KINGDOMS OF INDRAPURA, ANAK-SUNGEI, PASSAMMAN, SIAK.
INDRAPURA.
Among the earliest dismemberments of the Menangkabau empire was the
establishment of Indrapura as an independent kingdom. Though now in its
turn reduced to a state of little importance, it was formerly powerful in
comparison with its neighbours, and of considerable magnitude, including
Anak-Sungei and extending as far as Kattaun. Some idea of its antiquity
may be formed from a historical account given by the Sultan of Bantam to
the intelligent traveller Corneille le Brun, in which it is related that
the son of the Arabian prince who first converted the Javans to the
religion of the Prophet, about the year 1400, having obtained for himself
the sovereignty of Bantam, under the title of pangeran, married the
daughter of the raja of Indrapura, and received as her portion the
country of the Sillabares, a people of Banca-houlou.
CLAIMS OF THE SULTAN OF BANTAM.
Upon this cession appears to be grounded the modern claim of the sultan
to this part of the coast, which, previously to the treaty of Paris in
1763, was often urged by his sovereigns, the Dutch East India Company.
His dominion is said indeed to have extended from the southward as far as
Urei river, and at an early period to Betta or Ayer Etam, between Ipu and
Moco-moco, but that the intermediate space was ceded by him to the raja
of Indrapura, in satisfaction for the murder of a prince, and that a
small annual tax was laid by the latter on the Anaksungei people on
account of the same murder (being the fourth part of a dollar, a bamboo
of rice, and a fowl, from each village), which is now paid to the sultan
of Moco-moco. In the year 1682 the district of Ayer Aji threw off its
dependence on Indrapura. In 1696 Raja Pasisir Barat, under the influence
of the Dutch, was placed on the throne, at the age of six years, and his
grandfather appointed guardian; but in 1701, in consequence of a quarrel
with his protectors, the European settlers were massacred.
WAR WITH THE DUTCH.
This was the occasion of a destructive war, in the event of which the
raja and his mantris were obliged to fly, and the country was nearly
depopulated. In 1705 he was reinstated, and reigned till about 1732.
DECLINE OF THE KINGDOM.
But the kingdom never recovered the shock it had received, and dwindled
into obscurity. Its river, which descends from the mountains of Korinchi,
is considered as one of the largest in the southern part of the west
coast, and is capable of admitting sloops. The country formerly produced
a large quantity of pepper, and some gold was brought down from the
interior, which now finds another channel. An English factory was
established there about the year 1684, but never became of any
importance.
KINGDOM OF ANAK-SUNGEI.
From the ruins of Indrapura has sprung the kingdom of Anak-sungei,
extending along the sea-coast from Manjuta River to that of Urei. Its
chief bears the title of sultan, and his capital, if such places deserve
the appellation, is Moco-moco. A description of it will be found above.
Although the government is Malayan, and the ministers of the sultan are
termed mantri (a title borrowed from the Hindus) the greatest part of the
country dependent on it is inhabited by the original dusun people, and
accordingly their proper chiefs are styled proattin, who are obliged to
attend their prince at stated periods, and to carry to him their
contribution or tax. His power over them however is very limited.
The first monarch of this new kingdom was named sultan Gulemat, who in
1695 established himself at Manjuta, by the assistance of the English, in
consequence of a revolution at Indrapura, by which the prince who had
afforded them protection on their first settling was driven out through
the intrigues, as they are termed, of the Dutch. It was a struggle, in
short, between the rival Companies, whose assistance was courted by the
different factions as it happened to suit their purpose, or who, becoming
strong enough to consider themselves as principals, made the native
chiefs the tools of their commercial ambition. In the year 1717 Gulemat
was removed from the throne by an assembly of the chiefs styling
themselves the mantris of Lima-kota and proattins of Anak-sungei, who set
up a person named Raja Kechil-besar in his room, appointing at the same
time, as his minister and successor, Raja Gandam Shah, by whom, upon his
accession in 1728, the seat of government was removed from Manjuta to
Moco-moco. He was father of sultan Pasisir Barat shah mualim shah, still
reigning in the year 1780, but harassed by the frequent rebellions of his
eldest son. The space of time occupied by the reigns of these two
sovereigns is extraordinary when we consider that the former must have
been at man's estate when he became minister or assessor in 1717. Nor is
it less remarkable that the son of the deposed sultan Gulemat, called
sultan Ala ed-din, was also living, at Tappanuli, about the year 1780,
being then supposed ninety years of age. He was confined as a state
prisoner at Madras during the government of Mr. Morse, and is mentioned
by Captain Forrest (Voyage to the Mergui Archipelago, page 57) as uncle
to the king of Achin, who reigned in 1784. The first English settlement
at Moco-moco was formed in 1717.
