curiositeiten uit Malajoe en Java, by P. de Roo de la Faille (Den Haag: Maart 1954), chapter “Gamispola”, pp. 22-23.
Marco Polo (Venice, c. 1254–1324) was the Venetian traveller whose Travels (Il Milione) records, in connection with his crossing from Java minor to Kalï-patnam in Tinnevelly, a “very small island that is called Gauenispola” — which Rouffaer identified with the Poelo Bras of the Eerste Schipvaart, and which De Roo de la Faille decodes as a bedekte taal form for the ancestral land of Taroema. Polo also records the “peculiar language” of the island — the bahasa kapoer of Malajoe — which is the principal bedekte taal register of Malay-Javanese historical geography.
Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 25.
The Gauenispola passage
After his description of Java minor, Marco Polo crossed to Kalï-patnam in Tinnevelly and “incidentally mentioned a very small island that is called Gauenispola”. He did not say what he had to tell of it. That, De Roo de la Faille notes, would have left us indifferent, were it not that Rouffaer had identified the place with the Pulo Xuta of the Eerste Schipvaart (vol. II, pp. 212-213): “a high island on which stands a watch-tower or Farol that warns the inhabitants and is lit at night when there are ships on the coast”. A fire-beacon in the manner of the Voor-Indische primitive light-towers, such as Haafner had described at Bimilipatam; the Malay name is roemban. Since 1875 the Willemstoren has stood on Poelo Bras.
Decoding: Gawé-nis and the vanished Kapoelaga
The name Gauenispola — also spelled Gamis- or Djamispola, and P.Gomes — De Roo de la Faille decodes through the bedekte taal lens. The “peculiar language” of the island — the bahasa kapoer of Malajoe — is the kapoer of Barus camphor. The first part of the name Gawé-nis — Malay gawé “make”, i.e. “maaksel” — combined with the inversion pola-ga-nis (or -m-is), produces Ka-poe-laga-nis, the name of the “vanished” kingdom that was called after the kapoelaga (cardamom), the plant with the very fragrant knob. In Sanskrit kakkola, in Arabic qaciolah — the latter the name by which Ibn Battuta recorded the capital Qakola of Moel Djawa, the ancestral land of Taroema.
The Kakoela-Qaciolah connection
The same name, De Roo de la Faille argues, underlies the Kakoela of Javanese storytellers — shortened to kakoe — and the Qakola of Ibn Battuta’s account of Moel Djawa. The cardamom-name is the bedekte taal form by which the ancestral land of Taroema at the bay of Aroe was concealed beneath the names of trade-goods. The same name, De Roo de la Faille argues, underlies the aroemanis name of a mango-variety — the same aroem of T-aroem-a.
The “Pulo Xuta” and the Willemstoren
The Pulo Xuta of the Eerste Schipvaart, which Rouffaer identified with Polo’s Gauenispola, is the Poelo Bras on which, since 1875, the Willemstoren has stood — the Dutch colonial light-tower at the northern entrance to the Strait of Malacca. De Roo de la Faille reads the Xuta as ksoe-ta, whose inversion ta-k-soe is the name of the Balinese djero Taksoe — the “mysterious genius loci” who manifests himself by incarnating in one of those present, and who dwells in the neighbourhood of the god-houses in some tree on which a small wooden offering is fixed.
Significance
For AcehWiki, Marco Polo’s importance lies chiefly in his Gauenispola passage — the first European record of the bedekte taal form by which the ancestral land of Taroema was concealed beneath the names of trade-goods — and in his record of the “peculiar language” of the island, the bahasa kapoer of Malajoe. His identification, by Rouffaer and De Roo de la Faille, with Poelo Bras also fixes him as the first European witness to the northern entrance of the Strait of Malacca — the strategic choke-point that the Atjehnese sultanate would contest in the war of 1539.
See Also
- Pulo Bras
- Willemstoren
- Straits of Malacca
- Taroema
- Bedekte taal
- Bahasa kapoer
- Kapoer baroer
- Ibn Battuta
- Moel Djawa
- G. P. Rouffaer
- P. de Roo de la Faille
- Historische Curiositeiten uit Malajoe en Java
Source
Atjeh als land voor handel en bedrijf, by Dr. R. Broersma, Gebrs. Cohen, Utrecht, 1925, p. 26.