PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

apers on .malar Subjects. [SECOND SERI.ES.]

(Published by direction oj the Committee for Malay studies, F.M.8J

. No.2.

SRI MENANTI.

BY

R. J . WILKINSON, C.M. G., Colonial S ecl'etar]l, Straits S ettlements.

KUALA LUMPUR : • BY J. BROWN AT THE FEDERATED MALAY STATE!:!

GOVERNMENT PRESS.

1914.

PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

PREFA O E .

MALAY adat is a du11 subject. None the less it enters so largely into the work of a Negri Sembilan District Officer that Government cannot afford to ignore it. If its most trivial details are not placed on record they have to he discovered afresh with every change in the holder of an administrative post. This short treatise on Sri Menanti was prepared as part of a definite scheme .for committing to writing such information as was obtainable about the political adat of the little States that make up the Negri Sembilan. Jelebu has been dealt with already by Mr. Oaldecott; Sungai Ujong, Rembau, Johol and Tampin should follow.

I am mnch indebted to Mr. R. O. Winstedt for the notes supplementing this paper .

R.J. W. PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

SRI MENANTI.

I :~INTRODUCTORY.

SRI MEN ANTI is the name of a small stream that has its source in the high hills (2,800 feet) between the Rembau and Kuala Pilah districts, and falls into the Muar ri ver after meandering for about ten miles through a fertile and rather isolated valley. The valley is famous for its beauty. Indifferent though Malays are to certain aspects of scenery, their traditions still tell us of the rapture with which the first colonists came upon this promised land, the ideal abiding place, the spot "where Oeres was awaiting them" with clumps of padi already in the ear. Not that their legengs are consistent. One account says that the former name of the vallflY was londO//" naga, "the trail of the dragon; " another says, "No-the settlers found their way to the spot by following up the londal' naga, the t,rails of dragons"; a third speaks of the spot as predestined to good fortune, "rapids above, rapids below, and a dragon's trail in the

. centre." 1 Politically the valley form~d part of the fiu Muar division of Johol, but the fact that the Rulers of Negri Sembilan chose it as their home has ' led to its being associated with their authority and styled tanah mengandvng, the mother-land of royalty. Territorially the expression Sri Menanti may be eithel' limited to the area round the Ruler's palace or extended in .a loose way to all the territories over which Yamtuan Antah held a

1 Jemm di-hulu, jeram di-hilir, Landa.' naga di -tengah-tengah. Landa.' naga will bear also the prosaic meaning of 'chalybeate ooze' ! .

PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

2 PAPERS ON MALAY SUBJECTS.

nominal sway. In the former sense the boundaries of Sri Menanti were Tebn Lawai Kuala Senaling and Batu Menonggok upstream, and Batn Berdinding, Pulai Sarang Pipit Bl1kit Perah, Sungai Lumut Batang Terachi and Tebu Lewak DIu Talang in the lower portionR of the valley. But "the Yamfuan Besar of Sri Menanti "claimed authol'it,y over all Johol, Ulu Muar, Terachi, Gunong Pasil', Inas, Gemencheh and Jempul,l

1 In the narrower tanah miingandong (bnt not in Johol, Gemencheh or Inas), there is to each lembaga a bi!~

SRI MENANTI . 3

n.-THE RULING FAMILY.

An earlier pamphlet, " Notes on the Negri Sembilan," gives a brief account of the title of Yang di-pe"tuan Besar, its elec ive character, its nominal greatness, its real weak-ness, and its history up to the time of its abandonment by Tengku Antah fo r the humbler dignity of "Yamtuan of Sri Menan ti." 'rhe civil wars that raged over the title make it hard to discriminate between pretenders, usurpers, and rulers de j 'lL1'e and de facto , but for practical pur po es it is advisable to keep to one dyna sty (that of the present holder) and to ignore ter!Jporal'Y interruptions and rival claims. ' The following princes may be regarded as having had an absolute right to the position of Yamtuan Besar :

1. Raja Melewar (1773-] 795) ; 2. Raja H itam (1795-1808); 3. Raja L enggang (1808-1824) ; 4. Raja Radin' (1824,-1861) ; 5. Yamtuan Imam (1861-1869); 6. Ten!Sku Antah of Sri Menanti (1 872-1888); 7. rl'uanku Muhammad, t11e present Ruler.