PASSAMMAN.
Passamman was the most northern of the provinces immediately dependant on
Menangkabau, and afterwards, together with Priaman and many other places
on the coast, fell under the dominion of the kings of Achin. It is now
divided into two petty kingdoms, each of which is governed by a raja and
fourteen pangulus. Formerly it was a place of considerable trade, and,
beside a great export of pepper, received much fine gold from the
mountains of the Rau country, lying about three days' journey inland. The
inhabitants of these are said to be Battas converted to Mahometanism and
mixed with Malays. They are governed by datus. The peculiarity of dress
remarked of the Korinchi people is also observable here, the men wearing
drawers that reach just below the calf, having one leg of red and the
other of white or blue cloth, and the baju or garment also
party-coloured. The greater part of the gold they collect finds its way
to Patapahan on the river of Siak, and from thence to the eastern side of
the island and straits of Malacca. The Agam tribe adjoining to the Rau,
and connecting to the southward with Menangkabau, differs little from
Malays, and is likewise governed by datus.
SIAK.
The great river of Siak has its source in the mountains of the
Menangkabau country, and empties itself nearly opposite to Malacca, with
which place it formerly carried on a considerable trade. From the Dutch
charts we had a general knowledge of its course as far as a place called
Mandau or Mandol, as they write the name, and where they had a small
establishment on account of its abounding with valuable shiptimber.
SURVEY.
A recent survey executed by Mr. Francis Lynch, under the orders of the
government of Pulo Pinang, has made us more particularly acquainted with
its size, its advantages, and defects. From the place where it discharges
itself into the straits of Kampar or Bencalis, to the town of Siak is,
according to the scale of his chart, about sixty-five geographical miles,
and from thence to a place called Pakan bharu or Newmarket, where the
survey discontinues, is about one hundred more. The width of the river is
in general from about three-quarters to half a mile, and its depth from
fifteen to seven fathoms; but on the bar at low-water spring-tides there
are only fifteen feet, and several shoals near its mouth. The tides rise
about eleven feet at the town, where at full and change it is high-water
at nine A.M. Not far within the river is a small island on which the
Dutch had formerly a factory. The shores are flat on both sides to a
considerable distance up the country, and the whole of the soil is
probably alluvial; but about a hundred and twenty-five or thirty miles up
Mr. Lynch marks the appearance of high land, giving it the name of
Princess Augusta Sophia hill, and points it out as a commanding situation
for a settlement.
SHIP-TIMBER.
He speaks in favourable terms of the facility with which ship-timber of
any dimensions or shape may be procured and loaded. Respecting the size
or population of the town no information is given.
GOVERNMENT.
The government of it was (in October 1808) in the hands of the Tuanku
Pangeran, brother to the Raja, who in consequence of some civil
disturbance had withdrawn to the entrance of the river. His name is not
mentioned, but from the Transactions of the Batavian Society we learn
that the prince who reigned about the year 1780 was Raja Ismael, "one of
the greatest pirates in those seas." The maritime power of the kingdom of
Siak has always been considerable, and in the history of the Malayan
states we repeatedly read of expeditions fitted out from thence making
attacks upon Johor, Malacca, and various other places on the two coasts
of the peninsula. Most of the neighbouring states (or rivers) on the
eastern coast of Sumatra, from Langat to Jambi, are said to have been
brought in modern times under its subjection.
TRADE.
