At the beginning of the eighteenth century Bugis from
Celebes began to play in Peninsular affairs that leading part they were
destined to maintain throughout that century. Great traders and seaman, they
earned enough to enable them to purchase chain armour and to confront swords
and clumsy cannon with muskets and blunderbusses. Moreover they evolved some
sort of tactics and, as compared with the Malays, possessed a science of war.
As early as 1717 there were Bugis forces at Langat and five
years later one of the five famous Bugis leaders of that day, Daing Parani, is
said to have married the daughter of a Bugis Yam-tuan of Selangor. In 1722 the
Bugis finally expelled from Riau Raja Kechil, the Minangkabau pretender to the
Johor throne, and established as ruler of Johor and Pahang their own legitimate
puppet Sulaiman ibni Sultan 'Abdu'l-Jalil Shah. Next they sailed to Kedah and
established the eldest son of its deceased ruler on the throne of his fathers:
warfare accomplished, Daing Parani married the sister of the new Sultan, and a
few months later led his forces back to Riau. Thereupon the younger brother of
the new Sultan of Kedah invited the Minangkabau pretender, Raja Kechil, to come
and support his rival claim to the throne. Nothing loath to thwart in Kedah the
Bugis whom he could not drive from Riau, the irrepressible Sumatran warrior
accepted the invitation. The Bugis decided to intervene again as Raja Kechil
was certain to renew his attacks on Riau if he were successful in Kedah. The
ensuing campaign lasted two years. Kedah trade was ruined. Daing Parani was
killed. In the end Raja Kechil was defeated and returned to Siak.
The Kedah campaign affected its neighbour. At some time
before his death in 1728 Klana Putra, namely Daing Merewah, first Yam-tuan Muda
of Riau, invaded Perak. 'Ala'u'd-din Mughayat Shah was then Sultan of that
State. During his reign this ruler was attacked by his younger brother Muzaffar
Shah who invaded Perak from Bernam (and therefore probably with Bugis aid from
Selangor). Muzaffar Shah worsted the Bendahara and the up-river chiefs: "
the Bendahara, Megat Iskandar, disappeared and Megat Terawis took his
place." The royal brothers were reconciled. It looks as if this were the
fighting to which the same Perak manuscript that gives these details alludes
with the sententious awe that always marks its references to the Bugis: "
the country was thrown into confusion, and tumult was caused by the invasion of
a Bugis, Klana. However by the help of God and the intercession of His Prophet it
came to nothing and the enemy departed." Malay folk-lore with vague
memories of the Bugis Kedah campaign against the Minangkabau Raja Kechil talks
of a warrior Megat
61
Page 62 A History of Perak.
Terawis son of a concubine of the
ruler of Minangkabau acquiring the office of Perak Bendahara by force of arms
and it gives his name the Kedah dialect form of Terawis instead of the ordinary form Terawih. Anyhow in one of these disturbances consequent on trouble
in Kedah Tan Saban must have fallen, last of the old Malacca house to be
Bendahara of Perak, and the seal of that great office passed into other hands.
The Misa Melayu tells us that at
Kuala Kangsar Sultan Muzaffar Shah had the son of a Kedah raja for his
Bendahara and later one Megat Pendia and finally a Sayid, Sharif Abubakar.
Some time afterwards in the reign of Sultan Muzaffar there
was another Bugis invasion of Perak under Daing Chelak who died in 1745. "
All the Perak chiefs were at loggerheads so that in the commotion it was
impossible to tell friend from foe and even the regalia were nearly endangered.
The condition of the Yang di-pertuan," Sultan Muzaffar, " was
indescribable not so much on account of the fighting as on account of want of unanimity
among his counsellors. At last some of the chiefs joined the Bugis, who then
took possession of the regalia. Thereupon the Dato' Bendahara and the chiefs
" promoted the Sultan's younger brother Raja Bisnu " from Raja Muda
to be Sultan " with the title Muhammad Shah—Muzaffar Shah only regained
his throne seven years later when his younger brother died. Of this second
Bugis invasion of Perak there is a garbled account in the Misa Melayu:— in the time of Muzaffar Shah " Sultan Berkabat a
Minangkabau Raja attacked Bukit Gantang," namely from Kedah. " He had
been a favorite of Sultan Muzaffar Shah at Kuala Kangsar, and now with two
Bugis rajas Daing Matkah and Daing Menchela' he returned claiming to have been
adopted by the Sultan as his son. There was severe fighting until Raja Muda
Iskandar defeated the adventurers and drove them back to Kuala Pengkalan."
According to a history of Johor the date of this second invasion of Perak was
1742 and the Bugis Yam-tuan Muda of Selangor took part in it. Riau chronicles
relate that Raja di-Baroh 'Abdul'1-Jalil, son of Sultan Sulaiman of Lingga,
also took part in this " conquest of Perak from Selangor."
The same history of Johor relates that at some time between
the death of Sultan Sulaiman of the Riau-Lingga empire in 1760 and the death of
Daing Kemboja, Yam-tuan Muda of Riau, in 1777, the Bugis Raja (Lumu) of
Selangor was given the title of Sultan Salahu'd-din Shah by a Sultan of Perak
at Pangkor and was later installed in Selangor in the presence of Perak chiefs.
The Misa Melayu says that this
happened in the reign of Sultan Mahmud (or Muhammad) Shah who ascended the
Perak throne about 1765 when he made a treaty with the Dutch. Netscher, a
careful historian relates how already in January 1756 Sultan Sulaiman of Lingga
sent a letter to Daing Kemboja (Raja Muda of Linggi), Raja Tua of Klang and Sultan Salahu'd-din rider of
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 63
Selangor,
asking whether or not they recognised him as their overlord. The Tuhjat al-Nafis suggests that the
installation was a bright idea that struck the Perak ruler while Raja Lumu was
" amusing himself " at Pangkor, and it adds that the Sultan of Perak
was present at the installation of Sultan Salahu'd-din in Selangor and contracted
a treaty of amity with him. Soon afterwards the Raja Muda and other Perak
chiefs were invited to Selangor for the wedding of Salahu'd-din's daughter to
Raja 'Abdu'llah son of the ruler of Kedah and on their return were escorted by
their host as far as Kuala Bernam.
