Silat Pattani
A silat from southern Thailand that, according to a Chulalongkorn University thesis, was originally a martial art. We have not found its founder or year of origin.
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About Silat Pattani
Silat Pattani is a silat from the area of the historical Pattani in southern Thailand. A Chulalongkorn University thesis (2006) on the Pikoon Thong dance troupe describes silat as a kind of performance of Thai Muslims that was originally a martial art, and reports it in the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, Satun and Songkhla. We have not found its founder or year of origin. An article in Al-Tamaddun (Universiti Malaya, 2022) states that Pattani was an independent sultanate with a Malay population, defeated in 1785 by the Siamese of the Chakri dynasty. According to it, the territory extended to southern Thailand and to Malay regions such as Kelantan and Terengganu, and a revolt against Siam followed in 1789 to 1791. The article does not deal with silat. English Wikipedia says that Silat Pattani is also known as silat tua, meaning old silat, because tradition regards it as the oldest form of Malay silat, and that its exact age is not known. It relies on a single source. The Malaysian inventory JWN does not mention Pattani. Draeger (1972), Chambers et al. (1970) and Green (2001) do not mention Pattani either. The work on the Pikoon Thong troupe stresses that silat has long been part of the life of people in southern Thailand and should be preserved as cultural heritage.
History
The Silat Pikoon Thong troupe in Pattani was, according to a Chulalongkorn University thesis, founded in 1983, and its style derives from the silat of the ruler of Raman district in Yala province. The thesis states that silat is widespread in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Singapore and the Thai provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, Satun and Songkhla. English Wikipedia tells a legend of three brothers: one of them, named Yuso, hid in a tree from tigers, watched a tigress teach her cub movements, and the brothers created a new fighting system from these movements. This is a legend from a single source that we have not found in scholarly sources. According to the same Wikipedia, the founder of the style is called pendeta guru (from the Sanskrit pandit and guru), and the name silat tua Yawi is increasingly popular among Malaysian practitioners because they need not acknowledge the Pattani origin. We have not confirmed this claim either. The JWN inventory traces silat to the beginning of the Langkasuka kingdom in the second century and to the period of the Malacca sultanate, but does not mention Pattani. Its bibliography lists the book Silat Tua: The Malay Dance of Life (2007) by Zainal Abidin Shaikh Awab and Nigel Sutton.
How it differs
Green (2001) states that pentjak silat in Indonesia and bersilat in Malaysia both use musical accompaniment in practice and performance, so music alone does not distinguish Silat Pattani from Indonesian styles. English Wikipedia defines Silat Pattani as silat tua, that is, according to tradition the oldest form of Malay silat.
Technique
According to the thesis, the dance form of the Pikoon Thong troupe divides into bare-handed silat and silat with the kris, performed by one or two dancers. It has four parts: a bow to the teachers in two and four directions, testing the opponent, a fight scene and a closing homage to the teachers. According to the thesis, the movements derive from four types of natural movement: of a person, of an animal, of the use of local weapons and symbolic movements of a mythical flower. English Wikipedia states that the solos in Silat Pattani are called tari and pair practice silat pulut. It mentions the Tari Ramayana routines after the characters Seri Rama, Sita Dewi and Hanuman, and six animal routines: deer, monkey, snake, bird, tiger, dragon. According to it, the basic weapons are the staff, machete, sarong, spear and kris, with the kris taught last as the least useful. As basic concepts it lists jantan betina, hard and soft, and panchabuta, the five elements, of which four are practised. We have not confirmed these details in scholarly sources.
Training
According to the thesis, the Pikoon Thong troupe trains for about a hundred days. According to it, most dancers start aged nine to fifteen, and during the research the troupe had nineteen men and women aged fourteen to ninety-three. English Wikipedia states that weapons training begins only after the basics of unarmed fighting. We have not found a general description of Silat Pattani training as a whole in scholarly sources.
Today
According to the thesis, a silat performance has two purposes, entertainment and a ritual expressing respect for ancestors and teachers, and gratitude. Two drums, an oboe and a large gong accompany it. The thesis recommends preserving silat as cultural heritage because it has long been part of people's life in southern Thailand.
Frequently asked questions
What is Silat Pattani?
It is a silat from the area of the historical Pattani in southern Thailand. A Chulalongkorn University thesis describes it as a kind of performance of Thai Muslims that was originally a martial art.
Who founded Silat Pattani?
We have not found its founder or year of origin. English Wikipedia gives a legend of three brothers and the title pendeta guru, but it is a single source.
Why is Silat Pattani called silat tua?
According to English Wikipedia, because tradition regards it as the oldest form of Malay silat. Its exact age is not known, and the Hindu-Buddhist era is assumed.
When did the Siamese defeat the Pattani sultanate?
According to an article in the Journal of Al-Tamaddun, in 1785. A revolt against Siam followed in 1789 to 1791.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.