The Malay Nobat: A History of Power, Acculturation, and Sovereignty explores the history and meaning of the nobat, a court ensemble that has performed music for courts in Malaysia and Brunei with roots in the Islamicate world since Abbassid times. Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid examines the nobat spread throughout the Muslim empire and its emergence as a symbol of power and sovereignty. The author argues that the nobat was an important symbol of Muslim power and analyzes the effect of the nobat's appropriation by colonial powers and of its induction as part of an invented tradition in the process of nation-building a modern Malay state. The author ultimately shows how existing nobat ensembles are the last living musical legacy of the Muslim world.
Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid is senior lecturer in the Department of Heritage at Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia, and author of The Royal Nobat of Perak.
"Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid's detailed and erudite study of the nobat of the Malay world is also a study of a neglected, but vital, facet of Islamicate culture - the trumpets, pipes, and drums that have served as accoutrements of the ruler's spiritual and temporal power since early times. The author approaches both the local and the colonial historical sources with a keen eye and sharp ear in this consistently engaging, well-researched volume." --Martin Stokes, King's College, London "This book situates the interplay of power, acculturation, and sovereignty of the Malay nobat from well-known Malay historical literatures, royal histories, and chronicles in the Malay world with fecundity and prolificacy. Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid has succinctly probed the subject of the Malay nobat by evoking the ecstatic and aesthetic contents of the Malay royal regalia, connecting Islamic influences and ceremonial ensembles from the Middle East and South Asia with the nobat of Aceh and the Malay Sultanates in the Malay peninsula. This publication is a major contribution to studies in Malay-Islamic-Royal music in Southeast Asia." --Mohd Anis Md Nor, Nusantara Performing Arts Research Center "This book takes the reader to a fascinating musical soundscape in the royal courts of Malaysia that is unimaginable to most music lovers today. Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid skillfully describes the history and significance of nobat and explains why and how it still has symbolic meaning today." --Margaret Kartomi, author of Performing the Arts of Indonesia: Malay Identity and Politics in the Music, Dance and Theatre of the Riau Islands
