AN ANALYSIS OF THE "GENEALOGY OF SULU" BY CESAR ADIB MAJUL

AN ANALYSIS OF THE "GENEALOGY OF SULU, (*)

CESAR ADIB MAJUL

I

The term tarsila comes from the Arabic silsilah, which means a chain or link. It is used in the Muslim South as in other parts of the Indonesian and Malay world to refer to written genealogical accounts. One of the primary functions of the tarsila was to trace the ancestry of an individual or family to a famous personality in the past who was either an important political figure or religious teacher. This fact immediately suggests that tarsilas were not meant to remain purely historical documents or quaint remembrances of things past. On the contrary, they served to bolster the claim of individuals or families to hold political power or to enjoy certain traditional prerogatives, if not some prestige in their respective communities at least. Consequently, all sultans and leading datus had their respective tarsilas.