LETTER AS A DIPLOMATIC MEANS OF THE MALAY SULTANATES TO FOSTER AFFILIATION WITH WESTERN GOVERNORS

During the Malay Sultanate era, letters were used by the Sultans as fundamental tools to foster or perpetuate any diplomatic affiliations. Among the letters that were sent by the Malay Sultans were to colonial governors such as Stamford Raffles, Francis Light and Lord Minto. The strength or essence of a letter can be seen through the contents and the purpose of the letter being sent. Hence, the main gist of this study is to analyse the valuable diplomatic elements stipulated in the letters which distinguished the letters as one of the means to foster relationships with the Western colonial governors. The findings portrayed the diplomatic features that can be found in the Malay letters such as: using words of recognition, using politeness in wordings expressions and presenting gifts. Theory of Islamic Diplomacy by Wang Yong Bao (Ahmed Musa) will be used as an analytic tool of the research.