The trade is chiefly carried on by Kling vessels, as they are called,
from the coast of Coromandel, which supply cargoes of piece-goods, and
also raw silk, opium, and other articles, which they provide at Pinang or
Malacca; in return for which they receive gold, wax, sago, salted fish,
and fish-roes, elephants' teeth, gambir, camphor, rattans, and other
canes. According to the information of the natives the river is navigable
for sloops to a place called Panti Chermin, being eight days' sail with
the assistance of the tide, and within half a day's journey by land of
another named Patapahan, which boats also, of ten to twenty tons, reach
in two days. This is a great mart of trade with the Menangkabau country,
whither its merchants resort with their gold. Pakan-bharu, the limit of
Mr. Lynch's voyage, is much lower down, and the abovementioned places
are consequently not noticed by him. The Dutch Company procured annually
from Siak, for the use of Batavia, several rafts of spars for masts, and
if the plan of building ships at Pinang should be encouraged large
supplies of frame-timber for the purpose may be obtained from this river,
provided a sense of interest shall be found sufficiently strong to
correct or restrain the habits of treachery and desperate enterprise for
which these people have in all ages been notorious.
RAKAN.
The river Rakan, to the northward of Siak, by much the largest in the
island, if it should not rather be considered as an inlet of the sea,
takes its rise in the Rau country, and is navigable for sloops to a great
distance from the sea; but vessels are deterred from entering it by the
rapidity of the current, or more probably the reflux of the tide, and
that peculiar swell known in the Ganges and elsewhere by the appellation
of the bore.
KAMPAR.
That of Kampar, to the southward, is said by the natives to labour under
the same inconvenience, and Mr. Lynch was informed that the tides there
rise from eighteen to twenty-four feet. If these circumstances render the
navigation dangerous it appears difficult to account for its having been
a place of considerable note at the period of the Portuguese conquest of
Malacca, and repeatedly the scene of naval actions with the fleets of
Achin, whilst Siak, which possesses many natural advantages, is rarely
mentioned. In modern times it has been scarcely at all known to
Europeans, and even its situation is doubtful.
INDRAGIRI.
The river of Indragiri is said by the natives to have its source in a
lake of the Menangkabau country, from whence it issues by the name of
Ayer Ambelan. Sloops tide it up for five or six weeks (as they assert),
anchoring as the ebb begins to make. From a place called Lubok ramo-ramo
they use boats of from five to twenty tons, and the smaller sort can
proceed until they are stopped by a fall or cascade at Seluka, on the
borders of Menangkabau. This extraordinary distance to which the
influence of the tides extends is a proof of the absolute flatness of the
country through which these rivers take the greater part of their course.
JAMBI.
Jambi River has its principal source in the Limun country. Although of
considerable size it is inferior to Siak and Indragiri. At an early stage
of European commerce in these parts it was of some importance, and both
the English and Dutch had factories there; the former on a small island
near the mouth, and the latter at some distance up the river. The town of
Jambi is situated at the distance of about sixty miles from the sea, and
we find in the work of the historian, Faria y Sousa, that in the year
1629 a Portuguese squadron was employed twenty-two days in ascending the
river, in order to destroy some Dutch ships which had taken shelter near
the town. Lionel Wafer, who was there in 1678 (at which time the river
was blockaded by a fleet of praws from Johor), makes the distance a
hundred miles. The trade consists chiefly in gold-dust, pepper, and
canes, but the most of what is collected of the first article proceeds
across the country to the western coast, and the quality of the second is
not held in esteem. The port is therefore but little frequented by any
other than native merchants. Sometimes, but rarely, a private trading
ship from Bengal endeavours to dispose of a few chests of opium in this
or one of the other rivers; but the masters scarcely ever venture on
shore, and deal with such of the Malays as come off to them at the sword
point, so strong is the idea of their treacherous character.
PALEMBANG.
The kingdom of Palembang is one of considerable importance, and its river
ranks amongst the largest in the island. It takes its rise in the
district of Musi, immediately at the back of the range of hills visible
from Bencoolen, and on that account has the name of Ayer Musi in the
early part of its course, but in the lower is more properly named the
Tatong.
