Abdullah Abdul Kadir
Abdullah Abdul Kadir | |
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A page of the Hikayat Abdullah written in Malay in the Jawi script, from the collection of the National Library of Singapore. A rare first edition, it was written between 1840 and 1843, printed by lithography, and published in 1849. | |
| Born | Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir 1796 Malacca |
| Died | 1854 (aged 57–58) Jeddah, Ottoman Empire |
| Occupation | Author, translator and teacher |
| Period | 19th century |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Subject | Early Malay history |
| Signature | |
Abdullah bin Abdul al Kadir (1796–1854) (Arabic: عبد الله بن عبد القادر 'Abd Allāh bin 'Abd al-Qādir), also known as Munshi Abdullah, was a Malayan writer. He was a famous Malacca-born munshi of Singapore and died in Jeddah, then part of the Ottoman Empire.
Munshi Abdullah followed his father's career path as a translator and teacher of colonial officials in the Malay Archipelago, mainly the British and the Dutch. Munshi Abdullah has been popularly regarded as among the most cultured Malays who ever wrote, one of the greatest innovators in Malay letters and the father of modern Malay literature. He is also a useful source for historians on precolonial Malaya, offering a rare local perspective.