ABSTRACT
Since the beginning of the tradition of manuscript copying in Malay in the 14th century, the copyist or authors have often been unknown. In general, the manuscripts only contain information regarding the kings or their superior who ordered the copying process. And the copyist did not write their identity on the copied manuscripts. However, this situation has changed since the 19th century, as they included their identity on the copied manuscripts. This also happened in the tradition of manuscript writing in Betawi, as is evident from the identity of the authors found in the last part of these manuscripts. Nevertheless, this did not occur in Hikayat Pandawa manuscripts, which form part of the collection of the Republic of Indonesia National Library. Through investigating manuscript colophon, in this study, we will describe the identity of the authors and its association with the tradition of writing Malay manuscripts in Betawi.