Of the next Bugis visit to Perak the Misa Melayu gives a vivid picture. That romantic warrior, Raja
Haji, called on the Sultan of Selangor to arrange an attack on Kedah. They then
visited Perak together and to the dismay of the Dutch anchored a flotilla of
twenty boats above their fort. The Laksamana and Shahbandar went upstream to
the island Indra Mulia for instructions, reporting that the Pangeran's
intentions were alleged to be " nasty." Sultan Mahmud having no
choice declared himself unafraid and ordered that Raja Haji and the Sultan of
Selangor should be escorted upstream. On arrival Raja Haji was too impressed
with the august presence of Sultan Mahmud, his warriors and his boats to
nurture evil designs! The visitors merely asked the hand of Sultan Mahmud's
niece for the Sultan of Selangor. Sultan Mahmud consented but was furiously
angry when it was suggested that the marriage should take place before the
Bugis flotilla left the Perak river. Raja Haji, confident of the result of his
formidable visit, sailed on to his successful (1770 A.D.) invasion of Kedah and
left Sultan Salahu'd-din behind to be married. At Teluk Pedada off the Perak
coast Raja Haji had a son borne to him, Raja Ja'far, afterwards Yam-tuan Muda
of Riau. So out of Perak history passed the greatest fighter of all the warlike
Bugis, to be shot down in 1784 before Malacca, a badik in one hand, a Muslim tract in the other, his followers about
his knees, an unpainted Delacroix. How this debonair warrior would have smiled
over the respectful reference to his visit in one Perak history:—" the
army of the Pangeran Raja Bugis entered Perak and he had audience with the
King, but by the help of God most High and of the royal dignity, no evil or
misfortune ensued to His Highness or to the people of Perak.''
In 1772 the Kedah Sultan refused to think of allowing the
Madras Government a settlement at Penang unless it undertook to send a force to
aid him against Selangor.
About 1800 Sultan Ibrahim of Selangor went to Lingga and
stayed there two years endeavouring to get his Bugis nephew Raja 'Ali created Yamtuan Muda of Riau which office
for years had been in possession of Engku Muda, son of the Malay Temenggong Tun 'Abdu'l-Jamal. During this time an embassy
came from Perak offering the throne of that State to Mahmud, Malay Sultan of
Johor, Pahang, Riau. Lingga, the Kerimuns and Singapore.
Page 64 A History of Perak.
Evidently the Malay occupation of
Riau had led Perak to over-estimate the power of Sultan Mahmud as against the
Bugis. Anyhow Sultan Ibrahim proceeded in force to Perak to demand why Perak
had broken the agreement which was like one coverlet for them both, that night
in Perak should be night in Selangor, sickness in Perak be sickness in Selangor
and the demise of a ruler of either State be announced to the other State. The
Laksamana of Perak asked for ten days to report to his master at Rantau
Panjang. But after three days the Perak people closed the bar of their river
and started shooting. The Selangor warriors reserving fire till their ships
were alongside took first one fort and then another. Perak was worsted, and
from 1804 to 1806 was subject to Sultan Ibrahim. In 1805 (A.H. 1220) that
potentate, announcing to the British Government his intention of blockading the
Perak river, wrote:— " the people of Pinang must not go to Perak at
present, for Perak from the river Kurau to Beting Bras Basah is my country.
This country I have taken by force of powder and ball, with which custom the
Governor of Penang is acquainted." Twenty years afterwards in 1825 the
Sultan of Perak wrote to the Chau Phya of Ligor how at the time when Marhum
Bongsu lived at the Long Reach (Rantau
Panjang) Sultan Ibrahim of Selangor attacked Perak whereupon Sultan and
chiefs fled upstream to Kuala Plus * to avoid him. A year after this invasion
Marhum Bongsu died whereupon the Sultan of Selangor demanded a strip of Perak
territory from Kuala Perak up to Kuala Plus * by right of conquest. Perak refused.
The Sultan of Selangor attacked but finding a fort erected at Kota Lumut
retired and reduced his claim to the territory between Kuala Perak and Kuala
Bidor. Again Perak refused and the two rulers agreed to ask other Raias to
arbitrate. Selangor lent Perak two guns but when in 1818 Kedah conquered Perak,
Selangor demanded and was paid $500 for the two guns! When in 1825 Sultan
'Abdu'llah ascended the Perak throne, Selangor again demanded territory on the
Perak river, but when 'Abdu'llah referred the claimant to his overlord the King
of Siam, Selangor agreed to compound for 30 bahar
of tin!
For at the beginning of the XIXth century Siam resolved to
extend her sway over the Malay Peninsula and accordingly in November 1816
commanded Ahmad Taju'd-din Sultan of Kedah to attack his neighbour. " It
greatly afflicts me to execute this order " wrote the Sultan. " It is
not with my good will that I attack Perak nor at all my wish to become the
enemy of that Raja but only to avert mischief from my country." Low
records that the old Sultan of Perak addressed a letter to Penang " which
exhibited the profound ignorance which has ever characterised the rulers of
that petty State. He only asked for two ships of war and two thousand troops,
one half of the last to be Europeans (100 being perhaps the utmost strength of
the latter at the time in the island).... He offered at the same time the
Dinding islands
* Amended from Trus of the Straits Settlements Records.
