Malay Annals

The original text has undergone numerous changes, with the oldest surviving version from 1612, through the rewriting effort commissioned by the then regent of Johor, Raja Abdullah.

The manuscripts are scattered over libraries in various countries: in Malaysia (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka),[10] in Indonesia (Jakarta, Museum Pusat), in the United Kingdom (mainly in London), in the Netherlands (Leiden).

This king-list was subsequently enlarged by various stories and historically relevant material which was inserted in suitable places, but at the same time it lost its dates.

[14] Unknown Malay texts titled Soelalet Essalatina or Sulalatu'l-Salatina, that is referred to by Petrus Van der Vorm and François Valentijn in their works Collectanea Malaica Vocabularia ("Collection of Malay Vocabulary") (1677) and Oud En New Oost Indien ("A Short History of East Indies") (1726) respectively, could have existed in the form of a king-list.

However, historian Abdul Samad Ahmad provides an alternative view, suggesting that the manuscript was returned from Gowa, Sulawesi instead of Goa, India.

[25] It included a foreword by Raffles himself, introducing the text and explaining its relevance in highlighting the potential congeniality of Malayans to British rule.

[29] Another important version, compiled by Malaysian historian Abdul Samad Ahmad in 1979, uses the original title of the text, Sulalatus Salatin.

[30] Two of the manuscripts, alternatively named as MS86 and MS86a by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, were later referred in the nomination form submitted for UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme International Register.

[31] The Malay Annals is historical literature written in the form of narrative-prose with its main theme being lauding the greatness and superiority of Malacca.