Lecture
Unveiling the Written Heritage of the Siak Sultanate: An Ethnographic Study on the Access and Interpretation of the Archives of Sultan Syarif Kasim II
- Iik Idayanti
- Date
- Wednesday 15 October 2025
- Time
- Series
- What's New?! Fall Lecture Series 2025
- Location
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 1.33
The Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura was one of the major kingdoms on the eastern coast of Sumatra, leaving behind a rich legacy of written history. However, the archives of Sultan Syarif Kasim II preserved in the Siak Palace remain largely inaccessible to the public due to bureaucratic constraints, lack of inter-agency coordination, and technical challenges in digitization. Through ethnographic study and document analysis, this research reveals that such restricted access not only hampers academic scholarship but also diminishes the potential of these archives to strengthen collective memory, local education, and the cultural identity of the Malay community in Siak. The findings emphasize that without transparent, collaborative, and publicly oriented management strategies, this written heritage risks remaining a “closed artifact” that loses its vitality within society. By promoting inclusive access, the legacy of the Sultan of Siak can not only be preserved but also revitalized as a source of learning, cultural pride, and a foundation for reinforcing Malay identity in the contemporary era.
About the speaker
Iik Idayanti is a lecturer at Lancang Kuning University and a doctoral candidate in Malay Philology at the University of Indonesia. Her research focuses on Malay and Javanese manuscripts, with projects supported by the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme and Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture. She has published widely on manuscript preservation and co-founded Bela Riau, a community dedicated to rescuing manuscripts in Riau.
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