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 65
to the British for nothing and the
monopoly of all the tin and rattans in Perak for the yearly sum of two thousand
dollars, also elephants in exchange for gun powder at the rate of 60 dollars
for each of the height of six feet, and 600 to 900 dollars for those of the
largest size. . . . The Raja's offer of the tin monopoly would seem to argue an
undervaluation of the produce of his country, for at the rate of duty of 6
dollars the bahar which he then
enforced, the total produce was only 333 bahar,
whereas the country yielded or has yielded a much larger quantity
annually." Soon after the Dutch left Perak, 2,000 bahar a year were exported annually by that State to Penang.
In spite of the damage to the tin trade arising from the
invasion of Perak, the East India Company pursued its traditional policy and
refused to intervene. By October 1817 Kedah had subdued half of the State. On 2
July 1818 the Sultan of Kedah, sending Colonel Bannerman, Governor of Penang,
four rare birds and a promise of rare plants (for which His Excellency had
asked), thanked him for dispatching Mr. Cracroft to persuade the Sultan of
Perak to send the tribute of Golden and Silver Flowers to Ayuthia:—Mr. Cracroft
had just negotiated a treaty with Perak to safe-guard free trade with that
State. Though the Sultan of Perak reported that his country was beset by land
and sea, evidently its conquest was difficult. On September 12 the Sultan of
Kedah was complaining to Penang that the task of subduing Perak was hard enough
and now on the top of that Siam commanded him to send 100 war-boats and 300 koyan of rice for a force about to
oppose the Burmese and, in order to embroil him with England, instructed him
that no Kedah rice might be sent to Penang. On October 12 the Bendahara,
Laksamana and Temenggong of Kedah were all still engaged in the Perak campaign
and, though they would get all the tin they could for sale to Penang, nothing
could be promised with the war still unfinished. On 18 November 1818 Sultan
'Abdu'l-Malik Mansur Shah, the old Raja of Perak, reported to Penang that his
country was now under the Raja and Bendahara of Kedah. Anderson says that he
did not survive many months. 1,000 square miles of country in upper Perak
remained Siamese until 1909. In June 1819 the Sultan of Kedah was busy over the
dispatch of Perak's Golden-Flower tribute to Ayuthia. In July 1819 anxious as
he was to give Pangkor and the Dindings to the English in order to avoid trouble
with the Dutch and to help in the suppression of piracy, Ahmad Taju'd-din Halim
Shah Sultan of Kedah was too apprehensive of the displeasure of Siam, which had
disapproved of Kedah's cession of Penang. " It is true I conquered Perak.
The King, Raja Muda and Bendahara transferred the government to me. I directed
my agents to depose the old king, invest the Raja Muda with the chief authority
and promote the Bendahara to be Raja Muda, but they begged to retain their
present titles during the life of the old king, who, they undertook, should
cease to exercise authority or take part in councils. I
Page 66 A History of Perak.
assented, and Perak and its
dependencies were placed under the Raja Muda and Bendahara jointly, subject to
my superintendence and control. The Raja Muda exercises over Perak, Pangkor and
adjacent dependencies the functions of a sovereign tributary to Slam." At
the same time the Raja Kechil Besar and Orang Kaya Besar were removed to Kedah.
So for the first time in history a State that had been subject to Acheh and
Bugis Selangor but never to Siam now became tributary to the Lord of the White
Elephant.
On 28 March 1819 Timmerman Thysen, the Governor of Malacca,
suggested to Selangor a new treaty on the lines of its treaty with the Dutch in
1780 and expressed his pleasure at the intention of Selangor to assist Perak,
so that, Siamese expelled, Perak also could renew its treaty with the Dutch! On
December 8 the Raja of Kedah complained to Penang that the Bugis Raja Husain
from Selangor, who formerly lived at the Dindings (where he opened a tin-mine
on Pulau Talang), assisted pirates with provisions and had now gone to Tanjong
Putus on the Perak river where pirates were again assembled. On 4 November 1820
the Raja of Kedah stated that he did not know if the chiefs of Kurau and Larut
had conspired to commit piracy but Perak being under him he will enquire and
prohibit its ruler from receiving pirates.
By 1822 mainly with the help of Selangor Perak had expelled
her Siamese conquerors but she had to agree to pay tribute to Sultan Ibrahim,
who as early as 1819 had left a relative Raja Husain to collect it. " His
sons, the Raja Muda and Tuanku Husain, the chief of the settlement at the
Dindings, have established posts about thirty miles from the mouth of the river
and levy a toll on all tin exported by that channel." So Anderson.
Soon afterwards the Raja of Ligor, a Siamese state on the
north-east frontier of Perak, prepared to reconquer Perak and according to the
British forced its helpless ruler to sign letters "invoking Siamese
protection against Selangor. But did the Raja of Perak act so much under the
compulsion of Siam as on account of the exactions of Selangor? In December 1821
what Crawford described as Siam's " extremely contemptible " army had
conquered Kedah. Ligor occupied Perak and ordered the Sultan to send Siam the
Gold and Silver Flowers of a tributary state; in 1824 the Bendahara, Sri Adika Raja,
To' " Peggah " and Maharaja Dinda took them to Ligor and were
escorted home by 40 Siamese boats, which the Perak chiefs then loaded with 205 bahar of tin for Ligor. The Sultan of
Selangor captured these boats and stationed Raja Husain at Kuala Bidor to levy
duties on articles taken up and down the Perak river. In January 1825 Perak was
invoking Siamese aid against Selangor and the Sultan wrote of his happiness
that Perak had been placed under Ligor, the Perak chiefs retaining executive
control. In April His Highness sent the Raja Kechil Muda, Orang Kaya Besar, Sri
Lela Paduka, Maharaja Stia and
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 67
Paduka Sri Nara as envoys to Ligor
to reiterate the request for aid. That was the version Ligor dispatched to
Penang, and it seems certain that all the while Perak was taking the only
course its weakness allowed and trying to play off Siam against Selangor and
Selangor against Siam, while the British East India Company refrained from
armed intervention:—in 1824 the Supreme Government entertained " the
strongest doubts of the practicability of inducing the arrogant and haughty
Court of Siam to waive its pretensions" and questioned " the
expediency of agitating the proposition at all." Quite probably Perak gladly
let the Selangor Sultan intercept her forced tribute to Siam and then irked by
Selangor exactions and terrified of Siamese vengeance turned again to Ligor.
