Babad Tanah Jawi

Babad Tanah Jawi ("History of the land of Java"), is a generic title for a large number of manuscripts written in Javanese language. Their arrangements and details vary, and no copies of any of the manuscripts are older than the eighteenth century.

Due to the scarcity and limitations of primary historical records, Babad Tanah Jawi, is one of a number of accounts of Indonesian legends that scholars use to help illuminate aspects of the spread of Islam in Indonesia, the dominant religion in the Indonesian archipelago since the sixteenth century.

The texts attribute the first Javanese conversions to Islam to the Wali Sanga ("nine saints"), although their names and relationships vary across the texts to the extent that perfect reduction and agreement between them is not possible. Although most of the manuscripts accept the convention of nine saints, a number list ten. These names commonly appear throughout the Babad Tanah Jawi texts:

See also

References

    Further reading