Differentiating State Administrative Thinking in the Book of Salatin

Abstract

Scholars have dealt a great deal with aspects of state administration from various perspectives and have published them in journals and books. In the context of the Old Malays, among the most prominent works that have discussed state administration from the Muslim perspective are Taj al-Salatin, Sulalah al-Salatin, and Bustan al-Salatin. This study intends to identify and compare the thoughts of the writers of these treatises within the context of the world of Malay-Muslim Archipelago. This research was done by way of thematic analysis. Research outcome shows that these works, by and large, demostrate significant similarities more than their differences. Their differences are however not substantial, mainly due to their 17th century background.