Accordingly on 1 June 1825 the Sultan of Perak informed Governor Fullerton that
" at present Perak is under the Siamese, which prevents me from daring to
express my wishes to my friend." On 2 June 1825 the Chau Phya of Ligor
reported that Siam had been asked by Perak to expel the Selangor forces, though
Siam would not send troops if Governor Fullerton could settle the trouble: he
wanted, however, a permit from Penang for 30 or 40 Siamese boats to take the
Raja Kechil Muda of Perak home and bring back from Perak its Golden Flowers,
tin and other tribute to Siam. In fact, only the bluff and determination of
Governor Fullerton, who acting against orders from the Indian government in
June 1825 menaced Siam with war, saved Perak and Selangor from cruel invasion
such as had overtaken Kedah. In 1825 after its conquests on the Tenasserim
coast the Indian Government sent a Captain Burney to Ligor, where the Raja
expressed the intention of dispatching 3,000 men by land to help Perak against
Selangor. Burney contrived to frustrate this filibustering expedition, denying
that Perak was a dependency of Siam and declaring that the English Company
could not be indifferent over rights secured to it by treaty as the successor
of the Dutch Company. On July 31, 1825 a preliminary treaty signed by Burney
and the Raja of Ligor for the consideration of Madras and Bangkok engaged that
the Siamese should neither attack nor colonize Perak and Selangor and that the
British should not occupy Perak but merely prevent Selangor from disturbing its
peace and evict the tax-collector, Raja Husain. As Mr. Mills writes, " to
Burney's mind the great point gained by the treaty was that henceforth the
Penang Council had for the the first time a legal right to prevent all Siamese
troops and galleys from going to Perak and Selangor. Burney also succeeded in
persuading the Raja of Ligor not to insist in the treaty on a clause compelling
Perak to send the tribute of the Golden Flowers to Bangkok. Whether it was sent
or not was left to the decision of the Sultan of Perak, Burney agreeing that
the British would make no objection if he should wish to do so. Since to send
the Bunga Mas was the last thing the
Sultan would willingly agree to, Burney had won a very important success for
the Company." Fullerton, delighted at Burney's treaty, then
Page 68 A History of Perak.
appointed the pamphleteer, John
Anderson of the Honourable East India Company's Civil Service, Penang, to visit
Perak and Selangor and settle the disputes outstanding between them without
committing the Company to armed intervention. On 20 August Anderson negotiated
a treaty with the venerable Sultan Ibrahim of Selangor confirming the
commercial treaty of 1818, fixing the Bernam river as the boundary with Perak,
engaging that no Selangor armament should enter Perak by land or sea and that
Raja Husain should be removed from Perak for ever. Six days later Ibrahim wrote
direct to Governor Fullerton announcing that when he had reinstated the Sultan
of Perak with royal honours, they had
made an engagement for the imposition of a duty of $12 a bahar on Perak tin,
half to go to himself and half to the ruler of Perak, and adding that he had no
control over Raja Husain as he had married an aunt of the Sultan of Perak! But
the Sultan of Perak, being a " very insignificant person and under great
apprehension " was prepared not only to scrap his aunt's husband but to
repudiate or ignore any previous engagement with Selangor. Accordingly on 6
September 1825 he signed a treaty accepting the Bernam River as Perak's
boundary, engaging not to attack Selangor and to remove Raja Husain from Perak,
promising to grant no monopolies and fixing
the duty on tin at $6 a bahar. In an access of fear or humility, he even
pretended that he would like the British to annex his State, allowing him only
a small pension; and with Kedah's plight before him he wrote to Fullerton
offering to send Siam the tribute of the Golden Flower, if Fullerton should so
advise.
For Ligor continued to play with the weakness of Perak as a
cat plays with a mouse. Not daring to attack Perak after the preliminary Burney
treaty of 31 July 1825, the Chau Phya yet sent a small force under the guise of
an embassy to assist the Sultan in his government, an embassy whose recall
Fullerton at once demanded. On 8 August 1825 Fullerton wrote to the Chau Phya
that while Britain had no desire to occupy Perak or any other State near
Penang, it would prevent the peace of neighbouring States being disturbed by
Siam or by Malay aggressors. On 6 September the Chau Phya wrote from Ligor that
he was anxious to learn the result of Anderson's mission of Perak and on 9
September that at the request of famine-stricken Perak he was sending there
four boats laden each with 5 koyan of
rice and carrying twenty-two men. Governor Fullerton advised the Chau Phya that
the presence of numerous pirates rendered this inadvisable, that Mr. Anderson
was taking grain to Perak and that, as soon as Raja Husain and the Selangor
people left, Penang traders would import abundance of rice. A British cruiser
was sent to the Perak river to ensure the departure of Raja Husain. On 14
October the Sultan of Perak wrote to Fullerton that he entrusted the government
of Perak to the English and to the Chau Phya of Ligor! On 3 November Sultan
Ibrahim complained that that was always Perak's answer, when the Sultan was
asked to defray his debt of 3,128 Spanish dollars
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 69
to Selangor:—the Sultan of Perak
protested that Ibrahim had debited him with the debts of other Perak folk,
which he could not collect. On 15 December 1825 Sultan Ibrahim wrote noting
that Fullerton would settle Perak's debt, which otherwise Selangor would
collect, and asking why Fullerton had allowed the Siamese to proceed to Perak,
restore the old Laksamana and appoint Nakhoda Muhammad Raja Mahkota? The next
day Fullerton wrote a letter of protest to Ligor. On 20 September 1826 when
Perak presented a counter-claim for $2,787, the debt to Selangor was still
under British consideration.