'rhe relationship of these princes to one another is shown in the following table :

RAJA MELEWAR, first Yamtuan Besar, m. Enche' Seni , ------ ~

daughter" Tengku Puan," m. R AJA HITAlIl, ~he second Yamtuan ,---~

daugnter Tengku P~~an Ngah, m. RAJA LENGGANG, the third Yamtuan

I RAJA RADIN,

fourth Yamtuan I

TENGKU ANTAH sixth Yamtuan of Sri Menanti

I TUANKU MUHAMMAD, C.M.G.,

the present Ruler of the Negri Sembilan.

I I

YAMTUAN IMAM, (also known as Ma1'hurn

J angg~~t or Yamtuan Ulin) , fifth Yamtuan

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4 PAPERS ON M ALA Y SUBJECTS.

rl'his table must however be supplemented by the following list of pretender s or claimants to the dignity :

1. R aja Adil.-This prince (who is represented sometimes as the first Yamtuan Muda and sometimes as the second Yamtuan Besar) flourished about the year 1760 A .D., and seems from his seal to have been a J ohor deputy and not an independent ruler. One tradition says that he was a younger . brother of Raja Melewar ; and very possibly he was a near relative as the pair are associat ed with the same home in Rembau and with the same Sumatran stories . Raja Adil was the founder of the Tampin and J elebu princely families and is connected only remotely with Sri Menant i.

2. Y amhban Totok.-Of this claimant very little is known except that he was a son of Raja Melew~' and disputed the right of Raja Hitam to succeed to the throne.

3 Y amtuan Be1·ingin.- This claimant was a Sumahan raj a who married Enche' Torok, great-grand-daughter of Raja Melewar, and is recognized by the presen t Sri Menant i family as having been a sort of Regent during the minority of Raja Radin and not as a true Yamtuan. His son Raja Alang Sohor claimed the throne at a later date, and his descendants are still in Sri Menanti.l

4. Raja K e1jan .- This adventurer held Sri Menant i pending the coming of Raja Laboh or Yamtuan Sati .

5. Yamt~ban Sati (Raja L aboh).-This was a Sumatran prince who came over in 1826 at the invitation of the Dato' KIana and was maintained on the throne for some years by that Ohief . In the end he quarrelled with the KIana and was driven out of Sri Menanti by Dato' Bongkok Abdul Malik, P enghulu of Ulu Muar (about 1830 A.D.) He went back to Sumatra with his family and is not represented in Sri Menanti at the present time.

G. R aj a Ali.-This prince, the Yamtua,n Muda of Rembau, . claimed the t itle of Yamtuan Besar on the deposition of Yamtuan Sati. He maintained his claims for some year s but was ultimately driven into exile by the Dato' of Rembau and the KIana of Sungai Ujong who placed Raja Radin on the t hrone. R aja Ali's descendants are the ruling family of Tampin.

7. 'l'engmb Alang SOhOl', son of Yamtuan Beringin. He objected to the interment of Raja Radin by Tengku Alftah on the ground that a Yamtuan must be buried by a Yamtuan, and that local candidates bad to give way to born Smnatrans like himself. The Dato' KIana and other Chiefs inter vened, set Doth claiman ts aside, and placed Yamtuan Imam (Raja Radin's brother) on the till·one.

1 See appendix A for an account of this prince and his descendan ts.

PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

SRI MENANTI . 5

8. T engku Ahmad T1tnggal, son of Yamtuan Imam.-This prince seized the seals of State at his father's dean;' and refused to acknow-ledge Tenglru Antah as Yamtuan. H e was supported by the KIana and at one time by the British; while Tenghll Antah had the support of the Dato' of Johol. In the end Tengku Antah received recognition as Yamtuan as Bri Menanti witb jurisdiction over J obol only.

