The Hikayat Amir Hamza is a legendary prose story in the Malay language, based upon a Persian romance, which has Hamza, the paternal uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, as its main protagonist. The historical Hamza presented a highly suitable Muslim hero for tales of chivalry and courage. As the quest for fame, respect, and honor was a major preoccupation in Malay literature, the battlefield takes pride of place in this story. Its translation from Persian into Malay may well have taken place not much later than the fourteenth century because the story, in both its Persian and Malay forms, mentions firearms, which first became known in the Muslim world in the 1380s. The Hikayat Amir Hamza was certainly written before 1511 because it is mentioned in the so-called Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals). The Malay version was adapted in Buginese, Macassarese, Balinese, and Javanese, whereas the Sundanese version seems to be based on the Javanese one. The Javanese work is generally known as the Menak, after a noble title given to the hero Amir Hamza. The adventures of Amir Hamza also form part of the repertoire of the Javanese and Sundanese rod-puppet theater (wayang golek).
Further Reading
Wieringa, Edwin. (1996) "Amir Hamzah, the All Too Human Hero." Kajian Malaysia 14, 1–2: 183–193.
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