The sultan who died in China (continuation)
When I wrote the article on Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan who died in China, unfortunately I did not have any Brunei reference articles with me. So I concentrated the article on the actual discovery of the tomb and its subsequent restoration. Now that I am back in Brunei, I am able to continue to do further research on the matter. The simplest read is the History of Brunei in Brief written by Pehin Jamil, the Principal of the Brunei History Centre.
When Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan died, what happened to his heir Xiawang? Xiawang was only 4 years old and he spent a further year in China before returning back to Brunei. When he went back he was accompanied by a Chinese official by the name of Chang Chien and a guide by the name of Chow Heng. Sultan Ahmad carried out all the official duties and it was recorded that Sultan Ahmad was the second sultan. However it has been postulated that Xiawang died before reaching adolescent and therefore never made it to the throne. According to historians, there are a number of other kings or sultans of Brunei who were not mentioned in the salasilah and hence Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan was one of them.
I remembered coming across one writing which stated the possibility that Ma Je Na Ka Na was not a Muslim. However according to Chinese records, Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan was provided with meals that normally consisted of food prepared according to the Ta-Min-Hui-Tien (Ming's Code of Rules and Laws) which conssisted of two sheeps, four geese, eight chickens, 20 bottles of water, one picul of rice, 30 katis of noodles, four kinds of fruits and various vegetables and condiments. No pork was served.
Another postulation on how the name of Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan was derived. The name was in fact on a tombstone in Brunei. At the Jalan Residency cemetery, one grave was discovered to belong to the daughter of Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan. The name on the gravestone was Rokayah binti Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan ibnu Muhammad Shah Al-Sultan. This makes Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan, the son of Sultan Muhammad Shah, the first Brunei Sultan. The gravestone was dated 826 Hijra (around 1422 AD about 14 years after Sultan Abdul Majid died in Nanjing, China).
When Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan died, what happened to his heir Xiawang? Xiawang was only 4 years old and he spent a further year in China before returning back to Brunei. When he went back he was accompanied by a Chinese official by the name of Chang Chien and a guide by the name of Chow Heng. Sultan Ahmad carried out all the official duties and it was recorded that Sultan Ahmad was the second sultan. However it has been postulated that Xiawang died before reaching adolescent and therefore never made it to the throne. According to historians, there are a number of other kings or sultans of Brunei who were not mentioned in the salasilah and hence Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan was one of them.
I remembered coming across one writing which stated the possibility that Ma Je Na Ka Na was not a Muslim. However according to Chinese records, Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan was provided with meals that normally consisted of food prepared according to the Ta-Min-Hui-Tien (Ming's Code of Rules and Laws) which conssisted of two sheeps, four geese, eight chickens, 20 bottles of water, one picul of rice, 30 katis of noodles, four kinds of fruits and various vegetables and condiments. No pork was served.
Another postulation on how the name of Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan was derived. The name was in fact on a tombstone in Brunei. At the Jalan Residency cemetery, one grave was discovered to belong to the daughter of Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan. The name on the gravestone was Rokayah binti Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan ibnu Muhammad Shah Al-Sultan. This makes Sultan Abdul Majid Hassan, the son of Sultan Muhammad Shah, the first Brunei Sultan. The gravestone was dated 826 Hijra (around 1422 AD about 14 years after Sultan Abdul Majid died in Nanjing, China).
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Are you sure the correct pronounciation?
'本籍人' means people of the same district, ancestor or clan, with the word '本籍' (Ben Ji) meaning native district, own ancestral or clan and '人' (Ren) means people as in the Malay word 'Orang'.