The National Library of Indonesia (NLI) was established in AH 1400/1980 CE, growing out of the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Batavia’s Society for Arts and Sciences), a colonial institution founded in AH 1192/1779 CE. The NLI holds a total of 13,000 manuscripts written on bamboo, horn, bone, palm leaf, tree bark, bark paper, and European paper in more than 19 local scripts representing over 23 regional languages. The collection holds a special place in Indonesia’s history as the national slogan “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”, meaning “unity in diversity”, derives from a poem housed at the NLI. Today the NLI’s mission prioritizes accessibility through transcription, translation, and research, with publications available on a free, electronic platform.

Reflecting Indonesia’s unique manuscript culture, these items are in languages, scripts, and formats specific to the region. Some manuscripts include calendars that represent human efforts to organize the cycle of night and day, the changing seasons, and the passage of time into numbered, repeating units of days, months, and years. Other additions to the calendars record popular practices, known as hikmat, for determining the most favorable times to take certain actions or make decisions in marriage, business, travel, and other realms. These manuscripts and scroll were intended for specialists trained in the art of interpreting their contents, with many details tied to the local context within which they were produced. As a result, our modern understanding of the images and texts is inherently limited.

Scroll made for Teku Geudong Nyak Rayeuk

This Malay-language scroll includes symbols such as dots used to count the days of the month that would have helped plan for weddings, performing Hajj, and other important events. Additionally, it features star-shaped compasses with animal names at each directional point, which hold significant cultural meanings that were passed down through generations. The text is written in the Malay language using Jawi script, which includes all of the Arabic letters and adds a few more to represent sounds specific to the regional languages. Notably, the scroll includes an inscription that records the name of the person who compiled it and the individual for whom it was created:

Adapun yang menyurat dia Lebee Abdul Ghani bandarnya Meugit dan yang empunya dia Teku Geudong Nyak Rayeuk dalam daerah negeri Langsa adanya pada bandarsah di hulunya 22.

(As for the one who wrote this, Lebee Abdul Ghani, his town is Meugit, and the one who owned this, Teku Geudong Nyak Rayeuk [the name of a nobleman], in the Langsa district …)