The narrative of Sultan Iskandar Muda is told against the global background of Chinese, Portuguese, and Ottoman-Turkish influences and relations in the world. It is set in a context where also Southeast Asian regions like Siam, Cambodia, and Johor play a role.
It is also though by Russian linguist, Vladimir Braginskiĭ, That the Hikayat Aceh were influenced by Mughal dynasty historiography, as he found out the literal structure similarities of Hikayat Aceh with Mahfuzat-i-Timuri, as the former has shared the similar theme with the latter about the lifetime and exploits of the protagonist of Mahfuzat-i-Timuri, Timur.[1] Braginskiĭ also found the similarities in structure of both Hikayat Aceh and Mahfuzat-i-Timuri with Akbarnama manuscript.[1]
On 18 May 2023 these three manuscripts were inscribed in the UNESCOMemory of the World Register affirming their world significance and outstanding universal value.[2]
MS. Or. 1954
Файл:Or. 1954.jpgHikayat Aceh, MS. Or. 1954, Leiden University Libraries
As the oldest (c.1675-1700) and most complete text, this is the central manuscript of the Hikayat Aceh and the one edited as manuscript A by Teuku Iskandar (1958).[3] The manuscript is kept in Leiden University Libraries and has been digitized.[4]
MS. Or. 1983
Файл:Or. 1983.jpgHikayat Aceh, MS. Or. 1983, Leiden University Libraries
This is a copy of Or. 1954 in Batavian Malay dated 9 March 1847 and used as manuscript B in Teuku Iskandar (1958).[5] The manuscript is kept in Leiden University Libraries and has been digitized.[6]
MS. ML 421
This is another copy of Or. 1954, dating from the early 20th century, and probably intended as the basis for a text edition of the Hikayat Aceh by Hoesein Djajadiningrat. The manuscript is kept in the National Library of Indonesia.