National laureate, Prof Emeritus Dr Muhammad Salleh is confident of the existence of Hang Tuah, based on evidence recorded in the Malay manuscripts, namely ‘ Sejarah Melayu Sulalatus Salatin (Malay Annals) and ‘ Tuhfat al-Nafis ’.

He said the record of Hang Tuah in these two works were clear written evidence of the Malay warrior's existence and not just a myth or oral literature.

“If it's a mythical story, Hang Tuah will be mentioned only a few times but in Sejarah Melayu Sulalatus Salatin , Hang Tuah is mentioned 128 times in six chapters,” he said.

According to him, the existence of Hang Tuah was also recorded in Tuhfat al-Nafis and the story about him was mentioned twice.

“This is also a Malay work which has written history methodology that is acceptable,” he told reporters after presenting a paper at the Malay manuscript discourse on ‘Hang Tuah: Warrior of the Malay World’ in Kuala Lumpur today.

    

Muhammad said his conviction that Hang Tuah really existed was further strengthened by his research work done in Sungai Duyung, Pulau Singkep.

“From my research, I discovered that Hang Tuah came from a sea-faring people called ‘orang laut Sekanak’ who were known to be loyal and important to the old Malay Kingdom,” he said.

Muhammad, who is also senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and International Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), suggested that research on Hang Tuah be ongoing.

“I propose that a research group be formed to find and look again at the historical evidence, especially from literary sources in Indonesia (Bugis), Cambodia (Champa), China and Japan (Okinawa) because Hang Tuah is mentioned in their literature,” he added.

- Bernama