Caldwell, Ian and Wellen, Kathryn
(2016)
Family Matters: Bugis Genealogies And Their
Contribution To Austronesian Studies.
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 12 (1).
pp. 119-141.
ISSN ISSN: 1823-6243
Abstract
Early Bugis written sources consist largely of genealogies. Assuming no
significant loss of other genres, it is clear that genealogies were central to
Bugis historical record keeping. The paper sets out to explain why
genealogies were first written down, what purpose they served, and why
they were repeatedly added to and copied. It argues that written
genealogies had no function as practical documents. Instead, they owed
their existence directly to the development of writing around 1400 CE, and
to the status that their possession conferred on their owners. The article sets
out what historians can learn from genealogies of South Sulawesi prior to
the arrival of the first Western visitors. It draws attention to a threegeneration myth of origin similar to that found in the Malay Hikayat Banjar,
and argues that this myth was central to agricultural fertility, and the right
to rule.
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