SIZE OF RIVER.
Opposite to the city of Palembang and the Dutch Company's factory it is
upwards of a mile in breadth, and is conveniently navigated by vessels
whose draft of water does not exceed fourteen feet. Those of a larger
description have been carried thither for military purposes (as in 1660,
when the place was attacked and destroyed by the Hollanders) but the
operation is attended with difficulty on account of numerous shoals.
FOREIGN TRADE.
The port is much frequented by trading vessels, chiefly from Java,
Madura, Balli, and Celebes, which bring rice, salt, and cloths, the
manufacture of those islands. With opium, the piece-goods of the west of
India, and European commodities it is supplied by the Dutch from Batavia,
or by those who are termed interlopers. These in return receive pepper
and tin, which, by an old agreement made with the sultan, and formally
renewed in 1777, are to be exclusively delivered to the Company at
stipulated prices, and no other Europeans are to be allowed to trade or
navigate within his jurisdiction.
DUTCH FACTORY.
In order to enforce these conditions the Dutch are permitted to maintain
a fort on the river with a garrison of fifty or sixty men (which cannot
be exceeded without giving umbrage), and to keep its own cruisers to
prevent smuggling. The quantity of pepper thus furnished was from one to
two millions of pounds per annum. Of tin the quantity was about two
millions of pounds, one third of which was shipped (at Batavia) for
Holland, and the remainder sent to China. It has already been stated that
this tin is the produce of the island of Bangka, situated near the mouth
of the river, which may be considered as an entire hill of tin-sand. The
works, of which a particular account is given in Volume 3 of the Batavian
Transactions, are entirely in the hands of Chinese settlers. In the year
1778 the Company likewise received thirty-seven thousand bundles of
rattans.
LOW COUNTRY.
The lower parts of the country of Palembang towards the sea-coast are
described as being flat marshy land, and with the exception of some few
tracts entirely unfit for the purposes of cultivation. It is generally
understood to have been all covered by the sea in former ages, not only
from its being observed that the strand yearly gains an accession, but
also that, upon digging the earth at some distance inland, sea-shells,
and even pieces of boat-timber, are discovered.
INTERIOR COUNTRY. ITS TRADE.
The interior or upland districts on the contrary are very productive, and
there the pepper is cultivated, which the king's agent (for trade in
these parts is usually monopolized by the sovereign power) purchases at a
cheap rate. In return he supplies the country people with opium, salt,
and piece-goods, forming the cargoes of large boats (some of them
sixty-six feet in length and seven in breadth, from a single tree) which
are towed against the stream. The goods intended for Passummah are
conveyed to a place called Muara Mulang, which is performed in fourteen
days, and from thence by land to the borders of that country is only one
day's journey. This being situated beyond the district where the pepper
flourishes their returns are chiefly made in pulas twine, raw silk in its
roughest state, and elephants' teeth. From Musi they send likewise
sulphur, alum, arsenic, and tobacco. Dragons-blood and gambir are also
the produce of the country.
ITS GOVERNMENT.
These interior parts are divided into provinces, each of which is
assigned as a fief or government to one of the royal family or of the
nobles, who commit the management to deputies and give themselves little
concern about the treatment of their subjects. The pangerans, who are the
descendants of the ancient princes of the country, experience much
oppression, and when compelled to make their appearance at court are
denied every mark of ceremonious distinction.
SETTLERS FROM JAVA.
The present rulers of the kingdom of Palembang and a great portion of the
inhabitants of the city originally came from the island of Java, in
consequence, as some suppose, of an early conquest by the sovereigns of
Majapahit; or, according to others, by those of Bantam, in more modern
times; and in proof of its subjection, either real or nominal, to the
latter, we find in the account of the first Dutch voyages, that "in 1596
a king of Bantam fell before Palembang, a rebel town of Sumatra, which he
was besieging."
ROYAL FAMILY.
