Badang was a legendary

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

n strongman from the

Malay world The Malay world or Malay realm (Indonesian/Malay: or ; Jawi: ), is a concept or an expression that has been used by different authors and groups over time to denote several different notions, derived from varied interpretations of Malayness ...

. He is from Sungai

Batu Pahat The Batu Pahat District is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies southeast of Muar, southwest of Kluang, northwest of Pontian, south of Segamat and Tangkak District. The capital of the district is Bandar Penggaram. Geography ...

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

. He was active in the court of the

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

Sri Rana Wikrama Paduka Sri Rana Wikrama ('Ranavikrama') was the eldest son of Sri Wikrama Wira with his wife Nila Panjadi, and the third Raja of Kingdom of Singapura, Singapura. He was known as ''Raja Muda'' his accession and married to a daughter of Bendahara T ...

of the

Kingdom of Singapura The Kingdom of Singapura (Malay: ''Kerajaan Singapura'') was an Indianised Malay Hindu-Buddhist kingdom thought to have been established during the early history of Singapore upon its main island Pulau Ujong, then also known as Temasek, from ...

. He was associated with several geographical locations and historical artefacts, most notably the

Singapore Stone The Singapore Stone is a fragment of a large sandstone slab which originally stood at the mouth of the Singapore River. The large slab, which is believed to date back to at least the 13th century and possibly as early as the 10th or 11th centu ...

Source

The written record of the legend of Si Badang is found in the

Malay Annals The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...

, an important collection of oral folklore from the Malay World. Variations of the legend of Badang exist due to the oral nature of its transmission, and its popular use in children's literature.

Mythology

Badang was a

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

boy from

Batu Pahat River The Batu Pahat River ( ms, Sungai Batu Pahat) is the river originating from Sungai Simpang Kiri and Sungai Simpang Kanan (in which the river split as Sungai Bekok and Sungai Sembrong in Tanjung Sembrong) near Tongkang Pechah, and flows through B ...

Johore Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime bor ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. He was the only son of two poor farmers who worked hard until the day they died. As a young man, Badang worked as a

coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

for the rich farmer Orang Kaya Nira Sura in a place called Salung or Saluang in

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

(modern-day

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). Badang was small-statured and the weakest of his group. Their job was to clear through the undergrowth to make way for new fields. As slaves, they didn't get paid and received only a few handfuls of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

each day. This was hardly enough to satisfy the hunger of such arduous work, so Badang relied on catching fish for extra sustenance. He set his fish-traps along the stream every evening and gathered the net the following morning. One day, Badang found that the fish-traps he laid in a river contained bones and scales. He prepared the fish-traps again, but the same incident went on for several days. Badang armed himself with a

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

stick, or a

parang Parang is a popular folk music originating from Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago that was brought to Trinidad and Tobago by Venezuelan migrants who were primarily of Amerindian, Spanish, Mestizo, Pardo, and African heritage, something which i ...

in some versions, and hid in the bushes of the

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

. The creature taking his fish was a demon, ''Jembalang air''/''hantu air'' or water spirit capable of taking the form of any flora and fauna which lives around bodies of water, described as having eyes red as fire, long matted hair, and a long beard covering its chest or reaching its waist. Badang seized the demon and tied its hair to a rock. The demon begged for mercy and promised to grant Badang any wish if he spared his life. Badang wished for strength so that he would not tire working. The demon said that if Badang wanted great strength, he would have to swallow whatever he coughs up. The demon then vomited and Badang ate its vomit. In some versions the demon coughed out two red gems called ''geliga'' for Badang to swallow. Badang became immensely strong. One day, Nira Sura wanted to expand his farm land in Baruah. But Nira Sura found out that Badang was resting in mid day and he suspected that Badang didn't do his work. Nira sura found that a large section of the forest was cleared so quickly and Badang explained everything that had transpired. The landowner was so grateful for the servant's loyalty that he freed Badang from slavery on the condition that he never boasts of his strength and uses it to help others. When news of Badang's feat reached the Kingdom of Singapura, the Raja Sri Rana Wicrama invited Badang to the kingdom, to appoint him a Raden (a princely title). One day, the Raja had a large boat constructed and instructed fifty men to push it into the water, but they were unable to do so. Badang continually offered to help but the men refused, saying that no one so small would make any difference. The Raja eventually sent 300 men to help push the vessel but it was to no avail. The Raja then sent 3000 men to push the boat, but all of them failed. The Raja then gave Badang the chance to push the boat by himself, and Badang was able to do so. For his feat, the Raja Sri Rana Wicrama appointed Badang a hulubalang, or Champion, of his court. Badang was frequently asked to do favours. He often helped farmers and villagers carry their goods in place of a horse and carriage. The king once asked him to gather the tasty ''kuras'' leaves from Kuala Sayong in

, so Badang set off in a boat by himself. When he climbed the ''kuras'' tree, its branch broke and Badang fell a long way, his head hitting a rock. To his surprise, Badang was completely unharmed and the rock was split in two. Today, that rock is called the Split Stone (''Batu Belah''). Over time, Badang had become known in other nearby countries as well. The king of

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writin ...

on the Indian subcontinent wanted to test Badang's strength against his own champion, Nadi Bijaya (or Wadi Bijaya) who was reputed to be stronger than all the other strongmen of his kingdom. The Indian warrior sailed to the Malay Archipelago and greeted the local king with the friendly challenge. Seri Rana Wikrama took great pleasure in tests of skill and agreed. As decreed by the Indian king, the loser would owe the victor seven ships of cargo. Badang competed against Nadi Bijaya in several contests of strength and wrestling but the result was always tied. Finally, Nadi Bijaya suggested that whoever can lift the large rock in front of the palace shall be declared the winner. He then lifted the rock to his knees and immediately dropped it. When it was Badang's turn, he lifted the rock above his head and threw it, where it landed at the mouth of the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

. Nadi Bijaya acceded to the agreement and gave Badang the seven ships of cargo before returning to Kalinga. Badang spent many years in the

defeating challengers from other countries, including the champion of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. When Badang eventually died, the king of Kalinga sent for two stone pillars to be placed at his grave. Badang's grave is located in Buru Island, Indonesia.

Relation to the Singapore Stone

Badang lifting the Singapore Stone at National Day Parade 2016

The

is a fragment of a large slab of rock that sat at the mouth of the Singapore River. It is currently on display at the

National Museum of Singapore ms, Muzium Negara Singapura ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் தேசிய அருங்காட்சியகம் , native_name_lang = , logo = , image = 2016 Singapur, Museum Planning Area, Narodowe Muzeum Singapuru (02) ...

. The slab was blown up in 1843 and only fragments remain. One folklore for the slab's origin is that it was lifted and thrown by Badang, during one of his feats of strength.

In popular culture

* Badang is a fighter hero in the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang

References

External links