| Abstract: |
The funerary Islamic inscriptions of the sultanate of Brunei (Part I) This contribution concerning the Islamic inscriptions of Bruneithe second part of which will be published in the next issue of this Bulletinforms part of a larger research project in progress on Islamic epigraphy in the Malay world. In this article are recorded, described and translated all the epigraphs dated prior to the year thousand (Hegira)all of them epitaphsthat have been found in the sultanate of Brunei, most of them never before published. They constitute a unique set of primary sources for the early history of Brunei, especially for the history of the islamicization of this sultanate. Compared with those of other regions of the Malay Archipelago, these tombstones display considerable variation, not only in the composition of the texts, but also in the use of the Malay language beside Arabic, in the use of square kufic characters and in their various decorations: floral motifs, Chinese ornamentation, etc. These unique features reflect the peculiar position that Brunei has held in the past among the Malay sultanates.
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