The following table shows relationship to the presellt Yamtuall ,

Yamtuan L enggang (III) 1

I 1 Yamtuan Raja Radin (IV) Yamt1Utn Imam (V)

1 1 I 1 1 1

Yamtuan Antah (VI) '1'. di1tda Chik, • lI! . T . Chinclai T . Aj~1nacl Tunggal

I '1 Yamt1tan jj[ uham1nacl (VII) "I I T. ][ahmucl ____ J I r 1..------ ---'-'---,

of Jempol

l m. Tengkn Puan Ejah Tengku L aksal1W1Ut Abubaka1' 1

, Tengk1t Ab,zulaziz (died 1914) rrhe following table shows the

and best known relatives: Yamtuan's nearest

Y wmtuan R adin m. 'Tengku Puan Intan, hi s cousin,

1

1 Yamtuan Antah

I Teng~'u Mucla Chik

m. his cousin, ill. a Batu Hampar wife (aye1' kwki) T. Chindai, daughter of Yamtuan Imam

I 1

(1) Yamtuan Muhammad, C.M.G.

th, r""" Ru"" 1

(1) Tengku Abdul Aziz (died 1914)

I Tengk1t Laksa,mana Abubaka1'

I other children:

(2) Tenglcu B esa)' B1trhanuddin (3) Tengk1t S1tlaiman 1 (4) T engk1t Kahar 1

, (2) Tengku Abdul'l·ah1nan.

1 The mother of these two rajas is Enche' Siti, who claims to be a Biduanda lady.

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6 PAPERS ON MALAY SUBJECTS.

rrhe mother of Tengkll Ahdul Aziz was Tengku Puan Ejah, daughter of Tengku Muda. Ohik and consequently cousin of the Yamtuan. The mother of Tengku Abdur-rahman is Tengku Puan Obik of the Serting branch of the Sri Menanti family. Tengku Abdul Aziz was the elder; but some Malays mjgh t have been inclined to support the Qlaims of the younger brother on t'he ground that rl'engku Puan Oh1k as first wife had pr'ecedence over Tengku Puan liljah. 1

I Tengku Abdul Aziz died this year .

PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

SRI MENANTI. 7

IH.-LEGENDARY HISTORY OF THE RULING FAMILY.

The Sri Menanti family claims descent from the old Kings of Pagar Ruyong who in their turn claimed descent from Alexander the Great and through him could trace their lineage to Adam. '1'he pedigree is given in a scholarly mannel' in the B~~8tanu's-salatin and is preserved with a. reasonable approach to verisimilitude in the records of the Peninsular Sultans. It is really founded on certain Persian histories which represented the Sassanian Kings as descendants 'of Alexander the Great, and Alexander as the descendant of the Achae-menides whose lineage went back in its turn to Kaiomerz, the Persian Adam, the mythical founder of the human race. Of ' course this genealogy had to be adapted to local needs. "Adam," said a Peninsular Sultan to the writer, " had two sons, Seth and Kayumarj (Kaiomerz) ; I am descended from Kayumarj." So much for that end of the pedigree. As for the other end, Sang Sapurba (the mythical founder of the oldest Malay .dynasty) could be represented as the son of the last Sassanian monarch; and the genealogy was rendered complete. But the Sumatran versions of the story are mixed with local folk-lore to an extent that defies all analysis and differ very materially from the Johor accounts. I give one of these local versions (there are many such) for what it is worth.

" Qne day after the Prophet of God has ascended . to Heaven and his Foul' Associates had taken his place there fell two figures from Paradise,

PERPUSTAKAAN NEGARA MALAYSIA

Front CoverTitle Page PrefaceIntroductory The Ruling Family Lagendary History of the Ruling Family