Gradually the Bugis passed out of Perak politics, except for
the courteous survival in Selangor culture of the practice of inviting Perak
chiefs to be present at the installation of her Sultans.
But Siam had still to be handled. In the latter half of 1825
the Indian Government approved of the draft Burney treaty and of Anderson's
errand to Perak and Selangor and decided to send Burney to Siam on a purely
" complimentary and conciliatory" mission, with a commercial treaty
and the safeguarding of the independence of the Malay States as secondary
objects not to be pressed. Fullerton, however, instructed Burney to press for
the restoration of the ex-Sultan of Kedah and for Siam's claims on Perak to be
limited to the sending of tribute. Burney's negotiations lasted till June 1826.
Siam claimed no suzerainty over Selangor but insisted that the Sultan of Perak
wanted to pay tribute: if the English would protect Perak from Selangor, Siam
would merely send embassies " to settle and instruct the chief of Perak
and give him a title and great presents, in the same manner as the other
countries subject to Siam." Inadvertently the Siamese admitted that before
the conquest by Kedah in 1818 Siam had no right or claim in Perak, and Burney
pressed the rights of the British as inheritors of Dutch treaty-rights. Finally
Siam and the English both promised not to attack or disturb Perak or Selangor,
while the English engaged not to let Selangor attack Perak. The English Company
would not interfere if Ligor or Perak should desire to exchange diplomatic
missions of forty or fifty men. Both parties engaged that " the Raja of Perak
shall govern the country according to his own will. Should he desire to send
the Gold and Silver Flowers to Siam as heretofore, the English will not prevent
his doing as he may desire." This was satisfactory but in 1826 Sultan
'Abdullah Mu'azzam Shah of Perak informed Penang that Siamese " embassies
" were treating him as a conquered ruler and had bribed the Raia Muda and
other chiefs to take their side. On 20 September 1826 the Sultan wrote to the
Governor at Pulau Pinang that the Siamese, who had stayed ten months in Perak
had gone, but as " a lowly man in awe of " the Governor and "
afraid of the Siamese " he enquired if he ought to send the tribute of the
Golden Flowers. Before he got that letter, (on 23 September) Fullerton wrote a
stern letter to Ligor, declaring that the despatch of Siamese troops or
embassies to Perak
Page 70 A History of Perak.
was a breach of the Burney treaty
and might lead to war between Great Britain and Siam. The Chau Phya of Ligor
replied that the continued presence of Siamese in Perak had been due to his
absence at Ayuthia where he had been helping Burney over a treaty:—" the
Siamese and Malays sent by me to Perak accompanied the Raja Kechil Muda,
younger brother of the Sultan, and the Sultan wrote me at Ayuthia that he had
detained them and when I returned would send them back with a Perak chief to
wait on me: I have now sent a letter directing their return." On 10
October Sultan 'Abdu'llah wrote again expressing his satisfaction that Captain
Burney had induced Siam to recognize the independence of Perak: for " it
is my desire to govern it agreeably to former custom and I wish no connection
with any Siamese or Malay chiefs to east or west nor will I permit them to
interfere in the government of Perak. The Golden Flowers I will send no more to
Siam or to Selangor or any Malay Raja. Even if only 20 or 30 soldiers or
messengers arrive from Siam or any Malay Raja I will not receive them.
Merchants can come and go. My resources are at present limited but I am
collecting my ryots who fled owing to the disturbances. 1 rely on the Company
to help me against Siam, Selangor and any rebel Perak chiefs. My difficulties I
have explained to Captain James Low." For the Governor of Penang had
despatched a British " embassy " consisting of Captain Low and forty
Sepoys with " a Bombay H.C. Cruizer at his command " to warn Siamese
to leave Perak, to advise the Sultan to write Penang a letter expressing his
desire (in the terms of the Burney treaty) to " govern his country
according to his own will " and to repeat the usual vague promise of help
in case of Siamese aggression. A rabid hater of Siamese pretensions Low
proceeded actively to help the Sultan deal with the pro-Siamese chiefs of Perak
and then, against all traditions of the Company's policy, to make a treaty
involving it in Perak affairs " to an extent which was never contemplated or
desired." " The Siamese force " writes Low, " forthwith
evacuated their position on the bank of the river and the Raja dismissed those
who had intrigued with the Siamese and formed a steady government."
Elsewhere he describes the ceremony of forming that steady government:—" A
large concourse of people were assembled. The chiefs and their attendants were
seated on carpets and mats on the floor. In front of the sopha on which the
Raja sat, were arranged a low stool on which lay the Koran and a large jar of
consecrated water on the top of which was a model of a crown. The Raja
advancing dipped the regalia, consisting of armour, in the water, and placed
them against a pillow. The new ministers and other officers then approached and
had the oath tendered to them. This oath consists of two parts and is very
short. The first part is the promise of fidelity; the second imprecates every
calamity to afflict the juror and his family to remote generations should he
betray the trust and confidence reposed in him. The characteristic levity of
the
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 71
Malayan disposition was not even
repressed by this solemn act, for the Raja and some of his chiefs indulged
their mirth occasionally, to the evident mortification of some of his chiefs
then present whose gravity was ludicrously contrasted with it. Several of those
who had intrigued with the Siamese betrayed evident symptoms of alarm. Indeed
under a less indulgent Prince they must have lost their heads." A Malay
MS. records that Bendahara Radin, a grandson of the sixteenth Sultan, went to
Ligor, and that in 1826 the English had his brother Raja Muda Ngah Laut created
Yang di-pertuan Muda, Bendahara Chulan (afterwards twenty-first Sultan) created
Raja Muda, Raja 'Abdu'llah (afterwards twenty-second Sultan) created Raja
di-Hilir. Low's treaty of 18 October 1826 which though always recognised
appears never to have been formally ratified, stipulated that Perak should not
pay tribute to Siam, Selangor or any one else, or receive embassies, armaments,
or the smallest parties of men other than non-political traders: these
conditions fulfilled, the British engaged to assist the Sultan to expel any
Siamese or Malays who " may at any time enter the Perak Country with
political views or for the purpose of interfering in any way with the
Government of His Majesty." " These measures " as Low
complacently remarks, " secured the independence of Perak." At the
same time, he continues, " the Raja wanted to see the English flag hoisted
in Perak and he proffered a written deed, ceding to them the island of Pangkor
off the mouth of the river, but neither of these offers was accepted by the
British Government "—though in 1819 the English had wanted to occupy Great
and Little Pangkor and the territory on both banks of the Sungai Binding, and
the Sultan of Kedah had said he dared not risk the displeasure of Perak, while
the Sultan of Perak had wanted payment for the concession. On 20 October the
Sultan sent the Bendahara, the Orang Kaya Besar, the Laksamana and Sri Dewa
Raja to Penang to borrow $10,000 and get 400 muskets with ammunition on credit.
