Below is a reconstruction of a traditional song passed down through Vuolt oral tradition about Sajja the Great, founder of the Kulawanti Empire. He lived from roughly 1530 BCE to 1440 BCE, and during his reign reunited most of Doebi under one banner, thanks to a centralized, bureaucratic administration held together by the bangsawan system under the King of Kings.

Oh Great King Sajja

 

To your deeds we pray

 

Oh Great Uniter

 

Lead us not astray

 

 

 

In the womb of Utari

 

Did your great figure grow

 

The son of a King

 

Though nobody did know

 

She brought you to Manggar

 

And lay you to rest

 

Fed by a jaguar

 

You suckled its breast

 

Found by a trapper

 

Brought to the King

 

He gave thanks and he wept

 

As the sirens did sing

 

 

 

Oh Great King Sajja

 

To your birth we sing

 

Oh Great Uniter

 

For you our bells ring

 

 

 

Faster and stronger

 

Your body did grow

 

And in every temple

 

Your eyes did glow

 

They told you the story

 

Of your family long past

 

Of the great lands they ruled

 

But how their rule did not last

 

You ventured to Sarawak

 

To hear the future they told

 

They said the future of Doebi

 

In your hands you would mold

 

 

 

Oh Great King Sajja

 

Your future was clear

 

Oh Great Uniter

 

To your vic'try we cheer

 

 

 

It was not long after

 

That boy Sajja turned man

 

And with your first journey

 

Your story began

 

Your brother in Manggar

 

You left on the throne

 

Then stepped on a boat

 

Headed towards your new home

 

Arriving in Kuching

 

Not one tear did shred

 

When you found the King

 

And lopped off his head

 

The people rejoiced

 

The God-King was found

 

And there in the palace

 

King Sajja was crowned

 

 

 

Oh Great King Sajja

 

Your journey has begun

 

And oh Great Uniter

 

More battles would be won

 

 

 

Next your gaze shifted

 

Toward Pontianak

 

A Kingdom to conquer

 

Your land to take back

 

You won every battle

 

You marched every path

 

And any who faced you

 

Would feel your Great wrath

 

You arrived at the palace

 

And approached the King

 

He knelt down before you

 

And prayers did he sing

 

He was ready to die

 

But you spared him his head

 

He would stay in this Kingdom

 

And rule in your stead

 

He praised your Great name

 

And the tribute did flow

 

And the seeds of an Empire

 

Your actions did sew

 

 

 

Oh Great King Sajja

 

You are King of Kings

 

You lift up your people

 

On your Godly Wings

Map of the Kulawanti Empire, 1511 B.C.E.