From Leiden to Depok: The Yusril Ihza Mahendra Collection and Indonesia’s Global Academic Future

By: Hafid Abbas
Former International Consultant to UNESCO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (PROAP), 1992–1995

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Universities are not merely institutions that produce graduates, conduct research and publish academic papers. At their best, they are guardians of civilization, preserving the intellectual heritage of humanity and making it accessible to future generations. Their historical collections can become powerful bridges between nations, cultures and generations.

Leiden University in the Netherlands offers an inspiring example of how a university can turn historical manuscripts and cultural treasures into internationally recognized academic resources. Indonesia, particularly the University of Indonesia (UI), has an opportunity to develop a similar ambition through the Yusril Ihza Mahendra’s Collection at its Faculty of Law.

Founded in 1575, Leiden University has developed one of the world’s most important collections of historical manuscripts and documents, particularly those relating to Asia and the Indonesian archipelago. Its Asian Library attracts scholars from different countries who come to study centuries of historical records, literature, maps, photographs and manuscripts.

Among its most remarkable treasures is Sureq La Galigo, the monumental Bugis epic from South Sulawesi. Originating from oral traditions and dating approximately to the 14th century, this literary masterpiece is regarded as one of the world’s longest epic works. Its manuscripts were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2011 through a joint Indonesian-Dutch nomination.

The Leiden manuscript, comprising 12 volumes, preserves an exceptionally extensive portion of this epic. It was transcribed in the mid-19th century by order of Colliq Pujie, the Queen Mother of Tanete, and has become an invaluable resource for understanding Bugis literature, philosophy, traditions and historical civilization.

Importantly, Leiden has not simply kept these treasures behind library doors. It has digitized the manuscript and made it freely accessible online, enabling researchers, students and the international public to study it without necessarily travelling to the Netherlands.

The university’s collections also include other significant Indonesian historical treasures, such as the Babad Diponegoro, Hikayat Aceh, Panji manuscripts and the personal letters of R.A. Kartini. These collections demonstrate how a university can become an international gateway to the historical memory of an entire civilization.

The lesson is significant for Indonesia: historical collections can become not only academic assets but also instruments of cultural diplomacy, international cooperation and research-based tourism.

The scale of Leiden University’s institutional commitment is also noteworthy. Its total annual budget reached approximately €1.01 billion in 2025, including €574 million in government funding. Although this supports the university’s entire academic mission rather than its historical collections alone, it illustrates the substantial resources that a leading research university mobilizes to sustain education, scholarship and international academic engagement. This offers an important lesson for UI: developing the Yusril Ihza Mahendra Collection into a world-class research destination requires not merely preserving historical documents, but also making a sustained institutional investment in conservation, digitization, international fellowships and global research partnerships.

An opportunity at the University of Indonesia

A comparable opportunity is already emerging at the University of Indonesia through the Yusril Ihza Mahendra’s Collection, inaugurated at the Faculty of Law on Aug. 25, 2025.

The collection contains approximately 14,000 titles, including books, rare manuscripts, historical documents and other valuable materials, with plans to expand to around 20,000. Some manuscripts are more than 700 years old. They include materials written on animal skin, wood and palm leaves, in languages such as Arabic, Persian, Javanese, Bugis and Sasak.

Beyond their literary and historical significance, the collection’s greatest potential lies in its capacity to illuminate Indonesia’s political, constitutional and social transformation.

Researchers could examine how Indonesia moved from 32 years of authoritarian government under the New Order to a democratic political system after 1998; how the country transformed its highly centralized administration into a decentralized system; and how restrictions on political participation, freedom of expression and media gradually gave way to a more open democratic environment.

The collection also offers opportunities to investigate Indonesia’s continuing journey toward the supremacy of law, constitutional government and the protection of human rights.

These are not merely historical questions. They are important contemporary issues for countries throughout the developing world that are struggling to build democratic institutions, strengthen the rule of law and reconcile political stability with individual freedoms.

The collection’s comparative religious and intellectual materials could also support research into the historical development and interaction of Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian and other traditions. Such resources could provide an exceptional foundation for interdisciplinary studies of religious coexistence, pluralism, civilization and peace.

In this respect, the collection has the potential to become much more than a specialized law library. It could develop into an international center for the study of Indonesia’s historical transformation and the wider civilizations of the world.

From a collection to a global research destination

To realize this ambition, UI should consider developing the Yusril Ihza Mahendra’s Collection into an internationally recognized Center of Excellence for Historical Archives, Constitutional Studies and Civilizational Dialogue.

Several strategic initiatives could help achieve this objective.

First, UI should establish an international research network involving Leiden University, Harvard, Oxford, Columbia and other leading academic institutions. Joint research, visiting fellowships, international conferences and publications would help introduce the collection to a much wider scholarly community.

Second, the entire collection should gradually be catalogued, professionally conserved and digitized. An internationally accessible digital platform, with appropriate metadata and multilingual descriptions, would allow scholars anywhere in the world to identify and study its materials. Access policies should protect fragile originals while facilitating responsible academic use.

Third, UI could establish an annual international research fellowship and summer school, inviting historians, constitutional scholars, anthropologists, archaeologists, political scientists and religious studies experts to conduct research directly from the collection.

Fourth, the university could develop an academic research tourism program, welcoming international scholars, doctoral candidates, students and cultural institutions. This would create opportunities for academic exchanges, international publications, cultural exhibitions and broader economic benefits for Indonesia.

Such a development must also uphold the highest standards of scholarly independence, transparency and historical integrity. The collection should remain accessible to researchers with different perspectives, including those examining difficult or controversial chapters of Indonesian history.

Reclaiming Indonesia’s place in world intellectual history

There is also a broader historical responsibility behind this initiative. Many valuable Indonesian manuscripts and historical records are preserved in institutions outside Indonesia. Leiden’s experience demonstrates the importance of international cooperation in preserving, studying and making this heritage accessible. It should also encourage Indonesian universities to strengthen their own capacity to safeguard the country’s intellectual treasures and to pursue collaborative research into their provenance and historical journeys.

Indonesia should not remain merely a subject of historical research conducted elsewhere. It should become a leading center where the world comes to understand the history, cultures, political evolution and intellectual contributions of the Indonesian archipelago.

The Yusril Ihza Mahendra’s Collection offers UI a valuable starting point. With institutional commitment, international partnerships and a long-term academic vision, it could become one of Southeast Asia’s most distinguished destinations for historical and interdisciplinary research.

Leiden has demonstrated what a university can achieve when it transforms historical treasures into global knowledge. UI now has an opportunity to demonstrate that Indonesia, too, can turn its extraordinary intellectual heritage into a lasting contribution to humanity.

Our historical treasures should not simply remind us of where we came from; they should help the world understand who we are and inspire the generations who will shape our future.

If Leiden University can transform the historical treasures of Nusantara into a global academic destination, the University of Indonesia should be equally ambitious in transforming the Yusril Ihza Mahendra Collection into an international gateway to Indonesia’s historical heritage and intellectual contributions to humanity.