" I regard Perak," His Highness wrote, " as under the
superintendence or in the safe-keeping of the Honourable East India Company
which must protect it and superintend its Government as if it were an English
State." On 25 October, he wrote to Low engaging to build a fort at Kota
Lumut and maintain a force there to combat pirates, to erect a small house
there for the temporary accommodation of any British officer, to order the
Laksamana and Shahbandar to build a fort at Kuala Bidor and settle that
district, to expel harbourers of pirates from all coastal towns, to enforce
payment of debts to foreign traders, to prevent slave-traffic in British
subjects, to encourage agriculture, to arrange for the collection of export
duties and to establish schools. On 3 November Governor Fullerton wrote a
guarded letter to Ligor, warning the Chau Phya that further breaches of the
Burney treaty in Perak might lead to war with the British and on 7 November he
reported the doings of the Chau Phya to the ministry at Bangkok: Low's treaty
he referred to the Governor-General.
Page 72 A History of Perak.
Not yet, however, did Siam abandon its pretensions. In
November 1826 the Raja of Perak asked for a British agent to come and advise
him, reporting that he had sent the Temenggong to make excuses and tell thirty
Siamese, who had arrived at Pulau Kamiri on the Plus, that he would not meet
them; but Ligor declared that the Siamese were only taking return presents to
the Sultan. In March 1827 the Chau Phya sent silks for the Sultan and his
chiefs and promised a boat-load of sugar and rice, at the same time inviting
the Sultan to come to Ligor and proceed to Ayuthia, so pleased was the Lord of the
White Elephant that His Highness desired to be the slave and tributary of Siam.
The Sultan replied that, according to the Governor of Penang, a treaty had been
made between Siam and the East India Company, stipulating that the Siamese
should not again enter Perak: " so I think it unnecessary for me, a poor
man, to wait on the Chau Phya and I beg to be excused. The Chau Phya is correct
in saying that the Sri Adika Raja captured an elephant six cubits tall: I had
the animal cared for and meant to send it to the Chau Phya but after a month in
captivity it died." On 10 March Sultan 'Abdu'llah thanked the Governor of
Penang for sending a cruiser with $3,500 (less the cost of a ketch and prahu bought for him), 200 muskets, two
casks of powder, 500 bundles of ball cartridge and 1,000 musket flints: he
promised to co-operate with Captain Low against pirates, especially against
Nakhoda Udin, since 1822 appointed Penghulu at Kurau by the Ligorian (as Low
termed him) but so bold a pirate that he frequently raided Penang and kidnapped
British subjects to sell into slavery. To the delight of the Sultan of Perak
Low fired on Kurau, burnt the village and wrote to Alang 'aidin (Penghulu Bukit
Gantang) and Isma Yatim (Serama Maharaja) to hunt down Udin's associates. Udin
was captured by the Police at Penang, where (as Fullerton informed the Chau
Phya) he had " the audacity to come." As the court at Penang did not
possess Admiralty jurisdiction, it was not competent to try Udin. So as he
appeared to be a Siamese subject he was sent to Ligor with a polite request
that he should be dealt with effectually. The Chau Phya, as Mr. Mills relates,
" was very seriously annoyed, and when in June 1827 Burney came to Ligor
to exchange the ratified copies of the treaty of 1826 with Siam, he complained
bitterly of the attack on Udin.... He contended that Kurau was part of Kedah,
and not of Perak, denied that Udin was a pirate and also attacked Low's treaty
with Perak in 1826 as a piece of sharp practice." The Raja talked over
Burney, who informed the Supreme Government that Kurau was Siamese and Udin not
a pirate: Burney further criticised the Penang Council and Captain Low for
their interference in Perak. Low was suspended from political employment.
However, Fullerton proved that in 1825 Burney had put up a map showing Kurau to
be in Perak and had also advocated for Perak the very policy Low was suspended
for pursuing: he also put up clear evidence that Udin was a pirate. On 12 July
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 73
1827 he sent Ligor a copy of
Burney's map and declared that the destruction of Kurau and the capture of Udin
were in order and required no discussion. On 6 September, however, he informed
Ligor that he would hear Udin's defence and he wrote to the Raja of Perak to
send witnesses against him. In November 1827 the Supreme Government climbed
down and reinstated Low. But as late as February 1828 Fullerton was still
investigating the Kurau incident to judge from the arrival in Penang of two
Perak chiefs, Sri Maharaja and Tan Jana Pahlawan headman of Kurau, who were
cognisant of Udin's transgressions.
Though his very name has been forgotten at Kuala Kangsar,
Captain James Low was the saviour of Perak, risking his own career to save her
from Siamese suzerainty and spare her the cruel fate of Kedah. And along with
the name of Low, Perak ought to inscribe in letters of gold the name of Robert
Fullerton, Governor of Prince of Wales' Island, Singapore and Malacca, who
inspired and defended the insubordination of his officer Captain Low.