The Dutch claim the honour of having placed on the throne the family of
the reigning sultan (1780), named Ratu Akhmet Bahar ed-din, whose eldest
son bears the title of Pangeran Ratu, answering to the RaJa muda of the
Malays. The power of the monarch is unlimited by any legal restriction,
but not keeping a regular body of troops in pay his orders are often
disregarded by the nobles. Although without any established revenue from
taxes or contributions, the profit arising from the trade of pepper and
tin (especially the latter) is so great, and the consequent influx of
silver, without any apparent outlet, so considerable, that he must
necessarily be possessed of treasure to a large amount. The customs on
merchandize imported remain in the hands of the shabhandaras, who are
required to furnish the king's household with provisions and other
necessaries. The domestic attendants on the prince are for the most part
females.
CURRENCY.
The currency of the country and the only money allowed to be received at
the king's treasury is Spanish dollars; but there is also in general
circulation a species of small base coin, issued by royal authority, and
named pitis. These are cut out of plates composed of lead and tin, and,
having a square hole in the middle (like the Chinese cash), are strung in
parcels of five hundred each, sixteen of which (according to the Batavian
Transactions) are equivalent to the dollar. In weighing gold the tail is
considered as the tenth part of the katti (of a pound and a third), or
equal to the weight of two Spanish dollars and a quarter.
CITY.
The city is situated in a flat marshy tract, a few miles above the delta
of the river, about sixty miles from the sea, and yet so far from the
mountains of the interior that they are not visible. It extends about
eight miles along both banks, and is mostly confined to them and to the
creeks which open into the river. The buildings, with the exception of
the king's palace and mosque, being all of wood or bamboos standing on
posts and mostly covered with thatch of palm-leaves, the appearance of
the place has nothing to recommend it. There are also a great number of
floating habitations, mostly shops, upon bamboo-rafts moored to piles,
and when the owners of these are no longer pleased with their situation
they remove upwards or downwards, with the tide, to one more convenient.
Indeed, as the nature of the surrounding country, being overflowed in
high tides, scarcely admits of roads, almost all communication is carried
on by means of boats, which accordingly are seen moving by hundreds in
every direction, without intermission. The dalam or palace being
surrounded by a high wall, nothing is known to Europeans of the interior,
but it appears to be large, lofty, and much ornamented on the outside.
Immediately adjoining to this wall, on the lower side, is a strong,
square, roofed battery, commanding the river, and below it another; on
both of which many heavy cannon are mounted, and fired on particular
occasions. In the interval between the two batteries is seen the meidan
or plain, at the extremity of which appears the balerong or hall where
the sultan gives audience in public. This is an ordinary building, and
serving occasionally for a warehouse, but ornamented with weapons
arranged along the walls. The royal mosque stands behind the palace, and
from the style of architecture seems to have been constructed by a
European. It is an oblong building with glazed windows, pilasters, and a
cupola. The burial place of these sovereigns is at old Palembang, about a
league lower down the river, where the ground appears to be somewhat
raised from having long been the site of habitations.
ENCOURAGEMENT TO FOREIGNERS.
The policy of these princes, who were themselves strangers, having always
been to encourage foreign settlers, the city an lower parts of the river
are in a great measure peopled with natives of China, Cochinchina,
Camboja, Siam, Patani on the coast of the peninsula, Java, Celebes, and
other eastern places. In addition to these the Arabian priests are
described by the Dutch as constituting a very numerous and pernicious
tribe, who, although in the constant practice of imposing upon and
plundering the credulous inhabitants, are held by them in the utmost
reverence.
RELIGION.
The Mahometan religion prevails throughout all the dominions of the
sultan, with the exception of a district near the seacoast, called
Salang, where the natives, termed orang kubu, live in the woods like wild
animals. The literature of the country is said to be confined to the
study of the koran, but opinions of this kind I have found in other
instances to be too hastily formed, or by persons not competent to obtain
the necessary information.
LANGUAGE.
The language of the king and his court is the high dialect of the Javan,
mixed with some foreign idioms. In the general intercourse with strangers
the conversation is always in Malayan, with the pronunciation (already
noticed) of the final o for a.
CHARACTER OF INHABITANTS.
