The Hikayat Aceh is a 17th-century history of the Aceh Sultanate, which is located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Written in Malay in the Arabic script it chronicles and eulogizes the Acehnese Sultan Iskandar Muda (1583-1636; reigned 1607–1636; national hero of Indonesia since 1993). The Hikayat Aceh is an indispensable tool for all interested in the history of Aceh and its exceptional political, cultural, and religious traits.

The narrative of Sultan Iskandar Muda is told against the global background of Chinese, Portuguese, and Ottoman-Turkish influences and relations in the world. It is set in a context where also Southeast Asian regions like Siam, Cambodia, and Johor play a role.

Manuscripts

Only three manuscripts are still in existence. Two are kept in Leiden University Libraries (Dutch: Universitaire Bibliotheken Leiden), Leiden, the Netherlands, and one in the National Library of Indonesia (Indonesian: Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia, Perpusnas), Jakarta, Indonesia.

On 18 May 2023 these three manuscripts were inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register affirming their world significance and outstanding universal value.^[1]

MS. Or. 1954

As the oldest (c.1675-1700) and most complete text, this is the central manuscript of the Hikayat Aceh and the one edited as manuscript A by Teuku Iskandar (1958).^[2] The manuscript is kept in Leiden University Libraries and has been digitized.^[3]

MS. Or. 1983

This is a copy of Or. 1954 in Batavian Malay dated 9 March 1847 and used as manuscript B in Teuku Iskandar (1958).^[4] The manuscript is kept in Leiden University Libraries and has been digitized.^[5]

MS. ML 421

This is another copy of Or. 1954, dating from the early 20th century, and probably intended as the basis for a text edition of the Hikayat Aceh by Hoesein Djajadiningrat. The manuscript is kept in the National Library of Indonesia.