Relieved of the Siamese menace Sultan 'Abdullah endeavoured
to organize the administration of his country. On 15th June 1827 he informed
Penang, " If my life is spared, I shall visit every part of Perak,
establish the several districts in the old way and appoint chiefs so that the
country may be settled." He summoned all the chiefs and persuaded them to
live with him at Pasir Panjang Indra Mulia, and he employed one, Puteh Abubakar
of Penang, to help him in the conduct of public affairs. Low found 'Abdu'llah
" a very quiet person and very indulgent to his subjects.... He hears
complaints and settles business early in the morning, breakfasts about 10 and
dines about sun-set or later.... On the weekly fast days the Raja assembles all
his officers and attendants in the Mosque and repeats along with his Imams and
them selected passages from the Kuran.... As they become warmed by their
devotions they nod and shake their heads violently in concert.... One day the
Raja gave a feast to his people, it being an anniversary. A long and slightly
built shed was prepared as a kitchen. Here five or six huge iron pots were
placed over fires. In each of these about thirty fowls were boiled. They live,
however, very plainly, fish, rice and a little seasoning with fruits being
their common food. Very few of them will taste wine and none drink spirits. The
Raja and his people dress in very ordinary garb except on occasions of ceremony
and at these periods only, they are clothed from the waist upwards.... The women
seem partial to sky-blue cotton and can dress themselves with considerable
neatness. They display a good deal of the upper part of the body, only throwing
their upper dress which is a narrow piece of cloth carelessly across the
breast.... Many appeared to have as fair complexions as the Chinese. It was
particularly remarked by all our party that the distinguishing characteristic
of the Hottentot women, although in a less degree, is very generally a prominent one among the
Page 74 A History of Perak.
females of Perak." That was a
picture of Perak in 1826 when Siamese " embassies " had slaughtered
all the cattle and left only a few goats, buffaloes and poultry. Low's mission
changed all that. But there were still domestic troubles, about which the Sultan
often took Penang into his confidence, gladly accepting advice. In July 1828
the Raja Muda let the opium, gambling and spirit farms to Amoy Chinese, though
they were let already to another! It required force to remove the Amoy people.
On 2 November the Dato' Srinara returning from Penang was attacked off Pangkor
by four pirate perahu; the Raja
Mahkota came to his aid; Perak lost two men killed and five wounded but
captured a pirate junk containing 4 koyan
of rice, six Chinese, two Siamese " padris " and one Haji. On 4
November the Governor warned the Sultan of Perak on no account to receive the
ex-Raja of Kedah within his borders as it would lead to further trouble with
Siam. On 29 February 1829 Penang suggested that Perak might liquidate an old
debt for cash and muskets by sending tin. On 26 March 1829 the Sultan informed
Fullerton that as requested he had sent the Orang Kaya Besar from Ijok and
other forces to expel from Krian, Tengku Long Puteh, a brother-in-law of that
enemy of Siam, the ex-Sultan of Kedah. Penang warned 'Abdu'llah not to
encourage Patani immigrants from Pulai and Baling, for fear of offending Ligor.
Perak was still very poor. The Raja wrote to the Resident-Councillor, Penang,
begging him to induce a Chinese ship to visit Perak annually and buy elephants
" which would be a great relief to the poor distressed inhabitants."
He could not pay his debt in tin-ore, as he was assured " the consequence
of removing ore to such a distance would ruin the mines! " but in August
1829 he did send a perahu with tin.
In 1830 Captain Parker and Lord Frederick Beauclerc visited Perak and the
Sultan addressed a letter to their chief Sir Edward Owen K.C.B., Rear-Admiral
of the Blue, thanking him for the promise of a man-o'-war in the event of
invasion.
In 1830 the Straits Settlements had ceased to have a
Governor and became a Residency subject to Bengal. So in a letter dated 26 June
1831 Sultan Shahabu'd-din announced to the Resident his accession to the Perak
throne. Still Perak had its troubles. At the end of 1831 the Sultan sent the
Laksamana to report a rice famine and obtain on credit ten guns with powder and
ball, some cash and four or five koyan
of rice. In January 1832 the Raja Muda reported a conspiracy by the Bendahara
against the new Sultan. In April the Sultan reported a rumour that Selangor had
assembled twenty boats to attack Perak, but the advent in May of an English
merchant, George Stuart, allayed the panic of the Perak people and the Sultan
appointed Mr. Stuart his confidential agent in the Colony. The Selangor scare
lasted several years and seems to have been connected with a Perak debt to that
State. In 1837 the Sultan of Perak thanked the Resident-Councillor, Penang, for
telling him that Selangor would not invade his country
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 75
and he denied having approached
Ligor for aid. In 1842 there were further rumours which led to the Sultan of
Selangor being warned by the British.
In 1831 when the Malays rose against the Siamese in Kedah, the
ex-Sultan Ahmad Taju'd-din, unbowed by the stoppage since 1827 of his annual
allowance of $10,000, at last left Penang for Malacca rather than risk removal
by force. But in 1836 having got leave to visit Deli he left Malacca and bolted
to Bruas to collect forces to invade Kedah. Nothing would persuade him to
desist and two British warships had to visit Bruas, destroy the Malay fleet and
carry the ex-Sultan back to Malacca. Two years later the Kedah Malays again
rebelled against Siam but in 1839 were re-conquered. Then in 1842 backed by a
letter from Governor Bonham the ex-Sultan after twenty years of exile tendered
his submission to the Lord of the White Elephant and was restored to the throne
of a State which Siam had found it unprofitable to hold by force. Flushed with
success the turbulent old Sultan seized Krian claiming it to be part of Kedah.
