The meaning ofdukunand allure of Sufi healers: How Persian cosmopolitans transformed Malay–Indonesian history

Abstract

For contemporary Malay/Indonesian speakers,dukunsignifies an indigenous healer. Etymologically, however, the worddukunis not native to Malay/Indonesian. Some saydukunis Arabic, but this article claims it is more Persian than Arabic. When fifteenth-century Persian settlers brought the proto-form of the worddukunto the Malay Archipelago, they also brought cosmopolitan notions of Sufism, faith and healing. Eventually orthodox Arab immigrants and Europeans denigrated Sufi healers as ‘indigenous’.Dukunbecame a rhetorical foil demonstrating how superb Western physicians or orthodox Arabs were by comparison. Gradually, thedukun'sreputation became intertwined with negative attitudes about ‘indigenous’ practices.