Amongst the people of Palembang themselves this language (the character
of which they employ) is mixed with the common Javan. The Dutch, on whom
we must rely for an account of the manners and disposition of these
people, and which will be found in Volume 3 page 122 of the Batavian
Transactions, describe those of the low country as devoid of every good
quality and imbued with every bad one; whilst those of the interior are
spoken of as a dull, simple people who show much forbearance under
oppression*; but it is acknowledged that of these last they have little
knowledge, owing to the extreme suspicion and jealousy of the government,
which takes alarm at any attempt to penetrate into the country.
(*Footnote. A ridiculous story is told of a custom amongst the
inhabitants of a province named Blida, which I should not repeat but for
its whimsical coincidence with a jeu d'esprit of our celebrated Swift.
When a child is born there (say the Palembangers), and the father has any
doubts about the honesty of his wife, he puts it to the proof by tossing
the infant into the air and catching it on the point of a spear. If no
wound is thereby inflicted he is satisfied of its legitimacy, but if
otherwise he considers it as spurious.)
INTERIOR VISITED BY ENGLISH.
This inland district having been visited only by two servants of the
English East India Company who have left any record of their journeys, I
shall extract from their narratives such parts as serve to throw a light
upon its geography. The first of these was Mr. Charles Miller, who, on
the 19th of September 1770, proceeded from Fort Marlborough to Bentiring
on the Bencoolen river, thence to Pagar-raddin, Kadras, Gunong Raja,
Gunong Ayu, Kalindang, and Jambu, where he ascended the hills forming the
boundary of the Company's district, which he found covered with lofty
trees. The first dusun on the other side is named Kalubar, and situated
on the banks of the river Musi. From thence his route lay to places
called Kapiyong and Parahmu, from all of which the natives carry the
produce of their country to Palembang by water. The setting in of the
rains and difficulties raised by the guides prevented him from proceeding
to the country where the cassia is cut, and occasioned his return towards
the hills on the 10th of October, stopping at Tabat Bubut. The land in
the neighbourhood of the Musi he describes as being level, the soil black
and good, and the air temperate. It was his intention to have crossed the
hills to Ranne-lebar, on the 11th, but missing the road in the woods
reached next day Beyol Bagus, a dusun in the Company's district, and
thence proceeded to Gunong Raja, his way lying partly down a branch of
the Bencoolen river, called Ayer Bagus, whose bed is formed of large
pebble-stones, and partly through a level country, entirely covered with
lofty bamboos. From Gunong Raja he returned down Bencoolen River on a
bamboo raft to Bentiring, and reached Fort Marlborough on the 18th of
October. The other traveller, Mr. Charles Campbell, in a private letter
dated March 1802 (referring me, for more detailed information, to
journals which have not reached my hand), says, "We crossed the hills
nearly behind the Sugar-loaf, and entered the valley of Musi. Words
cannot do justice to the picturesque scenery of that romantic and
delightful country, locked in on all sides by lofty mountains, and
watered by the noble river here navigable for very large canoes, which,
after receiving the Lamatang and several other streams, forms the
Palembang. Directing our course behind the great hill of Sungei-lamo we
in three days discovered Labun, and crossed some considerable streams
discharging themselves into the river of Kattaun. Our object there being
completed we returned along the banks of the Musi nearly to the dusun of
Kalubat, at which place we struck into the woods, and, ascending the
mountain, reached towards evening a village high up on the Bencoolen
River. There is but a single range, and it is a fact that from the
navigable part of the Musi river to a place on that of Bencoolen where
rafts and sampans may be used is to the natives a walk of no more than
eight hours. Musi is populous, well cultivated, and the soil exceedingly
rich. The people are stout, healthy looking, and independent in their
carriage and manners, and were to us courteous and hospitable. They
acknowledge no superior authority, but are often insulted by predatory
parties from Palembang." These freebooters would perhaps call themselves
collectors of tribute. It is much to be regretted that little political
jealousies and animosities between the European powers whose influence
prevails on each side of the island prevent further discoveries of the
course of this considerable river.