The Sultan of Perak asked for British assistance in accordance with Low's
treaty. On 22 November the Governor warned Sultan Shahabu'd-din not to attack
his aggressor, advised the Sultan of Kedah to relinquish his claim and asked
the Chau Phya of Ligor to remonstrate with him. On 13 May 1844 Ahmad Taju'd-din
was informed that the Supreme Government was withholding its annual payment to
him of $10,000 a year until he should quit Krian and remain peaceably in Kedah
for twelve months. Even this did not move him. Only in 1848 did he retire when
the Governor threatened armed intervention. In that year, 1848, the Sultan of
Perak applied for arms and ammunition to be used against the Laksamana who had
usurped the revenue from duty on tin exported down the Perak River!
In 1851 and 1852 only a few letters passed between Penang
and Perak. On 7 January 1851 Mr. Blundell, Resident Councillor, Penang, told
the Sultan of Perak that he and not the British must arrest one Megat 'Arif and
his gang of marauders for disturbing Krian: Mr. Blundell sent for Megat 'Arif
and got his promise to reform, but Megat 'Arif broke his promise and Blundell
invoked the aid of the Sultan of Kedah. At the end of the year the Governor,
Colonel Butterworth, sent a schooner to Bruas to investigate a case of piracy
and in December informed Sultan 'Abdu'llah Muhammad Shah of Perak that thirteen
pirates had been captured, four of whom were hanged and the rest banished to
Bombay for life; the Raja Kechil Sulong of Perak appeared to have shared the
spoils. Resident Councillor Lewis wrote several letters to Che' Long Ja'far of
Larut about the rendition of fugitive convicts and the detention of tin bought
by a Penang Chinese.
Then came civil war in Perak. As early as 8 August 1851
Governor Butterworth had expressed doubts to the Sultan of Selangor as to his
story of dissensions in Perak, adding that anyhow
Page 76 A History of Perak.
it was no concern of the British.
Soon however there was trouble between the Sultan of Perak and Bendahara (later
Sultan) Ja'far when a British man-of-war was sent to protect the customs
station for tin at Kota Stia. On 17 March 1853 the Governor replied to Raja
Ngah 'Ali of Perak, asking what he meant by the sentence " The Sultan has
left his palace" Who occupied it? There must be a ruler. Butterworth
refused the ivory tusks Raja Ngah 'Ali had sent, declaring that it was not an
English custom to accept presents. Actually the Sultan had fled and taken
refuge with the Laksamana. In April the Governor informed the Sultan that Low's
treaty stipulated for British aid only in the event of external aggression: on
18 May he replied to the Sri Adika Raja, Panglima Kinta, Shahbandar and Panglima
Bukit Gantang that not he but their Sultan, 'Abdullah Muhammad Shah, should
receive their complaints about the disturbances caused by the Sultan's son,
Raja Yusuf; in June he informed the Sultan that the Governor-General still
refused him permission to intervene but the Sultan could appeal to Kedah for
help if he liked. In September 1853 the officer administering the government,
Blundell, informed Fort William that influential chiefs had deposed the Sultan
and elevated the Raja Muda to the throne. The Sultan was said to be a debauchee
whose sons were beyond his control and ruined the country. Blundell had advised
Kedah that our treaty with Siam forbade armed interference, and he suggested to
India that he should be authorized to arbitrate between the parties. In June
1854 a claimant to the Perak throne wrote to the Governor describing himself as
Sultan Safi-u'd-din Mu'azzam Shah. In July Blundell went to Perak and
interviewed the Raja Muda and chiefs. On 23 November 1855 the Governor was
still advising Sultan 'Abdu'llah Muhammad Shah that he could not intervene in
the domestic affairs of Perak. " When Sultan 'Abdu'llah Muhammad Shah
died," wrote Swettenham in 1880, " he and his son were in open
warfare with by far the greater part of the chiefs of Perak and when the time
came to elect a Bendahara, Yusuf's claims by birth were outbalanced by his
unpopularity." On 3 September 1857 the Governor congratulated Sultan Ngah
Ja'far on his accession. Of this ruler as a practical administrator Sir Frank
has left a vivid picture. One day a woman of his harem came out to listen to
the Kuran-chanting of a Trengganu man famous for his voice. Aggrieved at this
her relations wanted to kill the Trengganu man but feared his famous creese.
They consulted the Sultan, who replied, " Take his creese first, you
fools, and then kill him." One of the relatives then made an excuse to
borrow the creese, and the others stabbed the Trengganu Rizzio till their
weapons met in his body.
In 1858 the East India Company came to an end and the
Straits Settlements passed under the control of the India Office. Two of the
grievances the local public had nursed against the old Company were that it had
pusillanimously sacrificed the exiled Sultan of Kedah to Siam and that it
refused to interfere in the
Bugis, Siam and The British East India Company. Page 77
domestic affairs of the Malay
States. Not until after 1867 when the India Office had transferred the Colony
to the care of the Colonial Office, was this policy of aloofness abandoned.
In 1867 in view of requests from Straits-born Chinese to
settle there the Sultan of Perak was asked to arrange for the cession of the
Bindings in accordance with the treaty of 1826, which had given to the East
India Company " the Pulo Dindings and the islands of Pangkor, together
with all and every one of the islands hitherto included within the Perak State
" in order that piracy might be suppressed. In 1868 the Laksamana
pretended to agree with the British view that this was meant to embrace both
banks of the Dindings River but the Sultan disapproved of the occupation of
both the banks though he would allow a settlement between Pulau Talang and the
River Dinding on payment of a subsidy. Downing Street objecting to the
occupation of new and disputed territory, the matter remained in abeyance until
the Pangkor treaty of 1874 defined the boundaries in accordance with the
British view and so aroused the suspicion of the Malays at a singularly
inopportune time.
Again, in January 1870 the Sultan of Perak requested the
Governor's aid to rectify Selangor's encroachment on the Perak side of the
Bernam River.
The narrow interests of the old trading company, the
indifference of the India Office to an outlying region were now things of the
past. As early as 1862 there had been the writing on the walls of the Chinese kongsi houses in Larut: the old policy
of isolation was doomed.
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